Windmills, Dune Cows, and City Tours
This week, for work I did more research into women’s roles in rural regions of Brazil and gathered data on the constitutionalized (and not constitutionalized) institutions of Chad, Chile, and Ecuador. I also studied the mandates and memberships of institutions that manage resources in Zimbabwe, Nepal, and Kenya. I furthered my other research on how constitutional principles interact with the rights of Indigenous peoples globally and their inclusion or exclusion from resource management, too. It was interesting to read constitutions, like Bolivia’s and Ecuador’s, that have more elaborate protections for Indigenous peoples established, too, and study whether these protections are realized today or not.
After work, I walked around Den Haag to see the temporary sculpture installations nearby, and on a different day, I had a sunset picnic at the Scheveningen beach. My friend from law school, India, also came to visit me—so I went to the airport to welcome her. We had a busy week together with her first full day (after work) going to Delft for dinner on a canal. Then, later that same evening we went to Rotterdam to see the cube houses, other famous architecture, and the Erasmus Bridge.
I finalized my memo on “Women as Constitution Makers” focusing on resource management institutions. Then, my next work task is gathering data on constitutional commissions, so I started by researching commissions in Armenia, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. I liked getting to read some of the constitutional histories of these countries that I had not studied before.
On Friday, India and I had Indonesian food in Den Haag, walked to the International Court of Justice, then took the tram to Westduinpark to see the highland cows that live in the beach dunes. The dunes were sprawling and more impressive than I had imagined. We got to see the highland cows almost immediately, too, which I was very excited about. That night we also walked around the “Plein” area of Den Haag where the trees are all lit up before going home to Voorburg.Over the weekend, India, Anna, and I went to Zaanse Schans to see the famous windmills. The surrounding village area looked like a fairy tale—so we didn’t mind that it rained a little bit.
Afterward, we went to Zaandam to see the Inntel Hotel which was an amazing sight and as cool in photos as it was in real life. We spent the rest of the evening walking around Leiden, where I showed India the medieval castle remains of “Burcht van Leiden” and we loved the winding streets of cobblestone. We spent all day on Sunday in Amsterdam, where we went to the Van Gogh Museum where the paintings were stunning, and learning about his life felt moving. We did other touristy things like enjoying stroopwafels, sitting in Vondelpark, and taking a canal boat ride. It was a busy week and we really made the most of it!