Koprovski in Europe 2018

Today was yet another great day. We got to sleep in a little because we only had to meet at 10:00 AM. We also had an amazing breakfast when we met at Karlsplatz, a great breakfast of shkokocroissants and honest to god Starbucks coffee. They actually had Pike roast so my day started great. I like having to meet up at a meeting point, it makes the morning commute easier because we aren’t in a massive group. It also makes me feel more independent. It only got better from there, after we all meet up we went to the Vienna International Centre, where the United Nation’s third headquarters is located. At the UN, we got to the actual circle of flags that surrounds the fountain in the entrance. Our tour guide took us through the International Atomic Energy Agency and let us watch part of a meeting on violence prevention. I was totally nerding our the entire time. We also got to see replicas of scientific accomplishments of the UN scientific agencies. Part of their collection was an actual r...

Today was a gorgeous day, both in terms of the weather and what we did. We started the day by getting chocolate croissants at the Anker in Karlsplats station and they were DELICIOUS. Just writing this entry is making me crave one. Food in this city is so good at every direction I turn. The entire group meet at the institute to go on a relatively short tour of the city. (I say short tour because a proper tour would take months to complete.) Our tour guide was Elizabeth, a sunny and fun woman who was very helpful in explaining what things were and the historical significance of things. She took us all over the historic part of the city: from the National Library to one of the oldest churches in Vienna. She also told us several historical facts about the country; the one that stands out the most to me is how the Austrian flag was designed. The white strip of the horizontally trifold flag was originally envisioned when a crusader took off his belt, revealing a white strip on an otherwise b...

Today was our first day out into the city proper, and it was amazing. We met at the institute and on our first day we got told to be quiet by the staff at the Austro-American Institute, so we’re really settling into our roll as American tourists lol. We went to register at some office and tbh I still don’t understand why we had to do that, even though I had it explained to me at least five times. But regardless, the walk to the registration facility was a great experience. We got to see the church in Stephansplatz square during our walk, and it was as dazzling as Dr. Demers said it would be. The entire walk was beautiful though, I couldn’t stop looking up the entire walk. When we finally got to the place to register, the boys didn’t have our papers. We didn’t realize our host families had them. Since we didn’t have our papers, us four boys got to roam the nearby streets. This is honestly how I think major cities should be explored, I just like to pick a direction and start walking. O...

The  plane ride was just as bad as I remembered: 10 hours of desperately wanting to sleep while being kept wide awake by the over stimulating environment. But the worst part’s over, and I’m now a temporary resident of beautiful Vienna, Austria! When we exited the aircraft and began navigating the sprawling airport, I noticed there was a lot more German signage on just about everything: from the advertisements for history museums to the emergency exit signs marking fire escape routes. This was a stark contrast to Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport. Several of us commented on the lack of Dutch there; and some of us, including me, expressed disappointment. The lack of English set of that particular feeling you get when you first arrive in a new country: not quite fear- more like intimidation by the vast unknown that lays beyond the airport gates. I experienced this same thing on my trip to Rwanda. Despite the unease that settles in your stomach when this feeling washes over you, I love this...