Inauguration Weekend, Part II

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So, here is what Alissa and I have done since Sunday: attended the Lincoln Memorial "We Are One" concert, visited the National Museum of American History, explored the National Mall, waited in line for 5 hours for the Inauguration, checked out the National Gallery, visited the FDR and Jefferson memorials, and went to the top of the Washington Monument. In spite of attending classes on Wednesday and Thursday, it has felt like I've been taking a vacation this week, acting as a tourist (albeit, with Metro savvy).

The one disappointment was the Inauguration itself, I'm afraid. Alissa and I walked over to the line labeled "TO NATIONAL MALL" on 3rd Street, NW between D and C Street at 4 o'clock in the morning, and stood in line for five hours to get through security, only to have our hopes dashed--the checkpoint closed its Mall access, and was only open to the parade route. From the parade route, the ceremony could neither be seen nor heard, due to the lack of Jumbotrons and speakers. What a bummer! We stood on the parade route for a couple of hours, but decided to go home around 11 am because we were freezing and weren't really getting much out of standing there.

In fact, we were beginning to exhibit symptoms of hypothermia in our feet, which was really scary; as Wikipedia describes of Stage 1 hypothermia, "often, a person will experience a warm sensation, as if they have recovered, but they are in fact heading into Stage 2." Our feet had progressed from cold, to painfully cold, to numb, to feeling oddly warm. No good. Once we got back to my apartment, it took us nearly two hours before we felt normal... even with the heat blasting and while under multiple blankets. Yikes!

My roommate Betsy was similarly foiled by the disastrous management of the security checkpoints, and didn't make it onto the Mall, either. She baked cinnamon rolls for all of us, and we streamed the inauguration on my laptop. It felt pretty lame to watch it on my laptop when we were literally a half-mile away from the event, but it was the best we could do.

I loved the performance of "Air and Simple Gifts." (I also love Stephen Colbert's theory that Yo-Yo Ma is technically the President of the United States because he was on camera at 12 o'clock noon.) I'm really upset with Chief Justice Roberts for messing up the oath, though. What the heck, Roberts?! It just tainted the whole ceremony. Oh, well. I thought President Obama's speech was fine, though I still believe that his best speech was his keynote address at the 2004 DNC. The parade was fun to watch. I loved it when Barack and Michelle got out of the limo (apparently nicknamed "the Beast," which I find rather fitting), and walked along Pennsylvania Ave. They are so charismatic.

Now that Alissa has headed back to California, it is back to law school for me. Homework and job applications are my prevalent concerns at the moment. Also, applications to become a Resident Fellow for Gewirz open on Monday. Resident Fellows, or RFs, are the five students that live in Gewirz, Georgetown Law's dorm (where I currently live), and serve the dorm by fostering community, helping with security and emergencies, and providing counsel to the residents. I really, really want to be an RF, for several reasons: I would get to live in Gewirz for the next two years, I would get free rent, and I would be able to reach out to first-years. I've always loved working as a mentor to younger students, and I think being an RF would be a great experience. There are only three spots open for next year, so we'll see what happens!

Inauguration Weekend, Part I

The past couple of days, I have been touring D.C. frenetically with my friend Alissa, whom I've known since middle school. (Alissa is crashing with me this week for the Inauguration.) So far, we have managed to see the Capitol, Congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the parade route, and the National Archives... all in two days! Click on the photo of the Capitol below to be taken to a Facebook album of the photos I have taken along the way.


The tough thing about the past couple of days is how cold it has been! Seriously, it was 12 degrees on Friday, with wind chill bringing it down to 1 degree--the coldest it has been in five years! Not the best day to be walking all over the city, to say the least. The only good thing about it was that the weather scared off a lot of would-be tourists, such that we didn't wait in a line all day! That being said, I'm looking forward to the return of temperatures in the 30s. Never thought I'd say that.

Antepenultimate

My Legal Research and Writing professor wins at life for the legitimate use of the word "antepenultimate" in class today. Amazing.

