memorial day camping

This was a great memorial day in large part because DEREK'S HOME!!!!!!

Also, we went camping in Western Maryland at Rocky Gap State Park in Western Maryland. See the pictures below... I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day!

The beach at the lake.

Building a campfire

On one of two hikes. I really needed to get away from the city and get rid of some energy and these hikes did the trick. After one, I fell into a deep sleep I was so physically tired. I love that feeling.

Smores! There was a big flame... I promise!

Lunch! (Don't worry, this was for both of us).

At the lake. We did great people watching here.

Preparing dinner. Notice how beautiful the background is. The entire park looks like that. I hadn't see so much green in a long time (not counting the dying house plant I have in my apartment, of course).

Graduation Weekend

This weekend was the weekend I supposedly went from being a law student to being a lawyer. My family was in town for graduation and we had an amazing time. We spent most of Saturday walking around DC visiting the sites that my cousin Paul had never seen. Then we went to a reception thrown by the Dean of the Law School at the Air and Space museum and later to my friend Nate's graduation party. Sunday was the ceremony itself. It was a predictably long and boring three hours, but the keynote speaker, Senator Inouye, was inspiring. And to be honest, I was giddy the whole time at the thought of finally being done. Sunday night we all had dinner together for one last hoorah before my bar review classes started. To those of you who came, thanks so much! I really means a lot and I had a fantastic time.

My Dad and Joanne in front of the White House

Paul, Dad, Me, and Joanne in front of the George Washington statue at the law school.

Maman smelling the roses at the law school.

I took this picture so I could remember what the classrooms were like at school. I was in denial of the fact that I would have four hours of class a day in these rooms for 10 weeks at that point!!!

Paul checking out the huge Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial.

Paul at the Washington Monument.

All of us at the Dean's Reception. In the background is Apollo 13, I think. It was a surprisingly nice venue for the event.

More of the air and space museum fun...

After having walked around DC all day and seen lots of pictures get taken at this reception, we saw a lot of fake smiles. This is our attempt at a fake American smile. How do you like our teeth???

At Nate's graduation party. Nate dresses as a mariachi every year for Halloween so his wife surprised him with a band for his graduation and then had him play his trumpet with them!

Graduation Day!

With my parents.

A very happy graduate and a curious mother...

With one of my best friends from law school, Lauren.

The graduation dinner.
It was so good and so much fun I almost want to go back to school so I can graduate again....

MA Cocktail Party

Tonight there was a cocktail party in honor of this year's MA in International Affairs graduates. It was especially special for me because I'm not planning on going to graduation next Friday (it's on a weekday morning and no one will be around to see me graduate). I was a little worried I wouldn't know anyone because I started two years before this year's graduates (because of the joint degree program) but I knew a lot of people and we had a great time.

With Natalie - another French and American person. The thing sticking out of our heads is the Washington monument. We have a great view from the school.

With other friends. Lari, on the left, is on my soccer team.

Last night's fun

This is actually a photo I found on the internet but it was about the same yesterday. It was great being back on the water although I realized that there are so many more tasks per person on a dinghy (small boat) than on the big boats I'm used to racing. That made it much more fun for me and probably more scary for the boat's owner when I forgot stuff!

Enjoying Freedom - Day 1

How, you might ask, did I spend my first day as a non-student? Well, first I woke up at 8:30, saw the clock and almost jumped out of bed to get to work at which point I remembered I had no work to do! Not today, not tomorrow, and not any other weekend for the rest of my life if I play my cards right.

So I started enjoying my freedom by staying in bed and doing some pleasure reading - a rarity in law school. My first pick was "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Then I made breakfast and went to enjoy the beautiful weather at a pick-up soccer game. About 10 minutes into the game I remembered that I could play soccer all day if I wanted! Until.... about 20 minutes into the game when I was finally about the beat a guy I never beat to the ball. I got the ball but I landed on my ankle in the process and found my self almost passed out and ready to puke. Fortunately I was playing with two nurses and a doctor and on the roof of the Georgetown University Hospital so I had plenty of good advice and easy access to ice.

The most painful part was the drive home. My car's a stick shift and the stop signs every 100 meters combined with the seemingly millions of pedestrians crossing in front of my car created an endless series of hurdles keeping me from resting my foot. Eventually I got home was bound to my couch and ice pack for the rest of the day - not by choice but rather by a loving boyfriend who pampered me while strongly discouraging any attempt to leave the couch... Needless to say, I am extremely frustrated to be stuck in my "cave" again. Hopefully tomorrow will be better but in the meantime, I finished my book and I highly recommend it.

Waaaaahhh! I don't want to be bed-ridden on vacation!

School's Over!!!

