Europe so far

Hi everyone,

I'm so sorry I haven't been writing as much as I'd like. The days here are so long and it's been difficult to find time for internet-ing! Also, I've been having some troubles with my outlet converter, so I somtimes don't even have an outlet for my computer to charge on! It's been crazy!

The week has been very fun, but very exhausting. Luckily we have had some good long bus rides for us to sleep on! All of our speakers have been great. We spent a good amount of time in Geneva at the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Then we went on to Strasbourg to visit the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. We spent the weekend in Belgium, visiting Brussels, Bruge, and Ghent. Tomorrow we are headed to The Netherlands--on our way to the Hague, but stopping in Antwerp. The Hague is the home to internatioanl courts like the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. that's the focus of our time there. THEN we are headed back to Brussels in the middle of next week to spend time at the European Union.

I wish I could give a more detailed account of what's been going on, but my brain is not really functioning right now and I only paid for an hour of internet (which is almost up!). Just know our group is having a great time--I really like most of my classmates and the trip has been incredible. I will try to write more later this week, if possible. If not, I will write some reflective entries about Europe when I return to the U.S. and the land of free internet. :-)

Take care!

~Katie

Arrival in Geneva

We have safely arrived in Geneva! So far we’re having a great time.

The trip got off to a rocky start—not all of the shuttles we requested arrived. So…we crammed as many people/suitcases into the vans that DID come. My van was the last to leave, and we still had at least 10 people standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the others to arrive…yikes. Well, our van ride didn’t go much better. We were all sitting in the van but had the doors open for some fresh air, while we waited for the others to board. All of a sudden, our driver jumped in the van and started it, so I leaned over to shut the doors right as he took off. I almost fell out of the van! A great omen, we all thought. Then, after driving about 10-15 minutes, our driver thought to ask us if we were going to Reagan or Dulles (we just assumed our teachers had given that instruction!). We still aren’t sure whether we were headed in the right direction, or if we drove several minutes out of the way. Finally, we arrived at the airport but none of the others from our group were in sight. It turns out we WERE the last ones to arrive (even behind the ones we left standing on the sidewalk). However, we still were there plenty early and got through security and boarded the plane without any difficulties.

The plane ride was uneventful. The flight to London was about 6.5 hours. I was lucky enough to get about 2 hours of sleep, more or less. I actually was trying to stay fairly awake, so that I would be exhausted when we arrived in Switzerland, could sleep a full night, and adjust to Europe time. We had about a 3 hour layover in London, and then a short (less than 2 hour) flight to Geneva. We finally arrived in Geneva around 10 am on Saturday in DC time, and around 4 pm on Saturday in Geneva time. All in all, our journey was about 12 hours of travel…exhausting.

We checked into our hotel and then were on our own out in the city. We wandered for a pretty long time in search of dinner but eventually found a really good pizza place. We are starting to discover that Swiss culture is really a mix of Italian, French, and German. So far we’ve had some good Italian food! I am really resentful of the fact that I speak NO French and wish that we had been given at least some survival preparation. I am lucky to have been hanging out in groups with at least one fluent French speaker, but it is quite embarrassing to not be able to communicate as well as I would like. However, I knew this would be a problem for me before I even came, I just didn’t realize I would be this uncomfortable with it. After a GREAT meal we walked around a bit more and got a feel for the city, but then turned in pretty early—we were exhausted!

Today we went to the International Red Cross Museum. I really enjoyed the museum and really learned a lot more about the history of the Red Cross. We were surprised to find just how NEUTRAL the Red Cross is. When covering the events of World War II, the museum would reference the genocide of World War II, but never mention the country that committed the genocide. The tour guide stated that it was not the position of the Red Cross to place blame. They also had a display of a prison cell that we could tell was from a pretty modern conflict. The cell was probably about the size of my bathroom at home and had no furniture and one solitary light. The museum stated that the cell held 17 prisoners! Once again, we were not told what country used this cell or during what conflict, but we were told that the prison was later shut down.

