Halfway Point
Work Stuff: I can't believe I'm already halfway through my internship! Five weeks down, five to go. I think I have already expressed how much I enjoy it. I realized that I haven't exactly explained what I'm doing on the website. If you go here: http://www.constitutionnet.org/country-profiles/overview you will see the country profiles page. I'm working on those. I've proofread some, updated some, and rewritten others. Starting next week or the week after, I will get to write some from scratch :) I have done at least ten countries so far. Anyway, that's half of what I do. The other half is researching for a constitution-building project. I remember a conversation with a friend who is also in the dual program, and he was seriously questioning my decision to take more advanced econometrics classes (I don't necessarily love math, and econometrics can be confusing). I said that I would think about it over the summer. I can now say that I will definitely be taking more crazy MPP courses. Lots of papers and studies run regressions and other econometric type equations as a way to determine the best methods for development. I was so excited when I was able to understand what they were talking about and disappointed when they started talking about time series so I didn't understand anymore (time series is fourth semester). Snapping out of math talk, my research right now involves Tunisia. I am becoming very very familiar with the news surrounding everything that happened in the three years between the revolution and the new constitution. It's really fascinating!
Not work stuff: The Netherlands has won both its games so far in the World Cup! Everyone is super excited. I would watch the American games, but they insist on playing at midnight my time, and I like my sleep. I'm enjoying the revelry though. After the second win, cars were honking as they drove by; people were shouting and waving orange paraphernalia out of windows; and although I'm in the middle of a rather large city, there were lots of fireworks going off. Commercials are fun too. In the US, a company can't support one particular team. This team represents the entire country, so all the commercials are very orange. I laugh every time I watch this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsvfxZmcqhc. I had to ask what they were advertising. It's a supermarket. You get a free (or discounted...not sure) jumpsuit when you hit whatever spending threshold they have. Apparently, the suits are so popular, they've run out now...
This past weekend's Netherland adventure was to the De Haagse Markt. According to the signs, it is the largest market in Europe. I'm not sure what standard of measurement they're using to make that claim, but it was a nice market in general. It was also a lovely day to walk over there. Have I mentioned the weather here? An unseasonably hot summer day is one where the high is in the mid to high 80s! It's wonderful!
Today I learned a new phrase...sort of. I was talking with Ina and Henrieke, and Ina said, "I have trouble with which one is Tuesday and which is Thursday. I need a...I don't know if there is an English word. In Dutch, I say I need a donkey bridge." I kind of stared at her for a minute. As best as I can figure, she wanted a pneumatic device to help her remember the difference. Donkey bridge is more fun though. I think we should start to make it happen in English. I'm trying to think of weird things we say that I can tell them about. They actually asked me about "raining cats and dogs," which I happen to know the history to, but I would like to be able to provide more strange English phrases if I can.
I hope you're enjoying your summers. Until next time!