Yes, I know I recently had a post with the same title but this time I really mean it! Not only are all my classes over but I just turned in my last exam of school ever (excluding the bar exam that I'm trying not to think about)! So how do I feel? Like an unhealthy blob emerging from her cave. The past few days have been another painful round of me, stuck in my apartment, trying to convince myself to work while another part of me tells me there are better things to do like watch tv, clean up, check blogs, or eat snacks. So how am I going to celebrate? By going for a run so I can reverse this trend!

Now I'm proud to say I'm joining a long tradition US judicial thought. I just hope I never stoop to the level of completely ignoring context and inventing loopholes as some in the profession are prone to do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T72vgAEX66M
For those of you who haven't spent the last three years of your life studying the law, this is an interview of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia explaining that torture is constitutional because, while it may be both cruel and unusual, it's not punishment! I hope he has a great mattress so that he can sleep at night.

Congratulations Sarah for finishing your first year of law school today!

Exam time

With less than a week to go before all my exams are over, you may think I've been hunched over my books burning the late night oil trying to cram as much information in my brain as possible... but you'd be mistaken. I strategically planned my semester so that I'd only have two exams at the end of this semester so that I would still have energy left for the bar review course that will be exam review for 2 1/2 months! While I haven't been out late on the town I have been having lots of fun. This weekend's fun included cooking, 2 soccer games (to offset the cooking), and catching up with my good friend Alicia who just got back from Thailand and Japan.

Pad Thai - Yum!

My co-chef and dinner companion

Teddy Bear pancakes!

Twenty-Four

Twenty-four is the number of days left until graduation! I really couldn't be happier not to be a student anymore. But I am savoring the last round of exams. As counterintuitive as that may sound, I only have two so I get to study interesting things every day and still have time for runs, seeing friends, playing soccer and enjoying the spring weather - oh and sleeping in!

And as long as I'm counting down... there are fewer than 24 days until Derek comes home! And that's much bigger news. I can't wait to hear his voice and maybe even see him with my own eyes.

Good luck to everyone else taking exams or with big projects coming together this month (Anahita, that's you)!

School's over!!!

I mean it... school's over... forever! Yesterday was my last day of class for life!* What a relief. For now I don't miss it one bit (though I still have 2 exams and the bar ahead of me; maybe I'll get nostalgic after that). So here's the quick run down of the high points of law & grad school.

Attending he Elliott School of International Affairs - where it all started...

Having amazing professors like Mary Cheh

Watching Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Roberts judge our student moot court competition

Seeing Al Gore speak about his documentary

The law school - where everything ended (well, where it will end after the bar class)

*Note, last time I said this I was wrong and maybe I am again...

Spring has arrived!

Despite the fact that April always signals the arrival of final exams, I love the spring in DC because of the cherry blossoms. On Saturday, the weather was great so I decided to run down to the Jefferson Memorial to see the trees and they were incredible! I've lived here four years but I'm still amazed by how beautiful those trees are - like thick snow in the middle of spring. But as I was running I kept jumping over barriers to avoid the crowds of people there taking pictures and I inadvertently ended up running behind a stage where Japanese dancers were performing!!! I'm not sure I added much to the performance but at least I thought it was funny... and probably at least a few of the thousands of people on the other side got a laugh out of it.

In other good news, I just finished a presentation that was the last thing I have to do for my master's degree.... ever!

Easter in NY!

For Easter weekend, my Maman came up to DC and we took the bus to NY. The bus was much more luxurious and efficient than the greyhound in SC - and cheaper too! First I got to see my Maman relive her 20s with a friend she hadn't seen since she was in them. We also spent lots of time hanging out with my cousin who's doing an internship in NY. It's rare to have family from France on this side of the Atlantic so I really savored the moments. Fortunately he'll be here for a while still. We also had Easter brunch with a friend my mom made in Guatemala. We were both charmed by the city (as usual).

Maman & Anne - It was amazing to see how much happened in both of their lives since the last time they'd seen each other.

August: Osage County - an amazing play we went to see on Broadway

Paul & Maman in Times Square

Central Park

Maman at the MET

On display at the MET - Derek, this is why I'm scared about learning to scuba dive... my head is definitely smaller than that mouth!

This was much less scary!

St. Patrick's cathedral

Break dancers. These guys were incredible!

We didn't go ice skating here because right next door was a Brookstone where we could get our legs massaged for free!

Maman's friend Anna who she met in Guatemala

Bubble tea in Chinatown! I love this stuff.

Random stuff in Chinatown I don't think I'd love nearly as much as bubble tea.

The statue of liberty

Paul, me, and Maman in front of the Brooklyn bridge

The inside of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC. We saw a great exhibit of Paula Rego's works here that I highly recommend.