As Easter Approaches . . .

So does PARIS!!!  I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, but this year I have chosen to ignore any sense of responsibility that may be lurking in my being, shrug off work for a weekend and speed off to Paris for my miniscule Easter break!  And you know what?  I couldn't be more excited.  Sure, I haven't started writing my thesis yet.  Sure, I still have three papers and two presentations to turn in.  And sure, Eurostar isn't exactly throwing free tickets my way.  But who cares!  I am finally getting the chance to take a weekend trip, and to one of my favorite places in the world.  And get this: not only will I be in one of my favorite places, I will be spending the break with two of my very favorite people!  Sally and Sarah are meeting me there for a weekend filled with crêpes, café au lait, Eiffel Tower sparkles, and even Disneyland Paris!  That's right people, I am going to Disneyland.  (Insert high-pitched squeal here).  We are going to relive some of our favorite memories from our 2007 semester abroad in Versailles and just do a who lotta nothing.  I couldn't be happier.  But don't worry, we have not completely forgotten about the resurrection.  We will be going to church on Sunday followed by a lovely afternoon of doing whatever the heck we want.  If by this point you can't tell I am excited, then I suggest you stop reading now.
It will be so nice to get out of Bruges for a few days and go somewhere truly familiar.  There are so many things I want to do, I am not sure we will be able to pack them into 3.5 days.  That won't stop me from trying, though.  The only things standing between me and the City of Lights are a paper for Transatlantic Relations and a revised thesis outline.  But these will get done.  And then, dear readers, then, I will finally be headed for France!  I have missed France a lot since coming back almost three years ago.  Since arriving in Belgium, I continually lament the fact that my French is getting worse living in Flanders and that we are so close to the border yet there is almost no cultural influence.  So I will just have to get my fill this weekend.  So have a wonderful and blessed Easter everyone!  I will write again soon to fill you in on my adventures.

Peace, Love, and French Waffles.

Song of the Week: 18

I cannot believe I almost forgot to post the song of the week today!  Especially since I have had it on repeat on my iPod ALL WEEK.  Seriously, I can't get enough of this song.  I am actually quite angry that it is such a short song.  It should be at least 7 minutes long.  I will have to alert the band.
Anyway, for this week's selection I must give credit to Eric Halvorsen of the band A Rocket to the Moon.   One of the things I love most about all of the social media I keep up with is the fact that I can follow most of my favorite bands' members on various sites like Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, etc.  It's a great way to keep up with tour schedules, contests, free downloads and all sorts of other fun stuff.  Most of the time, they post a lot of new music; stuff they like, new releases, old stuff they want their fans to know about and a whole lot of really cool, obscure indie/rock stuff that you would never hear on the radio.  Eric posted this weeks song a few days ago and I downloaded it immediately.  It is fabulous, as is the entire album.  And can I just say that I think I have a new love for banjos?  They are pretty much one of the coolest instruments in the world.  So please listen to "Generator (First Floor)" by Freelance Whales.  And if you are interested in expanding your horizons beyond what the masses are forced to listen to, then I encourage you to create a Tumblr, join Twitter, and start following your favorite bands! Because music is so much more than Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Justin Bieber.

Peace, Love, and Waffles.

I've Had My Camera Out Again . . .

"Tiny Dancers"

"Bike About Town"

Happy International Waffle Day!

Did you know that today, March 25, is International Waffle Day?!  I sure didn't, that is, until I received an email from a reader today wishing me a happy International Waffle Day!  Apparently, it originated in Sweden, although details are unclear as to why.  Honestly, though, the why does not really matter in the end.  What matters is that some soul out there cared about waffles enough to set aside an entire day in their honor.  At least some people have their priorities in order.  I know I am a little late on this one, but I am excited nonetheless!  I wish I had known about it before.  I would have gone out and treated myself to a delectable warm waffle with banana pieces on top.  YUM!  Actually, I had one of those yesterday.  Unfortunately, it does not count.  So I guess I will just have to make up for my ignorance tomorrow and visit my favorite waffle stand.  Alas, poor me.  In the meantime, here are some fun waffle facts:*

