New City Who Dis?

By Paulina Murga

Hello, strangers!

I have been abroad for three weeks now and man has it been fun. My people from back home feel like distant relatives and the people I am surrounded by have become just like family. I’m really grateful for the people I’ve gotten to know and all the things I’m discovering.

This new city we have come to explore is great. Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark and they have a lot to offer in terms of urban agriculture. The city is surrounded by forests and green space can be found nearly anywhere you turn. Compared to Copenhagen, Aarhus has much more of a laid back environment and it feels like a vibrant small town. The beach, shops and forests are all within walking distance of our house and often we visit all three in a day. Our first night in this new city we made our way down to the beach, found a large grassy area and couldn’t help but play a game of keep away that left us with some battle wounds. Luckily we are all healed by now.

Most of the urban agriculture integrated in the city is allotment style where a piece of land is rented and residents may build and grow what they like. I visited my first community style garden yesterday and was very impressed. The garden was very well kept and there were two huge greenhouses that were utilized on site as well. Thanks to this wonderful local I met at a thrift shop we also visited a garden that was specifically intended for local schools in Aarhus to bring their students to learn about agricultural systems. Taking a tour of that garden and speaking with the director opened my eyes to the potential of bridging the relationship between children and food. It was highly supported by the community and I was inspired.

The next few days involve a lot of writing and organizing of our thoughts. In every city we conduct research and are expected to create an analysis of our findings and present them. We chose to tackle the paper in sections and my part involves the governance of not only the country of Denmark but also the cities and the gardens we come across. My assignment was to present in Copenhagen so that part of the trip is done for me. Hooray!

This Monday we travel back to Copenhagen and fly out to Exeter bright and early on Tuesday. I have heard great things about this city so I am looking forward to it! I’m intrigued to see how things will continue to be in the United Kingdom as they recently decided to leave the EU. For us doing research it will be interesting insight but for the British it might be a different story.

This about marks the half way point in my trip and it feels like I have been gone for months. I miss my dogs terribly and cannot wait to see them as soon as I come home! Thanks to my lovely sisters for caring for them. Hope you all are enjoying your summer. See you in Exeter. Love you, mom!