After the museum, we were free for the rest of the day to enjoy the city. We split off into smaller groups again. First we went down near Lake Geneva and took some really great pictures. The morning started out rainy, but it was starting to clear then and we could just begin to see the peaks of the Swiss Alps emerge from the clouds. We found another good Italian restaurant for lunch and then headed into “old town.” There we enjoyed some of the architecture, took a carousel ride, and walked around the Cathedral of St. Pierre which, when undergoing renovation in the 1970s became the site of many arachaelogical findings. The cathedral left a lot of the dig site preserved underneath the cathedral, so you could still see the findings. They had some little clay pots from the 1st and 2nd centuries, and the remains of a baptismal font from the 6th century. It was very cool. We then went into the present day cathedral and found a chair on display that was John Calvin’s. It’s so cool to be so up close to history! We also wandered back to a courtyard that we found last night, but that had really creeped us out in the dark. Back in daylight we discovered that the site was actually the place on which the First Geneva Convention was signed! Our international law professors would be so proud. ☺

We then had dinner at a British Pub and headed back to the hotel. It’s been a long, fun day but we have to get up early tomorrow. We are leaving for the UN at 8:00 am! We don’t have time any more to be jet lagged.

Hopefully I’ll find a place to get on the internet tomorrow and post this. I hope you are all doing well.

~Katie

Election Day

Lizzy and me in a victory hug as Barack Obama is declared the next President.

Election day was one of the most beautiful days of my lifetime, a day I know I will remember forever, and a day that I will be able to tell my children about.  This was the first presidential election in which I could vote, and I made history.

I headed into work yesterday morning, where a lot of work wasn't getting done.  Our office had set the TV up to the projector in the conference room, popped popcorn, and had various other refreshments.  People filtered in and out all day to watch the "results" (though not much was going on, since California was still sleeping soundly at 9:00 eastern time!).  There was a lot of commentary and "whatifs" being thrown around, but I enjoyed listening to all of it.

Eventually I returned to campus and prepared for what I knew would be a long night.  Around 6:00 I headed over to Tenley Cafe, where there were TWO big screen projectors set up.  I ate my dinner and proceeded to set up camp in a very good spot in front of the TV.  I was in it for the long haul!

We watched the initial results come in--Vermont, New Hampshire, etc.  There was a big sense of relief as Pennsylvania went blue--I wasn't too surprised, but it was definitely a much needed win.  I held my breath as the electoral number kept creeping up.  Ohio coming in for Obama was a highlight.  At that point, I think we all knew it was coming.  We laughed as the commentator tried to show on the map what McCain had to do to win now--as he selected states he would say things like "I wouldn't bet more than a dime on that one" and "I just can't give him that" or simply just shake his head.  But still, there was a feeling of anticipation--we don't readily forget 2000 and 2004.  Some key states still weren't in--Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, ALL of the west coast.  I was betting on California's glorious 55 votes and knew we really only needed one more substantial state to have it set.  I had a sense of pride when Iowa rolled across the screen--our great 7 votes!  It was really interesting to see people watch their home states, since we have people here from all over the country.  When Iowa came in, I clapped and cheered, and others joined me.  The little state that started it all, we said.

THEN....

VIRGINIA!  Oh my goodness Virginia.  Perhaps one of my most favorite states now.  As Virginia came in, the room just erupted.  We watched the electoral count hit 220, even still without the west coast, and we all knew it was set now.  People were cheering and screaming, jumping up and down.  I was just frozen in time, unable to believe that it was really here, this was really it, and it was really TIME!  My friends here forget that for me and other Iowans, this process started years ago...I saw my first Presidential candidate in December of 2006!  And the last two years were all leading up to that moment last night.

CNN made their projection, declared Obama the victor, and things went nuts.  We were all screaming and cheering, shouting, chanting "Yes we did!" and "Obama, Obama, Obama!"  Even the relatively few McCain supporters in the room (I would say about half a dozen!) remained quiet and respectful, letting us enjoy the moment. More than once I had tears come to my eyes, so proud of Americans for voting, of young people for actually caring, of my country for letting this monumental day take place.

