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

Week 5 -- what?!?

Hello, all!

I have successfully finished week 5, which means I am now 1/3 of the way through the program.  I can't believe it.  It has gone by very fast--I feel like my weeks just fly by.  On the other hand, I feel like I've been here forever and Thanksgiving is ages away.  On the other hand, I realize that one week from today I will be in NYC, approximately two weeks after that will be midterm, approximately 2 weeks after that I will a) be watching election results and b) packing my bags for Europe, I will be in Europe for 2 weeks, come back to DC for 24 hours and then head home to DSM for a week for Thanksgiving, come back for 2 weeks and be done! *whew*  When it's put that way, I see my time here slipping away and I am frantically trying to get my stuff in order!

But enough on my shock about the mystery of time--I'm sure you all feel that way too!  The REAL question is "what did I do this week?"  And to that I say "what DIDN'T I do?"

This week has been crazy.  I interned Monday/Tuesday, as usual.  I am getting pretty deep into my research now, so that's nice.  I find the research fun and the topic is interesting (though not surprising...did you know the U.S. gives a ton of money to Israel? hmmmm) BUT I do get kind of sick of doing one project alllllllllllll day long.  It's my self-diagnosed ADD that kicks in, I guess.

Classes this week were intense.  Tuesday's "Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing" (3 hour long class on that subject--it's difficult) was on the Armenian Genocide of WWI.  It was emotionally very difficult for me, and I know the class is only going to get harder as the semester goes on.  We are progressing through our case studies in chronological order, so of course the details/photos/documents only get more explicit as technology facilitated coverage and as survivors might still be living to tell their stories.  Today, for instance, I spent several hours in the library doing the reading for this week's class--a very detailed account of the Rape of Nanking in China at the start of WWII.  Several times I had to put the book down and walk away from my table, and at one point was almost reduced to tears.  This stuff never ceases to shock/horrify/sicken me, even as I continue to study it.  On the other hand, today I also suddenly realized that my reaction to the book was a really, really deep feeling.  Definitely not a pleasant feeling, but it came as a relief to me because my studies/busy schedule/being suddenly planted in a large urban area/being away from home and friends/combination of other crap going on in my life has made me feel kind of....numb recently.  Is this growth? Adjustment? A step forward?  I hope so.

Anyway, I've gotten off track.  So Wednesday my class went to the Organization of American States which is an absolutely GORGEOUS building (must put pictures up later).  Then we had lecture in the afternoon and a night class with a career panel.  That was interesting--compiled mostly of lawyers.  One is now working for the Congressional Research Service, two others are practicing, and one is the former U.S. ambassador to Chad who is now self-employed and volunteers for Obama (wahoo!).  After that, I made a flying back to my dorm, changed into my rockstar clothes, and met my roommate downtown because we successfully scored tickets to Ben Folds' concert.  The concert was great and I must say (having received a sneak preview) that the new Ben Folds album (out Tuesday) is going to be AWESOME.  Thursday was a busy day--leaving campus at 8:00 to be at the International Monetary Fund.  The speaker was interesting, talked a bit about the current financial crisis, and did even get a little into caring for poor countries and development (interesting for the IMF because that is the World Banks' job).  Quote of the day:  "First world? Second World? Third World?  My friends, there's only one world."  Then back to campus for lecture.  Then off again to the World Bank, which at that point I was so exhausted and annoyed that I was in class until 7 pm that I didn't pay much attention.  Just kidding, I did pay attention but it wasn't too enlightening.  An overview of the World Bank.  Then off to Georgetown for Jannike's birthday celebration at a Spanish Tapas Bar, where my roommate continued her tradition of breaking U.S. law by providing alcohol to someone underaged (by giving me a drink of her wine...something she really enjoys.  haha!).  But really I just had water and enjoyed some tapas.  :-)

Friday was class at 9:00 am-speakers from the State Department and Tahari Justice Center talking about human trafficking.  An interesting class session--wish it hadn't been so early on a Friday morning.  :-)  I spent the rest of Friday being super unproductive (catching up on The Office and America's Next Top Model...oh, guilty pleasures).  Friday night we had a debate watching party.  It is really fun watching a debate with 50 other people who are approximately just as nerdy as you are.  AND, I must say I also enjoy that most of them lean to the left, like myself.  Overall, I enjoyed the debate but didn't see any clear winner.  I did, however, think Obama seemed much more comfortable with the format of the debate than McCain.  What I am really excited for is the VP debate this week--THAT will be interesting!  Also, fun fact:  I realized that both McCain and Obama are lefthanded.  A coincidence or are really smart/powerful/successful people lefthanded? hmmmm...So the next President of the U.S. will be a lefty!  I like it.

