Besancon, France- The Louvre, a bit o' Paris, and AquaBoulevard

Today we went to the Louvre and checked out the Babylon exhibit, which was new and only going on for a short time. We spent about 3 hours there, then walked around Paris for a bit. We had drinks, ate Chinese and found a movie theatre close to the opera house we went to the other night. We saw "Deux Soeurs Pour un Roi", dubbed. *Mental note- see it in English to see what I missed!*

Academie Nationale de Musique

Sunday
I'm waiting for the shower key while Nikki looks for our friend Sarah downstairs. It looks a little cloudy and chilly outside today, but no matter- I'm going to a cafe after my shower to use the internet and find some show times for an opera today.
*ATTN* Future study abroad students- Don't forget to pack a power converter and adapter! I don't know how much they cost, because I was lucky and borrowed mine from a friend- but if you're going to be using your laptop or hair dryer or whatever that might have an American plug, you'll need a converter!

^Looking out of one of the windows of the Louvre

**later**
Juliette and I are now on the train, heading back to Besancon. I'm ready to be back in a semi-familiar area again, although Paris really was amazing. I truly appreciated all the things I got to do there (ballets, live theatre, spending time with Juliette, etc.) Yesterday was a blast. We went to a water park called AquaBoulevard, which wasn't too far from Arlette's mother's apartment. There, we spent 5 hours swinging from a rope into the pool, riding the waves on floats, sliding down enormous slides with and without floats, and relaxing in the jacuzzi. It was pretty nice outside these past few days in Paris. Today especially- I didn't even have to wear a coat! But maybe I owe that warmth to having dragged my luggage everywhere. That could be it. I didn't exactly pack "light" this time around. I think this was a learning experience for sure.

Queretaro, Mexico: Semana Santa/Mexico City Part 2

Wow, coming home from study abroad is super hectic. I've been busy greeting friends and family, getting back to work, and going to bridal showers so the WMU blog has been slightly neglected on my part. But as promised, here is Part 2 of 3 of my Semana Santa vacations in Mexico City and Chiapas.

So after visiting the Templo Mayor (Great Temple) by the Cathedral of Mexico City, Michael and I decided to meander over to Mexico's most famous religious site: The Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, here is a quick, abridged version. In 1531, an Indian convert named Juan Diego was walking to Mass across Tepeyac Hill in what is now Mexico City proper. Suddenly, a beautiful dark-skinned (i.e. indigenous looking) female appeared before him and declared she was the Mother of Jesus Christ. The Virgin then explained to Juan Diego that she wanted a church built on this hill and instructed him to find the Bishop and tell him her desires. When the Bishop finally granted Juan Diego an audience, he did not believe the humble Indian man and demanded proof of said vision. Juan Diego, fearful of what he had seen, avoided the hill for days so as not to see the woman, but on his way to find a priest for a seriously ill man, the Virgin appeared to him once more and he told her what the Bishop had said. In response, the Virgin instructed Juan Diego to pick the roses that would be on Tepeyac Hill (normally a desolate, desert hill) and to give them to the Bishop as proof of her appearance.



Juan Diego obeyed and gathered in his mantle the roses that miraculously appeared on the desert hill and returned to the Bishop's office to give him the flowers. When the Bishop once again granted Juan Diego an audience, Juan let the flowers fall from his mantle and there on his clothing appeared an image of the brown-skinned Virgin, proof positive that Juan had witnessed a miracle. The bishop then immediately ordered the construction of a church on the hill where the miracle took place as the Virgin of Guadalupe had instructed. About a century or two later, the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe was built in front of Tepeyac Hill and in the 20th century, a new Basilica was built alongside the old and now houses the original mantle of Juan Diego. Today, the Church ontop of Tepeyac Hill looks nothing like the desolate hill of our story, but rather a bonafide Garden of Eden in the center of Mexico City.



The Old and New Basilica (pictured below) are equally beautiful and in the modern one, the mantle of Juan Diego hangs behind the altar. One helpful tip: There is mass just about every hour in the New Basilica with the mantle as the main attraction. You can get close to the relic by going to the right of the altar and down below, there is a people-mover that will allow you to see the mantle up close without disturbing the Mass going on above.





