March madness and February fun!

Hi Everybody!

Wow I can’t believe it’s been January since I wrote last… that’s how busy this crazy term has been! Ahhh!

Gosh, on the school front I’ve had a bit of a roller coaster… In learning the intricate details of the world trading and financial systems in my economics of globalization class I've even more despairingly realized how structurally unfair and intrinsically selfish our world systems are…. Studying that stuff is NOT for the faint of heart! I was already quite critical beforehand about how Developed countries have unfairly gained at the loss of the developed world, but really didn’t know to what extent it actually occurs :( Hard stuff! If you’re curious look into the inner workings of WTO, and how in cases where economic rights are set against human or environmental rights, $$ always wins, and some terrifying stuff about TRIPS (Trade-related-intellectual-property-rights) where patents are set on everything from food to medicine at the disadvantage of all but the patent owner… leading to decreasing biodiversity, unaffordability of medicine etc, etc, etc… If you’re interested I can send you some more info… ghastly!

Thank God my other classes was quite enjoyable! I took a class on Labor rights governance, decent work, and global value chains. This was a LOT more down to earth and hopeful that my economics class. We also go to go on class trips to factories in Amsterdam, have some roundtable discussions with different business corporate social responsibility/union/NGO heads and really appreciated the “real world” aspect of that, and seeing how workers rights can be and are being pursued. My other class, discourse analysis was enjoyable too. I learned about how in any given situation or even there are different “discourses”, views, slants, and how to analyze them a bit. My group did a “visual analysis” of two sets of photos from the Iraq war, one of daily Iraqi life from a British soldier and the other from an embedded photographer in the US army who was dis-embedded after publishing some photos from a bombing the US didn’t approve of. Interesting to see the many views, and not necessarily how one was “right” or “wrong”, but how they engage their surroundings and how their photography reflects that.

That’s about it for school!

For fun times, wow, as hard as school has been I’ve definitely found my way to cope through various trips, parties, sports and concerts! Europe really is good for all four. I mentioned going ot Ireland in my last slide, that was quite fun. In February I ended up going ot Scotland and visited my good amigo simon! We hung out in Edinburgh for a bit did some Scottish road-tripping and saw castles and some fun nightlife. Beautiful, green country up there! Everything is so ancient, pretty much every building is built from ancient looking stones, there are tiny stone fences demarcating ancient fields with sheep and other livestock, massive yellow peat and green grass fields decorate the hilly landscape. It definitely has a distinctive Scottish flavour!


[Beautiful Aberdeen Scottish seaside Castle!]


The weekend after on a whim some friends and I packed up and went to Germany for the day for Europe’s biggest Carnival festival in Cologne! It was SO FUN! The first time I’ve been to the ‘ol homeland, and it did NOT disappoint! Everyone from the elderly to babies were dressed in outrageous costumes, the streets were filled with people milling around and eating deliiiicous bratwurst and tasty German beer. It was sooo fun! My original goal was to eat a bratwurst every time I saw a stand, but that two times haha… after 2 giant sausage sandwiches in 10 minutes I had to take a breather. I washed it down with some of the best beer I’ve ever tasted! Soooo cool! I definitely can’t wait to go back and explore Germany more. I think when my mom comes this summer we are going to go for a few days! (We also are planning a Russia trip!!! Thanks to some VERY awesome, amazing angel investors (you know who you are!) I am going ot have THE chance of a lifetime to visit the land of Tolstoy, Vodka and little dolls that stack into each other!!! :D). More to come on that front…


[Some friends and I DEVOURING those MOUTHWATERING delishhhh bratwursts in Cologne @ Carnival!]


Anywho back to Holland, So I got back from Germany, the biggest other event was this AMAZING Trance concert, Trance Energy in Ultrect, the biggest Trance concert in the world with the best DJ’s, including Armin Van Buren! :D Ohhh it was great! The weekend before I hosted this big open mic event at my school! It was so cool, I’d say at least half the school came (100+ people) and had acts from all continents from my friend’s chick rock band, to an Indian Man singing a song, to African creation stories. It was a huge hit! I think we’ve no choice but to host another one!


[Me hosting Open Mic night!]



[Armin Van Buurennnn!!!! :D]


The other “fun” I’ve had is regarding Surfing!!! I finally buckled down and got the proper winter gear, 5mm wetsuit, booties, hood and gloves, and the North Sea is in my reach again! I even surfed in a Blizzard! I also moved to the beach in the beginning of February (15 min bike ride to school) and my room has a view of the North Sea! It is SO great! I can check the surf from my window! I have a studio-style apartment with little kitchen and bathroom (with skylights! I’m on the top of a 3 story building). It has been SO NICE! When the weather gets better too, it’s going to be even more perfect! The ‘ol bike commute is pretty cool too. One thing I love about Holland is the status bikes get, nearly every road has its own adjacent bike path with its own set of lights and cross walks. It’s so cool! I’m so happy my carbon footprint is like zero, or negative with the plants I have now hehe! There is bike rush hour in the morning and evenings, hundreds of people on the bike paths on their way to school or work, in skits, suits, with children on the back or front… Hahah! I love it! In the US you would be ridiculed if you rode your bike to a bar or club, but here, it’s common place! (and usually better b/c if you miss the last tram, no worries!) Haha!