This weekend was a lot of homework, another library date with Lizzy, a bunch of laundry, and a continuing scramble to do my work.  Ohhhh...college.  I thought this semester was going to be a "break" for me?  What the heck happened there?  Oh well.

On other fronts, I continue my mental anguish over WHAT exactly I am going to do with the rest of my life, or at least once I finish my 3 very short semesters left at Drake.  Sooooo...if any of you have any suggestions or brilliant ideas, please share.  Seriously.

Anyway, I'm off to catch up with the girls at Drake and then hit the books again.  I really should start posting twice a week, since these entries are getting very long but it seems like there isn't ever time until Sunday night.  Oh well, if you really care, you stuck with me to the end of this one!

Love you all!

Katie

Last Week...

Well, I haven't posted for a week and thought that I should give an update.  Unfortunately, last week seems so long ago I will have to try really hard to remember what is blog-worthy!

Last week was very work-heavy.  I worked three days at my internship last week--an extra day to make up one of the six I will miss during my travels.  I also had a ton of homework.  Actually, I did this to myself because I have fallen behind in my reading.  This is a very new experience for me...seriously.  On Tuesday I had to lead my "Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing" class' discussion.  All things considered, it went well.  I spent Monday evening at the house of girl from my class, preparing for the presentation.  That was kind of fun because she made me dinner (a home-cooked meal!) and I got to check out the student housing down on The Hill.  She also lives next-door to Senator Cochran (R-Mississippi) so I tried to peak into the windows of a Senators house.  ;-) I also just discovered that I cannot type the word "senator" correctly because of my brother.  I automatically type "seanator."  Thanks, Sean.

I spent a large portion of my weekend trying to get caught up on schoolwork.  I'm still not quite there, but I did make a serious dent into my reading.  My burden was shared, however, by my friend Lizzy who accompanied me to the library all day Saturday.  To reward ourselves, we had a "date night" Saturday night and went down to Adam's Morgan for Indian food.  It almost made the studying worth it...almost.  At dinner, Lizzy and I decided that we both wanted to visit Georgetown's law school while we are here this semester, so we are making plans to visit the Friday of our fall break (October 17).

What was interesting was my seminar class last Friday.  We spent all day Friday at American University's law school, observing panel discussions on the legal implications of Guantanamo Bay and the way forward.  Some of the speakers were very interesting...some I wanted to smack.  Unfortunately, the discussions were pretty intense for undergraduates--a lot of legalise that none of us really understood.  I think I was a step ahead of my classmates due to last years' paper for Professor DeLaet, but I was pretty much drowning by the end of the day.  Good time for the weekend!

I started Sunday off right with a mile walk up to the National Cathedral for Sunday morning service.  Then, it was back to the books!  Sunday didn't seem to be as productive as Saturday, however.  The bottom line is that I'm still about a chapter behind where I should be in my readings.  It's a dismal looking situation, indeed.  However, this weekend is looking pretty clear so maybe (maybe?) I will get caught up!

Tonight I'm feeling pretty exhausted from very little sleep and a long day of internship today.  I also am looking forward to a pretty crazy week.  My class is visiting the Organization of American States, the International Monetary Fund, AND the World Bank this week...in addition to a guest speaker on human trafficking and at least two ordinary class sessions.  I have night classes two nights this week instead of one.  Thursday night I'm going to Georgetown to celebrate a friends' birthday, and my roommate and I are trying desperately to get cheap tickets to see Ben Folds Wednesday night.  I think I will need a relaxing weekend after this week!

I am also beginning to experience my first real case of homesickness...or more Drake-sickness.  I realized this week that band auditions are next week, and it seems so weird that I will not be there!  I even made a desperate attempt to get my hands on a bassoon this week, but was not successful.  I will definitely have my work cut out for me when I return in December, to get myself in shape for band in January!

I know this was a pretty long and mundane blog entry...thanks for bearing with me!  I'm sure that with everything I have going on this week, next week's entry will be a bit more exciting!

Take care, everyone!

9/11 Unity Walk

What an awesome day I've had!  Today was the annual September 11th Unity Walk.  It is a walk done every year by people of different faiths.  It begins at the Washington Hebrew Congregation and proceeds down Embassy Row.  Virtually every church, temple, synagogue, or place of worship opens its doors for the walk.  It is a very powerful experience.

I began at Washington Hebrew Congregation today at 1:30.  The walk began with a Muslim Call to Prayer, which was beautiful, and then several leaders spoke, including the rabbi of Washington Hebrew Congregation, the Dean of the Washington National Cathedral, and Reverend Mpho Tutu (Archbishop Desmond Tutu's daughter).  Desmond Tutu also filmed a video address to those of us who were walking, which was viewed at Washington Hebrew Congregation.  St. Augustine's Gospel Choir performed too, which almost brought me to tears.  I actually did start to cry as we began our walk because the first people out the door were Rabbi Bruce Lustig and Imama Abdullah Khouj, linked arm and arm.  It was very powerful to see these groups put aside their differences and unite for the cause of peace and understanding.

