Sanjoaninas and more new people

Boa tarde! The past few days have been crammed with last-minute adventures. On Monday, the island experienced heavy rainfall, which put a damper on any Sanjoaninas festivities that we would've celebrated. So to busy ourselves until our final discussion meeting of the trip at 6, we rented scary movies, played card games, and introduced our new friend Matt to the residencia. After our last meeting with Sarah Ashby, we all went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, 1516, with several of the couples we had met since coming to the island. It was like our going away dinner to the island and to our new friends. The British couple, along with the couple we met from California that inherited the Country Living-esque mansion on the waterfront, joined us for steaks, fresh fish, and good company.

With bloated stomachs, Ranjan, Aisha, Matt, Vanessa, Laura Hamrick and I all set out to the castle on Monte Brasil to watch the sunset. It being one of Matt's first nights on the island and all, we thought we'd show him the best parts of the city. We didn't quite make it in time to watch the sunset however, so we decided to break into this hotel pool that has been on our bucketlist since day one. Matt and Laura chickened out last-minute, but the rest of us managed to avoid detection as we walked right through the lobby and into the pool area like we owned the place. Or at least like we had a room in the place. (Don't worry, we didn't do any damage to the pool.) All we did was hang our feet off the edge of the pool while telling ghost stories (moonlit pools always seem to be the ideal place to share scary stories). We started to leave about 30 minutes after initially breaking in, only to be followed by a mysterious hotel worker (who seemed to have appeared out of the shadows). We thought he was going to scold us -- which would've been fine since our backup plan was to act like the dumb tourists we are -- but all he did was open the gate for us and say goodnight. It was a surprisingly funny ending to our evening.

The next day we woke up lethargically around noon, ate brunch, and conglomerated in the common room to figure out a plan for the afternoon. Effectively, all of us have ended our internships, so to make our last few days here fun, we decided to visit the caves and lava-tube caverns on the inside of the island. Vanessa, Ranjan, Matt, Erin, and I called a taxi and headed for the volcanoes. We had the sweetest taxi driver who agreed to wait for us outside while we explored the caverns, which didn't take very long since the caves themselves aren't that expansive. Despite their small size however, they were still some of the most spectacular caves I've seen in my life. I may not have seen more than two or three caves before yesterday, but these two are definitely my new favorites. Anything that's developed out of a volcano is just by default awesome. We walked down into the heart of the cave where you can look up and see the hole of the volcano, surrounded by lush vegetation and moistened with falling water drops. The coolest part of these caves had to have been the epic music echoing throughout the lava chambers. I'm not exactly sure why they played the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, but it made for some awesome climbing music. At one point we had to crouch down and crawl on our hands and knees through a tunnel, all while some beautiful organ blared in the background. It felt like we were in a movie. And of course, to complete our lava tube adventure, Ranjan, Erin, Vanessa and I all sang the UNC alma matter while Matt recorded us. My favorite moments on the island are always when our Carolina pride overtakes us and we break out into song.

After our day in the caves, we cleaned up, gathered the rest of the group, and drove three more taxis out to Grace Toste's home. Sra. Toste is the mother of the Atlantis Project founder, Joao Pedro Toste (a Carolina alum of course) and host mother to another of out team members, Katie Beam (conveniently Joao's girlfriend). She hosted an incredible dinner for us all consisting of delicious sweet bread and cheese (no, I still haven't tried any here), a wonderful pea soup, the most amazing alacatra (a native beef stew that I'm going to try to replicate when I get back home), and finally a tasty, although hard to fit in after all that food, desert made of rice, eggs, butter, and buckets of sugar. Needless to say, we all went straight into food comas by the second course.

When we got back to the residencia, two new girls had arrived from home: Natalie and Madeline. We took them out into the town to show off the Sanjoaninas tostas and floats, but sadly most of the activity had died down by the time we got out there (probably because it was a Tuesday night). Tonight we've agreed to show them a better time, and with Nico, one of the team facilitators from last year who returned this summer for a month, here to celebrate with us now too, we'll all have a great time. It's going to be difficult to come back home and realize that I can't just go out every night of the week and roam the city streets with all these amazing new friends I've made. Nonetheless, I'm ecstatic to return to North Carolina and drink tap water safely, eat a hamburger from McDonald's, and drive a car again!

