Afternoon in the square

Creative drain

The beginning of my car photo collection

Uppsala girls

Maria the Swedish Chef

After battling through the Veteran's Day parade that completely blocked all through traffic in downtown, Maria finally made it here on Saturday afternoon. We headed over to the 'Fred,' the affectionate nickname for Frederik Hendriklaan. After dropping my bike off to have a basket installed on the handlebars, we stopped for a quick herring snack. Maria is far more adventurous than me, deftly downing the filleted fish leaving only the tail. 

It was a weekend of food - after perusing a cheese shop, my lovely visitor was the consummate house guest, and offered to cook me two amazing dinners. Saturday night was crepes with chevre, arugula, tomatoes, and prosciutto. Dessert was a Dutch mixture of quark, yogurt and chocolate shavings, topped with Kinderschokolade (my favorite) and a strawberry. Sunday night was a chicken tandoori, with basmati rice and loads of veggies. 

Internet problems

I have been having trouble connecting to the internet in my apartment for days now, so I will delay posting photos of this weekend until it is up and working again. Think positive thoughts that it will be soon!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Out my front door...

Foyer

Walking into my building you are greeting by these faint murals painted on both walls and the ceiling. They are completely out of place in the currently-under-renovation (read: currently shabby) entry way.

Justice Goldstone

To my New England friends - I attended a lecture last week given by Justice Goldstone, the South African judge who helped to draft the post-apartheid Constitution, and was the Chief ICTY Prosecutor from 1994 to 1996. Of significance to my case now, he signed the indictments against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic for the Srebrenica genocide. He spoke at length about his current work as the head of a UNHRC investigatory mission formed to look into possible humanitarian law violations in the recent Gaza conflict. 

I mention this because Justice Goldstone sat on a panel of international judges at New England last year - seeing him in the ICTY building, a recognizable face, was an uncanny experience. 

Tuesday night

Just a note to say that I will be sure to post more photos this weekend! These are from a little while ago. The building is the OPCW - the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and is the neighbor of the ICTY on Johan de Wittlaan. Nearly every building in the immediate neighborhood is armed to the gills, including the nearby Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (which has the most beautiful garden). The sand sculpture was in the middle of a town square, surrounded by others that were comparable in size. Maria noted that they resembled the Vigeland sculptures in Oslo.

Today was relatively busy and tomorrow I will be in training at the Beach Building all day, but I will be sure to get back to blogging duties. The weather is supposed to turn lousy just in time for the weekend, so Scheveningen beach might be out... 

Goedenacht!

Surreal tv

I am giving myself license to watch tv for hours tonight instead of researching for work, as I woke up this morning sick with a cold. I just want to mention how incredibly strange it is to watch Good Will Hunting, seeing lovely Boston on the screen... with Dutch subtitles. 

This next week should be interesting; I am scheduled to attend formal training, which takes place in an affiliated building right on the coast. Many of the attorneys on my team will be out of the office on Mission, but hopefully things will still be busy. And best of all - I will probably have visitors again this weekend! 

It sounds like lots of you are having trouble leaving comments, but just know that I love to hear you are looking in on the blog! I miss you all!

Pedal faster

So now I am not only the proud owner of a Dutch cell phone and Dutch umbrella, but today I bought the requisite curved-handlebar Dutch bicycle. One gear, which is appropriate for the flattest countryside I have ever seen. The cranky staff at the bike shop ratcheted the seat up to what must have appeared to be an appropriate height for my 5'11" frame (alright, 5'10" and 3/4 of an inch), only for me to try and get on it at a busy intersection and impale my lower back with the seat. Much Dutch laughter was heard, I assure you. So after a few minutes in a sketchy back alley spent hopping on the pedals and trying to get on the seat, I gave up and trotted back into the unhelpful store. Mind you before I went back in I pulled my hair down out of my ponytail - this seemed to help, as a different employee fixed the seat tout de suite.

Wonderful, I am off and pedaling, and it's lovely on the paths. That is, until I realize this is most definitely not quaint Uppsala Sweden, my last European home and spot to cycle. This is a city about four times that size, and the drivers go about four times as fast, close enough to you that you feel the breeze. Gulp.

This will take some getting used to!

Day 2

No, I will not be updating this every single day, but just wanted to add that today I was able to observe court proceedings, and it's just overwhelming to be a small part of something so big. Apparently I am allowed to bring a camera through security, so be sure to check back for photos of the inner workings! Other than that, in between loads of document reading, I also attended a fantastic lecture that was essentially a statistical analysis of the sentences handed down by the ICTY. Statistics aficionados will be happy to know that the sentences do in fact follow a normal distribution.

I can divulge a little more - the defendant my team is prosecuting answered only to Milosevic... Amazing, and definitely motivation to do the best job possible.

First day

The first day went well! After getting through the initial HR process, including getting security clearance and a pretty snazzy U.N. badge I have to wear at all times, I was walked into the court building for the first time. The lobby is pretty awe-inspiring - it's cream-colored marble from floor to ceiling, and one of the main courtrooms opens immediately in front of you. 

The big news, though, is that I was assigned to my trial team, and let me just say that I am thrilled, if that's an appropriate word for this context. The defendant is currently on trial, and all I will say is that he was very high-ranking...  

In other good news, the office that I am in is all windows on one side, so it has a fantastic view of the city and of the Peace Palace tower jutting up above the trees. 

One of the interns that has been with this team for half a year had her last day today. During her going away coffee on the rooftop terrace of the court, I looked around at the surreal scene of attorneys in black robes and judges in red robes mingling with armed guards and interns alike. At any one time about ten languages can be heard in the hallways. It's just an amazing atmosphere. 

I'll add more as the week progresses! 

Nerves...

Tomorrow is my long-awaited first day, so it's time to bite the bullet and find out what this job will entail.

I will be sure to post something tomorrow to let everyone know what it was like. Wish me luck!!

Nicolaistraat

Den Haag skyline from the canal

Aforementioned raw herring... yum.

My first visitor

Maria and I have always managed to combine our visits with each other while traveling in various places. We've made little trips together to Stockholm for the day while living in Uppsala, Pike Place Market in Seattle, Las Vegas, Tucson... and now Den Haag while she finishes her Master's in Wageningen!

We managed to explore my neighborhood a little further, starting with Indonesian food last night. This morning we walked over to the ICTY court for my first glance; the sight of the imposing security gate at the entrance has done nothing to assuage my nerves.

The rest of the day we soaked up the nice weather, having raw herring and onion sandwiches for lunch (Mom would be proud!), walking along one of the canals towards the shopping district, and popping in and out of a multiplicity of shops. I am now the proud owner of a Dutch phone number and an umbrella that will last through exactly two strong gusts of wind.

New address

Ask for the address!

Be sure not to send anything bulky - everything has to fit through a letter slot which is communal for the building.

I have arrived!

Hello everyone!

I am here, after about a day of traveling. Somehow Aer Lingus managed to smash off a wheel on my 70 pound suitcase, so getting from the airport in Amsterdam to the taxi in the Hague with a train ride in between featured me dragging the whole bag like an impertinent child. 

The apartment is just wonderful, with wood floors and gigantic windows that look over the street below. I immediately fell into bed once I was in the flat and settled, but will be heading out now to explore the neighborhood and buy groceries. 

Hope everyone back home is doing well! Miss you already!