We watched McCain's concession speech, one that I felt was sincere and heartfelt.  I even had a bit of sympathy for the old man...you can't say he doesn't put up a good fight.  But this is the way the election was supposed to be, and America chose its next president.

The room waited for Obama's speech and watched the crowd at Grant Park go nuts.  We waited for a very long time, it seemed, and enthusiasm and energy were beginning to drop--it had been a long day for many (some of my friends were up at 4:30 to go work the polls).

Then he came out on stage--our next President.  Tears came to my eyes at the sight of this man--a man who came from nothing, who worked hard, who inspired millions, who became a U.S. Senator and the next President of the United States in just a few short years, and who made history last night.  His speech was quite good (though our stupid projector did shut off in the middle of it...there was a frantic moment as 60 people tried to crowd around laptops, while I stood on a chair trying to get the darn thing to work again!).  When Joe Biden came out on stage the whole thing really hit me--this was it.   This was the next leading team.  These are the two men I will look to to guide my country for the next four years.  I'm so confident in their abilities.  At this point I looked around the room and saw many people full of tears, some laughing with joy, everyone in awe of how far our country has come.

At the end of the speech, I headed back to the dorm with Ruthie and was surprised to find it raining in DC.  I didn't even care--I ran out on to the lawn and screamed "Obama is our next President" and Ruthie and I started shouting and cheering, running around in the rain.

It seemed a let down to go to bed last night, but I fell asleep listening to a few stragglers out in the streets, cheering and screaming still, and cars passing by honking with joy.  Last night I didn't even care how loud DC was.  These streets will never be the same.

This morning I woke up and went in search of a newspaper.  I couldn't find a Times or a Post anywhere, but I did manage to snag the last Wall Street Journal from the Metro Station.  It's not my usual periodical, but I don't care.  The headline reads, "Obama Sweeps to Historic Victory" and that's all that matters.  I'll show my kids this paper some day.

Week 9...Here And Gone!

I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. Here is yet another weekly report!

Last week I had my typical internship days on Monday/Tuesday. Conveniently, my boss let me work from home both days because she was feeling sick and working from home, too. Since I am kind of wrapping up my two big projects in the office, this did give me some time to work on my school work. I think my boss is pretty great because she is VERY sensitive to the fact that I am also a student, so she never wastes my time when there's not much to do. And honestly, there isn't much for me to do at the office right now because Congress isn't in session. A lot of our staff members are traveling or working on their own big research projects...not too much that a lowly intern can help with.

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to hear Bob Woodward speak on AU's main campus, which was pretty incredible! I found him to be very intelligent, witty, and interesting. He did not speak much about uncovering Watergate, but instead focused on the new books he's written recently about President Bush and the Iraq War. To write his books he said he's conducted a total of 11 hours of interviews with the President, so he had some fascinating insights into the personality of the man in the Oval Office. But he also addressed the subject with a good sense of humor and some anecdotes about important figures in Washington. Here were some of my favorite parts of the speech:

He asked President Bush how he felt history would remember him and the Iraq War. President Bush's response was (probably paraphrasing here...) "Who cares about the history? We'll all be dead."
OK, so that's a very scary outlook. Maybe I'LL be dead, but my children/grandchildren/great grandchildren are going to have to live with the consequences of our policies. (I hear Dave Matthews Band in my head "Well, it would take me a lifetime, old man, to undo what you've done.")
WELL...Hillary Clinton reads this response and approaches Bob Woodward and tells him that that is NO way for a President to speak. She said, "George Washington wouldn't talk like that. Thomas Jefferson wouldn't talk like that. BILL wouldn't talk like that!" Woodward said he wondered if they had carved a new face on Mt. Rushmore that he didn't know about...

Also, Woodward was having lunch with Al Gore and asking him about the role the press has in the White House. He asked Gore how much the press and the public knew of what went on during the Clinton years. Gore said "1 percent." WOW. (Woodward thought, "THAT many more women?!?!?") So Woodward asked if Gore wrote a tell-all memoir of his years as VP and said EVERYTHING he knew about the Clinton presidency, then how much would we know? Gore said, "2 percent." OK, so perhaps Gore was being coy...but still imagine that! How much don't we know?!? Crazy. From his own perspective, Woodward speculates that we know about 75% percent of what goes on in an administration.