Our walk proceeded down Embassy Row.  Several places of worship were open along the way for refreshments and bathroom facilities!  The host congregations were so welcoming and passed out cold water to the walkers (much appreciated since the temperature in DC today was well over 90 degrees and very humid!).

Our next stop was the Islamic Center.  Here Imam Abdullah Khouj welcomed us and we were addressed by several other leaders of faith.  The highlight of this stop was Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.  His message was beautiful; he told a story comparing peace to a grain of wheat.  If you have a grain of wheat and you keep it to yourself, it will eventually decay and become worthless.  but if you plant the grain, it will take root, produce, and multiply.  The same is true of peace, he said.  It was a very touching message.  He then led us out of the Islamic Center for the remainder of the walk.  We ended at the Gandhi Memorial.

It was a great experience and I'm so glad the heat didn't deter me!  Those of you who know me well know that my life has changed drastically this past month, beyond even my move to DC.  The walk today really brought me a sense of calm and reassurance.  It may have been temporary, but it sure felt good!  Here are some pictures from the day:

St. Augustine's Gospel Choir at the National Hebrew Congregation

Gathering at the  Islamic Center

Arun Gandhi speaking at the Islamic Center

Gandhi Memorial with the Unity Walk banner

Some friends and I with Arun Gandhi

I think about my friends and family from home all of the time...I hope all is well in your own lives!  While my experience here is going great, rest assured that you are all deeply missed.

~Katie

Start of My Internship

Well, yesterday I started my internship.  The office seems really great.  It's pretty small, but everyone was very friendly.  It's interesting, too, because several Lutheran organizations are all housed in the same office space.  We have the "advocacy team" (of which I am a part), as well as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (interested in talking to those guys!), Lutheran Services of America, and another organization that I am forgetting at the moment.  Starting tomorrow, a bunch of our church's bishops are in DC for an annual conference, as well as meetings up on Capitol Hill.  Our office is in charge of planning and coordinating the whole thing so, as you can imagine, yesterday and today were a little crazy.

As a result, I spent most of my days doing clerical-type work.  Everyone kept apologizing to me and promising that my internship wouldn't normally be like that.  Honestly, I didn't mind.  I'm used to doing clerical work and actually like having work that keeps me up on my feet and moving around the office.  It was also helpful to have a new person be able to do the folder stuffing and stapling, so that people who actually knew what was going on could have time to do the in-depth tasks.  I liked it because I felt like I was kind of easing my way into my job.  I have a feeling that if I started my typical duties on the first day, there would be people I would never meet in our office.  Once I begin my research, I think my work will keep me back in my own office for most of the day.  It will be a different environment from the socializing I'm used to at Davis Brown!

One great thing about my job is that it's about three blocks from the Capitol grounds.  I have an awesome view of the Capitol as I walk from Union Station down Louisiana Ave to my internship.  I wonder if the novelty will eventually wear off, or if seeing that white dome will always give me a little thrill.

Congress came back to session this week.  It seems our office will be in full-throttle mode for awhile because right after the bishops conference, we head straight into a three week legislative session.  From what I gathered, our office has a special interest in a lot of the legislation that is supposed to hit the floor this session and so I'm looking forward to being in the midst of that.  I hope to come home a legislative pro!

On a completely separate note, last weekend I experienced my first hurricane/tropical storm.  Hana made her way up the coast and hit the DC area a bit.  It was a little anticlimactic (I'll admit I was a little interested in experiencing a hurricane, since I'm from tornado country!).  We mostly just got a lot of rain on Saturday.  I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to stay in and get my homework done so I could go downtown on Sunday.  Of course I didn't get as much homework done as I should have, and I still went downtown on Sunday.  :-)  I'm three weeks into the semester, and I still haven't gotten into school mode.  That really needs to change!

I hope everyone is doing well in the heartland (or wherever you may be reading this!),

~Katie

Internship!!!!!

Hello everyone!

I am happy to (finally!) announce that I have accepted an internship position. The last two weeks have been a frenzy of applications, resumes, cover letters, internship bazaars, and interviews. I believed I ended up applying to about a dozen organizations and was offered positions at five. This was a great opportunity, as I got to "shop around" for an internship that seemed to be a good match, but also difficult because I had to turn down some great organizations!

I ultimately settled on a position with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's Washington Office. As some of you may know, the ELCA is my home church and I am very excited to have an internship that allows me to explore two of my biggest interests--politics and religion! My particular position places me under the Director of Mid-Eastern Policy at the ELCA Washington Office. As I understand it, I have two main projects for the semester, though I was told that I would have a great deal of freedom to pursue any project that interests me. One big project is researching the distribution of aid from the U.S. government to Israel and to Palestine. The other project will involve working with synods and congregations on an ELCA publication about the future of Iraq. As I understand it, the publication has already been created and my job will mainly be organizing its distribution and training congregations on how to approach the guide. It should be interesting!