After our adventure greeting the most famous relic of Mexico, Michael and I spent the rest of the evening with one of the girls in the study abroad group who had been visiting the city with her parents. Unfortunately, Michael had to return to the States and I continued my Spring Break with my friend Katie (I know, two Katies). The following day, Katie and I went to the Palacio Nacional where some of the most famous murals of Diego Rivera (the husband of Frida Kahlo) are housed. I have to say that although Diego Rivera isn't my favorite Mexican artist of all time, the sheer size, magnitude, and detail of his murals astounded me and I have a new found respect for his life's work. The following link will give you some examples of his work and if you're interested in seeing more, just google his name.

http://diegorivera.com/murals/index.php

Afterwards, we headed back to the Anthropology Museum to finish the short tour we had the month before with our Mexican Culture professor Maria Elena. Obviously, I won't go through what I've seen again because that simply will be quite boring. That being said, I will leave you with one more picture from Chapultepec Park, the Central Park of Mexico City. In the meantime, I will organize my photos for the final part of Semana Santa: Chiapas.

Kaitie

Berlin 3.5.09 The World in Motion

First off, my sympathies to Katie for her trip in Mexico being cut short because of the crazy flu concerns. I can't believe what I just recently saw... someone made a fake post on BBC of a "zombie" version of this virus going around that can raise people back from the dead for about two hours. This posting really frightened me because it was very convincing looking, and there's already enough fear and tension going around the world over this already, though I certainly feel it's mostly just the media making a big deal over this. They said it themselves that every year around 10 thousand people die worldwide from flu anyway, so what's really so different with this virus? Is it just much more unpleasant of a flu, because I'll tell you, I've already been hospitalized by a flu once up in the Upper Peninsula Michigan, so I'd like to think I've seen the worst of flues... anyway, back to Germany


One would hardly realize such a virus was going on around here, neither do I think Germans would ever really care about such things. They're too busy administering self inflicted violence in their own capital in what has become and annual tradition here in Berlin.
Here's a bit of your daily history/political propoganda; (honestly, what else you think you can find the most of in Berlin?) May 1st has been known as Labor Day across the world for a long time. Almost everywhere except ironically where it began; in Chicago!

I was very surprised when I learned this, but the day became a day for workers and left wing extremist to protest capitalism and promote socialist agenda several decades ago. May first was chosen as this day because of the 1886 Haymarket affair. People in Chicago and other places around the US were protesting for fair working conditions; an 8 hour work day for starters. The protest turned violent, and ever since, May first has been infamous for all of those immigrant workers, and other countries, where American politics have done all they could to cover up this fact.



Necessity emerged during the cold war, where remembrance of this day looked very discouraging to the capitalist engine and brought attention to our diminishing workers unions and the prevalence of diminishing returns and ‘McJob’ poverty. Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now, and just say that all of this history has lead to annual populist rioting in Berlin, and I've got pictures of it! I made sure to stay far from the actual violence one could find on BBC and other site, since I'm sure WMU would not be happy for me to be doing anything but observing such events from a very far and safe distance. It was an incredibly exciting weekend, and the festivities before the rioting were also very nice.



I'm very excited that my fiancé will be visiting me here again next week. We're going to take a trip down to Munich and see Castle Neuschwanstein, so we're going to have plenty of beautiful pictures to take for that. Tonight we're going out to a gay bar for fun, and to take some sort of quiz or something. My friends will tell me more about it later I think wish me luck... lol. Germany; probably the most inappropriate place for a curious bugger like myself to be blogging about, don't you think? I just call things like I see them in the end!
Best wishes to everyone else out there, and I hope we're being read by somebody...
Dave

The cops... around 3,000 came to partake in the socialist smashing... I heard they actually had to apply for the job to come to Berlin... place of violence? Kann sein.

Queretaro, Mexico: Influenza and Mexico City

As all of you may know by now, the Queretaro program has been suspended because of the outbreak of what they are now calling H1N1 virus (aka swine flu). Although upset by the decision, I understand the predicament the university had found itself in and I cannot say I would have done anything differently were I in their position. Unfortunately, that does not make me miss my host family or my Mexican friends any less, but thank God for Internet and email. :)

In this entry, I will talk a little bit about what I saw in Mexico during the past few days and then I'm going to finish up my Semana Santa vacation in the next few entries.

The situation in Mexico has been a bit precarious this past week, to say the least. On Saturday, I heard the first real news about the swine flu and realized that something serious was going on Sunday afternoon when I stepped out of my house to tons of people wearing surgical masks to protect themselves from the new virus. Later that afternoon, the Mexican government had closed all the schools in the country until May 6th in order to prevent any further infections and I began to worry that the imminent cancellation from WMU would soon follow...unfortunately, my worst fears were concerned and here I find myself back in chilly Michigan.