Finally, just a word of wisdom. My favorite quote of the day: "All good work is done in defiance of management."

So...the rest of the week was class, as usual. Not even many guest speakers this week. We are trying to push through the book and the work before Europe. We did get to go to the Estonian Embassy on Friday, which seemed completely random but turned out to be very fascinating! I think now our whole class is hoping we take a wrong turn in Europe and end up in Estonia...

I did get one midterm grade back last week. I got 100% on my take-home midterm for my elective class, which was very encouraging! I do not yet have my midterm grade back for my main seminar class, which is quite a bit more important. But I felt confident about the test and hope that I did fine!

Saturday night a friend from my class called and asked if I was interested in going to a play. Her supervisor wasn't going to use her tickets to see the Shakespeare Theater Co. perform "The Way of the World" and offered them to us. So I took the opportunity for a study break and went to see a good comedy. All through the play I listened to the pit and heard some great bassoon lines...then in the last act they brought the bassoonist and a few other musicians out on stage!!!!! It was the first bassoon I've seen in months and I honestly thought of rushing the stage just to touch it...but I didn't (I think that would have been frowned upon). I had been doing a good job of ignoring my musical cravings, but seeing a bassoon was waaaaaay hard. I can't wait to play mine when I go home for Thanksgiving in one month!

This week I've got lots of work to do--3 papers and a presentation to do this week, in addition to the usual readings. eeek! BUT I was pretty productive this weekend and got 2 of the papers done and my part of the 3rd paper done (a group paper). So the week will mostly be working on polishing the presentation, editing the group paper (a job I volunteered for and I'm not sure why), reading, reading, reading, and making progress on my research paper because I also have an outline for that due this week! I do not know how I will find the time, but I'm sure I will manage!

I was pretty excited to find out that you can go trick-or-treating at the Embassies. I hope to find the time to do that this weekend...and someone who is willing to go with me!

I am now less than 2 weeks away from Europe!!!!!!! I am SO thrilled. We finally got our itinerary over the weekend and the schedule looks jam-packed, but also pretty great. We only have one free day the whole trip. We'll be in Brussels so Lizzy, me, and some others from our class are looking into train tickets to Amsterdam or Paris. Hopefully we'll make a day trip somewhere!

That's about all there is to report from the East Coast. I am getting very sad to see my days in DC slipping away...I now have about 3 weeks left to actually be in DC. I'm really going to miss this place! But I have so much to look forward to in Europe and I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends over Thanksgiving. It's just so strange to feel this experience drawing to a close...

Take care everyone,

~Katie

Wahoo Midterms!!!!!!

OK, I realize it's been awhile since I updated...life has just been crazy!  Let me think about what's happened since New York:

*Last weekend I had a take-home midterm...which took up a lot of the weekend.  BUT it was accomplished and I felt pretty good about it.

*Last week was a week of midterms.  But since my genocide course had a take-home the weekend before, the only real test I had was my main seminar test.

*Monday I went to work...and then realized it was Columbus Day and no one was at the office.  soooooo I had the whole day free for studying, which actually turned out to be very productive.  I rode the train back to campus and studied all day for my midterm.

*Tuesday was a work day, as usual.  Plus night class that evening.

*Wednesday was a review day in class for the midterm.  I was feeling pretty good after the intense study day I had Monday.

*Wednesday evening I attended a reception at American University's Washington College of Law.  It was an event that the law school put on exclusively for Washington Semester students, which was really cool.  Even better--only about 10 students showed up, so I spent a lot of time asking questions of their admissions rep and a current law student.  I was really impressed with the program and what they had to say, so I think American could go on the list of potential law schools!

*Thursday was the exam!  It took me about 2 1/2 of the 3 allotted hours, but I felt pretty good about it.  I think Lizzy and I did a good job preparing and I'm anxious to see the grades come back.

