And So, We Are All Connected in the Great Circle of Life

Hello!

We spent this weekend in London for our last study tour of this semester. It was absolutely amazing, and much different than other study tours we have gone on so far. Disclaimer: Dr. Shah took all these photos, I just stole them from our Facebook page.

The focus of class last week was: contemporary race relations in the UK and the Global South. As a result of this topic, our study tour focused on very similar issues. 

Our first stop in London was the New York Times office where we met with Amanda Taub, who writes "The Interpreter" column. We were able to spend about two hours with Amanda. The time was spent with a mix of us asking questions and her explaining her work. It was absolutely fascinating! She spoke about how gender has impacted her work (in both positive and negative ways) and spent quite a bit of time describing how to write about the developing world. I loved being able to speak with her, it was amazing that she was so generous with her time.

The full group in the New York Times offices

The second stop of the day was at the Overseas Development Institute (a think tank that focuses on international development and humanitarian issues). We met with a small group of their research fellows and spoke with them in a similar style to how we talked with Amanda. Each of the fellows described the work they do and their path to working at ODI. They each outlined a few of the projects they had recently worked on and discussed the funding process of working at a think tank. I was fascinated by the politics of working in a think tank as opposed to the politics I have witnessed in my State Department internship. 

Group shot at ODI, check out the official background

Before heading back to the hotel we walked along the Thames, the weather was beautiful! We walked through Covent Garden and the West End, it was the first time I had seen it in the daylight. Dr. Shah made us stop for pictures (which you can see below). 

This is the second version of this photo, after it was decided we needed the London skyline behind us

Dr. Shah was very excited about this Covent Garden photo. Right after this someone dressed in a rabbit costume gave us free chocolate

Checking in at the hotel took awhile (something about having 13 people at once), so we had 15 minutes before dinner. Dinner was entertaining as always, it doesn't happen often but it is so nice to get the whole group together. 

According to the schedule we were supposed to take a walking tour of the West End from 7:00pm-10:00pm (admittedly weird timing). Because we are rule following students we thought nothing of it and went along with Dr. Shah. That is, until she stopped us on a corner and told us a little about the history of the area. Then, we turned around and looked at the theater where The Lion King is playing. We looked at it, thought, "sure, postcolonialism" until Dr. Shah announced to us we were seeing the show. Pandemonium then broke loose. There was screaming, hugging, and general noise until we got into the theater. The show was of course incredible, and I am so impressed by Dr. Shah's secret keeping abilities. 

You can see pure joy on the faces of every person in this picture

The excitement continues inside

London Day 2 started at the London School of Economics where we met with Dr. Omar Khan (director of the Runnymede Trust). Runnymede Trust is a race relations think tank working in the UK. This meeting was, like all the others, fantastic. Dr. Khan was really informal with us which allowed for lots of questions and he was incredibly knowledgeable. I think my favorite aspect of this meeting was the focus he put on the social context of race relations. It is much different than in the US, so I was glad for some clarifications. 

Our time in London ended with a tour of Brick Lane. Our tour guide showed us the street art in the area (a huge draw for many) and described the socio-political inspirations behind the work. Brick Lane and the surrounding area has a fascinating history of migration; as evidence by a building that is now a mosque but was once: a French Huguenot chapel, a Catholic church, and a synagogue. This area of London was also the most bombed section of the city during the Blitz, and the buildings still show evidence of these events. 

You can see evidence of the patterns of migration on these signs (they are in English and Bengali)

As I mentioned earlier, this trip to London was much different than any I had previously experienced. In fact, on the tube home I totally forgot I was even in London (I've thought about this a lot). I am so grateful to Dr. Shah for taking us to these amazing meetings, it has really opened my mind to different career options. Obviously, I knew there were lots of options for Global Studies, but now I have concrete evidence of these possibilities. We'll see what the future brings, but I'm excited about it. 

Madeline

I've Seen London, I Just Went to France (And Italy)...And I Didn't See Anyone's Underpants

Hello!

So, it has been quite a while since I've written anything. Sorry about that, I've been doing lots of homework and trying to get more involved with life in Oxford, but more on that in a later post. 

The main point of this post is to regale you all with the adventures I had over Spring Break. Let me start by saying that it was a truly amazing trip! I loved every moment of it and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel. We had two weeks off, so three of my housemates and I jetted off to the Continent. We went to Rome, Florence, Venice, Nice, Marseille, and Paris. It was an exhausting trip, but in the absolute best way possible. 

Due to the long nature of this trip, I'm not going to be able to write about every single thing we did (full disclosure, I loved everything so this will be long). Instead, I'll highlight my favorite part of each day of our trip and throw in a couple pictures.

Day 1, Rome: Our first day of the trip began at 6:00 am when we caught the bus to London. This was not my favorite part of the trip, I know it's a shock. We got to Rome at about 2:00 pm and after dropping bags at the hotel, we ventured out into the city. We went to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. I didn't know this, but apparently these are all sights in the Lizzie Mcguire Movie, so my friends conned me into that one. I absolutely loved the sights we saw, but I think my favorite was the Spanish Steps, it offered such an amazing view of Rome. 

