Taking Care of Business, Three Two One, Walk Like An Egyptian and God Save the Queen

Mid-November Recap of the Past Three Weeks

Apologies for the lack of correspondence. Despite my efforts to remain current with events as they occur, current circumstances have diverted my attention to other matters that will now be recounted. 

Note: Though I would like to go on in detail about each of these separate endeavors, for the sake of expediency and in the interest of updating “The Discovery of Europe” to the present day, the accounts of each of them has been substantially abridged.

Note II: More photos to be uploaded upon my successful return to Brussels

I. Taking Care of Business; The Foratom Lobbying Team

Following our field trip through Strasbourg, Trier, and Bastogne, we returned to Brussels for a day of classes. The following day, Tuesday, I accompanied two members of the Foratom Lobby back to Strasbourg for the October Plenary Session of the European Parliament. After a meeting in Luxembourg on the way, we arrived in Strasbourg hours after a speech by Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General. It was already early evening by the time we arrived, but as our only event for the day was a dinner debate we had a more than adequate amount of time to unwind. The dinner debate was held in the Parliament, and was attended by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) involved in EU climate change and energy policy, as well as lobbyists and corporate representatives of various European utilities. My boss, a jovial Spaniard by the name of Santiago San Antonio, joined us for the dinner. From the outset it was clear that my role was exclusively observatory, as my colleagues were busy networking and greeting old friends and contacts. Santiago, however, was remarkably nonchalant throughout the entire discourse, having assured me that he had already accomplished his objectives, namely that of speaking with the commissioner. At the time I did not realize it, but the commissioner to whom he was referring was none other than Gunther Oettinger, an individual whose policies and legislative activities I had become familiar with during the past several weeks spent researching the European energy outlook. At the end of the evening, I had the honor of introducing myself to Mr Oettinger, in which I thanked him for his remarks. 

The dinner was like something out of a James Bond movie. The jump from a student budget to a dinner party at the European Parliament is quite an upgrade, and I took advantage of my lack of commitment at the dinner to enjoy many a glass of delectable champagne. Thanks to Santiago, I also met a few MEPs and lobbyists sympathetic to our objectives. 

The following day we met with several MEPs individually. Though "The Discovery of Europe," fine publication that it is, is followed by six dear individuals, and viewed (most likely accidentally), but an increasing number of websurfers, I doubt that any content published here will matter; nevertheless I will refrain from disclosing the names of the MEPs to preserve their privacy. Suffice it to say that among our supporters in the European Parliament are several high ranking MEPs, including a British Conservative, a Hungarian Socialist, and a Spaniard nuclear engineer turned politician who understands the technical points of our industry better than most industry officials. 

Though there are convincing arguments that it is an integral part of our political society, I have never been wholly supportive or opposed to lobbying. Nevertheless, the opportunity to observe my two colleagues with MEPs was a reminder of the why lobbying is, in theory, a strong asset to a healthy democracy. Commonly characterized as a tool of powerful special interests, lobbying also can be a commanding outlet for representing the interests of the public. That lobbyists are industry professionals means that they have specialized knowledge and experience in their fields that members of the public lack. Because of this, lobbyists are theoretically the ideal candidates to represent the public interests to our elected officials. The important consideration is to ensure that lobbyists act more for the public than they do for special interests that are not necessarily aligned with the common welfare. 

II. Three Days, Two Continents, One City; A Long Weekend in Istanbul

I returned to Brussels via a second meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday evening. 24 hours later I found myself in Istanbul with my wonderful parents, excited by the prospects of a luxury hotel and a culinary repertoire consisting of more than Belgian frites and Doner Kebab. Our hotel, Milenium Suites, was located just a two minute walk away from the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, which we visited our second full day of our stay. On the first day we visited the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. The Grand Bazaar is one of the oldest in the world, and has evolved from a Souk-like labyrinth of disorganized stores into a paved, lit, and well-organized commercial center. Even so, haggling remains an acceptable practice, a venture that I once enjoyed but now detest. The Spice Market was much more rooted in its original character, reminding me of a similar Souk that I had visited in Morocco, albeit with less aggressive and more polite vendors. 

Prior to Istanbul, I had never before seen a Mosque that rivaled the Cathedrals of Western Europe. The Hagia Sofia, in my mind more impressive than the Blue Mosque, is a stunning and brilliantly engineered mosque that is to Turkey what Notre Dame is to Paris. Given my Western-centric study of world history, I am not able to appreciate Mosques to the same degree that I do Cathedrals, largely due to limited academic exposure to the field of Central Asian studies. This will change; I look to my interest and future learning as agents that will expand my currently Western dominated perspective and refer to the mantra of the University of Chicago as an accurate and inspiring outlook on what should constitute the life of a student: Crescat Scientia, vita excolatur. Translated: Let Knowledge grow from more to more, and so be human life enriched. 

