The laws of War

For the past two days I have had to go to my Aunt's court to view the hearings that are going on, because I have to write a report on it. It sucks but that's my Aunt for you and there is not much I can do about it. I have been forced to take notes on the hearings and even thought I have resisted, I am actually learning things from it. For example, this hearing was to talk about the victims and witnesses and how they will be able to come up to Europe and give their testimony. It must be so hard to be one of the kids that are going to get up and talk about what happened to them.

I have also been thinking about it from a different perspective. Lubanga is a hero to many of the people in his community because he stopped the Hema genocide. So, in a way what is happening to him now is a horrible thing for us to do. Most people don't think of things like that. Instead, they just think right away "He is a monster for what he has done" but in fact to many people in his old community it is the complete opposite. When my Aunt and I talked about it we agreed that there are often different opinions in the world about people like Lubanga because like the saying goes, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."


I have been reading "A Long Way Gone". It is a book written by a former child soldier in Sierra Leone who was recruited by the government to fight the rebels. It is interesting to read right now, because it is the same thing that Thomas Lubanga is being charged with, recruiting and using child soldiers. From the book, I learned that nowadays it is close to impossible for there to be a war and not break the code of conduct and the rules of war, because if one side does it, you can't win if you don't also break those same rules, which is what happened is Sierra Leone and many other places. War is so brutal now its sad that it has gone this far.

I have learned a lot of things from both attending the hearings and reading the book "A Long Way Gone". I recommend the book and in case you want to read it, the author is Ishmael Beah. The web link is:
http://www.alongwaygone.com/

I would also like to know your ideas and input, so be sure to leave comments about your thoughts. And, I have some polls on the side of my blog for you to answer...so answer the poll and give your opinions.

A typical weekend in Den Haag

On Saturday we got up nice and early to go to the farmer's market to get our food and Twigas food. While we were there we ran in to my Aunt's friend Cynthia and her husband Patrick. We later saw Eleni and her brother also shopping at the market, and talked to them for a little but we were going to see them later so we didn't talk for too long.

When we got home we put everything away then we headed back out to to go to the cafe that we go to when we meet Eleni and waited for her and her brother, Aristotle (they are Greek, if you can't tell). When they got there we had the usual..the girls had chai tea and bagels and I had hot chocolate and a chocolate Muffin and Eleni's brother had Fresh Mint Tea and a chicken sandwich. Eventually we had to go home to clean so we paid and went home and did just that.

On Sunday we got up late and went to meet up with Eleni and her brother to go to Amsterdam for the day. Unfortunately we had a snafu! Daylight savings time does not change over at the same time in Holland that it does in the U.S. My Aunt has a U.S. calendar and it was marked that daylight savings would switch over next week. However, we were an hour early for things on Sunday and eventually we figured out what the problem was....its not that everyone else was running SOO late (my Aunt was getting really pissed off), it's that we were running SOO early.

So we sat at the train station for an hour longer then we needed to and decided to go to a cafe nearby for some poferjes. While we were over there waiting for Eleni and her brother to show, Eleni called asking where we were and then headed over to meet us for some poferjes while we waited for her brother to finish shopping downtown. Unfortunately, Eleni got a call that her brother had passed out at the store that he was shopping at and had a seizer type experience so she went to get him.

We weren't sure what to do, if we should stay in town in case she needed help or go. It was getting too late to go to Amsterdam anyway, so we decided to stay closer to home in case Eleni might need us and we went to Delft to look around for a little and to get my Aunt a poferje pan that we have been meaning to get since her B-Day. Unfortunately, the shop was closed (because ALL shops in Holland seem to be closed on Sundays!!) So we just walked around, got some food and then went home...what a fun weekend.

Shamim's House

The other night I went to my Aunt's friends house for this group. (kinda like a small group for those of you that went to church as kids) Shamim and his wife are Baha'i' and so we are doing a sort of group based on a workbook that is from the Baha'i' writings. But, there are others who are in the group that are not religious at all, and then others who have different religious beliefs. So, the idea is that we would all come together and talk about these things with different perspectives. I was not at all sure about it, but my Aunt wanted me to come along and try, and I do like Shamim and Eleni (two of her friends that are in the group), so I told her I would come once and see.

