Peace by Piece

Today I met with a group of students from the university for a study session.  We wanted to rehash this weeks lectures and take another look at the new terminology.  It was a very productive meeting at a local coffee house.  Our group included myself and another student from the United States and one student each  from  Iran, Egypt, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand.  What a treat if was to talk about peace politics and how to define peace with such a diverse groups.  Students shared stories from personal experiences to exemplify different peace building strategies and conflict resolution models.  This is learning taken to a new level.  Not only did I better understand the concepts we learned in class, but I also learned about elections in Egypt, land issues in Japan and family settlement of disputes in Iran.  Upon coming to UPEACE I really only knew the geography of the western world but after just two weeks I can place counties in Asia and Africa because of students showing me where t

Being sick is difficult even in the comfort of your own country and home.  My instant reaction is denial and continuing life as normal.  I make the same demands on my body and am frustrated when it doesn't respond as I expect it to.  So happened here in Costa Rica. Monday came and as I struggled to get out of bed I gave into my body's desire for a calm morning and instead of putting on my running shoes, I rolled out my yoga mat.  Sometimes it's tough in the morning so I thought nothing of it.  Then, as the day went on, I began sneezing violently.  The number of 'bless you's' thrown in my direction was embarrassing.  Yet, as lunch ended, I found myself running around and playing a little volleyball.  When I retreated to the library to study I blamed my tiredness on the dense reading and went to the cafeteria for coffee and cake.  Then, when I moved to the computer lab, I cursed the fans as my sneezing picked up again.  I wandered outside to join the Ramadan fes

During my first week of school there was a lot of discussion about peace and conflict.  What I found interesting is that peace and conflict can coexist.  We don't normally think of these two states of being occurring at the same time, which leads to a misperception of peace building.  Some people think that peace is not within our reach, but once we realize that peace and conflict can occupy the same time period and space it leaves room for new ways of thinking.  Conflict is necessary to promote change and improve societal conditions.  If it is resolved in a non-violent way, it is called positive conflict.  Peace is often defined as  freedom from or the cessation of war or violence, therefor if conflict is resolved in a non-violent manner, peace and conflict can coexist.  Does this viewpoint change the perception of attaining world peace?  Should not ending the suffering of others in war torn countries and bringing all parties to the table be considered an attainable and desirable

Welcome to my blog!  It is not a new blog but rather a continued blog from a private site.  I am excited to share my experiences at UPEACE with you.  For more information on how I arrived at the United Nations University for Peace and my first days here, please go to www.joy4peacescholarship.com . So far I have attended three days of orientation and one week of classes at UPEACE.  Meeting students from different cultures and backgrounds has been the highlight of the first two weeks.  It is very interesting getting to know people from different cultures since many interact differently.  For instance, there are different protocols for meeting people such as kissing on the cheek, kissing on both cheeks, shaking hands, special handshakes, and just politely bowing the head.  I have had the pleasure of learning a new handshake from a student from Uganda and I often go out of my way to greet him because I enjoy shaking hands so much!  Today another student from Africa was greeting students