I have to say that one of the reasons I am upset about the suspension of the program is because of the fact there are mixed reactions to the flu outbreak from various educated people in Mexico. Some older, wiser friends and professors have told me that these are necessary precautions and, in the end, I have to agree. It's always better to be safe than sorry. Others, however, doubt the severity of the situation and believe the media and government are exaggerating the entire outbreak because in reality, 2000 sick people in a city of 25 million is hardly a pandemic at all. Still others believe this whole epidemic is a government conspiracy that is meant to distract the Mexican public from the true current events that might upset the nation (i.e. the financial crisis in Mexico). As you can see, it's hard to form my own opinion with such contradictory information floating around in my head. In the end, airing on the side of caution is always best and, as they say, hind sight is 20/20 so even if this "epidemic" of influenza peters out in the next week, at the very least we are not in Mexico wondering, "what if...?"

Okay. Well, enough influenza for today. After staying in Merida for a week with my friend Michael, I met up with another girl in my study abroad group (Katie) and her parents in Mexico City (before the flu, I assure you). Mexico City isn't exactly what I expected it to be, though I'm not entirely sure what I expected in the first place. I suppose I imagined DF to be a bit gruffer than what I encountered, but I'm sure those parts of the city exist.

Michael and I arrived in the early afternoon and took a cramped subway ride to the Zocalo/Cathedral in the heart of downtown Mexico City. I have to say, I'm rather impressed by DF's subway system because, unlike the Queretaro buses, the trains come often and reliably.



Even though DF emptied because of the Semana Santa vacations, a good amount of people were still in and around the cathedral and Zocalo area. Given that Easter Sunday was just around the corner at this point, a lot of religious ceremonies were going on, both indigenous and catholic. Of course, tons of people flocked into the Cathedral for a good solid pray at the altar, but outside the Cathedral, there were dancers in indigenous garb cleansing people with incense smoke.



Definitely an interesting contrast. Just next to the Cathedral lie the ruins of the Templo Mayor (Great Temple) of the Aztec civilization in the city of Tenochtitlan. Though not nearly as impressive as the ruins of Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza, or Palenque, Templo Mayor has a certain charm and an incredible history given it's importance in the Aztec capital hundreds of years ago.



The above sculpture is a replica of the one found in the 1970s (? I'm a little fuzzy on the date) that led to the excavation of these beautiful ruins of a religious Aztec temple that was used for the most important rituals in the Mexica culture, like human sacrifice!



Well, I was hoping to finish off the rest of Mexico City this evening, but I must go take care of some family business. Tomorrow I'll be back to finish the rest. Until then, take care!

Kaitie

Besancon, France- Hotel Luna Park, Paris

We've arrived at our hotel! It's pretty small and it looks independently owned, which is nice. The owner (or relative, anyway) who works behind the desk is very nice and cheery. Even when some Italians came in and didn't speak barely a lick of French, he worked though talking to them. It really takes patience for that kind of thing! Fortunately we are right next door to a laundromat. This is perfect because it is high time I do a load of laundry. Our room is supposed to be ready in about 15 minutes, so I get a little down-time before putting my things away. Nikki is looking for a payphone to call her fiancé. I'm eager to get out and find a bike rental place, and explore the area a little bit. I still want to get a hold of my great Aunt Kay. I've called her twice this morning, but she didn't answer- I wonder if I have the right number? Somehow I need to get my friend Daphne's number, too- I'd love to get a coffee or something with her and meet her fiancé.
I guess Sarah and Andy or our friend Kazu are going to try and sneak in on Sunday and spend a night in our room- I don't know if that's going to work, though. They might just have to pay for their own room. It's a gorgeous day out right now and I am itching to get out there, but the owner is here now, talking to the concierge in rapid...Arabic? (I think).

Saturday
So, second night in hotel Luna Park. Our room is pretty small with only one double bed, so Nikki and I share it. There is an odd-looking non-flushing toilet (I forgot the word) i the corner of our room, with a sink next to it. This little area is separated by a shower curtain. It's a little odd, and we're on the fourth floor (without an elevator :-/) so we have to walk up and down (with the luggage, it was a bit of a pain). The toilet (the real one) and shower are both communal, and a little cramped. I guess this is was 20 Euro a night gets you for a hotel in Paris!
Yesterday after waiting an hour for the chambermaid to get our room ready, we left our stuff in our room and did some laundry at the laundromat next door. It was a little confusing at first, I don't often use public washing machines. There was a dried fruit market right next door to the laundromat, so I went in and got some dried bananas (a new favorite snack of mine. Try them!) I also bought a laundry bag with a sort of wannabe-Burberry plaid pattern for about 1 Euro 60. It will definitely help lighten my load when I head back to Besac. Later that night, we tried finding an opera to go to, but didn't know exactly the price for each one we found, so we decided to wing it. We took the metro to the "Opéra" stop and got off right in front of the Paris opera house. We looked for a few minutes at the schedule of shows at the entrance of the theatre when one of the ushers told us there was a "private invitation only" show tonight, but regardless he yanked two tickets out of his jacket pocket and let us through! Out of total surprise, we walked inside just as the last call for seats bell sounded. We climbed a few sets of stairs and chose a private booth on the side of the theatre. It turned out not being an opera, but a dance rehearsal for a local school of dance! It was a 3-part show with pointe dancers who seemed to all be aged around 12-25 years old. It was really enjoyable, and even better because it was free!