*Friday we (Lizzy and I) visited Georgetown Law School.  I was fairly impressed with it--it seemed much more relaxed and less snobby than I was expecting.  I don't think I liked it as much as American, but I will definitely still consider it.  The location is great (downtown near  the Supreme Court) and the facilities were nice.  I got to sit in on a first year civil procedure course and found it much less intimidating than I was expecting, so that was good.

*Friday night was a relaxation night...wahoo!  I made a much-needed trip to Target.

*Saturday my wonderful Godfather was in town, so I met him for breakfast.  It was really nice to see someone from home and, as always, amazing to see him!  It was definitely the highlight of my week!

*Saturday afternoon Lizzy and I ventured off to find a mall.  We followed the directions given to us by Metro Trip Planner and wound up at Grosvenor Metro Station waiting for a bus that never came.  Soooo I finally asked the Metro Station attendant, who put us on a different bus that took us BACK one metro station (in the direction that we came) to take ANOTHER bus to the mall.  By the time we arrived, Lizzy and I really felt we had earned the shopping trip!  There is no one else I would rather be lost, wandering around Maryland with!  Being at a mall really made me realize that I've done NOTHING close to my normal life for the past two months and shopping was a slight return to life as usual.  Who actually knew a mall could be soothing?

*This morning I slept in and missed church...whoops.  :-/  But I think I really needed the sleep...I've been tempted to smash my alarm clock every day this week.  I then invested about 4 semi-productive hours at the library, but was a little too ADD to get much done.  BACK to the dorm.  Possible productivity later this evening?

*This week I also picked out my classes for next semester at Drake and formulated a new life plan.  Productive for midterms week, right?

*The upcoming week looks relatively normal but I am starting to feel the pressure to get going on my research paper and an upcoming group project...all before we leave for Europe in less than 3 weeks!  Ohhhh this is an intense semester.

Take care, everyone!

New York, New York!

Well my class returned last night from our trip to New York City!  We had a great time in just a few short days!

It started at 10:45 am on Sunday morning (early for college students!).  We loaded the bus and headed north.  Our teachers predicted a 4 hours bus ride--gross underestimation.  We finally rolled up to the hotel close to 5:00.  The bus ride was ruined by an completely horrible movie about human trafficking that our professors decided we need to watch.  Finally after about 2 hours of depression, we revolted and convinced them to turn it off so our grand entry into the city would not be ruined.  Everyone's spirits were lifted when we got caught in traffic due to a random Polish Pride parade.  My teacher and two of our students our Polish and had no idea why there would have been a parade on Sunday--just a lot of Polish pride, I guess!

We unloaded the bus and checked into the UN Millennium Plaza Hotel (super nice!).  Lizzy and I were slightly annoyed by the two hour delay because it was already starting to get dark by the time we ventured out.  We walked up to Central Park and took a look around before night really set in and then walked down 5th Avenue and did some shopping.  After that, I turned in for the night while Lizzy met her cousin who goes to Columbia.

Monday was a great day!  We started off with a tour of the UN.  It was SO exciting to be there!  And, since the General Assembly is in session, there was quite a bit of activity going on.  When we went into the General Assembly, they were actually beginning their session so some of the delegates were entering the room and people were speaking.  I got to use the fun earpiece to hear the translation!  I kind of wish we could have gone to New York last week, when all of the Heads of State were at the UN but I would have to guess we wouldn't have been allowed in then.  It was still cool.  We had lunch in the Delegate's Dining Room and tried Icelandic food.  It was interesting, but I can't say that it will be the next cultural wave to hit the U.S.  After lunch we went to the Court of International Trade and spoke with one of its judges.  Then we headed BACK to the UN complex and had a speaker who is lawyer that takes lawsuits that restore stolen art and artifacts to their original countries.  At first she was really interesting, but I will admit that by about the 19th slide of some stolen artifact, my interest (and my classmates' interests) was beginning to wane.  Our whole group then went back to the hotel to shed our professional clothes and then went to Times Square to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.  After dinner a group of us just wandered around Times Square for a few hours before heading back for the night.

