Summer Trips!

I am so lucky to have the opportunity to travel to Europe this summer! I will be participating in the FSU International Programs' International Human Rights trip. We will be traveling to The Hague, The Netherlands, and Strasbourg, France to visit international courts and sit in on actual Human Rights cases.

I'm anticipating this trip to be very academically focused, but also know that we will have time to explore the cities and meet local people. That's my favorite part of traveling; experiencing the culture and learning about the perspectives of the local people. I learned from traveling to Tanzania last summer that we live in a very closed-minded society and even though I was more than willing to learn from the people I met, it was difficult to adjust to the cultural and nuances of a culture so distinctly different from my own.

I'm interested to compare my experiences of last summer in Tanzania, to this summer of traveling throughout Europe. It's liberating to interact with people who don't think how Americans do, who appreciate leisure time and cultivating relationships with each other. My guess is that a slower pace and importance of relationships will also prevail in the cultures I come across this summer.

I leave in two weeks and absolutely can't wait!