Global Context

Why, hello there! I am back in the blogosphere after a two-week hiatus for winter break. My time in California was peaceful and rejuvenating, and it was so great to spend a significant amount of time with my family after missing them for 17 weeks straight, yikes! Highlights of the break included Christmas morning with my family, a traditional secret Santa exchange with high school friends, watching the Golden Bears win the Emerald Bowl with my dad, seeing Newman and ADX kids as I trekked around San Francisco, Berkeley, and El Cerrito, spending hours baking monkey bread with my mom, and getting enough sleep at night.

I flew back to D.C. on Sunday, leaving my house in Sunnyvale at 3:45 am Pacific and arriving at my apartment in D.C. at 6:00 pm Eastern. What a long day. The best part was when I was waiting to deboard the plane, and a man and his young daughter were ahead of me, searching for their carry-on bags amid the chaos of the overhead bins. The daughter, who seemed to be 9 or 10 years old, found the bags while her father was fumbling in the wrong bin. Upon finding the bags, she called to her father loudly, "Dad, the bags are over here! [exasperated sigh] What are you going to do when I get married and move away and you have to take care of yourself?!" Everyone on the plane stifled laughter as the pair continued up the aisle, the father looking sheepish.

I wrote out a short, but earnest, list of New Year's Resolutions for 2009:

• Keep in touch with friends
• Get to know D.C. like a local
• Read for pleasure
• Use my time wisely
• Pray without ceasing
• Make healthy choices
  

I love the start of a new semester. It is brimming over with such potential! This week, I am taking a required one-unit, one-week, pass-fail course called Law in a Global Context, which is essentially an introduction to international law. It seems fairly interesting thus far, though off to a slightly slow start... although, I admit that my mental engagement in class might have been slightly impaired by jet lag, which made my 9:30 am class feel like it was taking place at 6:30 am, ouch. I'm excited for tomorrow's class because we're discussing the ICCPR! International human rights is, well, kind of my "thing." I spent a lot of time studying human rights at Berkeley from an International Political Economy standpoint, so I am thrilled to begin to address the legal quandaries that surround human rights.

I bought my books today. $704.30! Oh, my goodness. I mean, they look quite handsome on my bookshelf and all, but that is not cheap! I already have reading assignments for all of my classes, which start next week, so I'll be putting them to use right away. Plus, I need to get ahead in my reading so that I can have fun during the week of the inauguration! I will be playing host to two of my good friends from middle and high school, Alissa and Morgan, which should be splendid. Two weeks and counting!