Tuesday we had a group of very interesting speakers.  The first works for the UN Commission on Human Rights, the second was a private practice human rights lawyer, and the third worked for the UN on climate change.  We broke for lunch and then traveled to the Baha'i UN Office.  They are a religious organization that does lobbying at the UN.  I was really interested in their presentation, but quickly became embarrassed by my classmates' behavior.  Several students started asking questions about the Baha'i beliefs on abortion, the death penalty, and same-sex marriage.  Our speakers tried to explain that their office didn't have policies on these issues because they work at the UN and focus on the rights of women and sustainable development.  But when pressed, the speaker did explain the Baha'i religious opinions on these subjects, which were, to say the least, a bit conflicting with my fairly liberal classmates' political opinions.  I completely understood the position of the speakers--they were trying to say that they don't concern themselves with such partisan, conflict-producing issues when they can be more productive and more beneficial in areas like development and human rights.  In addition, I can understand trying to balance one's moral/religious beliefs with political beliefs.  My classmates, however, were pretty rude and hostile to their responses and I was embarrassed by their behavior.  I am not sure how our professors felt about the discussion, but I would not be surprised if we have to be instructed on the proper way to ask questions and on how to keep questions relevant to the discussion.  Pretty sad for a bunch of intellectual students who are over the age of 20.  I was ticked.  Anyway, I left that behind me (after scolding some classmates for criticizing the organization WHILE WE WERE STILL IN THEIR HALLWAY!) and went to the next appointment.  We had a choice of where we wanted to go next--some students went to the Norwegian UN Mission, some went to the U.S. UN Mission, and others went to UNICEF.  I opted for the UNICEF group and enjoyed our speaker there, too. After that, we were free for the evening.  Unfortunately, I am still fighting a horrible cold bug and lost my voice completely on Monday, so I stayed in Tuesday night and chilled at the hotel.  The downside was missing fun out in New York, the plus side was getting to relax a little and being able to see the second Presidential debate.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was our last day in New York.  We left early for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Neither was particularly thrilling, but it was still good to go.  You have to during your first time in New York, right?  Then we had the rest of the day free.  A friend of mine and I thought we'd try to catch a NYC bus tour, since this was the first time that we had been to New York.  Unfortunately, after a $20 cab ride across town, we got to the bus company and were told they didn't have any buses going out until Friday (even though we called and asked 3 times that morning and their brochure said they did tours every day until 7:00 pm..jerks).  So we found ourselves with time to kill and decided to walk up to Central Park.  We walked around the Park for a few hours.  During that time, I had the brilliant idea to find the John Lennon memorial and Liz wanted to find the Balto statue so we set off on a Central Park Mission.  BUT there are surprisingly few maps in Central Park and everyone we asked for directions sent us a different way.  Need less to say, we never found either one.  I have concluded that they probably don't' exist and the myth is just a funny joke that native New Yorkers can play on tourists.  It was a day of disappointment, but still enjoyable.  Around 5:30 we had to make our way back to the hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and boarded the bus at 7:00 to return to DC.

The trip back actually was about 4 hours, and we pulled up to good ol' Tenley Campus at 11:07.  It was an exhausting trip, but well worth it.  Now...on to midterms and then to Europe!

Lizzy and me with the UN flag at the Peacekeeping exhibit

I couldn't find the real Secretary General.  So this is me with the portraits of Former Secretary Kofi Annan and current Secretary Ban Ki-moon

Group of girls in Times Square (Magda, Katie, Liz, Lizzy, and me)

A pretty ridiculous picture.  My friend, Katie, is a native of New Jersey and decided that since this was my first time in New York, I needed a Statue of Liberty crown.  I think it's more embarrassing for her, since she's a native!  Good thing Lady Liberty is in the background.

Ahh....Week 6!

Well, everyone, it's Friday and I have reached the end of yet another school week!  *whew*

I am writing a bit earlier than usual this week because I will be spending most of Sunday on a bus to NYC!!!!!  I am sooooooo pumped!