The Hagia Sofia

III. Walk Like An Egyptian; Fall Break in Cairo

At long last I made it to Egypt, a country whose history I have lightly studied since elementary school. Cairo, of course, is no longer a land of Pharaohs and prophets, but now a thriving metropolis that has expanded so far that it is impossible to distinguish the end of the Egyptian capital from the borders of Giza, where the famous pyramids are located. Being fortunate enough to have several contacts there (including one native resident of Giza), getting from the airport to the apartment of my friends was easier than expected. Cairo is an excellent city for students, as the Egyptian pound is the equivalent of approximately .20 USD, so it is possible to live large even on a student budget. 

Exploring Cairo without any knowledge of Arabic is not an easy task, so the first day proved relatively low key. I visited the famous Egyptian Museum, the world's largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. During my grade school years I had been to the museums in Chicago that had featured exhibitions of the young King Tutankhaman, but the collection at the Egyptian Museum far eclipsed anything that I had previously seen. Unfortunately, the museum itself was largely devoid of a clear organized route, and many of the artifacts, though impressive, lacked any information. For those planning a trip to the Egyptian Museum in the next several months, be warned that to fully enjoy the museum it is necessary to bring a guidebook that offers information on the artifacts. I fortunately was carrying a Lonely Planet guide from one of my friends, which proved instrumental in providing context to the artifacts that I was viewing. 

My colleagues generally returned to the apartment around 5 pm each day, so the evenings we would go to vendors located just a few short blocks away. Nargile, (sheesha, or hookah) was quite inexpensive there, with a pipe costing only one Egyptian pound (20 cents). As far as alcohol was concerned, Egypt proved relatively relaxed for a Muslim country, with most hotels having a limited selection of liquors and beers. There was also a small liquor store on the corner of our street, which I am convinced remained alive solely because of the frequent and considerable patronage of myself and my whiskey-loving comrades. 

On the Wednesday of my weeklong recess, I made it out to the pyramids of Giza, where an awestruck Saint Luc wandered, climbed, and rode up to, around, and into the Cheops and Myceneos pyramids (I missed the Khafre pyramid, which is the second largest pyramid located in between the two others). For the record, I will admit that going inside the pyramids, while an interesting experience, is not rewarding, as there is nothing to see once inside the end chamber (even if there were things to see, which there aren't, one would not be able to see them as there is no lighting). However, to be able to claim to have been inside the pyramids is a wonderful experience that I will be sure to recount to my freshman year world studies high school teacher, who among other things has instructed me to visit Egypt at any or all costs. I also eventually caved in to the numerous vendors there offering camel rides around the pyramids. I had read in my guide book about their numerous tricks for tourists, so I was unsurprised at my dear vendor feigned astonishment and outrage when I handed him ten Egyptian pounds (we had agreed on five at first). I politely told him to keep the change as a generous 100% tip, to which he replied that he had claimed that our agreement was five dollars, approximately 25 pounds. Our business relationship ended with me pressing the ten pound note into his hands and walking away, content in the knowledge that I had fared quite well, unlike a few of my peers, who in their first week paid hundreds of pounds per person for the same service. 

On Thursday I met up with another friend who was residing in the suburb of Maadi, a journey by metro of about half an hour. I had been there the night before, but I still made the mistake of disembarking from the metro one stop early (there are three stops on the metro that contain the word "Maadi," and they all are located next to each other). Fortunately I realized my mistake, found her apartment, and then it was off to the Citadel and the ancient Souk of Khan al-Khalili. The Citadel was a fortress and a religious center, very much like the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. We went into a few mosques, bypassed the military museum, and wandered through a garden that was surprisingly green considering its location in the Sahara desert. At Khan al-Khalili, we wandered through countless stores that all contained variants of the same items, and had lunch at a cafe located right outside the maze of shops. 

On my final night in Cairo, we went out on a felucca, or a river cruise on the Nile. This was a spectacular way to end my stay in Egypt, and I now wish that I could have stayed longer. The Brussels program, while impressive in the opportunities it affords, is still an enclave program rather than a direct enrollment program, which limits our ability to immerse ourselves in the local and national culture. Though I have no regrets or reservations about choosing Brussels, the fact remains that my colleagues in Cairo are experiencing a new culture to a much greater degree than we are in Brussels. Combined with the fact that the culture in Egypt is much less similar than that of Belgium to the United States is a testament to the spirit of adventurism that I find so inspiring in many of my peers. 

IV. God Save the Queen

Designated as a separate entry to be disclosed in the future, suffice it to say that tomorrow I will attempt a re-entry in to the fair city of Brussels, having been denied entry one week ago due to an overstayed tourist visa by some 53 days. For now, all I will say is a heartfelt thank you to the Kumar family in London for their generous hospitality and Three Cheers for Her Majesty the Queen. More to come and then more to come.