2 years later! And World Humanitarian Day

Hi everyone!

Wow, it has been almost 2 years since I last posted on this blog! It's about time for something new, no? ;)

I only learned recently that 19 August is World Humanitarian Day. I had the privilege of taking part in a commemoration ceremony within a UN agency yesterday, which brought the experience much closer than simply hearing about the World Humanitarian Day in the media.

Today, I came across a very good article about Sergio Vieira de Mello, a UN representative who was killed in the attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, on 19 August 2003. It contains some life lessons, as drawn from de Mello's life, and is certainly worth a read within the context of World Humanitarian Day (and beyond):

Remembering Sergio Vieira de Mello

Bike ride

Hi everyone!

As of last Wednesday, I no longer live in the centre of Amsterdam. I do miss the convenient location, but instead I'm living with a friend outside of the city of Utrecht. It's nice living with someone again, and it's nice being so close to nature!
This morning, there was gorgeous weather, and I just had to get out of the house. So I got on the bike that I'm borrowing from my friend while I'm here, and I headed out of the little town I now live in. Within 2 minutes, I was in the countryside, surrounded by green fields, beautiful trees, and sheep and cows. It was lovely! I hope we have more of these days! (Unfortunately, it's raining now)

News!

Hello!

Looooooooooooong time no update, terribly sorry for that!!!!

I have some exciting news for you!
First of all, an update on my Master's: I'll be handing in my thesis on August 31st, and a week later, I'll have my defence, and then I'll be done!!!!
Now the news: In July, I applied for an internship here in Amsterdam, was invited for an interview, and on the same day I got a phonecall asking me to join the team!!!
So, I'll be the education programming intern at War Child (http://www.warchildholland.org/) for 6 months, starting in September!!! I'm really, really excited about this incredible opportunity! I'm sure it's going to be a really worth-while experience, and a good start after my Master's!

...And to include some photos (a blog post wouldn't be quite as interesting without at least one photo): I've been stuck in libraries and at home lately, writing furiously. But when the weather is nice, lunch breaks have been outside. On Thursday, I was at my favourite library with some of the girls from my Master's, and we sat along the canal for our lunch and an Italian gelato. :) Moments like that make me fall in love with this city all over again!

Fieldwork in Malaysia!

Hi everyone!

Sorry for not updating in a while! January has been busy with writing papers, etc.
On Tuesday, I head off to Sabah, a state in East Malaysia, to do fieldwork (i.e. research) for 2.5 months! I won't have much internet access, but will try to update a blog every once in a while.
Here's the link to my fieldwork blog:

http://noemiinsabah.blogspot.com/

So you won't find anything new here for a while - until the end of April, any news will be on my other blog.

~Noemi

Why my flight was cancelled today

This is the reason my flight was cancelled. I'm torn between being stunned by the beauty, and being bummed because I can't visit Tamar in Basel for 24h....