This week was a good one, but very exhausting.  As usual, I had internship on Monday/Tuesday.  Everything went well--I have made a ton of progress on my research project.  On Tuesday I met with my supervisor, who seemed very pleased with the work that I've done and with what I'm finding out.  I got a bit more of an idea of what she wants from the project and I will be able to develop it a bit more.  She's also working to get me a "contact" from the State Department, which I think basically makes me sound pretty important!  ha!

Unfortunately I woke up Tuesday feeling a bit under the weather.  By noon on Tuesday I was feeling exhausted and asked to go home early, which I was granted.  I got back to campus around 3:00 and promptly took a 2 hour nap (very unusual for me...I am NOT a nap-taker).  I would have loved to sleep all night, but unfortunately had to go to my night class.  I made it through that in a sick, sleepy, and NyQuil-induced stupor.  Wednesday I was supposed to go into my internship to make up for the days that we will miss traveling, but I decided not to go in.  I slept about 10 hours Tuesday to Wednesday and spent most of Wednesday in bed.  I've also downed about a gallon of orange juice in 2 days...and I don't even like orange juice.  After Wednesday I've felt a lot better, but I am tiring very easily.  It is just a simple cold but it has really drained me!  I'm hoping for tomorrow to be restful day, so that I can try to recuperate for New York.

Yesterday my class had a really interesting speaker from Amnesty International come to talk to us about the political situation in Zimbabwe and speculate on the power-sharing agreement that was recently negotiated.  I really liked her and thought she was very intelligent.  I was glad because I got to ask a question that I have wondered for awhile: "what will a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe look like?"  The man is, after all, 84 years old!  Her response was grim, but honest, which I respected.  She said that it will depend a lot on how this power sharing agreement plays out.  If Mugabe is really going to share some power (doubtful?) then Tsvangirai or his party might actually be able to lead Zimbabwe.  However, if Mugabe is successful in holding on to all the power in this "power sharing" agreement, then she predicted a short power struggle within the party until one of Mugabe's men rises to the top.  It was a very interesting discussion!

Today we had a morning speaker who founded a small NGO that teaches yoga to victims of the Rwanda genocide.  I really liked her talk and found it very interesting, but we were unfortunately mixed in with an American University class that was studying nonverbal communication.  Apparently the speaker was only informed that she was speaking to those students, so the talk wasn't really aimed us.  A lot of my classmates found it to be a waste of time; I didn't find it particularly relevant to my studies, but still enjoyed what she had to say.

This afternoon our speaker was AWESOME!  He is an attorney in DC who is suing Iran for funding the terrorist attack against Marines in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983.  He was very animated and absolutely fascinating.  He did a really good job of explaining just HOW one goes about suing a sovereign state (typically the Sovereign Immunities Act prevents this, but an amendment to the act in 1996 allows one to sue a sovereign state if the state is on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and funded a terrorist attack against an American that occurred outside of the sovereign borders of that state....in case you were wondering!).  His case has been heard in DC federal court and won something like a 2 billion dollar settlement.  Of course, Iran isn't exactly willing to pay up so they have to track down Iranian bank accounts or businesses tied to the U.S. and freeze those assets.  Very interesting!

Of course, the highlight of the week was the Biden/Palin showdown last night, which I feel that I am obligated to weigh in on.  The debate was a good one and I do think Biden emerged as the clear winner, though Palin did not fall as flat on her face as I expected (and hoped).  The NY Times summed it up best this morning: "She succeeded by not failing in any obvious way." Is that really the standard we have for our vice presidential candidates?  Sad.  I thought Biden did a good job, though, and I hope that the debate might really push the campaign forward.  It's too close for my comfort, at this point.

ALSO!  I forgot the most important thing of the week: I VOTED IN MY FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It felt AWESOME!

That is the general recap of my week.  Tonight I have a dinner and movie date with Lizzy and tomorrow a possible excursion into Georgetown.  I must also find some time to start my research for my final paper for my genocide class, since I really only have about one month to work on it (most of November will be spent in Europe!).  If only there were more hours in a week...

I hope everything is good on your end!

~Katie