Greetings ladies and gentlemen all is well on this side of the world for the most part. I have been working on my independent study project and also enjoying Europe. I spent last week in Barcelona, Spain!

It was warm and beautiful but unfortunately all of this French speaking has shattered my Spanish speaking skills. Not that it really mattered since most people living there spoke Catalan, but still I tried to communicate with the locals. I have pretty much mixed French and Spanish together and came up with a language that only my fellow American amigos understand.

What I liked most about Barcelona was the food, as usual. But there was so much to choose from and it was soooo much less expensive than Switzerland. We found one store in our student budgets, it just read ‘VERY CHEAP’ across the top so I figured we should buy snacks there, but it was closed.

I have come to realize that Switzerland is a country of wealth and quality, so I need to come back in a few years after I make my millions. But Barcelona was affordable and beautiful; everything is art in this city. From cups and plates in restaurants, to the sand on the beach, nothing goes untouched by some sort of artistic interpretation.

We did a lot of lounging in Barcelona, saw some Gaudi art work, visited the Sagrada Familia, ate great food, and drank the best Sangria! We visited this chocolate shop called Valor (I knew it was legit when no one spoke English). I try to always eat where the native people eat, and this shop was a win, win, win! They had chocolate everything fondue, ice cream, bunnies, the works; all made from raw materials in their purest forms it was amazing chocolate. We spent the afternoon there it was super lovely!

Upon arrival back in Nyon, Switzerland, Momma C informed me that things did not work out with the German exchange student (she lasted three days). I tried to hold back my excitement but it was rather difficult. Apparently the girl did not get along well with the family and was not willing to open up and try to establish relationships. So now that I have my family back I will cherish every moment with them! I didn’t even pretend to be sad because honestly our days together are limited, so I hung out with Momma C for a few hours tonight; we knock out a bottle of wine and had a great conversation. I haven’t decided if I’m ever gonna leave yet. I’m guaranteed two meals a day here and Momma C cleans the bathroom, I’m living the life!

As far as this independent study project goes, I’m starting to think the Security Council will never reform. After spending six hours in the United Nations library today reviewing the minutes from past General Assembly meetings, I realized that they have been working on a reform since 1979 and they keep deferring the subject. To some of you that may not seem that far in the past, but since I wasn’t born until 1989 that seems like forever ago to me. The problem that I have come to understand is that five members of the council have veto powers; this means as long as they agree with each other, whatever they say goes, kind of like Debo from the movie Friday. This arrangement pretty much sucks for the other 187 countries in the United Nations they have essentially no sayso, but there is nothing they can do about it. The countries that are not Security Council members have tried and tried to seek out reform, I read all about it in the minutes. Unfortunately the permanent five members are punking everyone else. 

My issue with the whole thing is that the members with veto powers: USA, Russia, France, China, and the UK represent such a small fraction of the global population. The whole continent of Africa is missing in the decision making body of global governance. How can you just disregard a whole continent, can at least one country in Africa get a veto power? It is crazy, so hopefully next time we talk I will have made some progress or a remarkable discovery on how to solve this Security Council reformation problem in reference to representation. Then all the world leaders will come to me for answers, and I’ll get a Nobel Peace Prize, and I’ll be on the cover of every magazine, having brunch with President Obama and Jay-Z, with my own shoe line.