Last Monday on the island!

Bom dia!

The Sanjoaninas festivities have begun, and we're already exhausted! I had no idea the festival would be an all-day (and all-night!) event! We go to sleep to the sound of concert music playing, and wake up to church bells announcing the first service of the morning. I have a feeling it's going to be hard to go to sleep without the noise of a city to take me to my dreams...thank God for TV then, right?

Yesterday we went to a car show/parade in the evening. After seeing all those wonderful vintage cars that Momma Crawford can't get enough of, we drifted off towards the music of T.U.S.A., one of the performance bands from the University. There we found our British friends that we had met the day before on the way to Biscoitos. They're stopping here for a few days on their way back to the UK after a year-long trip around the Atlantic. I couldn't spend an entire year cramped in a tiny boat, even if it was with my husband, but I could definitely travel the world (read: by plane and stay in five-star hotels) for a year. So we talked to them for a while until the newbie from Chicago, Alex, arrived at the residencia. As the first session two-er, we all started talking at him about everything on the island, from the touradas to Sanjoaninas to our internships. Surprisingly, he's a government intern who just graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Economics (the next Milton Friedman?). I'm so excited for the rest of the students to start pouring in, especially since most of them are from different universities (and in some cases, different countries) than Carolina.

We eventually let Alex go to bed since he was suffering from a major case of jet lag. Once he was tucked in, we went to the boardwalk to hang out with the locals and listen to the jazz music that was being performed on the harbor. Like the night before, we ended up migrating to the beach where we climbed up on some rocks, talked for hours, and enjoyed the bottle of wine we had purchased from the Biscoitos wine museum. It was the second perfect night in a row.

I'm excited to go home, but this last week on the island, combined with all the Sanjoaninas festivities, is making it hard to leave. These past few days have felt like the vacation I've always wanted: lying on the beach, sipping wine, on an exotic island with some of my closest friends. The fact that I got to spend six weeks here working on my career future was like an added bonus. I've never been so happy.

Beaches and Biscoitos

Sanjoaninas is officially in action! Last night a bunch of us (the group and a few of the new friends we've made in the residencia) went out to explore the first night of the festival. We walked in the middle of the streets, gawking at the beauty of this city we've been living in for the past five weeks. Every street was adorned with lit decorations, native quilts, and local bands playing Azorean music. We shopped around for an hour looking for a place to eat dinner since nearly every restaurant was closed; because all these little food stands ("tostas") have been set up along the boardwalk and in the two city squares, I guess the restaurants realize they wouldn't have as many customers as usual. But finally, after wandering the city streets for an hour, we found an open cafe with outdoor seating. After hamburgers and beers (I have a theory that there is no such thing as authentic local Azorean food), we dispersed back into the chaos that is Sanjoaninas. We found our way through the crowd to the concert venue, hoping to catch a glimpse of the free rock band concert. This year, to cut costs, the government is requiring anyone who wants to see concerts to buy a wristband that will grant them access. Only thing is that it's over 30 euros. No thank you. I can listen to unfamiliar Portuguese music on youtube just as easily, and for a lot less money.

As we walked up to the concert venue, we saw that very few people were crowding the stage. In typical laid-back Portuguese fashion, most of the concert goers, and even the band itself, were late. If they had been there on time, however, we probably wouldn't have found the bean bag chairs off to the side of the arena where we spent a good amount of time taking pictures and laughing at (or was it with...) other tourists. Later, we tried local Sangria (not the best) and headed for the boardwalk. Once there, we listened to a local group playing what I can only assume was traditional island folk music. Finally we drifted to the beach where we sat for hours, letting the sound of the ocean and the far-off music lull us to sleep. I headed back to the residencia around midnight to crash.