My first view of the Pantheon

Spanish Steps, before we climbed them (twice)

Day 2, Rome: Our second day saw us at the Vatican City, that's right I got to go to a city state (city states are a concept I think are hilarious, so I was pretty excited). Because of the pouring rain we decided to pay for a guided tour so we were able to see the Vatican Museum, The Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. I'm not a religious individual, but the Vatican City was amazing. I think my favorite part was seeing how so many different people were so strongly affected by the location, it holds a huge importance in the lives of so many. 

St. Peter's Basilica

Modeling my new umbrella outside St. Peter's Basilica

Day 3, Rome: This was probably my favorite day in Rome (which is a big claim because I loved Rome). We went to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. I still haven't processed that I've seen all these places, so just imagine me wandering around with a look of shock and awe all day. The Colosseum is incredible, the sheer amount of history that took place there is amazing. The Palatine Hill was fascinating, especially because of all the books I've read about Rome. Of all the locations we saw, I think the Roman Forum was the most moving for me. It is so cool to think about the fact that that place held such an important role in Roman life, and we are able to see almost exactly what it looked like. Our day ended with some accidental Russian Art at the Piazza Venezia, we entered a building and found an art exhibit. Rome was fantastic, and I am so glad it was our first stop. 

The Colosseum

Roman Forum from the Palatine Hill

Roman Forum

Day 4, Florence: Two of my cousins have studied away in Florence, so I arrived fully expecting to love the city. I was not disappointed. Upon arrival, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and then journeyed into the center of town. A main attraction in Florence is the Il Duomo compound (their city cathedral), so we started there. We toured the Baptistry, and then climbed the Bell Tower. It is 414 spiral steps up to the top. The views were worth all the pain, but you better believed I complained while we were climbing. After a break for our legs to recover, we toured the cathedral and found out our tickets got us into the crypt. The crypt details the various influences on the city history, all through the guise of religion. It was such an interesting exhibit! We went to the cathedral museum and learned more about the history of Florence before venturing to the Ponte Vecchio for sunset. Our first day was amazing, and the trend continued!

Probably one of the top five photos I took this trip (Il Duomo from the Bell Tower)

Ponte Vecchio at sunset

Day 5, Florence: Day 2 in Florence began with us climbing Il Duomo, it is 463 steps and I thought I was dying the entire time we were climbing. It actually wasn't as bad as the Bell Tower, but my legs still felt it. The view of Florence from the top was incredible! After descending we felt that it was time for us to see some art, so we went to the Galleria dell'Academia to look at some paintings. The highlight was seeing Michelangelo's David, I had only seen pictures so I really wasn't sure what to expect. We ended our day at the Medici-Riccardi Palace. I enjoyed it, but there were two modern art exhibits that felt a little out of place with the rest of the museum. 

The Bell Tower from the top of Il Duomo (we climbed this the day before)

Michelangelo's David

Day 6, Florence: Our last day in Florence was amazing! We went to the Uffizi Gallery (which is commonly compared to the Louvre). There was so much at the gallery that I got a little overwhelmed, but I loved it. I think the coolest thing we saw was Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus." It was amazing! After a stop for lunch and cannoli, we went to the Pitti Palace. Both the Medici family and Napoleon have lived there, so I was pretty interested in the history. We were able to tour the state apartments and several art galleries. We finished off our day with the Boboli Gardens, the sun made it so beautiful. We ended our time in Florence with a stroll around Il Duomo while eating gelato, and I don't think there was a better way to leave a city. 

Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi Gallery

Pitti Palace

Boboli Gardens

Day 7, Venice: It's fair to say that Venice was one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting. I read Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord all the time as a kid, it's set in Venice, so I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what the city would be like. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I loved it! Our activity of the day was the museums around St. Mark's Square. We toured St. Mark's Basilica, one of the most elaborate churches we have toured. The ceiling was covered in gold and mosaics. Our second stop was the Doge's Palace, one of the stops on my Venice bucket list. I loved it, they placed a huge emphasis on the influence of government on the history of Venice-and we all know how much I love government. The Doge's Palace also has a tour of the prison, to get there you have to walk over the Bridge of Sighs which is fun for us because there is a Bridge of Sighs in Oxford. It started raining so we went back to the hotel for some relaxation. 

Canals in Venice

St. Mark's Basilica

The Doge's Palace

The original Bridge of Sighs (for comparison look up the Bridge of Sighs at Hertford College in Oxford)

Day 8, Venice: Day 2 in Venice started with a gondola ride, which was really fun. I was motion sick through the whole thing, but I loved being able to see a different view of Venice than I had seen from walking. The water in Venice is so green, I can't really describe it, but it is beautiful. After the gondola ride we went to the Museums on St. Mark's Square. Our tickets got us into all three museums so we spent the rest of the day there. We toured the royal apartments and saw a bunch of archaeology and religious art. We tried to keep a tally of how many Madonna and Child painting we saw, but we ran out of tally marks. It poured rain on our way back to the hotel, the rain was bouncing off the ground and back up to us. On our way to dinner the waves were coming over the edge of the canals, it was so cool! Coming to Venice had been a dream of mine for such a long time, and it was incredible to see a place I have dreamed about for so long. Now, on to France!

