On travel

There is much to be said of travel. There is much to be said about the flaws and downfalls of society. And there is much to be said of independence, of ultimate freedom, that often leads to loneliness.

For me, the purpose of travel, or of choosing to be free, is to understand. To understand others as much as myself, to understand the wonders of nature, and that no amount of wisdom gained from any experience means knowing. For as far as I have understood, no one ever really knows anything. We put our trust in faith and call it truth -- but even truth is indefinable, so we put our faith in trust.

To open our eyes to the world, to push ourselves out of our comfort zones, is to expose ourselves to humility and teach ourselves trust. And somewhere along this path is the undying hope of discovering that ever-elusive truth, even though we may never truly uncover it, for we can never truly know it. At least not in this life.

Applying my major

As an International Affairs major, concentrating in International Development, I have read a lot about foreign policy and conflict and globalization and some about the organizations involved. Provided the recent politics of an international organization near and dear to my heart (AIESEC), I've begun to look closer at something that I started to notice last year at an international conference.

My experiences in this organization, coupled with my studies, have shown me that many international organizations are really just microcosms of the geo-political reality, regardless of their missions. For example, in AIESEC, conflict between the US and the rest of the global association has been rising and falling, but ever-constant for the past few years. The US is trying to streamline the core work of the org to make operations more efficient in order to grow exponentially and achieve more quantifiable results. It has been hesitant to comply with the demands of the rest of the association because doing so might mean adopting regulations that may not be effective and for fear that consenting could lead to an infringement upon its sovereignty and thus hurt its efforts to expand and improve the organization as it sees fit.

In looking at other international organizations the US belongs to, like the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank, it's not all that different. The US carries a lot of weight in all of these organizations, and in many ways these organizations might not function properly/may not have been started if not for the US, due to its political and economical fortitude after the Second World War (See Bretton Woods and Dumbarton Oaks). As a result, the US rarely compromises on its foreign policy within these organizations, if ever. It has yet to sign the Kyoto Protocol because it doesn't think it will be effective, and while it signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (approximately 40 years ago), it's debatable whether or not it has violated this treaty through certain NATO agreements.

I'm not sure if the connections I've made are clear, but to be honest I don't really know how to accurately explain them concisely. There are more examples I could use involving other countries within these orgs, but this one is clearest to me right now (though it's still a bit rough), and again there's the whole conciseness issue.

What these connections make me wonder, though, is how effective are any of these organizations in reality if all they do is perpetuate the status quo under the guise of international cooperation? Perhaps with this new wave of globalization in the post-Cold War era, the days of these post-WWII organizations are coming to an end. Do these organizations really have the capacity to create the changes they strive for within our global structure? Is it time for a new system of international networking and collaboration to be developed?

Who knows? Maybe it's already developing...I should look into that. I guess it's a good thing that one of my classes this fall is "International Organizations"

IF - by Rudyard Kipling

This is probably my favorite poem. I feel like now is one of those times when I need it the most. Others might find it helpful too.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Okay, I'm not so sure about that last line, but it doesn't take anything away from the rest of the poem.

The greatest sport ever

Rowing. I'd forgotten how much I loved this sport. It is the definition of teamwork. There are no time-outs, no substitutions, no mvps. It's just a group of people pulling their weight in perfect unison to cross the finish line together. In this sport, no individual can claim responsibility for winning a race for their crew, an individual can lose a race (they miss a stroke, their oar gets caught, etc.) but when you cross that finish line -- it is thanks to every single person in that boat working together, exhausting themselves to be the first over the line. Learning what it means to pull as a team, to succeed as a team, to fail as a team, to be a team was an invaluable experience for me. If everyone could try this sport to understand just how hard it is, and just how rewarding it can be when successful...

This video is amazing, super motivational

A great way to wake up in the morning

With kisses...even if it is from a dog. My sisters have a dog named Holly. She is a spoiled beagle, but re-damn-dorable (aka pretty gosh darn cute). She has a bff named Jones who is a mutt with adorable batty ears and definitely has some shepherd in her. I love Jones (I love Holly too, but Jones is more my kind of dog). Anyway, Jones slept over our house last night because her 'mommy' had to go to work super early this morning.

So around 9 am my door busts open as the two dogs enter to greet me, all excited and very awake. Jones climbs right up into bed with me, lays down on my arm and rolls into the "rub my belly for I am a buddha" position. Then proceeds to lick my face in gratitude after we spoon, while Holly lays on my feet. It was a nice, cute, cuddly way to be pulled from slumber on a rainy morning.

I've been in Portland for about 2 weeks now. It is such an awesome summer city. I mean it's a great city in general, but it rains like 8 or 9 months out of the year here, so when it starts to warm up and be sunny more consistently, everyone wants to come out and play. There are loads of festivals and different things going on. Last weekend was Brewfest. This weekend is the Red Bull Flugtag. Next weekend is the Bite of Oregon...see what I'm sayin?