We talked about different things like what what goodly deeds are and whether words or actions speak louder and other thing along those lines. We start off with a new section of this book each time that has different questions and stuff and we just start talking about it and the answer and why we think what we think. Last night was the first time we actually started it. We had met one time before but it was sort of an introduction to each other and to the idea of the group and so we didn't have time to do anything that night because it was so late.

I must say that I felt more comfortable when it is just like it was yesterday instead of the first time because yesterday it was just me, my Aunt, Eleni, Shamim, and his wife Rebecca all of whom I know so it is easier for me to talk to. When there are lots of people and I don't like to talk much and I feel more uncomfortable. So, in the end, I had a lot of fun and am actually looking forward to going again.

The Church Youth Group

My Aunt has started going to a different church here because the one she went to didn't have a big youth group and she wanted for me to have that while living here with her. So, we started going to a new church and I started going to a new youth group.

She and I both admit that the new church is a little bit different than the churches that we are used to. But, beggars can't be choosers and English speaking churches in a Dutch speaking country don't exist on every corner, so you take what you can get. I started going every other friday night to the church youth group. My Aunt is a little nervous about it after the first night when I came home and told her that we were talking in the small groups and the leader was talking about how homeless people want to be homeless and are sinners. I thought she might have a heart attack when she heard that. She keeps saying she's afraid she's signed me up to some kind of homeless person hating cult. But, I really wanted to go back to the next youth group meeting because they were doing this ropes course thing....so I convinced her to let me go back despite their issues with the homeless people. Below I list reasons to like and dislike my new church group...keeping in mind that it could never replace my church groups back at home in California.

Five reasons I like the group:

1. I really miss my St. Marks and St. Mathews so now I have a church to go to



2. The church is close to where I live



3. The people there are really nice



4. They have some fun things to do



5. The talks we get into when we get into the small groups are good

Five reasons I don't like the church

1. The church is like a born again church



2. The youth group leader is a little, well actually a LOT, weird



3. They only meet every other weekend



4. The talks that we have before we get into the small groups are dumb and a waste of time



5. Its not like the other churches that I used to go to and I miss them
   
   

So last Friday was my second time there and so far the only fun thing that I have done is this obstacle coarse that we did. The coarse was climb over a 4ft wall crawl through a small triangular thing. Then you have to grab on to a rope and swing over the mats climb over a second 4ft wall then two benches. After that you climb a ladder and come back down and crawl under a foot high mat thing then run to a wall and back first with a 5 pound backpack than without it...it could have been better but it was OK. But, no matter what they will just never convince me that all homeless people want to be homeless and are sinners!

Thinking of Home

Just a quick note to all those in San Diego. That's one thing that's hard about living away from your home. When bad things happen, you are so far removed and its not easy to get news about it. Southern California is going up in smoke right now, and that is where I lived when I was a little kid. Our family lived in Poway and that is where there are evacuations and fires and we have family friends there now. My Aunt is watching the news and getting updates from her friends who are there and is really worried. The hospital close to our family home in Poway was evacuated and the Wild Animal Park was too. So, I thought I would just send out good thoughts to everyone down there and let you all know that we are thinking of you here and wishing we could do something to help other than watch CNN for news.

Portland, Oregon

My Aunt has a friend, Bradi....she lives in Portland, Oregon and though I don't think I've ever met her in person (if so, I was really young and don't remember it) she reads my blog and comments sometimes and even made a post on her blog about my blog! So, I'm returning the favor. I think her site is great....

http://www.conchodandy.blogspot.com/

she is a great writer and seems really nice, and my Aunt likes her.

Goodbye Scotland...it was great!

Today was the last day in Scotland and we spent it back in Edinburgh. We were thinking of climbing a hill which overlooks the city called Aurthur's Seat, but it was pretty drizzly and we had a lot of shopping and looking at the sites that we still wanted to do, so we decided against the hike. The Royal mile is the mile between the Queen's Palace and the castle and has shops and sites to see all along it. There was this really cool store along the Royal Mile that had all these swords and shields and hand cuffs and stuff like that but it was all old fashion...I liked it there...and I ended up getting the hand cuffs for my wall at home. They are really cool and REALLY old school.