Views from the gondola tour

Group photo on the gondola

Day 9, Nice: We had a really long travel day from Venice to Nice. There isn't a direct route, so we had to travel through Milan. All in all, it was about a 7 1/2 hour journey. For someone who gets motion sick that's a lot, so I slept the majority of the way so I wouldn't feel nauseous. Nice is absolutely amazing! I can't describe why, but as soon as we stepped out of the train station I felt content. It was a wonderful feeling. We were only in Nice for a night, so we decided to go to the beach. We bough gelato and strolled along the Promenade Anglaise watching the water. It was so amazing! I was also able to start using my French, and I remembered so much more than I thought I would! It was a lovely surprise. 

Birds and a plane over the ocean in Nice (another one of my favorite photos)

Sunset from Le Promenade Anglaise

Day 10, Marseille: We took a three hour bus ride from Nice to Marseille, after navigating French public transit. I'll be honest, Marseille was not my favorite place. I just didn't really like the feeling of the city. Our activity of the day was touring Notre Dame de la Garde (the cathedral of Marseille). It was absolutely beautiful! It's on the top of a hill with no surrounding buildings, I really enjoyed how remote it felt. The architecture is Byzantine, which I found beautiful. I'd been sick for quite a few days so Rachel convinced me to get cold medicine. Turns out, cold medicine is behind the counter in France so I had to try and buy it in French. Guess who forgot the word for cold? (the answer is me). It all worked out, and the French cold medicine really made me feel better. 

Notre Dame de la Garde

Day 11, Marseille: So, we didn't actually spend the day in Marseille. We took a day trip to Avignon and it was one of my favorite days of the entire two weeks. Avignon has really fascinating history, it was the home of the French pope during the break with Rome. The weather was so amazing when we got there-sunny and clear! Our first stop was the Papal Palace, it is a huge fortress that sustained a lot of damage during the Revolution. I was able to understand all of the French signs so I didn't need to hold on to the English translation when we were walking around. Our ticket to the palace also got us onto the Pont d'Avignon (a super old bridge). It was beautiful! After the bridge we strolled along the river and spent some time watching the water. It was so relaxing and exactly the kind of day we needed this far into the trip. 

Papal Palace

Pont d'Avignon from afar

Day 12, Paris: Paris is the place I was most excited to visit. I've been hearing about Paris for as long as I can remember (I have an aunt that lives there, I memorized Madeline as a child, and I've been studying French since 8th grade). My room at home is decorated with copious Eiffel Tower posters, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to be there. I thought I had hyped myself up too much, but never fear I LOVE Paris. Our first stop was Notre Dame where we met up with Emily (another housemate) and then we toured the cathedral. I can't put into the words the experience of seeing Notre Dame, just know I was walking around with a huge smile the entire time. We strolled along the Seine for a while before deciding to go to the Eiffel Tower. The experience of seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time is indescribable, I may or may not have teared up just the smallest bit. After getting through security we decided to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It is about a 700 steps climb before the elevator to the very top. I felt like I was dying while we were climbing, but it was SO worth it. We were going to go to the Arc de Triomphe, but it started raining so we decided just to go back to the hotel and relax. 

Notre Dame and the Seine

My first view of the Eiffel Tower

Day 13, Paris: This day was Kaitlyn's favorite. We spent the day at Disneyland Paris-something that she was looking forward to the entire trip. I'll admit that I was skeptical of spending one of our Paris days at Disney, but I actually really enjoyed it. Everything seemed familiar, but just a little bit different. The rides were just a little more intense, which was nice because the park was a little bit smaller. In addition to my cold, I had pretty intense headaches and vertigo for most of the trip so Disney was a challenge on that front, but I didn't let it stop my enjoyment. 

Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland Paris

Day 14, Paris: Our last day in Paris was amazing! We spent almost the entire day at the Louvre and I loved it. I had another moment of not believing my life when we walked into the main square of the Louvre complex. We saw so many well known pieces: Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and the Mona Lisa. It was really impressive to see all of that, but my favorite was the sketches of Israel Silvestre. They are so detailed, and just truly amazing. When we exited the Louvre we discovered it was cold and snowing so we decided against going to the Arc de Triomphe and the lines for the catacombs were way too long. We ended up spending the rest of the day simply wandering Paris and I loved it. 

The Louvre Pyramids

I made Rachel take this photo of me

My favorite Israel Silvestre sketch

This trip was such an amazing experience and I am so grateful for the opportunities that led me here. As always, if you have any questions about my travel or life in Oxford please reach out. I promise I'll get better about updating!

Madeline