I'll keep you posted on how the internship is going, as well as any fun DC things I'll be doing in the upcoming weeks!

Rave and Rant about the VPs

Ok, so some people have been asking me why I haven't updated for awhile.  To be honest, nothing extremely exciting has been happening.  I've been getting settled (or at least trying to get settled) back into a routine of studying and going to classes.  Over the past week I've applied to about a dozen internships, have interviewed with 2 and have several more interviews coming up this week.  I have one pending offer in the works, but I will let you all know more about that when it's a done deal.  I have a feeling the internship blog will be a post in and of itself!

So...I decided to take my blogging opportunity to rave (and rant) about this year's VP choices.

1) Obama-Biden.....LOVE IT!

I was a closet Biden supporter from the beginning.  During the Iowa caucuses I liked Biden a lot.  I thought he was smart, experienced, but lacked the charisma to keep up with the year of heavy-hitters (namely, Obama and Clinton...but I like to include Edwards in the mix too!).  I remember telling a co-worker who was a precinct captain for Biden that I thought he would be a great Secretary of State but ok, I'll settle for VP.

Why do I think he's a brilliant choice for a running mate?  Obama picked a guy who filled out his weaknesses.  The Republicans have launched their attack as an "Obama lacks experience" front, particularly in the area of foreign policy.  So who does Obama pick?  A guy who's been in the Senate for 30+ years and is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.  Eat that, McCain!

2)  To the McCain-Palin ticket I can only say (excuse my language):  what the HELL?  Seriously?  WHAT does she bring to your ticket?  Ok, so she's a woman.  cool.  If you really think that's going to get all of Hillary Clinton's supporters, you're a patronizing idiot.  MAYBE some women supported Clinton because she's a woman, but most supported her because of her stance on the issues (especially-though I don't like to name "women's issues"- issues that women tend to care a lot about...like education and health care).

So Obama seemed to pick someone who compensated for his weaknesses.  What was McCain compensating for?  People say, "McCain, you're old and deathly looking," so he picks a woman who's middle aged and a former beauty pageant contestant?  Honestly, I can think of nothing else.

I've read that Palin might gain McCain some support among Evangelicals, who were afraid that he was going to pick a pro-choice running mate (Palin is pro-life).  OK.  But also consider that many (not all) conservative evangelicals do not believe women are fit to be public leaders.  How comfortable will they be voting for a 72-year-old man who has placed a woman as the next-in-line?

I really just don't get it.  I mean, I wanted Obama to win in November but c'mon McCain, at least make it interesting!  On the other hand, I am reeeaaaallly looking forward to the VP debate; it will be funny.

Now, I'm not saying that the election is in the bag.  Honestly, anything can happen in politics. However, I will say that if the VP choices are any indication of what's ahead, I will lose all faith in the American public if McCain even comes close in November.

Moral of the story:  Obama-Biden '08!

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered The Metro

The last few days have been eventful.  I have FINALLY been able to step off campus and explore a bit.  Yesterday I went down to the National Mall (you know..the area between the Washington Monument and the Capital, not a big place to go shopping) and looked around the Museum of Natural History.  Today I finally made it to Target and bought clothes hangers so I can get to unpacking the boxes of stuff that arrived for me a few days ago.  Driving me crazy!

The biggest success in all of this is that to do these things I rode the DC Metro, which means that I, midwestern Iowa girl, have conquered my fear (ok, not fear...but extreme naivety) of mass transportation.  I already feel a bit more worldly.  ;-)

Also weighing heavily on my mind is the fact that I do not have an internship lined up yet.  Monday there is an internship bazaar at American's main campus, so I'll head up there and check it out.  I did apply two places earlier  in the week.  One, it turns out, no longer exists so I was a bit disappointed.  The others emailed me and expressed interest, so I'm going to check them out at the internship bazaar!

Here are some pictures of my first few days:

The main entrance to our campus.  This is also my residence hall, too! (Capital Hall)

The Washington Monument on a beautiful day

A little bit of home -- Iowa soil in the "Dig It" exhibit at the Museum of Natural History

Well, that's it for now.  Maybe next time I write I'll have an internship?  Maybe????

~Katie

Arrival

Well, I made it to DC without any complications.  The 6 am flight was maybe not the best thing for me, but I got myself out of bed and to the airport.  My flight arrived a bit early in DC and I was able to get my baggage, get the shuttle, and get to campus without any problems.

I haven't had much time to explore the area yet...I'm trying just to get settled in.

Just wanted you all to know that everything is good!  I'll keep you updated.

<3

Katie