Coburg Chronicles 2

Day two.

As usual I woke up at 5:00 am the only difference was that it was 5:00 am in India and only 1:00 am here. Rolling and wriggling in the bed went back to sleep, but was visibly tired for the day. Was ready on time for the walk to breakfast to Gaby's place. Bread, cheese, meat, milk, musli, yoghurt, jelly, honey, tea, grape fruit and apple juice greeted us on the table.

Had a quick bite and was ready to head for the sessions. The first half of the day had four presentations from Chile, Namibia, India and Germany. They presented by the students who had worked on the issues. It was really interesting to see their level of involvement in the issue. The real learning was from the presentation from Namibia. Where the apartheid was at its peak. Was similar to the South African case study but was very different in terms of the way in which it was dealt with. The Indians presented on on the situation of the Irulas in Guduvancherry. It was a typical class room presentation. All this while I was thinking of our students who could have been presenting here. Wondered how well Arulmani and Jerry would have pulled it off the whole perspective would have been different for the international community.

In the afternoon there was an interesting lecture by Dr Louis De Campo an expert on child rights working in Columbia. His case study was the rehabilitation of child soldiers. Bencosta was the name of is project. He gave several insights, on how things operated in that part of the world. A video demonstrated his work and the difference they had made in the lives of thousands of children amidst the ongoing conflict.

It was now about 5:00 pm and we were free till 7:00 pm for dinner which was at the Highlander Restaurant. I was totaled out, I just came to my room and hit my bed for nap. I had slept for about 40 minutes to renew my energy for the rainy day. Then walked down the mountain to the city centre for the dinner. It was an old restaurant, with a lot of character. On the way I picked up the russians and the chileans who were shopping. Though I was not the last to reach there. I was served food at the very end. Just like what happened yesterday. But I was in no hurry but very tired. The place was supposed to be the best for Burgers in this part of germany. Hence Burger it was for dinner. The burger lived up to the wait. The fries was really good.

After chattering, I was ready for my uphill walk.