This morning we woke up around 10 and lazily got ready for a day in Biscoitos; by 1 we were on a bus headed to the northern side of the island. The first thing we did when we got to the village of Biscoitos, home to the prettiest beaches in the world (maybe even prettier than Ocracoke...but how can you compare apples to oranges, or in this case, rocks to sand?), was tour the wine museum. Though the island is too small to have typical vineyards, this village is known for its delicious wine because of its nontraditional way of growing the grapes. I'm not quite sure how it's done, but from what I gathered during our tour of the museum, the locals tie vines together and grow them straight up out of the ground? I'm still a little confused myself, and that explanation probably didn't enlighten you any. Anyway, after the tour we tried some of the local wine -- and left with our own bottle. I felt so cultured and worldly when we were trying our wine; I've wanted to go wine tasting in Italy for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, that cultured feeling faded into the doom of being a tourist as soon as we found the beaches. It felt like all 55,000 Terceirans and their brothers were at the beach today. Despite this, however, we managed to find a spot for our towels and backpacks on the concrete beach. All of the beach is made out of concrete or rock, creating these wonderful, albeit cold, pools with calmer water to swim in. Nicole and I tested out the temperature of the water by climbing on a cliff and diving into one of the pools. Such an adrenaline rush...we ended up doing in twice more, and if we had the time, we probably would've done it all day. It was the only way to feel comfortable in that frigid water.

We had to leave the beach shortly after getting there in order to catch our bus back to Angra, which, of course, was ten minutes late. Now we're back home, showered, and full, waiting for the evening's parade to kick off the start of Sanjoaninas. Our beloved discussion leader Sarah Ashby will be riding a horse in the parade, so look for pictures of her on the photobucket account! (I had to start using photobucket since I used up all the free space I could on flickr.)

More to come!

The Start of Sanjoaninas!

Today marks the first day of Sanjoaninas. You know how some things are so exciting that you never actually think they're going to arrive? This festival definitely feels like one of those things (not to mention this entire trip!). Tonight we're going to a free concert around 9:30, then we'll head over to Porto das Pipas for an evening of 80s Portuguese music, dancing, and drinking. Good times all around.

Today also marks that last day of my internship. It's been a fun five weeks shadowing inspectors and learning the ins and outs of local Angran politics. Reflecting back on what I've learned from my time in the town hall, I can say with certainty that I still want to work in the government. I'm well aware that island politics differ significantly from American politics, but I've also come to realize that they aren't too different...and it's been interesting to work as an insider, seeing how officials work for and against each other to push their agendas. One thing that persistently astounds me is the open-door policy of this city council. Literally. Any tourist, local, or mafia member could walk right into a government agency and take a peak at/steal confidential government information. Granted, there's not a mafia problem here and the people here really trust each other, and I think it's that trust that really solidifies the democracy. One of the biggest complaints at home is that we can no longer trust our politicians; here the people and the politicians seem to have a trusting symbiotic relationship: civilians trust each other and their politicians to provide for them, and the officials trust that the people will come to them if that trust is broken. (This latter part of the relationship seems to have been my job for the past five weeks.) This trust seems naive, and indeed it may be considering how young this democracy still is. But that's just what you're gonna get from a government established just under 40 years ago and condensed to a mere 55,000 people.

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After work yesterday, I drug my roommate Nedia to the beach with me for a little sunbathing (don't worry -- I've been slabbin' on the SPF). And again today I ventured out to the beach with Aisha, Ranjan, Vanessa, Fei Fei, Chris, and Erin, making this the third day in the row I've taken advantage of the island's lovely praias. What can I say? I'm a beach girl at heart (just ignore the fact that I burn after only 5 minutes outside). Right now the group is recuperating from our tiring (seriously) afternoon on the sand, gearing up to go out for a night of festivities. We're about to find out how the locals celebrate their saints...

Summer has officially arrived in the Azores.

The last three days here in Angra have been blissful. Finally the weather is beach-worthy, which we took advantage of this afternoon. But before I tell you the story of my multiplying freckles, let me fill you in on the rest of Monday and Tuesday.

