I said a final goodbye to Boston with a going-away party on my beautiful roof deck and headed home to NY for a frenzied few days of packing. Despite my stress-induced exhaustion and grumpiness, I managed to unpack from Boston and repack my bags, not only for my first placement, but for my entire time abroad since I am not allowed to return home until the end of my Fellowship year.
So Friday was my last night in NYC for a while and some friends gathered downtown for a casual send off. I took off towards Europe on Saturday afternoon and got off to a lovely start when I was bumped up to business class on my flight from JFK to Amsterdam--certainly a better start that my sprained ankle at the beginning of the Boston placement. I arrived early on Sunday morning and took the train directly from the airport down to The Hague (only 30min--so convenient!). Then took a taxi to my new apartment, which, after the only non-English speaking taxi driver drove around in circles for 15 minutes, turned out to be only about 5 blocks away from the train station--classic.
One of my new roommates, Christine, was at the apartment to greet me and help me carry my suitcases up to our (so cute!) apartment. I decided I did not want to tackle unpacking right away, so she suggested that we go out for brunch. Since the weather was clear and sunny--apparently quite a rare event, we decided to walk. Christine has been in The Hague for a couple of weeks already, so she showed me around a bit. As we were walking past the Binnenhof, the Dutch Parliament building since 1446, we witnessed what appeared to be some sort of military parade, complete with a marching band and cavalry regiment. Christine and I had no idea what was going on, but we stood in the growing crowd and watched, bemused at the spectacle of these people literally marching around in circles. (You can read her description on her blog)I insisted that it was a bit excessive as a welcome parade for my arrival, but they persisted and even brought out the royal carriages. (When we got back home later, Christine discovered that it was actually a rehearsal for Prinsjesdag (Prince's Day), the day the Queen formally opens Parliament.)
I began my second placement on Monday, my first day at the International Criminal Court (ICC). I was feeling pretty anxious about starting, but everyone was very friendly and the whole process of my arrival went very smoothly. This was quite a change from my first day at the ICTR last year, when it took 2 days for me to get a security badge that worked and a week to get my computer and email up and running. Anyway, I am working in the Immediate Office of the Prosecutor (IOP) directly for the Chief Prosecutor. However, he is not in town this week, so I don't really have my work assignment yet. In the meantime though, I am starting work on a very cool project helping with the review of evidence for the case against Thomas Lubanga, the first person put on trial by the ICC. He was the founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots, an armed militia group based in the northeastern province of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Lubanga is implicated in numerous human rights violations against civilians, including conscription of child soldiers, murder, rape etc, as well as the murder of UN peacekeepers.
On a lighter note, life in The Hague is off to a great start. Despite the cold grey skies and seemingly constant drizzle, it really is a lovely city. I am pretty settled into my apartment and office, though I don't yet have a bike--the de rigeur way to get around in the Netherlands through snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night.
More soon from the 'international city of peace and justice'!
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