• Waffle Houses across America  have, since their 1955 founding, served more than 495,264,367 waffles.
• Eggo waffles were sold in supermarkets for the first time in 1953.
• Today is International Waffle Day;  August 24 is National Waffle Day (which was created to celebrate the first American patent on a waffle Iron in 1869), and the first week of September is National Waffle Week ( I wish I had know about this one too).
• Each year Waffle House customers eat more than 334,000 pounds of pecans in their waffles. That is more than 21 million pecans.
• Waffles originated in the Middle Ages when batter was cooked by being pressed between two hot irons.  
• There are several types of waffles.  The most common are: American (which use baking powder), Belgian (which use yeast), Hong Kong Style (served as a street snack), and Scandinavian style (thin and heart-shaped).  
• Without waffles, we would not have ice cream cones.  At the 1904 World Fair exhibition in St. Louis, MO (yeah, that's right.  St. Louis!!!!), Ernest Hamwi, a waffle vendor, offered his warm waffles rolled in a conical shape to a nearby ice-cream vendor who had run out of dishes. 

Well, I suppose that is enough waffle history for today. I hope you enjoyed the object lesson.  Also, I would love it if you would leave a comment on the blog listing your favorite waffle toppings!  Then we can see which are the most popular.  

Peace, Love, and Waffles,

Ali

*All facts and figures were taken from:

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/peopleandplaces/local_story_083205956.html

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/icecreamcone.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle

Song of the Week: 17

Happy Saturday readers!  I cannot believe it has already been a week since I have been back from Poland.  Time is flying!  I have mixed feelings about this, but won't get into that now.  This post is dedicated to music today and boy do I have something good lined up for you.  So, a few weeks ago, the owner of the American Café let me borrow a DVD to watch because I was tired of all of mine.  I chose "Away We Go" with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph.  It is a terribly cute movie that explores the definition of "family."  I would totally recommend renting/buying it immediately (Warning: You must enjoy quirky independent-type films to appreciate this movie).  The icing on the cake for me was the soundtrack.  I fell in love with it.  When I looked it up on iTunes, I discovered that one artist had done the whole thing.  I love this concept.  If you have ever seen "Into the Wild" (Eddie Vedder) or "Dan in Real Life" (Sondre Lerche) then you know what a fabulous addition a single artist soundtrack is to a film.  Every song belongs and it really helps the story to flow.  The soundtrack to "Away We Go" was done by Alexi Murdoch.  It's a little bit folksy, highly reflective, and so easy to get swept up in.  He has so many fantastic songs out, but today's choice is called "Orange Sky." Now have a listen and tell me you haven't found the next addition to your music library.

PS, listen to the entire album and watch the movie too!  :)

Peace, Love, and Waffles.

Help, Please!

Ok guys, I need some help.  I am in the process of naming my pictures from my 100 photo challenge.  As the title says, there are 100 pictures and I am running out of cool names.  So if any of you come up with some creative short and simple titles for the photos, send me the picture and your title in an email.  I can't tell you what it's for yet, but I'll let you know soon.  I would really appreciate the creative help!  Thanks!

Send all emails to: ali.pauluhn@gmail.com

Peace, Love, and Waffles.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Thanks for the Mail

I always love opening my mailbox to find a letter or a postcard waiting inside.  I know I have expressed my love for mail enough on this blog already, but I just can't help it.  Mail is the best invention ever.  Period.  Today I want to send a special thanks to Julie Wells (and Fletcher and Ben too) for the wonderful card they sent me!  It was my first real response to my Post 100 challenge and Julie had drawn 100 tiny hearts on the inside of the card.  So cute, such a great idea, and very much appreciated!  So thank you guys!  The card really brightened my day.  Also thanks to Sally for the postcard from Colmar.  Pen pals rock!
As always, the Post 100 challenge is still going on.  Send me a card with 100 hearts, a box filled with 100 M&Ms, or even just a postcard from wherever you are in the world.  I will post a picture of your letter and then send you a postcard from Bruges.  So grab a stamp and join the movement.  At the end of the year I want to be able to take a picture of my correspondence wall (where I hang every card, letter and postcard sent to me this year) and have it be FULL!
Thanks to all of you who have sent me packages and letters and cards.  It means a lot to know that I have so many friends waiting for me on the other side of the Atlantic.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Peace, Love, and Irish Waffles.