Berlin April 28 Sping FEVER

Oh yeah... It's gettin' nice and warm over here in Berlin and I'm loving it. The best part for me is the smell of Lilac bushes... We have those in Michigan all over the place too, so it's homey and nostalgic along with being peaceful and revitalizing. It's amazing how the Weather has such extreme highs and lows here, but on a seasonal scale where in Michigan it's a twice-a-week scale... lolz.
The worst part about living in Lichterfelde right now, being right on the border of the country-side is the invasive smell of manure coming from the farms... it's amazing really, because they're miles away, but the massive quantity still reaches the city limits which I reside in.
It's so much nicer just walking around town getting stuff done. It's not a chore anymore, nor a burden trying to fight through the frigid cold. I took one of the most embellishing photos I could of the outside of my university... the crabapple trees are in bloom, unfortunately our building is still a rusted copper color... that was the American’s fault actually... they built the bloody thing in opposition to the commies, since they had occupation of the prettiest university campuses in Berlin at the time, the Humboldt. So they fought back with ugly practicality and better wages!

Man... you come to study in Berlin I suggest you buy a day planner beforehand, because it took me forever just to find a place that sold anything close to one... they're sold in seasons actually... 2009 was available last year... but as soon as the actual year comes... NO MORE! lol talk about stringent seasonal commercialism. One good thing about that though is that the German strawberries are back in season, which are the best in the world I might say. Spain would have them beat if it wasn't for the fact that they can grow them pretty much year round, but German ones are a thing of transient wonder... and very juicy... I got it all over my shirt once and I looked like I had gotten into a gruesome fight with someone.
We do grills once in a while and play soccer with whoever Danko can round up. That man's a wonder for getting people organized and doing stuff... always a necessity to have around.
Classses are fun. I'm taking time to look at them critically and switch around to find the best fits this time, which seems to be the German thing to do. I really like my Erinnerungsorte in Berlin course (places of remembrance) It's a history/philosophy course. We spent two hours just talking about Friedrich Wilhelm the second, who has a statue of himself up in front of the Reichstag, capital building here in Berlin. He, like most of Germany's history is quite complicated and dichotomous. He was one of their most beloved leaders, as well as hated. He loved music, freedom of speech and religion, but also loved War, leading three in his lifetime and expanding the borders of Prussia to insane reaches. The concept of Prussia; the old days of German fanatic military supremacy was a very engrossing history. It made me look around at the whole history of war on wiki for a few hours... never even knew a thing about the thirty year war till recently... omg... war war war... there was hardly ever a year without it between US, Britain and mainland Europe. I came also to realize that Napoleon’s "empire" was no more an empire than a elongated world war as well. I thought it was a really amazing empire, but the Germans and beat them off in ten years or so, and Britain was also fighting the war of 1812 with us at the exact same time! They even burned our capital building down during all of that! OMG... when will we ever learn... ok, that's enough from me for now. Hope everyone else out there is enjoying the spring sun.
Dave
P.S. – Watched this really weird Turkish propaganda film called Valley of the Wolves – Iraq. It was interesting to see a Rambo-esque movie where Americans were the bad guys… made me pretty mad at times, though that’s really the way the Turks look at us sometimes, and much of what’s in the movie is based on real events that happened in Northern Iraq… the problem is that it’s propaganda, because it’s truth mixed with malevolent lies. Here’s a Daily show clip about the movie:
Be warned, both clips may be found disturbing
http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/42321/detail/
ok I’m done! :)

Tokyo Swan 30: Tokyo Anime Fair 2008

Everyone knows that Japanese animation has become one of the largest exports out of Japan in the past 20 years. Anime has seen rising popularity in countries all over the world, and surely most people are familiar with at least one series. I had the good fortune of being able to visit the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008, and it was a great experience!

The Tokyo International Anime Fair is the largest anime convention in Japan, and boy was it packed with just swarms of people! It really does take a lot of stamina to make your way through the massive crowds, just to catch a glimpse of the new upcoming anime shows. Of course, most of the content on display in the fair is propoganda to get viewers excited about new series, but when it is all on display in such a colorful and excited manner, it really does make the trip that much more worthwhile.

It was a fantastic experience (if not a draining one), and I hope I can catch it again next year!