Netherlands 6.23.16 - 6.26.16
i am currently on a tour of prague, berlin, amsterdam, and the hague with 20 students studying global human rights. follow our travels over the next few posts!
|| day 6 ||
By far, the must miserable day - temperature-wise.
We had to leave the hotel in Berlin by 7am, and sure enough, leave it to a few kids to be running late. We ended up leaving at 7:20.
We were running around like crazy, trying to get everyone's suitcases on the bus, off the bus, into the train station, grab some food for the train, hustle on the train, find our seats, store our suitcases, and try to settle in for the 6.5 hour train ride to Amsterdam.
Hey guess what? There was no A/C on the train.
6 hours and 30 minutes. On an enclosed train. In 80 degree weather. With over 70 teenagers in one car.
The smell still haunts me to this day. It was worse than any frat house I'd ever been in.
Finally pulling into the train station in Amsterdam, everyone just shoved as fast as they could off of the train. We followed our tour director like little ducks following their momma, praying she was leading us to cold water.
But...we weren't. We were led to a boat that would takes us on a tour through the canals. For a moment, we were excited. We figured in this unusual heat wave (90 degrees) in Amsterdam, feeling a breeze on the water would be lovely. But then we saw the boat. It was enclosed in glass.
So...off we went on an hour boat ride in a glass case of sunshine, sweat, and eminent death. Or so it felt like.
Inside the death trap, was leather booths for us to sit in, with the table being a dark wood to attract every single sun beam. At one point, I was nervous some of the kids would get heat stroke, as I watched a few of them put down their heads and not move for a few minutes.
However this miserable day had transpired so far, I still managed to snap a few pictures of beautiful Amsterdam...
After the boat tour, we headed to dinner and prayed that the restaurant had A/C, although we weren't putting money on it. BUT IT DID. We were sitting in heaven! Air conditioning AND they brought ice to our table. The dinner was so good too. We all agreed that dinner in Amsterdam was probably our favorite of the whole trip. (Typical meat and potatoes like most dinner places we'd been to, but something about it being served in cool-air condition just made it seem like the best meal I've ever stuffed into my face!)
The Anne Frank House was up next. I also think that everyone would agree that this was one of the most amazing things we got to experience on the trip. It's one of those things - if you're in Amsterdam, put it at the top of the list. You will want to have this experience.
I didn't get any pictures in there, and I'm not sure if it was even allowed? Even if it was allowed, it would have felt rude and disrespectful to snap away in such a somber place.
On to the bus, it was a 1 hour drive to our hotel in The Hague, and it was yet another night where everyone took cold showers, gave thanks for A/C and ice machines, and passed out.
1 more day of sight-seeing before the human rights summit!
|| day 7 ||
Today started out at the Humanity House. It was an incredible interactive museum that makes you feel like you are a refugee fleeing your war-infested country.
Every student said it was an experience they will never forget, and really helped open their eyes to what people endure just to try and find their voice, freedom, and peace.
At the end of the museum, you can write wishes for the world on a large globe. I wrote "I pray for peace and acceptance" with a big heart around it.
After the awesome experience at Humanity House, we headed over to the Peace Palace, where the International Court of Justice is held.
Isn't it just grand? I'm a huge fan of this building and the architecture. We took a 1 hour private tour, although they didn't really show us much (for security reasons). I still was in awe.
Now we had some time to relax! 4 hours in the city center for lunch, shopping, and just hanging out. The adults had a quiet lunch away from teenagers at a restaurant in Grote Markt. I made sure to order pancakes because I've heard the Dutch go ALL OUT with their pancakes. It was beyond delicious.
This was actually my mom's apple pancakes. I had bacon pancakes and I never thought I'd know what nirvana was until I ate the pancake with bacon cooked right in it.
We shopped around (needed to walk off all that food), bought some souveniers, snapped a few more touristy photos, and smelled more marijuana than at a Red Rocks concert. The Dutch don't joke around with that! Yikes...
Soon, it was time to meet up as a group and go to the opening ceremonies for the Summit! The kids were super excited, and I was already feeling the energy of 1,500 teenagers from all over the world coming together to discuss Global Human Rights.
The opening ceremony and dinner was in an old church! How cool is that?