After the rest of the APers returned from Sao Miguel on Monday afternoon, we had our weekly discussion with Sarah Ashby. This week we discussed The Green Islands Project, the MIT, MIT Portugal, and Portuguese government collaboration designed to cultivate new renewable energy sources. Their biggest accomplishment in the Azores has been the wind turbines located just east of us in Praia da Vitoria. Though these giant generators have only produced a small amount of energy for the island, they have created a fantastic starting place for the future of renewable energy on Terceira and the other eight islands. Another great aspect of the program has been the implementation of the three-tiered electricity bill. With this, residents pay different rates for electricity used at different times of the day. For example, because there is less of a need for lights during the day (as I mentioned before, it's daylight until 9 every night), the electric companies charge more to keep the lights, dishwashers, TVs, etc running. Unfortunately, the downside of this is that many families are unaware of this money-saving system and end up running the same amount of electricity anyway. Another downfall is that due to the island's small size, there is a monopoly on electric companies. And finally, while this project has been successful so far, its continued funding is not a high priority for a government currently attempting to fix its economy. See, I am learning something while I'm here...

What else have I been learning, you may be wondering. Well, let me tell you. Laura and I have really been investigating the style, enforcement, and maintenance of a small, isolated democracy seeped in tradition. What we've discovered has been both intriguing and, unfortunately, monotonous. On the intriguing side, we've seen how the city government devotes so much money and manpower to maintaining its long-standing traditions. Yesterday Laura and I followed Basillio around town, inspecting concert tents, food stands, and various other booths in preparation for the renown Sanjoaoninas festival. Having very little knowledge of the festival itself, I can say from its preparation that it is a big attraction, not only for locals, but also for foreigners (well, if you count the local's immigrant family members as foreigners). Sanjoaoninas is a capitalist's dream come true. Local businesses compete with booths set up by Spanish and (mainland) Portuguese companies invited to attend the festival. Aside from bringing in tourists and money, Sanjoaoninas seems to have this magical affect on the city. Ever since the first decorations went up along the streets, the city has been buzzing with excitement. For the first time since arriving in Angra, the city is alive. I feel so grateful to spend my last few weeks in the midst of all this excitement.

Another way the city manages to maintain its traditions in line with democracy is by sending out the inspectors to follow up on weekly touradas (or really, daily touradas). Today Duarte drove me around the city looking high and lo for the remains of any recent touradas. The people are allowed to have as many touradas as they wish, provided that they restore the streets by the next day. If not, the city is required to charge them a fee for each day they don't clean up after themselves. That seems pretty like a pretty democratic tradition to me.

After work yesterday, I ate lunch, read about a sentence in my book, and passed out until 5, when we were scheduled to meet with a manager for the Green Island Project. We spoke with him for over an hour about things I mentioned above (the environment and renewable energy aren't really my forte, so I had difficulty focusing during our conversation). After the meeting I returned to the dorm and ate dinner. Following dinner was an all-night event of brownie and cake making for the teacher appreciation day we were hosting at Laura's school. Laura, Nicole, and I stayed up until midnight mixing batter and baking delicious brownies (and licking the bowls, of course!). It was tempting to steal a few before they left for the school this morning, but I managed to contain myself.

This afternoon, after I was done with my morning tourada scavenger hunt, I found Nicole and joined Vanessa for a day on the beach. The sand may have been mixed with dirt, the water may have been freezing, the women may have been wearing incredibly disturbing thong bathing suits, but the weather was perfect. I cannot emphasize enough just how wonderful the day was. With a shining, clear blue sky (they always said God loved the Tar Heels because he made the sky Carolina blue), we fell asleep on our blankets, reading our novels and gossiping about the lack of attractive men on this island. Four hours later, we trekked back to the residencia, a few shades darker than when we left.

For the moment, everyone is eating at our favorite filet mignon joint, 1516. When they get back, I'll beg them to join me in an sunset viewing of the lunar eclipse. I'll let you know how that goes...

Hugs and kisses from the Azores,

Singer

The end to a very relaxing weekend.