Serendipity

Yesterday, I got to check off another item on my D.C. to-do list: Attend Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I have been feeling a little tense this week, and the serenity of the shrine was exactly what I needed. It is beautiful! I especially liked the crypt church. It struck me as a little more intimate than the upper church, what with the lower ceiling, dimmer lighting, and nooks that weren't too closed off from the rest of the church space. The crypt was great, too; I liked the statue of Mary in the center, and lit a candle at her feet with a prayer for my family.

After exploring every nook of the church, I nonetheless ended up with about an hour and a half to spare before Mass started. I decided to go for a walk, even though yesterday's high was 42 degrees outside, brr! I was wandering along the edge of the Catholic University campus (where the Shrine is located), when I spotted a sign that said "Pope John Paul II Cultural Center" with an arrow pointing in the direction in which I happened to be meandering. I had never even heard of the place, but I decided to follow the signs and check it out. Ha ha, I literally entered the building, walked up to the front desk, and asked the receptionist, "Where am I?" She was very helpful, if not bemused by my utter lack of knowledge.

What serendipity! The center doubles as a museum and an ecumenical and scholastic center of sorts. I loved so many things there. They had an amazing collection of crèches from around the world, ranging in size from thimbles to several feet tall. My favorite nativity was a small, adorable one from Uruguay, which struck me as quite a cozy little family:


The center had a chapel in the back of the museum, which had a kneeler in front of a crucifix where Pope Benedict XVI knelt when he visited D.C. last April! I knelt on it, and thought about what the pope might have been praying for when he was there. So cool. There was also a room that intertwined the history of Poland with the biography of Pope John Paul II, who was Polish, of course. The room meant a lot to me, in light of my own Polish descent. It also featured a collection of things that JPII used (like his red leather papal shoes), and a huge number of photographs from his international visits, which I found very moving.

I really enjoyed my adventure yesterday afternoon. I will definitely visit the Shrine again. The Mass that I attended was in crypt church, so I still want to attend a Sunday Mass, which will have more expansive music--though, I must say, the organist who played yesterday in the crypt church was quite talented. What a blessed afternoon.

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!

Vendors in the Vicinity

I just read that the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs announced where the street vendors for the inauguration are going to be located. I must say, I was a little surprised as to where they decided to put 138 of the 716 vendors (indicated by the black lines inside the red box):


What the... I mean, seriously, that vertical line of vendors is the eastern edge of the Georgetown Law campus! Why here?! It doesn't bother me--in fact, I think it ought to be fun--but it does confuse me. There's nothing else here. It's not along a logical path to the Mall from any major public transportation. Sure, we're close to Union Station, but you wouldn't walk over here to get to the Mall, because it'd be out of your way. If it were me, I would simply walk down Louisiana. Maybe that's the point--to divert some of the pedestrian traffic?

All I can say is, this place is going to be an absolute maelstrom during the week of the inauguration. Wow.

Tender, Sweet Lovin'

I am one exam away from winter break! My Civil Procedure exam is on Thursday, and it shall prove to be difficult. I've been going through my notes for several days, now, creating a comprehensive outline. It is tedious work, but the saving grace is that I always jot down the humorous things that my professors say in class. Thus, every couple of pages of notes, I have a laugh, which helps to maintain sanity, right?

I've been posting the best of the quotes on my blog throughout the semester, but I realized just now that I neglected to post a few awesome quotes from the last week of class in Civil Procedure:

“If I get drunk and barf all over my dog… Hey, it’s my dog.” (Making an argument for the Chinese legalism school of thought)

“All those people running around on the streets—otherwise known as citizens—how much law do they know?”

“Are you ready for some tender, sweet lovin’?” (Sexual harassment hypothetical)

Priceless. In other news, it was nearly 70 degrees today with a lovely breeze. I studied outside for a change, which turned into terrific procrastination with my friend Brad; when it became too windy, we proceeded to give ourselves a tour of the entire school whilst in search of an unclaimed room in which to study. Ah, yes, socializing with other human beings... I had almost forgotten what it is like. I really ought to leave my room more often. Oh, finals.