Reflection of Great Cities Study Abroad:

Well just like that I am sitting here at home safe and sound after what was an eventful three weeks. When I first started on my journey across Europe I didn't know what to expect. When I arrived in Berlin I got there two days before my program started, and was able to adventure on my own for those two days. When I arrived at the airport in Berlin I was hesitant at first to hail a taxi because I couldn't speak any German at all, but this very nice lady who's name I forget could tell that I was nervous waved at me and told me to come over towards her taxi. So with that I decided to walk over to her and thankfully she spoke English very fluently. She asked me where I was going and I pointed out to her that I was headed to The Ambassador Hotel in Berlin. She said that she had been there many times and was happy to take me over there. So we went over to the hotel, and the entire time that we were riding, she would tell me what this place and that place were. We finally ended up at the hotel and I tipped her and thanked her for all of the information that she gave me. Following that, I checked into the hotel that I was staying in for the two days prior to the start of my program. During those two days I could not believe all of the things that I got to do and see.

The first day that I was there I really didn't get to do much aside from getting food and sleeping. But the first night that I was there was rather interesting. That first night when I walked out, I was greeted with the smells of bratwurst and all other kinds of street food that was being made in these little shacks. The smells just lured me in like a fish to a well-baited hook. Finally when I stopped and got a bite to eat I was fortunate to have what they call currywurst, which is essentially a bratwurst, smothered in curry and BBQ sauce. I mean I had eaten bratwurst before but this was a whole different experience just because it was authentic German street food. Following that I got to experience the feeling of jet lag, which in my mind was not the greatest feeling in the world, I didn't end up getting out of bed until one in the afternoon the next day which was New Years Eve.

New Years Eve in Berlin was absolutely amazing. I ended up going to a place that my cab driver showed me the day before. This was an old church that had been bombed out during the Second World War. What was so amazing to me about this place was that the bells and the clock were luckily preserved and whenever the clock would strike an hour closer to 12 o’clock midnight there would be a display of fireworks. By the time the clock struck 11 the area that I was in was completely packed. I mean people were elbow-to-elbow and shoulder-to-shoulder. People were drinking and talking and just enjoying each other's company it truly was what the meaning of the season was all about. Before I knew it the clock struck 12 and everyone around was hugging, kissing, and making toasts welcoming in the New Year. In an instant this all ended when the fireworks began and everyone's attention turned to the skies as what in my mind was one of the greatest firework displays I had ever seen took place. The sound of the church clock ringing in the background almost drowning out the sound of the pops and crackles that followed the bursts of light given off by the fireworks was truly amazing.

Following this I made my way back to the hotel in which the city sounded like a war zone due to all of the bangs and fireworks that were being set off in the streets. That whole night was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to me and one that I will never forget. Following this began the first part of my study abroad program and the first city of the program.

For the few days that we were in Berlin we became aquatinted with everyone that was part of the trip, and had some amazing tours. With the assistance of our tour guide J.B. we saw everything that Berlin had to offer, in which some of those things were very emotional to me. The two things that were the most emotional to me were the Locations of the first mass grave that was created during the first events of the Holocaust, and the German Stasi Prison that I got to tour. The first of these two was the mass grave. The reason that this was so emotional to me was because of the fact that you can always read words and numbers in a book, but you don't really feel anything by that you have to go and witness these places to fully get the understanding that yes there were this many people here and they all died and were placed here to be "swept under the rug."

The Second of these two places that I saw was the German Stasi prison that housed many people that were trying to escape the Eastern side of Berlin during the time of the Berlin Wall. With the testimony that we heard from one of the survivors of this prison, and the tour that we had was a very emotionally unique experience. There was a movie that I watched during the orientation of the program titled "The Lives of Others" before the trip began and this was about a man who was a playwright that was living on the east side who was under continuous surveillance by the German police due to the fact that they thought he was trying to promote what we know as freedom. This movie had parts of it filmed in the very location that we toured. There was one part of this prison that had a very mind bending feeling and that was the interrogation rooms. In the scenes of the movie there were parts that there were interrogations that were taking place, and the interrogators would use any mind games that they saw fit to get whatever information they needed out of the inmates. When I walked through these rooms I could feel nothing but the feeling that something was trying to be forced out of me like that of those who were being interrogated. Along with that, the survivor that spoke to us said that is what it felt like every time you had to sit in those chairs. So when I go back and watch that movie, I have a better understanding as to what those being interrogated went through. The last thing that really hit home was when we were in an absinthe bar and we were talking to a guy that lived on Eastern side of the wall, and he said that It really did feel like you were being watched 24/7.  

The next Location that was on our trip was the great city of Budapest in Hungary. Let me be the first to say that during the train ride over we the ones that I was sharing a cart with became laterally close friends. There were five of us all piled into these 5 little bunks that compared to our side were like giants laying on a pack of chewing gum. Nevertheless, we made lemonade out of lemons. We had stocked up on food and drinks and by halfway through the more than 10-hour ride, we were all just as relaxed as can be. I mean there was even a time that we had about 10 of us in one cart all partying it up all the way to Budapest.

