I think our class might need to start up meditation or something to keep us sane while we're here. Aside from just how busy we are, it's just really depressing sometimes. For example, last week was Bosnia week, where we finished reading Love Thy Neighbor by Peter Maass about the genocide. Then during our classes, we discussed the book, had a Skype conference with Peter Maass himself, spoke with three Bosnian survivors, and had a Skype conference with a Bosnian couple who now run a humanitarian organization to foster understanding between Bosnians, Croatian, and Serbians. 

It's been both interesting and shocking to learn about the Bosnian War. I mean, the collapse of Yugoslavia and the brutality that ensued all happened during my lifetime, yet I knew very little about it, let alone the complexities of the situation or the horrifying level of violence that accompanied it. And then to add to the unsettling nature of the subject, some of the speakers who came into class were hardly older than us students, yet their childhoods had been very different from ours. It's cliche to say this, but to hear these stories - of growing up in refugee camps, of families being torn apart simply for having a Muslim name, of the deaths, disappearances, and torture in the name of a mythological conflict between the Serbs and Turkish invaders - was just another reason to be grateful for what I have. But at the same time, it's hard to imagine that in this day and age, atrocities such as this are still occurring. Despite them and despite what Peter Maass said about the darker side of human nature, I really, really want to maintain my faith in humanity. That's the reason why I'm here studying Peace and Conflict Resolution: because there have been far too many preventable injustices in this world, and I want them to actually be prevented in the future, dammit. 

On a happier note, the couple that Skyped with us gave us the best possible antidote to the sadness and brutality: puppies! Even from across the world, on Skype, by simply putting their newborn puppies on camera, they managed to remind us about the happier parts of life. Apparently, they could hear our shrieks of joy in reaction to the puppies all the way on main campus. (Not actually.)

And what are we moving onto next? Rwanda. I'm going to have to start looking into that meditation, I swear.