Dinner, meet-n-greet, and back to the hotel for bed. Early wake-up call tomorrow!
|| day 8 ||
Today was the first day of the Global Learners & Leaders: Human Rights Summit. The adults and kids were split up for the majority of it, and the conference center was attached to our hotel. So not much wandering around ;)
Here's a couple of highlights of the day though:
The grandsons of Mandela and Gandhi spoke about non-violence, peace, and human rights.
My mom and I were SO CLOSE to meeting Mandela before they pulled him away for another event. Fortunately, we were able to sit in on a panel discussion of Mandela and Gandhi with the adult chaperones. It was 2 hours of Q and A, which was amazing to get to ask them whatever we wanted about education, their grandfathers, and fostering a non-violent community in our own homes.
I had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation by the V.P. of Gallup Polls about education. Super fascinating and thought-provoking.
After not seeing the kids all day, we finally got to gather together before dinner to reflect on the trip so far, and sign a shirt for our Tour Director, Vanessa. We all loved Vanessa so much. I truly believe if you have an amazing Tour Director, your trip becomes exponentially greater.
The Vista chaperones were lucky to slip away for dinner. All the kids were locked in the conference center that had security and 300 other chaperones for a prepped hotel dinner and a performance by a Nigerian actor...so...we bailed :)
We walked a couple blocks away from the hotel to a cute little neighborhood. Immediately, we spotted an Italian restaurant that was bursting with customers, and had the most heavenly smell coming from it. It was the most amazing Italian meal I've ever had outside of Italy itself.
Tomorrow is the last day - bring it on!
|| day 9 ||
I am beyond exhausted. I skipped the morning session in the theatre to sleep in. I needed it. Seriously struggled hardcore getting out of bed. I think my body is aware that the trip is coming to an end, and it's starting to shut down.
After sleeping in until about 9, I grabbed some quick breakfast and headed over to an adult session called "Facing History and Ourselves." I got a lot of really great ideas on what to use in my classroom next year when covering tough topics like the Holocaust.
Lunch at the summit was leftover sandwiches from the day before I'm pretty sure. Ugh. I went back to my hotel room and wrote out cards for each of the kids. I wanted to give them something to tell them how proud I was of them on this trip. Each student demonstrated positivity in the midst of a tough day, or willingness to meet new people when they're typically pretty shy, or accepted new ideas from what they are pre-existed to think. Writing out 20 cards took a while, so I skipped another session - which I was okay with. I feel like I have information over-load and don't know how I'm possibly going to fit all of these new ideas into my curriculum next year.
But soon, it was INNOVATION VILLAGE!! The past 2 days, the kids have been hearing stories about human rights violations, or about people in our world that have struggled in the face of human rights violations. They were paired up with other students from around the world in small groups to come up with a solution to one of the problems. They used the Design Thinking process, and came up with a short presentation of their solution. The Innovation Village was essentially set up like a science fair, and I got to wander around and look at the amazing work my kiddos did to solve a human rights issue. I have never had a bigger #proudteacher moment I think.
Love these kiddos so much.
Closing ceremonies were immediately following the Innovation Village, and they declared teams as winners based on judge's vote and popular vote. One of our kiddo's team won the judges vote!
After closing ceremonies, we all boarded buses to head over to the beach! Barbecue, music, and a cold sea-front. It was a great way to close out the summit, and let the kids have some fun after all their hard work and busy travels.
Myself and some awesome chaperones at Scheveningen Beach in The Hague. Gotta represent Colorado!
Whew. 9 extremely full days in Europe DONE (11 if you include travel days...those airplane rides are LONG).
I could have spent more time in Prague and the city of Amsterdam, but for now, I miss my own A/C, my own bed, ice in my drinks, and food other than meat and potatoes. And Game of Thrones. I'm 3 episodes behind and am dying to get caught up.
Adios from the Netherlands! Next stop, U.S.A.!
xo, jaclyn
*our students traveled with the Education First tour company. If you are an educator, and interested about the travel opportunities EF has, go to eftours.com - this is not a paid advertisement, and no one from EF asked or encouraged me to write this - I was just really happy with the help they gave us to prepare for the trip, and the on-tour accommodations.
