Copenhagen!!!!

As you are probably aware, yesterday Saturday the 12th, there was a huge demonstration in Copenhagen to pressure the U.N. climate meeting to come to an agreement that would put us onto the road to solving global warming and prevent the disasters that will come if we keep on the same track. Climate change is a big deal for me, as it should be for everyone, partly because of me going to the Zoo Magnet, but also because I have always been a lover of nature. So considering that Copenhagen is less than 2 hrs away from me I couldn't pass up the chance to join in. So a group of about 10 of us from my school left on Friday night for Copenhagen. The demonstration wasn't until Saturday, but there were a lot of things going on Friday night. There isn't much to say about the train ride, but I did have a bit of an epiphany. I have always wondered where Shakespeare got the name Elsinore, Hamlet's castle in Denmark, and while sitting on the train the voice said first in Swedish that the train goes to "Helsingør," then in English and said it Anglicized "Elsinore" (Maybe I am the only when who ever noticed.) When we got to Copenhagen Central station we were met by my friend Ylva's brother who had already been in Copenhagen for a few days. He took us to an info point for demonstrators where we found a place we could stay for free. After figuring out where we would be heading later that night we took a bus to the outskirts of Copenhagen to an old abandoned factory and warehouse space where we would attend a meeting planning what would happen at the demonstration. When we got there, there was a swarm of people from all over: France, Germany, Australia, England, the U.S, Canada, Sweden and Finland to name a few, all there to protest. They also were serving "donation optional" food for everyone there. If not just for the fact that it was like 1ºC out and the food was warm, the food was really good. We then all shuffled into an old warehouse where about 200 people were sitting around in a circle proposing things to do during the demonstration. There were two things that popped out to me, 1, that even with this many people with different opinions it was still orderly and calm, which to me really spoke to the fact that we all wanted the same thing and weren't going to argue about whose idea was better, and 2, there are a lot of people that jump to the conclusion that you can't get things done peacefully, but those who wanted to be "less than peaceful" agreed to march at another time and place in the city. From that point on I knew that the march was going to be a success. Later we headed over to a free concert, a group from Barcelona who played a sound I have never really heard. It was like a mix of salsa, reggae, and hard rock. Very cool. Then after that was over we hopped on a bus to go to where we were sleeping. Now even if the march wasn't an amazing experience, I would still have the story of where we slept. This bus too took us to an industrial part of the city to an abandoned warehouse. The complex reminded me of someplace you might go after a natural disaster or a zombie apocalypse. It was an empty storage house with sleeping bags, tents, and such, all laid directly on the cement floor, covering every inch of usable (legal) space. (we had to leave empty areas in case of a fire). Not to mention it was below freezing outside. My sleeping space consisted of me and my friends all lined up on the floor like sardines, side by side, all laying on top of our extra clothes and jackets for a mattress, and huddled in our sleeping bags. It wasn't the best night of sleep I have ever had, but all the sleeping people's breath and body heat warmed up the air, plus my sleeping bag goes down to-10º. I actually ended up opening it up in the middle of the night because I was sweating. We woke up the next morning to a chilly Danish winter. Why is it that the day I am going to be sleeping in a warehouse and marching outside all day is the first one in about 3 weeks that it is below freezing in the area? Nevertheless, we braved the chilly wind anyway. We ate our fill of porridge and bread with various vegan spread for breakfast, brushed our teeth, used the facilities , and left so we could avoid the rush and any police that would come when everyone started to leave. We hopped on the bus and got to the meeting place for the demonstration at a quarter to ten. This first part of the demonstration was called The Flood because we were going to flood the streets in protest. So accordingly everyone was wearing blue ponchos. After standing in the crowd for about 30 minutes, listening to speakers talk about what we are fighting for, and practicing our chants we got the signal to begin. We started walking chanting, "What do we want?" "Climate Justice!" "When do we want it?" "Now!' This first part of the march was from the central station to Parliament Square. Along the way I saw: a bunch of people dressed as polar bears, a man in a UFO suit offering tickets off the planet for 100 million dollars, a man in an inflatable raft being pushed along by the sea of people in blue, an inflated globe being rolled over our heads, and my personal favorite, two people, supposed to be police looking for climate refugees, in a "boat" following two other people in a "boat" supposed to be the refugees, all the while shouting "Please show us your passports! If you do not have a visa you must leave this country, even if yours doesn't exist!" I even got to help hold up a Swedish anti-nuclear power sign. I am just like my mother!! Being in the crowd, I didn't feel like I was one person, I felt like we were all one entity moving and breathing in unison. One life force. After what felt like 10 minutes, which was at least 40, we arrived at Parliament Square. There we were provided with signs saying different things like: "There is no Planet B!" and "Nature doesn't compromise!" This was the hardest part of the day. After this big exciting march, we had to wait for about 3 hours in the cold, windy square, amidst a crowd of people until the final march to Bella Center started. There were people all around handing out Socialist newspapers, Communist pamphlets, Vegan recipes, and such. There was music and speeches, but that time waiting felt like forever. I was freezing, my legs were tired, I was hungry, but I just held in knowing the time would come when we would march again. And sure enough it did! I am not going to try and describe this part because I was so awed and amazed I couldn't tell you much. I was marching between the Socialist, Anarchists, and Environmentalists. It felt really strangely satisfying to be marching with Socialists and not feel like they are too extreme and crazy. (because thats the feeling I get in the US) We were chanting and singing and marching forever it seemed. It was 8 km and it took us about 3 to 4 hours to get there. It was pitch dark 2 hours in, but that didn't matter. The whole time my legs kept telling me to stop, but my brain pushed me through. Then eventually my brain told me to stop as well, but luckily my heart pushed on. When we got to Bella Center, everyone got quiet and marched with a light of some kind to prove that we were peaceful and calm. But after a while the area broke out in music and dancing, and laughter filled the air. We left by 6:30, the metro was so full there was barely standing room, and on more than one occasion the doors wouldn't close. Then we jumped on a bus to go get our stuff from where we slept. Got some free soup, and hitched a ride with some Germans to the train station. After hours upon hours of marching, the longest part of my day came waiting for trains and busses, just thinking about sleeping in a warm bed. I finally got home at around 2 AM and passed out.

I realize this isn't the best writing, and I am sure there are grammar mistakes, and run on sentences, and another myriad of errors that would make Ms. Rose blush, but this is all my mind can produce as of now. Maybe I am still in shock! But school is coming to a close this week, so I have to start packing up and cleaning. I just wanted to give you all a general idea of what I did.

I came away feeling accomplished and empowered, like the future is not as bleak as I imagined. However, the one thing I cant get out of my mind is: considering this was a climate demonstration, how many liters of oil were used to make the plastic ponchos we were wearing? And how many of them got thrown away? How much carbon was produced by the cars, trains, busses, planes we used to get here? And where did they get all the wood to make the signs?
I guess at some degree you must be your own enemy to create new allies.