Then we went back to the graveyard and looked around for a little and saw some cool head stones. There is another interesting story from this particular graveyard. It's a dog called Bobby. Greyfriar's Bobby (after the Greyfriar's Churchyard). The story goes that Bobby's owner had rough winter one year and died of the cold. He was buried in Greyfriar's churchyard. Bobby wouldn't leave that grave's side and no matter how many times they kicked him out and closed the gates Bobby found a way back in. The bar across the way started feeding bobby because they felt badly for him, and for the next 12 years that was where Bobby sat. When Bobby died, they buried him there at Greyfriars Graveyard and there is a monument to Bobby outside the churchyard. So, we had to go back and visit Bobby's grave. After that we went to Greyfriar Bobby's bar and had lunch. I had chicken and garlic bread...that was some of the best garlic bread i have ever had...that's a little sad now that I think about it. And, I tried a new kind of beer which was pretty good.

Then we went back out shopping...we got some cool things...I actually convinced my aunt to get me the kilt so now I have a kilt that is my own clan pattern (the Royal Stewarts)...it is so cool.

Finally we got to the end of the mile and saw the palace...so naturally we went in to the gift shop and looked around but we had to go because it was time to go get our things and head to the air port. We got home pretty late that night (around midnight) but when we did, Twiga was happily waiting for us. It was nice to come back to Twiga but I was sad to leave Scotland, it was really great there.

The Highlands

Today was our second day in Scotland. We got up really early to go on this highland bus tour, so we were up by 6:30 and out the door by 7:30. Once the bus got started, we drove for a while before anything interesting happened, so I slept on the bus till the breakfast stop where we got to see the highland bull. (they are furry)

We had about 30 min to eat/drink and look through the gift shop...I like chocolate muffins. Then we got back on the bus and kept going...all this time looking out the window at the amazing view of the highlands with the leaves turning to brown, red, yellow, and still some were green. We stopped at Glen Coe (where three mountains come together and where a terrible massacre happened during the Jacobite uprisings) and got out for a photo break.

The tour was great, but the bus driver was questionable. He was really really really annoying and would not stop talking and would whistle into the microphone which was really loud. So, if I had any complaints it would be him!

After lunch we headed out to Urquhart castle (which is a castles ruins). It is situated along the bank of Loch Ness. Did you know that Loch is Scottish for Lake?? Anyway, the castle ruins were actually really beautiful. We got to look at them for about an hour and a half...they were so cool...Most of it was completely demolished but there were parts that were partly intact...I think that parts of it have been rebuilt but still cool to see. I definitely would have been cold to live in though, that's for sure.

After that we hoped on the boat that took us on to Loch Ness so that we could have a look at Nessie, the famous Loch Ness monster. My Aunt swore that she saw Nessie, but mostly she's full of it. Even though Nessie was sleeping, Loch Ness was still cool to be on. After the VERY wet and cold boat ride, we had to get back on the road to Edinburgh. Once we were on the rode I fell asleep and didn't wake up till my Aunt wanted to switch places with me...I had been sitting next to Mel but had fallen asleep so my Aunt wanted to talk to her. Finally we headed home to Mel's house....totally exhausted and ready for bed. That was a fun day.

Scotland here we come!

This past three day weekend we flew to Edinburgh, Scotland for a long vacation. It was a rough start, the plane was late so we got in to the city really late and arrived just in time to catch the second to last bus to the city. Once in the city we took a taxi to Mel's house where we are staying this weekend. (Mel is the old next floor Neighbor) When we woke up the next morning we headed into Edinburgh city center to explore but, as we were in the United Kingdom where they actually have Starbucks, we had to make a first stop there and then to the Edinburgh castle. The castle was so cool and big that it took most of the day but it was worth it. When you first go in you are in what used to be nothing but is now the first gate you go through. It was built after the English took over Scotland to help fortify the castle. Right when you have entered the second part there are canons and fun things like that, they also have the one o'clock gun that obviously fires every day at one...except on Christmas and New Years Day. We then learned at the history museum that I might be related to Mary Stewart Queen of Scotland. After visiting the museum, we looked around at the shops for a little while...I want a kilt just because it would be cool to have but my Aunt said NO because she thinks they are dumb. I like them.