I just know that the landscapes I saw this weekend will be the images that haunt me when I return to America. Fei Fei, Chris, and I spent so much time climbing forts, hanging out on the waterfront, and gallivanting across town that it will be impossible for me to forget those scenes when I'm back in North Carolina.

Yesterday the three of us set out for a dangerous exploration of the island's second Spanish-built fort. Essentially we scaled the walls of a giant stone structure. We probably weren't in our right minds when we did it (we're all still sick), but it didn't matter; we overcame our fear of heights and got some awesome battle wounds in the process.

It being a Sunday and all, we really didn't have many options for evening activities since the city basically shuts down on the holy day. Miraculously, Guarita, the lovely little supermarket a few blocks from our dorm, was open, allowing Fei Fei to purhcase the chocolate she'd been craving all day. To follow up our fort-climbing and chocolate-eating, though, we decided to eat out at this restaurant Chris had been eyeing for quite a while. It's part of a hotel overlooking the one beach in town, and has some one of the classiest menus in town to boot. So, we cleaned up and headed out for some filet mignons and chateaubriand steaks. I tried this delicious sea soup, served in a warm bread bowl, that would make even the OBX locals' mouths' water. After dinner Chris and I set out to find this American couple that he had met in Guarita a few days ago who lived right on the waterfront in this two story home. We failed in our quest to find them, but we spent the rest of the evening talking about life and friends and, what else, politics.

This morning we meant to go the local farmer's market early, but as it turns out, the market was closed due to holiday. I still couldn't tell you what today's holiday is, unfortunately. Anyway, walking over to the market turned out to be worth it after all because as we were headed back to our dorm, we saw the American couple drive by on their scooter. We ran after them, catching up to them right as they were about to go into their house, which they then invited us into. Now, this house, how can I explain it? In terms maybe only my mother would understand, this majestic, two-story mansion could put any Country Living spread to shame. You first enter the foyer, which is this beautiful stone entry way that looks like its meant to be used for the government. On either side of a huge stone staircase are two huge (I really cannot emphasis the grandeur of this place) apartments. The couple had inherited this home from the wife's family, who arrived on the island in the early 1600s as ship captains, but decided in the 1970s to sell one of the apartments to a local congressman to help pay for the daughter's education. The downstairs apartments are still being renovated. I honestly don't know how they're ever going to get around to finishing it all though, because the upstairs alone could keep a renovation team busy for five years. You can still smell the faint odor of horse dung in one of the rooms that was used as a stable back in the day. I swear, their house was like a walking museum, and I haven't even told you about the top floor yet.

The top floor is this spacious, ten bedroom apartment, fully furbished with the family heirlooms. Decorated with religious images, family portraits, and vintage obituaries, this place is an antiquer's dream. And the view! My god, the view is without a doubt the best in the entire city. Every room faces the waterfront, and some even show pieces of Monte Brazil and Goat Mountain. The view alone could make this house worth millions. Not to mention it's protected under the UNESCO Heritage Site contract so the couple will be re-compensated for their renovation work. I'm so glad I got to see this gorgeous summer home before leaving...almost makes me want to buy a house here in the future.

This evening we will have our discussion meeting with Sarah Ashby again, after which I'll be returning to the beach to enjoy this absolutely perfect weather. These last two weeks look promising in the temperature department, and I'm determined to take advantage of it. Look out for tan lines and freckles galore!

Singer

So many animals...

Today, the first day I've made it out of the residencia in what seems like a week, was surprisingly eventful and educational. I spent most of yesterday in bed, reading my latest novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't be in Sao Miguel with all my friends. Despite feeling congested and achy and suffering from a minor migraine when I woke up this morning, I was determined to get out of the freaking residencia for the day. I got up, made my bed and then breakfast, and rounded up the other two sickly stragglers for an afternoon of frolicking around town. Well, an afternoon of low-key museum cruising anyway. There was just one thing...I'm deathly afraid of museums. And the ocean. And of COURSE this museum was the perfect combination of museum and ocean. (Ever since seeing the original American flag in the Smithsonian and crying when I was younger I've been terrified of museum exhibits.) Luckily I had Fei Fei and Chris there to help me overcome these irrational fears.