Some fun facts about Portland I learned on a kick-ass walking tour my sister and I took our parents on yesterday:

- Portland has the second most microbreweries in the world. Just after Cologne, Germany

- It's also the second whitest town in the United States...after Seattle

- They used to have canoe races down the streets (yes the streets) back in the day because of how often the river flooded from the snow-melt and rain. I think that sounds like a lot of fun...

- Unfortunately, because of all the flooding and poor sewage system in 19th century, Portland was a stank-ass place. You know the term "nose-gay"? Comes from here, referring to the flowers people pinned to the collars of their shirts to sniff when the smell was too bad.

- During WWII, a bunch of people were brought here to work in ship-building factories, mostly African-Americans. They lived in a town built to accommodate the large number of workers surrounded by a train berm. When the river was on the verge of flooding, they asked the city to send someone to check out the berm to find out if they needed to evacuate. He assured them the berm would hold. Sure enough, that night it collapsed flooding, destroying the entire suburb. Funny how history repeats itself, isn't it?

- This is where "shanghai-ing" (otherwise known as crimping) originated.

- I'm gonna stop with this one before I re-cap the entire tour: There is a bar here that does a thing called "karaoke from hell" They give you a sheet of lyrics, and when you go up to sing you are backed up by a live band. I think that deserves a FAWESOME (haven't used that blended word in awhile)

So, ipso facto, Portland is a pretty fun and interesting place. I really love how each city has a unique flavor that makes it something special, something different from every other place - and somehow this shows how much people in all places have a lot in common.

Home

Sometime last year, when I was coming back late to DC from New York, some Latino started a conversation with me while waiting for the metro. I had mentioned that I was tired and just wanted to go home. “So you live with your family here [in DC]?” he asked. And my reply was that I lived in a campus apartment with friends, not family, as I studied in DC. “So this isn’t your home. Where is your home?” Now, as I was tired, I didn’t really feel like debating the different definitions of home, but nevertheless it was interesting to meet someone who had such a rigid definition.

For me, any place I’ve lived for a significant amount of time becomes home, and stays that way in my mind ever after. It’s not so much the places that define home though. It’s the people. You know the saying “Home is where the heart is”? Well, I believe that. Wherever I’ve lived, blood family or not, there are people who I grow to love as much as family, and whenever I’m with them I am home.

So, Shamong, NJ, where I was born and raised is home; Durango, Colorado, where my parents built a second house (that will eventually become their only house, apparently once I graduate) is home; DC, where I live and study is home; and now Tunisia (Tunis in particular) is also home.

As much as I thought I was ready to come back home to the US, I realized that I am never ready to say goodbye, especially to the places – to the people – I call home. Inchallah I will see Tunis again some day.

Thoughts before leaving...

This'll just give you a gander at the way my mind works for your amusement and for me to regain some sense of sanity:

Holy shit, I'm leaving Tunisia tomorrow. I'm really going to miss this place. Maybe I should stay. No. I don't want to stay. I want to come back. I'm definitely coming back. But I won't stay. Oh my god, I'll never see (insert names here) again. Shut up, Amanda. Don't think like that. You'll be in touch, and who knows if and when you'll see them again? It's possible. Haha remember that time Danny tried to kill that cockroach in the bathroom and it totally freaked him out (pause for laughter...eyes start to water). Nope, don't start cryng, Manda, you're laughing right now (phew, that was close). Damn, I'm going to miss this cafe. Where the fuck is Marwa? She better not be sleeping, if she's sleeping I'm going to kill her. How late are the souks open on Saturday anyway? Pretty late right? How much longer should I wait for her before I just go by myself. I totally shouldn't have put off this whole gift-buying thing for the last minute. Maybe I'll call someone else to come with me...nope if they're not also asleep right now, they're probably not close to downtown. It's too hot outside right now anyway. I feel like I should call people. I don't really have anything to say to them right now though. Except maybe goodbye. Don't really want to do that right now, I've avoided crying so far and I'd rather not cry in public alone. Is that weird? Probably not. What else could I be doing right now? Beach? nah, not interested. Wandering around Marsa or Sidi Bou? Too hot, kinda far, not that special to me. Ya shumi, where is Marwa? Wallah. Who else do I want to call? (go through phone numbers...not here, not here, who the fuck is that, at work...hmm) Do I really want to buy a chechia (traditional tunisian hat) for my dad/brother? What else would be a good souvenir for guys that don't smoke shisha? Okay, we're giving Marwa another 30 minutes and then I'm just gonna take care of this by myself, even if it will be more expensive. Oh, hey she's calling me. Yup, she was sleeping. On her way, okay. So how do I want to kill the next hour or so? I can't believe I'm leaving.