We had Indian food for dinner and then around 9pm we went on the night time haunted graveyard tour...that was fun. The tour started off by talking about how Edinburgh used to be. There were 80,000 people stuffed into a very small section of land (less than a mile) and there was no sewage system so it was really dirty and filled with disease. The guide also told us about the witch hunts that took place back then. So, there were a lot of people that were dying from disease and bad living conditions and also being killed from the witch hunts. Next, the tour took us to a graveyard that is so filled with bodies that what was the the low end of the graveyard is now the high end. The grave yard is where one of the mass graves for the plague is. There the guide told us about the covenantors prison where people who did not go along with the kings religious beliefs were kept and tortured. This guy Mackenzie was the main guy who came up with the idea to put the people in prison and torture them, and when he died, he was buried close to the people that he put in prison and tortured. So, the guide said that people think that Mackenzie is haunting the graveyard because his soul cannot rest. At this point, they take you into this locked part of the yard and and then in to this locked grave chamber were a "poltergeist" is. The people on the tour all go crazy at that point. One lady who was standing next to my Aunt was really freaking out and screaming and laughing hysterically. She kept grabbing onto my Aunt's shoulder and it was pretty funny because my Aunt was getting so irritated about it.

After the tour we headed back to Mel's because we had to be up early the next day for a bus trip to the highlands. However, on the way back to Mel's there was a fight on the bus we were on and the police had to be called. This is the second time that something like this has happened (it happened on a bus we were on in London as well). The guys who were fighting on the bus were really drunk, so I'm thinking that either we have really bad bus luck or people in the UK drink WAY too much!

Why Democracy?

Tonight My Aunt brought home this article called "Why Democracy?" and we went over it. The article was very interesting to me and brought up some great discussion questions. The author of the article started by discussing what two of the questions were and his responses to them.

The first two questions were: "What is the biggest threat to Democracy" and "can terrorism destroy democracy?" In my opinion the biggest threat to democracy is itself because in voting for a person you are trusting them to keep the basic principles of democracy like free expression and free movement, and yes I do think that if we as a people let it terrorism can destroy it.

Two more good questions were brought up that were related to one another, they were: are dictators ever good "and is democracy for everyone?" To answer the first question I would say, yes if you want to have a stable government that doesn't change often, and to the second question no I don't think that democracy is for everyone because for some people it is better to have a stable and secure place to live were there is more thought for the community as a whole rather then just about yourself.

The next five questions were not related but are very interesting.

First "is God Democratic" in my opinion no. God (by what the bible says) requires obedience, and for you to give up your desires to his will...that is a Monarchy.

The next one was "are women more democratic then men" again I say no. As a people we are equal yet some women may be more democratic then some men but it is the same both ways, to generalize that all women are more democratic is just wrong.

After that came an interesting question "who or what rules the world" to me that is unknown.

The last two questions are my favorites: "what would make you start a revolution" and "whom would you vote for as President of the world?" To the first question I would have to say that if Bush turned whats left of the democracy into a monarchy, that would make me start a revolution. My answer for the last question was simple...George Washington, because he was offered the position of president of the US for a third term but declined because it was not right to do a third term when the law said you could only serve twice.

If you want to read the article and/or make comments go to www.whydemocracy.net or www.myspace.com/whydemocracy

Also if you have your own answers or thoughts you want to share feel free to send me your comments here on my blog. Just go to the link below and click on comments and then tell me what your thoughts are on democracy! Thanks for reading...

A Sunny Weekend

This weekend was a really really really nice weekend which doesn't happen very often here so we spent most of Saturday outside having fun even though there was a lot of work to get done this weekend. It's too hard to stay inside working when the sun is shining and everyone else is outside (this only happens maybe 2 times out of the 3 months I've been here...so you really have to take advantage of it).

First thing we did was go to the market and get Twiga all her food and me all my food then went to this cafe and got some hot drinks and muffins that my aunt calls scones (they are not scones...they are muffins I tell you...muffins!!)

...anyway then we went home, put the food away and took Twiga and her red ball out and played with her in the grass. She is really funny with it...then we took her on a lllooonnnggg walk which she liked.

When we got home I went out for a nice run...I wish I could run with someone, its so boring to run alone. However, I don't know any runners here....believe me, my Aunt is NOT a candidate, she hates running!!

Once I got home I had to shower and get ready to go to Shamim's house for dinner. He was supposed to be having a cookoff with his friend to see who cooked better but Shamim failed before he even started so his friend did the cooking. His friend was a good cook and all the people at the dinner party were really nice, so I had a fun time, even though I was definitely the youngest person there (by a lot). We Finally left a little after midnight and had to bike a half hour home.