Song of the Week: 16

There is one reason and one reason only that this song has made it as this weeks song of the week (and no, it is not due to Heath Ledger's notorious rendition in "10 Things I Hate About You").  It is the simple fact that I have not been able to get it out of my head for the past two weeks.  I am not exactly sure when the entire IRD department started singing it.  It may actually have  been on that horrid train ride to Krakow.  When it began does not matter much now because since then, it has been creeping up on us until we find ourselves bursting madly into the chorus.  We've sung it on buses, we've shouted it across the Natolin campus, and we even attempted it in the Brussels airport.  Alexandra and I find ourselves bursting into song simultaneously and it always happens to be this one.  So, in an attempt to give it due credit as well as rid it from my brain (at least temporarily) please listen to Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You."  Good luck.

Peace, Love, and Waffles.

Some Favorites

I know the last post was a bit serious, as it should be.  But Poland was a great trip.  I had a lot of fun with my friends and discovered some new cities and sites definitely worth visiting again.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.  Enjoy!

Auschwitz

Most of you will have already seen the pictures, but I think they deserve an accompanying post. On Saturday, in the midst of our visit to Krakow, I had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz.  Oddly enough, it was a place to which I have always wanted to go.  I know that sounds strange, but I have always been fascinated by the holocaust and have read dozens of books over the years on the subject.  I think my fascination stemmed from the fact that I could never quite understand how such a thing could have happened.  I was moved by the stories of the survivors, but even more so by the stories of those who never had the chance to write their account.  I remember scanning the faces in pictures and wondering "what were they thinking" as they were marched off to the gas chambers.  I also remember wondering why didn't more of them survive?  Why didn't they fight harder for their lives?  Why didn't someone do something to end what was clearly insanity?  Auschwitz answered these questions for me, but in a way I hope never to experience again.
It is an impressive place, actually.  The organization of the whole operation is astounding.  Each building, each guard post, each brick had its own sinister function that contributed to the greater operation that can only be described as a bureaucracy of extermination.  The Nazi's business was death and they were good at it.  I am not sure that at any other point in history any group has devoted so much time and energy to extinguishing life and certainly no one did it as efficiently as the Nazis.  It is simultaneously sickening and fascinating to wander the blocks of Auschwitz.  Even as a shell of its former self,  containing only remnants of the pain and horror it once represented, Auschwitz is a horrible place.  It is also a very quiet place.  It's as if history itself is ashamed of what happened there.  I was ashamed.  Earlier I stated that Auschwitz had answered some of the questions my history books never could.  I said that I used to wonder why more people didn't try harder to survive.  I used to try and imagine what I would have done had I ever been sent to a concentration camp.  I imagined myself a survivor, being resourceful, resilient, strong.  Now I know that I would not have survived.  Not only that, but at a certain point during my visit, I realized that I would not have wanted to.  It is a hopeless place.  That is the best way to describe it.  It not only extinguished the lives of over one million people, it extinguished their hope.  Pictures line the walls of several hallways in Auschwitz I, denoting a prisoner and listing their date of entrance and date of death.  The average survival time was about three months.  Three months was all it took.  And I am certain despair overcame many long before death brought relief.
It was -12 degrees celsius (10 degrees fahrenheit) the day we visited.  I was dressed warmly, with a coat, hat, leggings under my jeans, and two pairs of gloves for my hands.  One hour outside was enough to numb my hands and feet and chill me to the bone.  One hour outside was enough to convince me that, had I been a prisoner, I would have welcomed death in a matter of weeks, not months.
There were many terrible things to see at Auschwitz, but a few stand out.  First there were the gallows.  Such a simple structure.  Next there was the prison block where disobedient prisoners were either locked in starvation cells until they died (their carvings can still be seen on the walls), forced to stand overnight in dark, crowded 'standing cells' or suffocated to death in the 'dark cell' where thirty or so people would be packed with no access to fresh air.  Then there was the execution wall - a brick wall outside of the prison block where prisoners were shot daily for manufactured crimes.  Finally and most frightening of them all was the gas chamber.  A large grassy hill with a chimney is all that one sees from the outside.  But the inside is a place of terror.  I stood in a room that saw the deaths of thousands of people.  I walked in as they would have, the only difference being that I was able to walk out again.  I saw the holes where the zyklon-B pellets were dropped into the room.  It took twenty minutes to suffocate 700 people.  Directly across from the gas chamber in an adjacent room is the crematorium housing 5 furnaces.  It took 24 hours to burn 300 bodies.  You can do the math.
Auschwitz is a powerful place.  There is nothing happy about it, nothing hopeful.  Not even the thought of its liberation can bring any comfort.  I wonder at the resilience of the survivors.  No one should have been able to walk out of Auschwitz.
Not only is it terrible, but it is important.  Because it could happen again.  We cannot be so naive to think that we are protected from such tragedies by democracies and "modern society."  Mankind has always been and will always be capable of committing atrocities like the holocaust.  That is why the drafty barracks still cover nearly 400 acres of Polish landscape.  We cannot be allowed to forget what we are capable of.  We cannot allow this to happen again.

