A Day of Learning
Today started out slowly, but quickly picked up the pace. I met Kendra for lunch at the University café, where we ended up eating with one of her professors. She is a lovely woman, originally from Edinburgh, who now teaches at the University of London. We had a great conversation about law, politics, and the like.
After lunch, we strolled over to Kollegienkirche (The Collegiate Church), built between 1696 and 1707. Though beautiful, what struck us both was the clear lack of frescoes within the building. Almost the entirety of the church was stark white, save for the altars, which were and oddity themselves. They had the appearance of marble, but upon close inspection, we realized that the marble-work was actually painted wood! Aside from the Baroque design, the church had very little in common with the cathedrals we have seen to date.
Upon leaving the church, we strolled through the open market at Universitatplatz, picking up some ice cream along the way. There were fruit and flower vendors, as well as souvenirs at every turn. We meandered through the streets, eventually making our way back to the law school building.
Kendra had asked her professor if I could join her International Criminal Law class for the day. The class began with a very powerful documentary film, “Calling The Ghosts: A Story About Rape, War and Women,” about women who were sexually victimized in the Omarska camp in during the Bosnian war, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends, both law professionals from Prijedor, Bosnia. One of the women made a comment that really struck me; she said that she often wondered during her internment if she was being punished for the many times she’d read about the suffering of other women across the world and took no action. The film followed the women to The Hague, where they sent a postcard to their former colleagues – people who were once their friends that then turned on them and participated in their imprisonment and torture. The postcard simply said, “We are enjoying our visit to The Hague. Hope to see you all here soon.” Another comment in the film that struck a chord with me was the statement that the Bosnian tribunal was the first ever to include rape and sexual crimes as part of the war crimes charges! I found this fact very disturbing, to say the very least.
After the film finished, the professor called upon Ms. Navanethem Pillay, a judge with the International Criminal Court and former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, to speak with the class. A very eloquent woman, she explained the difficulties of maintaining her objectivity and composure when listening to victims tell their stories during war crime tribunals. It was a phenomenal opportunity to join in this class, and I am very glad Kendra had the foresight to invite me.
After we had a quiet dinner in our room, and a brief nap, we met up with some of Kendra’s classmates for a picnic along the river. We had champagne, wine, a variety of cheeses, grapes, apples, pears, breads, and my favorite – nutella. It was a beautiful evening, and we really enjoyed socializing on the banks of the Salzach. We stayed until it was quite dark and then headed back to the dorm. We cut through the Mirabell Gardens on the way home, and Kendra and I decided the gardens would be our sightseeing stop for the next day – I am looking forward to seeing them during daytime hours!