On Sunday we spent the whole day doing the work/school work that we were supposed to do on Saturday and cutting Twiga food...it was a long day. But, it's a weekend in The Hague. Not that different from the types of things I would be doing on the weekend in Martinez.

Thank goodness for week nights!!

So, all during the week days, I am stuck doing school work while my Aunt is at work (and she is there a lot!). BUT....at night, sometimes we get to take some pretty fun breaks.

On Monday night of this week it was my Aunt's birthday and I already told you about that.


On Tuesday night Eleni, my Aunt and I all went over to Shamim's house for this talking group thing were we talk about religion and beliefs...I don't really know how to describe it but it was fun non the less...and we even biked there. Shamim is a Baha'i (I've never heard of it, but it is a pretty interesting religion and the really good things is that they are really tolerant). Anyway, it is going to be a talking group that meets every other week, so we'll see how it goes. It is interesting, but I'm not that comfortable saying much about things...so we'll see.

On Thursday night we biked into Den Haag to meet up with Eleni and Robert (her German friend from Berlin who was in town for some international law conference). My Aunt hadn't seen Robert in a long time so that was fun for her and he seemed really nice. We went to this place called Limon that serves really good Spanish Tapas (so I got my fill of meat....mmmmm, yummy meat! I'm a meat loving kid living with a vegetarian Aunt, so its not always easy).

Then on Friday I went to the church youth group...it wasn't that good, in fact it was a little weird. But I will be going back not this Friday but next Friday because they are doing this ropes course where you are swinging from ropes and doing group activities and games and stuff. In the end, I missed most of the youth group because I couldn't find it for a while, so only got to the last half of it.

So, these are examples of what my week nights are like in The Hague.

The Hearing

I had to go to my Aunt's work to watch the hearing...it was really boring and I can't even figure out what's happening and I was supposed to take notes which I did for a little but gave up when they didn't make sense. (You can tell that I'm loving this part of my life, right??? ;-)

The hearing lasted a day and a half so I had to go to the whole thing...it sucks! But it's cool at the same time. The prosecutor was so so boring...he talks like he is in slow motion. The worst part was he was the one that talked the most...it sucked.

When my Aunt got home at lunch on the second day I got in trouble because I hadn't taken notes but it didn't make sense to me so I stopped. The point of the notes were to write a report about the hearing...I was then supposed to ask my Aunt questions about the hearing. We will see how I will manage to do this. She tells me that she will bring home the transcripts of the hearing, and I will have to work off of those since I didn't take any notes....stay tuned, this could be a complete disaster!

Happy Birthday to my Aunt

Today is my Aunt's B-Day, but she still had to work...she was not happy at all about that. It's not that she had to work as much as that it was a really intense day of work today because it was the first day of one of her trial things.

So we went to the Court and she took me up to her office and dumped me off on her intern, Pilar. Pilar was nice enough to get me down to the Courtroom and into the public gallery (where we got to sit in the VIP seats again). My Aunt was in the Courtroom again in her big robe with some white bib down the front (she looks like a moron). I had to sit through the long trial till 4 when it was over and i got to go home. But she had to stay till 7 because there was so much work. (she works as a legal advisor to the Vice President of the Court who is also a Judge on the first trial at the Court....so her job is to give advice to the judge and to help manage the trial and draft decisions and the judgement).

We had reservations at an Indian restaurant in the city center at 7:30 with a group of her friends to celebrate her birthday with everyone. When she finally got home we had to rush to get ready to go because we were going into Den Haag and her friend, Cynthia was driving us in. Once we were at the restaurant my Aunt started to have a good B-Day because her friends were there and she just got to have fun and talk with people. The food was pretty good and it was fun to talk to all her friends (they are pretty nice to me....I pretty much like them all). It was also funny to watch her different friends and see how some of them liked each other and some didn't like others at all. I haven't been to many adult dinner parties but it is really weird to watch how everyone behaves with each other. By the end of the night, I also observed that my Aunt's wine glass was constantly full (and not because she wasn't drinking out of it). I wonder how she'll feel in the morning?? ;-) Happy Birthday Aunt Toody!