Weekend Away

The weekend of the 8th, a group of about 60 of us traveled to Krakow on what can be described as my worst experience on a train, ever.  There were no seats left when we boarded, so 30 of us were crowded into the freezing corridors to stand for the three and a half hour journey.  This would not have been too bad; however, my patience wore thin as those around me began to consume copious amounts of alcohol while attempting to break the Guiness Book of World Records record for the longest consecutive drunk karaoke session aboard a train.  Mind you, drunk karaoke actually has the advantage of supplying those singing with the words to the song.  No such luxury was provided my ears during this trip.  Needless to say, I was thankful when we arrived and I could finally hear the music playing at top volume in my iPod.  It was a short bitterly cold walk to the hostel, but once we were checked in, things were looking up.  That is, until I tripped over a suitcase and fell flat on my face in the middle of the entire group.  Awesome night.  Awesome.

But I was laughing by the end of it.  Our hostel was amazing!  It was located right on the main square, across from St. Mary's Basilica.  Snow was falling on the city and it was beautiful.  Several of us went out for a night of dancing and kebabs.  It certainly made up for the train ride there.  

Now for the real reason I was excited to be in Krakow.  For those of you who attended Our Redeemer with me for grade-school, you will remember that sometime around fifth grade we read a book called "The Trumpeter of Krakow."  I remember liking the book at first, but then being sincerely disappointed by the ending.  But for some reason, I have always remembered that book and the little trumpeter boy who saved Krakow and the Sorcerer's Stone from the evil alchemist.  Imagine my surprise when at midnight on that first night, I heard a trumpet begin to play from one of St. Mary's towers.  The melody of the song ended without really ending, just like in the story.  I cannot actually explain to you what I felt standing in the Krakow Market Square at that very moment.  It was one of those moments where your past catches up with the present and for a split second you remember that person you used to be - that little girl who had no idea that she would one day hear the Trumpeter of Krakow play from the windows of a real tower.  It is moments such as these that I cherish in my travels.  When the past catches up to the present and makes the world that much more real.  

Peace, Love, and Waffles.  