After lunch the three of us trekked over to Museu do Angra do Heroismo, a beautiful, albeit infinitely large, building that was once a monastery, and is in fact still attached to the monk's original church. We spent the entire three hours that the museum was open exploring artillery from both world wars, showrooms of horse-drawn carriages, and the now-standard giant room full of Jesus statues (see pictures). The following is a list of activities from our time in the museum: played on iron skeletons of horses, climbed inside antique (circa 18th century) and overly ornate carriages, watched authentic (and quite possibly original) nickelodeons and silent films from turn-of-the-century Terceira, got lost in the midst of an ancient monastery, pretended to be soldiers on Sao Miguel's air force base, took pictures of Jesus, Mary, and friends in the most beautiful church I've ever seen, and learned the answers to so many of our questions about the island. For example, when I first met Basillio, he tried explaining why the second square in the town was named after pirates because they hid their "cereal" under the ground there...come to find out the locals dug holes in the ground and stored their grain in the ground during the harsh winter months. Gotta love that language barrier, right?

Aside from cringing every time we saw a glass box protecting a vintage dress, I had a surprisingly enjoyable afternoon. After the museum, we decided we were ravenous, and needed to eat before we keeled over and died. Sounds a little extreme, but exhibit hopping can really work up an appetite. The only reasonable solution to this was, obviously, to head on over to our favorite hamburger joint in the center of town. I ordered a hamburger, sat back, and let the good times roll. Seriously, though. I think Fei Fei and Chris make the best company because they're both so unique in the way they go about making conversation. Fei Fei is my lovely little Chinese immigrant, sometimes a little OCD (methodical may be a better word for it), but always loveable, while Chris is the funny, maybe a little loquacious, nursing student, full of good stories and wise words. If I had to stay behind on this weekend's beach trip, I'm glad it was with these two.

By 7 pm, an early dinner by Azorean standards, my stomach was full of beef, fries, and an oh-so delicious Magnum double caramel chocolate bar. (I've pretty much given up on trying to eat healthy here. Having to constantly count calories is distracting me from having fun; I'll work on getting fit when I move back to the real world.) We left the restaurant and began walking back to our dorm. When we got to the big peach church, we saw this old dog limping towards us. Of course I walked up to it and started showering it with attention...until Chris noted its back leg was shaking uncontrollably. We waited for it to lay down, but the poor thing was in so much pain that it took about two minutes just to get its back legs on the ground. We were going to get it water or call animal control until we realized none of us had phones on us nor did we know a store that was open where we could purchase water and a bowl. Unfortunately the only thing we could do was leave it at the foot of the church steps and hope that it wouldn't follow us when we walked away. It was probably one of the saddest moments I've had on the island...you know how I am whenever an animal is suffering.

Luckily Chris and I saw many other happy, healthy dogs later in the night to make up for that sickly one. We dropped Fei Fei off and headed on over to the garden to see one of the evening's touradas. One thing y'all should know about summertime in Angra is that there are, at least, three festas, touradas, and processions in a full day, all preceded and followed by loud, thunderous firecrackers to indicate the start and end of one of these events. I wake up every morning to the wonderful sound of a gun firing as my alarm clock. It's like living in Syria, but without the threat of dying if you step outside. So this evening we followed the fireworks to the top of the garden where a small crowd had gathered around the edge of the peak overlooking the street. Chris and I talked about life things while we waited for our bull to make his appearance, and when he finally did, we didn't even have to pause our conversation. This tourada was much more laid-back than any I'd previously attended, and for this I was grateful considering I'm still not fully (even remotely) recovered from my cold/allergies/flu. This tourada was also located in a more middle-class neighborhood, resulting in a smaller and less rambunctious (read: drunk) crowd. It might have been raining earlier in the day, but as the weather on this island so often does, temperatures rose and the sun actually started shining around 8. Once the bulls were safely secured in their boxes, Chris and I took a walk down some streets I hadn't explored before. We passed a wall where a twitchy cat was purring for attention...we couldn't resist the adorable look in its eye. We scratched its belly, played with its tail, and cooed baby voices for about ten minutes before making our way back to the garden to watch the sunset over the city. By 10 pm we were back in the residencia and on our laptops.

