The Hague

Hello, I am in The Hague in Holland (Netherlands) for a few days. I had meant to get this out yesterday- but I pushed out my unplanned blog on the President of the Republic of Poland's death instead.

I left on Wednesday morning for a three day conference on European Health Policy. It took two taxis, two planes, and one train trip to get here- but I made it. Only after all those journeys, and I was two miles from my hotel did my phone ring. It was Lisa telling me she had an allergic reaction to something, her tongue was swollen and had moderate difficulty breathing. Our neighbors were taking her to the ER. Talk about feeling helpless.... If you have not read about her adventure-

http://anamericanhouseholdinpoland.blogspot.com/2010/04/unexpected-medical-tourism.html

Thank God all was ok and at worse, she got a shot in “the ass,” and a nice look at the Polish health care system. And thank God for Charles, Basia and Mariusz, our neighbors and landlords!

With that good news, I was able to get back to my business.

This is my second trip to Holland /Netherlands (I am never sure what to call it) in less than a year. Last May, I was in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Now I am at The Hague (the capital “T” in The is part of the name; like The Ohio State). Here, it is called Den Hagg. It is the seat of government. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands lives and works in The Hague. The Hague is the second UN city after New York.

Holland and Belgium are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of Europe. Unlike Poland which is huge- you can travel from city to city and back and forth between the two countries in an hour or less. Maybe this a good place for my next sabbatical..... I am sure Lisa would love to work on her Dutch. But first, I have to get her on another international flight. I think if I can find Scottie and have her beamed between the US and EU, I might have better luck with getting her on more of these trips.

Now Holland is an interesting place. Rotterdam is a beautiful sea port (one of the deepest in the world). Those gigantic ocean ships navigate the waters and dock here. Last spring I spent a day on a tour boat just floating around this amazing sea port and looking at the size of these ships. (Many of them are even too wide to fit through the Panama canal). Amsterdam of course, is great, too. The home of Heineken, over-the-counter marijuana shops (called Coffee Houses), and open prostitution (The Red Light District). For those who like their vices- Amsterdam is a mecca.

Now, just when you think Holland is a permanent frat party- you go 30 minutes south from Amsterdam to The Hague. The Hague is the serious place. It is the home to all the international courts that prosecute war criminals, genocidal war lords, and the like (The Peace Palace). “Alleged” criminal leaders from Serbia, Rwanda and West Africa are all here being tried for the systematic murder of tens of thousands of people, and accused of either profiteering or genocide. A little more on that later.

The purpose of this conference I was attending was to bring together health services researchers and policy makers from across Europe and dialogue. Not surprisingly, researchers and politicians rarely understand each other. About 250 of the aforementioned people were here from almost every country in the EU. I was one of three from Poland.

During the course of the discussions- the recent US health care legislation process came up many times (and not in a good way- more in a mocking way). Frankly, as I have traveled Europe this year and people find out I am 1.) an American and 2.) Doing health services research- the people usually pose the same “what in the hell are you people doing over there” question (it is just said more professionally- but their point is clear). I sit and try very hard to explain this ideological debate we have in the US and all sides. I have yet to make a single person understand....

The conference was just ok- but I am glad I went. I met some people, learned a few things. On Friday afternoon I had some time available and decided to see a little bit the of the city.

I was hoping to catch a tour of the Peace Palace at 3pm. I left the conference at 2pm and ran down there. Unfortunately they were booked. The Peace Palace is one of the most famous buildings in The Hague. It is where many of the courts are held for the war criminals. Some of the worst dictators of the second half of the 20th Century have been tried there.

As with most cities- locals tend to have no idea where their most famous sites are located (can you give someone directions to the Truman House in KC or Arthur Bryants?). I had walked to the general area of the Peace Palace- but was lost in the surrounding neighborhoods. I asked a twenty-something man if he knew where it was. He said yes- and told me to keep walking straight (south) and I would see it. After a half mile I was just deeper into neighborhoods- so I asked a forty something women if she knew where the Peace Palace was. She said sure. I had to go around the corner and get on the bus and take it several stops and I would see it (taking me much further east). She was rather confident, but I was not. As she disappeared, I asked a third guy drinking a beer on his patio. Again he said sure, just go back straight (north), turn left and you will see it. For whatever reason the guy with the beer’s answer felt the best- so I basically went back to where I started. I found the Peace Palace about 1 block from the first guy I had ask (but in the opposite direction he told me).

The Peace Palace is a grand old building that has heard some of the worst atrocities committed in the past 50 years. It is part of the United Nations.

I did find it odd that they had a souvenir store in front. I did not know if to expect little Slobodan Milosevic dolls in handcuffs or a commemorative plate of an African war-lord being interrogated.... But it was mostly UN stuff. Radovan Karadic is current the high profile case on trial now. He is another Serbian leader who is accused of leading the massacre of 8,000 men and boys (all the men and boys in the entire city) in Srebrenica in Bosina. Also Charles Taylor (Liberia) is on trial for his atrocities in West Africa during his pursuit of blood diamonds.

In front of the Peace Palace is the ubiquitous WWII memorial. As I have traveled from one side of Europe to another, east, west and north and south- everyone has a memorial to the dead and destruction of the war. It really starts to sink in the scale of this war and devastation. Really, very little of Europe was untouched.




Also, in front of the Peace Palace is a rock garden with a rock representing the 192 countries that participate in the UN court. It is symbol of peace. Of course, the US has one of the bigger rocks....

Finally, The Hague sits right on the sea. I ended my week with a stroll along the boardwalk and ate at a restaurant literally on the beach. As it was about 7pm- I saw the sun setting over the sea. Not a bad way to end a Friday.

More on Saturday and the rest of my trip in the next blog.