While in Budapest, we had lectures, tours, and plenty of free time in between. There were two things from this city that I really took away with me and three if you count the hot baths. The first of the three was the tour that I took to what is known as the "House of Terror." This was a museum of what those had to go through following the Second World War. Following World War II, what we know as the Iron Curtain went up and divided the West and the East. All of those who were imprisoned in the concentration camps returned home, but due to "unforeseen circumstances" went into labor camps that many know as "The Gulag." These labor camps were developed to house those who were known to be against the Soviet regime. It was very sad for me to hear this because of the fact that the few that were able to withstand the torment of the concentration camps had to basically do it all over again. The people in the Gulag barely had anything. They worked extreme hours, had very little clothing to keep warm, and didn't get to have but about a half-minute to wash up a week. Many of those who survived the Holocaust did not have the same luck here.

The second thing that I really took away from the second city was the lectures that we received. There were two in particular that really had my attention. The first was on a group known as the Roma. The Roma was a group of people that had really no origin, and were nomadic, meaning they just stayed on the move. It was interesting to me to hear about them because it reminded me of my own Native American heritage. Based on how they had been treated and how they were a minority I really could show a lot of feeling and understanding due to what happened to my culture.

The second lecture that really interested me was from a guy that was a native to the country, and it was amazing as to how much pride he had for being from this country. It really gave me a lot more appreciation for being from the U.S. due to the fact that there hasn't been a major conflict on our own soil since the Civil War. Following all the lectures and tours we had a free day in Budapest. This was one of the most amazing days that I had on the trip. Me and a big group of people went to what we had been waiting for the entire time in Budapest, and that was the hot baths.

We went there and had the most amazing time. We set one foot into the water and were instantly melted by the warmth of the water. We sat around in that side of the baths for a while and then decided to move over to the other side, which at first was a major mistake. When we got out of that water I literally thought that my body was going to freeze, but when we got to the other side and took one step in the water we thought we were going to boil due to the water's natural steaming warmth. This part of the trip was truly the highlight of the first half of the trip.

With the first half of the program over we made our way to the next half with our first stop being in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This city was the most unique out of the four that I toured. The reason for that is because of all of the conflict that had occurred almost two decades before. When I walked down the narrow streets, it is hard not to go by a building that isn't riddled by bullet holes from the war that tore the city apart. The first full day that we were in Sarajevo did not disappoint. We had a briefing at the U.S. Embassy, which I really got a lot out of. The one thing that really concerned me is that the peace treaty that was developed during the war back in the early to mid 1990s is what the government is using for the constitution. The peace treaty, which is known as the Dayton Accord, was the peace treaty that was developed to end the war between the two ethnic groups. This is a major concern for me because when we went to the presidency in Bosnia, the advisor referred to the document as the Dayton Constitution. I have a hard time with this because due to this they cannot do anything to amend the document because they treat the agreement as a living-breathing document. What I mean by this is that the document is the only thing that stands in the way of them being able to do anything for their people.

But what really upset me the most about what was said about this was that I felt that the document was being blamed for not being able to get anything new done, and that the National Community was being held responsible. When I was at the embassy, I was told that some of the officials there in Bosnia did feel this way, but it was completely different to hear someone talk about the issues in the way that the advisor did. There was one last place that we toured while we were there that was really monumental to me. This was the site where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.

Being there and seeing this location was really an experience to me because when thought about, it is where the spark of World War I took place, which was followed by World War II, which was followed by the Cold War. So when I think about it, to me it is where one event took place that sparked almost a century of conflict. And there is basically nothing there now but a museum on the corner of the street. But there was one question that lingered in my head then and still does and that if there will be any increased sense of nationalism since it is the centennial of World War I. I guess only tile will tell. Before the last city on our agenda, we stopped at a place in Srebrenica where the Bosnian Genocide took place.

This was extremely overpowering emotionally for me because of the nature of this tour. A survivor of this event greeted us and he told us his story and how he was able to escape, and what it was like to be a part of that horrible event in which the bodies are still being discovered from. I remember when the tour was over and after seeing those images of the graves and the events that plagued the people involved I went back to the bus and silently wept as I prayed for those that were lost and that could still be lost out there somewhere. It is something that I had never heard about until this trip. It was really something that I will never forget. Following this we made our trek to the last city on the agenda, which was Belgrade.

In my opinion this city was just as equally unique as the city of Sarajevo. This city looked like it had been barely touched by all of the conflict that plagued the other cities that we had visited. During the lectures that we had we learned the history of the city, and how they were trying to get into the European Union. I feel bad for Serbia because they are going through the hardest part of the process now and it looks kind of iffy. There were so many lectures on this topic that I couldn’t keep up with them but they all had the same premise that Serbia needed to join, but the people need to be able to take care of themselves too. The EU is not going to magically solve all of their problems. I couldn’t agree with this more due to the fact that it prevents the event of moral hazard by the country to take place. What I mean by that is that the country has to work and not expect to have everything handed to them. Following the lectures the rest of the days in the evening were free for us to do whatever we wanted. We took this time to get gifts as well as explore the city. Before we knew it though the few days that we had in our last country were over and we were back in the States and that was it.

Now as I look back over all of the countries that I have been to the one thing above all else that I took away from my experience it that we are lucky to be from where we are. I mean look at what all of the countries that I toured went through. It was all within the past 100 years, and compared to the United States it’s only a drop in the bucket. I mean there has been so much conflict from each of these regions that it is really hard not to be appreciative of where I am from. I was very fortunate to have been a part of this program I have a whole new perspective on things regarding the countries that I visited, and I met some amazing people. It was truly in every sense of the term once-in-a-lifetime.