[View of the North Sea from my room, in Schevenignen, Den Haag, Holland] :)


[Me surfing in a blizzard, the white stuff on the sand is SNOW!]



So the exciting plans I have for the upcoming months are… Abby, one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world is coming to visit in a couple weeks!!! We are both SO excited! We’re going to go to Italy and Croatia for a week, and maybe then also a couple days in a nearby country over Easter weekend (maybe France, Belgium, or Germany). It’s gong to be soooo fun!! I seriously can’t wait! We haven’t nailed out the Itinerary yet, but we’re flying into Milan, we’ll probably head up to Venice for a bit and then maybe take a boat (or bus if that doesn’t work) over to Croatia and explore the unknownnnnn…. :D It’s going to be GREAT!

Oh yah, and back to the reason I’m here, school haha… We’re starting the process of narrowing our thesis topics! I found a really cool peasant movement in Nicaragua, the process of how former Dole banana plantation workers, illegally exposed to pesticides that made them sterile and gave them disease, were able to non-violently protest (camping out for months across the street from the Nicaraguan National Assembly) and get the Nicaraguan government to pass a law that allowed them to sue Dole. They did, and won their case for over 400 million dollars in damages, but Dole refused to acknowledge it, so then in a landmark case were able to take it to a US court and win! (Usually foreign workers are not able to sue US companies in US courts due to “forum non conveniens” which states that the case must be seen in the country where it took place.. a usual easy write off for evil corporations… not this time!!!) :D I am trying to find what angle I want to take with this, whether it be from a socio-legal, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), or Social Movement perspective (or a mix of the above)…. In any case, this case, these peasants who non-violently, unrelentingly pursued justice in the midst of such daunting obstacles really did wonders for me when I was about to give up on the hopelessness of the world system.. thank God for them, and may all other such oppressed peoples be able to equally find justice!

Hmmm yah so that was my past couple months! I’m on study break now! After another round of brutal finals I have one more round of classes (one of Global Governance, and the other on Human Rights, yay!). Then it’s RP (Research Paper) time! I’m not sure if I will do field work or not, I applied to a program for funding but unfortunately didn’t get it... however I think I might rather stay here and get an internship somewhere instead! I’m serrrrriously missing the “real world” as my mind drifts through the seas of academia! I miss the human contact, knowing that my work is directly affecting and improving people’s lives around me. That is really important for me! Although I’m glad I will have my masters and hopefully the greater opportunities resulting from it, I certainly cannot wait to be done in some respects as well. Life’s all about trade offs tho, so it’s all good! I still want to master French too… I might try to work something out with that in my summer plans as well, but we’ll see! :) I’m going to DC in May too for another bestest amiga, Kristinita’s, wedding! Yayyyy!!!! Can’t waaaaait chica! :D

As far as future plans goes, I still have until December to decide… I’ve really been trying to soul-search on it, and of course it is all subject to change… but today I kind of had an ephiphany that I miss home! The Northwest, Seattle, my familyyyy, mountains, water and ocean, the green, springing life that emanates from every crack and crevice year round, the fresh earthy air, the coffee, the world consciousness, the implicit respect and connection with nature and indigenous peoples that is just intermingled into the geography and culture, the good people and distinctive ease of Northwest living… I’m not saying it’s for sure…. But if I can at all find a decent job I might just want to head back home! It will be about 4 years since I’ve lived there… there is just something special about it that really connects with my soul. :) We’ll see! If not there I’d of course be very happy to return to San Diego again as well as perhaps the Bay Area…. But who knows now! It would be nice to pay off my student loans in Euros if the dollar plummets… but we’ll see what options or opps are out there… If anyone hears of super cool organizations or jobs that make real, beneficial, hopeful impact and social change in the world (and ideally pays well and has int’l travel opportunities), pass it on! :)

Ok that’s it for me! I'm definitely learning how to ride the wave of life... it isn't always happy and good, but the challenges help me to reflect on how to do things better... and it is still pretty dang good most the time! :D I am seriously blessed with some awesome people and experiences here, I feel soooo lucky! I hope you all are doing fantastically in your respective corners as well! I know the world is going through a bit of a tumble at the moment, and I hope none of you are too negatively affected. If for nothing else it’s a good time to remember and orient ourselves on what is important to us (both material and non-material) and how we can arrange our lives around that! Ok, take care! I miss you all lots and think about y'all mucho!

Much love and care from across the world!!!
Ruth

PS Here is a link to a photo album from the past couple months:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=3&aid=2053247&l=e0957&id=42900799 :)

PPS - I uploaded a link to one of my fave prof's photography website, take a look, he has some interesting stuff!

PPPS - New Poll! Vote for your opinion on where I should move post-grad schoool (comments are welcome too hehe) [on right side of page]

PPPPS - I finally posted a pic of Black Pete (Zwarte Piet) for you all to see in my December Blog... slightly disturbing!)