Paris visit today included a visit to the business district (snooze) but recovered with a visit to the Doctors without Borders office and a private wine tasting and boat cruise on the Seine River complete with float past Eiffel Tower.  Doug and I are were both on the river today but his included a new raft on the San Juan and mine was a three-course meal on a fancy boat.  Not sure who got the best deal.  T-minus three more days until I fly home.

 One more shot of Prague--this was the view from my hotel room--pretty amazing.

Eiffel tower this evening from the boat tour.

Prague in a few photos

Walking across Charles Bridge-

 A visit a Chateau outside of Prague

These are the special shoes we had to wear to not damage the floors of the chateau--I'm going to make Doug where these in our new house.

Post on Greek Education System

One more day in Prague and then we'll be in Paris by tomorrow evening.  It has been an interesting several days in Prague but the days here have been very long and a little over-planned so I'll be glad to have a free day when we arrive in Paris to unwind a bit before we head home on Sunday. 

Here is a link to a recent blog post that I wrote for the German Marshal Fund on the Greek Education system.  I have been having lots of great adventures and learning something along the way as well.

http://blog.gmfus.org/2013/03/26/lean-into-it-in-a-severe-economic-crisis-can-education-provide-a-solution/

Prague....Brr...

Whirlwind first couple days in Prague including arrival on Friday and a day-long visit with an old friend from Carolina—Ben Levenson.  Ben has been living here for several years and he and his new wife Lucia took me all around the town including Prague Castle, Golden Lane, the Charles Bridge, and Old Town Square and everywhere in between.  Was great to have a local tour guide and even better to catch up with an old friend.

Today we headed out of the city to South Bohemia and visited two different towns includes Ceske Budejovice and Pisek.  We met with the mayor and the Rector of the University of South Bohemia as well as toured an NGO that serves the Roma community and several historical sites in between.

Prague equals meat and beer and this is not an easy town unless you like to eat meat and lots of it.  Went to a local restaurant today and the name was literally “meat shop” Have already sampled beef stroganoff, duck, schnitzel, and dumplings. 

A couple pics are posted below.  We are here until Wednesday and then arrive at our last stop in Paris.

 

Charles Bridge at night from our cruise

Crew in Prague--Karen from NY, Hill from Atlanta, Greg from LA and Sarah from Alaksa

PS: Back to freezing, cold weather!

A few photos of Athens..

Parethenon on a sunny day!

Team Athens at the Acropolis

By day meeting with the former Ministy of Education, by night partaking in a greek cultural wonder--Bouzokia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightclubs_in_Greece).

Athens!

Athens

“That’s what makes Athens so special, you are not struck by its beauty when you arrive, but you are enchanted by the daily small discoveries you make walking through its streets. “

It has been an enchanting several days in Athens after arriving by way of Copenhagen, Denmark on Monday. The reality of Athens and Greece is a country facing a severe crisis with over 27% unemployment including almost 6 out of 10 youth unable to find jobs.  You see this on the streets, with many shops closed and a general, constant worry about a very uncertain future.  Yet, the city truly does enchant—it is warm, welcoming, relaxed and friendly. It is also loud, dirty, and feels smaller than you think until you climb up to the Acropolis and see the nearly millions of people who live here.

Our meetings have included several presentations to better help us understand the economic crisis and the difficult immigration circumstances.  Their immigration, drastically different than the US’s relationship with Mexico, includes immigrants that come by sea and land with no intention to settle in Greece.  But, Afghanistan and Syrian immigrants find that making a transition into another country in the EU is nearly impossible.  In essence, they are trapped in a country that they only intended to be a transition point .With a lack of NGO’s or educators with similar backgrounds, they struggle incredibly to integrate or find a way in this new place.

We’ve had a chance to have meals with several MMF alumni who have been wonderful and a highlight of all of our visits so far.  And, today we tackled the Acropolis.  The rock on the hill delivered and provided an incredible lesson in Ancient Greek Civilization.  Our tour guide did a great job weaving in the stories of ancient God’s and Goddesses along with some more current information regarding the Acropolis’ role in WWII and in the most recent Olympics.