Back in Bruges

Sorry for the brief blogging hiatus, guys.  Our week-long simulation game kind of took over my life for a while.  But now I am back in Bruges and blogging some more.  Rather than a long boring recap of the past two weeks, I will share some highlights and, as usual, some musings.
Despite what I may have reported shortly after arriving, Poland turned out to be extremely fun.  Warsaw is an amazingly vibrant city.  Both the old and new parts of the city have a lot to offer.  One of the things I love most about exploring new cities are the surprises that you can stumble upon completely unexpectedly.  This happened a few times on this trip.  I especially love walking into Europe's churches and cathedrals.  Gothic, Roman, medieval, renaissance, it doesn't much matter, because you never know exactly what you will find behind those heavy wooden doors.  I love the silence, the echoing footsteps, and the horridly ornate altars.  "Awe" is usually the word that describes the look on my face, no matter how many of these churches I have seen over the years.  The fact that at one point in our history, mankind spent decades building these ornate houses of Christian worship is astounding.  And yet, I always leave just a little saddened by the fact that most have been reduced to tourist attractions like the ruins of their pagan predecessors.  Still, for me, there is something magical about staring up at a stained glass rose window above a baroque marble altar.  The first Sunday we went into Warsaw, a few of us walked into a random church on our way to the city center.  It just so happened that it was the Church of the Holy Cross, a 17th century baroque wonder that now houses Chopin's heart.  We were lucky enough to catch an amazing chorale concert there by accident.
So my tourist tip of the day is: It is always worth walking inside.  This tip applies to more than just churches.  You should always explore the smallest alleys, the tiniest shops, and the hidden cafés.  You never know when you'll hear an amazing concert, find a budding artist, or sample the perfect bowl of broccoli soup.

Song of the Week: 15

On a lighter note than the previous post, here is the song of the week.  It's a day late thanks to a wonderful weekend in Krakow and a moving experience at Auschwitz (more on these two things later).  But for now, I am just going to introduce the song of the week.  This is an older one.  Well, when I say older, I mean older than the last two years.  It really takes me back to high school.  Anyway, I just heard it the other day and remembered the artist and how much I used to like him.  This particular song is a new favorite.  The melody is smooth and the lyrics are truthful and simply elegant and his voice, well, I'm going to steal a line here and say *swoon*.  So please listen to David Gray's "The Other Side," I promise you'll like it.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Look for more posts soon!

Peace, Love, and Waffles.

No Pretty Pictures

Entrance to Auschwitz II Birkeau Coumpound

Panorama of the "Kitchens"                                                             

                              View of some barracks in Auschwitz II (originally stables)
                                                                            

Not So Bad After All

After several days of acclamation, I must admit that my impression of Poland has mercifully improved.  After deciphering the mystery that is the route back to our hotel from the campus, discovering the 24-hour Tesco (a Super-Wal-Mart in disguise) and finishing an entire bag of Cinnamon Toast Crunch by myself, I was ready to give the city another chance.  The hotel still eerily resembles its former function (that of an oncology research center), and it has snowed almost every day since I arrived, but overall, things are looking good.  The icing on the cake to what has turned out to be am extremely enjoyable week was sushi and drinks on Tuesday night.  After class, Alexandra, Amelie and I headed to downtown Warsaw - a lovely city, by the way; I hear Chopin is a local celebrity - to find a sushi restaurant we had seen whilst wandering on Sunday.  We were practically the only ones in the place and we had a long, leisurely dinner that did not cost us a fortune.  Thank you Polish currency!  For about a half a second we considered returning to the hotel to do some homework.  Then we spotted the Intercontinental Hotel on the horizon (okay, it was just a short walk across the park).  So we headed over to complete our night of much-deserved luxury in the hotel bar.  I had my first (and second) margarita in over 6 months and more peanuts than an elephant could naturally consume in an hour.  Needless to say, all three of us were quite pleased to be cradled in the giant green leather chairs and listening to the man on the piano behind us.   The night was complete when we left the comfort of the hotel only to discover that the metro and buses had stopped running.  To our surprise, it was not "around 10:30," try 1:00 a.m.  Woops.  We briefly considered sleeping in the bus stop or returning to the Intercontinental for the night.  Luckily, though, we found a taxi to whisk us back to the hotel for under 5 Euros apiece.
So Warsaw has proven itself a fun, dynamic, delightful city.  This weekend we head to Krakow for a quick getaway before the intense negotiation game starts on Monday (I am a Spanish official).  I will also be visiting Auschwitz this weekend, a place I have always wanted to see.  Classes this week have been nothing short of painful so I am looking forward to a bit more fun over the weekend and with the simulation game next week.  Look for a couple more posts coming up this week.  I will do my best to keep up, but I will be rather busy as Spain has the EU Presidency at the moment.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Peace, Love, and Waffles.