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Since last week, I've been struggling to answer the question, "in what ways has this trip changed me?" Everyone always says traveling abroad is a life-changing experience, but I think I've taken that too literally (per usual) and tried to figure out just how I've been changed while still on the trip. Well, let me just go ahead and say that's not the best way to go about discovering the answer...perhaps a little too preemptive, haha. Last night, while I sat in bed throwing myself a pity party for being sick, I unexpectedly learned a little about myself. Chris and Nedia, my wonderful 24-year-old roommate from Mozambique, dragged me out of bed for herbal tea (to help cure my sore throat). From midnight until 2 am, the three of us sat in the kitchen and talked politics until my eyelids wouldn't lift themselves anymore. To describe how this affected me, I must first explain the dynamics of the discussion. Nedia, the animal studies girl, quietly watched Chris and I debate women's rights issues until she was asked her opinion (mainly by me). Having lived in Mozambique for most her life, and studied in Brazil and now Portugal (not to mention she dates a guy from Spain), she has a lot of different perspectives and was glad to share them with us. Chris, on the other hand, while not as worldly, had age on his side. His arguments were grounded in personal experiences and philosophies. And then there was me, the barely third-year college student with limited actual knowledge of politics and even more limited knowledge of current events. Between the three of us, however, we managed to have one of the best debates I've had since coming to college. I learned more in those two hours than I could've been taught by my favorite political science professor in an entire semester. For one, I realized that just because I don't follow every media site on Twitter or read every Economist article ever published doesn't mean I'm not informed. Nor does it mean I'm not passionate, because surprisingly I'm full of passion I didn't know I had. Secondly, I discovered that there is such a thing as healthy debate, and it's called discussion. People can have different opinions and still enjoy each other's company (and not leave the conversation in a heated fit). This may seem like common sense, though if we're being honest, I never really had a lot of that, but it was just one of those things I had to realize on my own. Another important discovery I made was that I'm actually capable of putting up a good fight. Until now I constantly worried about being an incompetent pre-law student. I may not have all the facts, but let's face it, there isn't really an honest "fact" out there. Which is another thing I realized: politics is essentially a game of who can construe the facts well enough to convince a large enough portion of the electorate to vote for their candidate or campaign for their issue. But this game is exactly WHY I love politics so much. I hate reading/listening to the news, hearing stories with slanted opinions that could very well be portrayed in an entirely different light, but I love learning what motivates politicians/the media to do this. My final lesson, therefore, is that politics isn't just about staying on top of the issues. For God's sake, even the most well-versed senators and representatives don't know everything about every policy. That's why they have a large staff full of researchers and specialists. Politics is an intersection of so many different mechanisms: the media, businesses/corporations, unions, NGOs, international finance ministries, etc. How can anyone be expected to understand, let alone incorporate reasonably, all areas?! The weight of this stress is unbearable. Hence the reason my degree in politics has the potential for so many post-graduate avenues: law, clearly the first and foremost, but also any number of fields outside the government. After last night's discussion with Nedia and Chris, I'm actually looking forward to completing my undergraduate degree. Not that I wasn't before, but worrying about 1) being a qualified debater (which I now realize will come with time) and 2) being a qualified debater in current events always depressed me. However, now, more than ever, I know what part of politics intrigues me and will inspire me to keep learning.

I'm coming to the conclusion that I may not ever know how much this trip has changed me until I'm older (and hopefully wiser!). But I can say I'm grateful for how much I've already learned, heard, read, discovered, and witnessed since coming here. I just want to keep traveling the world and meet new people with different experiences and continue learning! Actually, what I want is to take back this new passion for learning and discovery and apply it to life back in North Carolina. That would be the true test of what I've learned here, wouldn't it?

___

PS: Check out the updated flickr page for pictures of our daily adventures :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/62934865@N02/?saved=1