Sadly, we’ve only got one more day here and then we head to Prague on Friday.  Looking forward to Prague but very sad to leave this incredible place. Hope to post more about the education appointments that I’ve had in the city soon.

My camera batter died so pictures to follow when I can get them uploaded.

Some photos!

 Lopez somewhere in the middle of Brussels

 Amsterdam (XXX is there logo) loves bikes1

 Meeting at the Parliament!

 Tin Tin art

 Visiting bike depository in Amsterdam

View from Parliament building...

XXX hearts bikes!

We arrived to Amsterdam on Wednesday the 13th and were immediately charmed by the warmth, beauty and SUNNY streets of Amsterdam.  I'm not quite sure what I expected to find, but this is a place where I could spend much more than the time we are here for over the next few days.

We've had presentations on the challenges of diversity including a focus on women's right, GLBT issues and the growing tensions among the Muslim community and the dutch.  Amsterdam is a very inclusive city where the general motto is live and let live, but it would be wrong to say that the city is without it's community tensions.

For those that don't know A'dam is a city where there are nearly 800,000 people and there are almost as many bicycles (500,000).  The entire city commutes to and from by bike and it is just incredible.  We had the chance to visit the bicyle repository where bikes that are stolen or abandoned arrive.  Adults with learning and physical disabilities restore thousands and thousands of bikes each year and bikes that arrive here are reclaimed, recycled and sold back to bike shops.  It is quite the operation.

Today we travelled to the Hague to visit the international criminal courts and were actually able to sit in on a portion of a trial.  We also had the opportunity to visit parliament and visit with a member of the VVD party (the "liberals" which here in the Netherlands are socially liberal and fiscally very conservative).  Had a chance to talk about issues ranging from the education system to immigration policy and everything in between.

Tomorrow is a trip to Flavoland to visit a dairy farm and learn about renewable energy efforts as well.

Sorry, I haven't written more--we literally start every morning around 8 and don't finish up most nights before 10:30. 

Next post will be some photos!

All,

Sorry I haven't posted yet. It has been go, go, go since we arrived here in Brussels. I am quickly beginning to understand why other Fellows have shared that any chance you get 1-2 hours of free time, you usually go back to your hotel room and take a nap!

We arrived on Saturday morning and our city coordinator tooks us on a walking tour all around Belgium--we started on noon and didn't return to our hotel until around 7:30.   Brussels is an incredibly beautiful city full of old history, historic buildings and incredible chocolate, waffles and beer. On Sunday we took a train to the Ghent a city in the Flemish region of the country. While we did stage a minor rebellion to stop our walking tour to get additional layers of hats and gloves (it is freezing here), we really enjoyed the walking tour.

The colleagues that I am travelling with are all quite intriguing and accomplished folks from across the US. We have fellows representing Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Alaska, Atlanta, and California in our group. There are actually four other people who work in Philanthropy.

Some funny moments have included the many confusing to figure out (to us) washrooms.  More than one of us has walked into the wrong restroom and also not being able to figure out how the entire facility works.  More later –we’re off to the EU for the day!

Pictures soon!

Off we go...or not so much

My flight that was to depart for DC this morning has been cancelled due to the storm that has been labeled "Snowquester 2013," although I've already received multiple reports that this was the storm that wasn't.  We're scheduled for two days of orientation at the German Marshall Fund Office but I won't be arriving until tomorrow evening.  Didn't think the travel obstacles would occur here in the US, but hopefully if all goes well, I will be on a flight for Brussels on Friday evening.

Was also shocked to hear the news yesterday of Hugo Chavez' death in Venezuela.  Whether you loved him or hated him, you can't argue that he was a loud  and charismatic voice for the poor and disenfranchised in his country and across the world.  I will be interested to dialogue with European leaders about how he was perceived and received in their countries. 

Still reporting from Denver, Colorado---J-Lo.