better late than never...

Dear Casper,

Cancun: Day 1.

Officially it’s day 2, but I’m writing a quick recap of my experience thusfar while I’m here in Cancun. I may have neglected to mention that I was coming here for a week, but figured you would likely have some type of 6^th sense connection when I got into Mexico and would know anyway…what with your “experience” with the country.

In any case, I got in yesterday. I’m here for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the COP-16, depending on how in the know you are. I’m here with my school, that is, they’re paying for us to be here and take care of business like note taking and analysis of different discussions happening over the next two weeks (I’ll only be here for a week and then tag-team out with some other people who aren’t as cool as me, but probably know tons more about the subject area). So, officially the conference starts tomorrow (Mon. 11/29), but I got here yesterday (Sat. 11/27) in order to get to the hotel and get settled in, and possibly have a nice Sunday to just get our badges for the week and then walk around.

I got in yesterday, at about 1 in the afternoon, with high hopes to get in, hit the fitness center (it’s an all-inclusive resort), shower up and cool off. Well, I’m rooming with my buddy Braun-Braun (I like saying the name that way ‘cause it sounds like Taun-Taun) and we both arrived in Cancun at the same time and on the same flight. It was coincidental. I flew out of Syracuse, thanks to my amazing and beautiful girlfriend who woke up with me at 3 in the morning to go to the airport. There was a stop in DC, where I caught the same flight as Braun-Braun.

We arrive and get through customs without a hitch. Following the flight however, we still needed to get to our hotel. We were both thinking, just catch a bus that will get us close to the hotel, and then we can save a couple of dollars. … Well, I don’t know if you’ve been to Cancun through traditional international jet-setter means, but it’s not an easy to navigate situation, especially when you don’t speak Spanish. There must have been a couple of hundred different taxi/shuttle/transportation service guys (ALL GUYS) working to get the tourists and saps to ride with them. Cutting deals and having to prepay was the name of the game. Each person we passed, asked if we needed a taxi, and gave us a price. Most were around $45, give or take a few dollars…mostly take—as far as the taxi and taxi customer finders are concerned. It was a like a three part attack, first the guy finds you at the exit of the airport. He’ll ask if you need a taxi or shuttle ride. Well, we savvy travelers knew that there had to be a better way. So we say no, about 50 times, and proceed into the more open areas, where the taxis and shuttles are just hangin’ out filling with suckers who couldn’t say no. As we walk by, we get bombarded by more guys asking, these guys seem to be luggage-loaders and customer-finders. As they load luggage and walk around they’re asking if you need a ride, and “clarify” the prices again. Thanks, but no thanks. We’ll just take a bus and it’ll be fine; Cancun isn’t that big. These guys are pullin’ in some stragglers who absent-mindedly made it through round 1. Braun-Braun and I keep pushing through—past the first round, past the second round, looking for buses. Well, past all the people and all the cars, taxis, and buses, there is …. Nothing. The third attack. There was nothing to help us, which meant we were stuck and had to go back through rounds one and two. Suckers.

We were on our way. Finally, we got into a shuttle, $30 for the both of us, prepaid. We were the first stop, and the second stop, and the third stop which was actually our hotel; apparently the existence of other Oasis/Be Live (pronounced believe) Hotels are confusing. So, landed at 12:20, got to the hotel which is 10 minutes away by 1:30. Well, we’re here, there should be a reservation, this should be easy.

In line to check in, there are only two groups in front of us. Two groups of people are checking in at the moment, this shouldn’t take too long. We stood there for an hour. Apparently the group of four Americans trying to currently check in were complete idiots. There was definitely more than a language barrier that was causing problems. There was a young troll woman, and her three compatriots who were trying to check in. I only notice the troll girl because of her hunched back and stretched face—plus I was getting impatient since her group was taking forever and she was seemingly in charge. After an hour in line, sharing our impatient concerns with the nice people behind us and enjoying a complimentary iced green drink, it was our time to shine. We knew that we wouldn’t be taking as long as the troll girl and her party crew.

The hotel’s computers did not have our reservation.

I should be clear, there were no reservations in our names. It was supposed to be under Braun-Braun, but obviously it wasn’t. Thankfully our coordinator was due to arrive about an hour from when we were able to try and check in. I would’ve called her but my phone wasn’t working. Again, to be clear I tried calling her but as soon as I tried calling out and taking the roaming charges, the phone decided it was too much work to connect to anything and just shut down. So we moved our stuff to the side and just sat on the nice cool floor. We played some Connect Four—well, I say played but really I dominated. We waited…and waited. I was tired of waiting so we made our move to the lobby couches. Where we worked on a crossword puzzle…and then a second crossword puzzle. We waited and waited. We were frustrated and frustrated. Finally, impatient as I was, I asked the guy at the ‘hospitality desk’ in the lobby for some help. In my impatient waiting around the lobby I had learned that he was not just a hospitality person, but actually a person for the group that we had made our reservations through. Asked him about our reservation, our name wasn’t to start until today (11/29). Strange though, considering I had asked the front desk to check reservations for both days and they had come up empty. Well, we finally got word from our coordinator, her phone was giving her troubles. She was on her way.

After another hour, she finally arrived. We’re tired and anxious and hungry and frustrated. Also, the lobby is like our prison, with grey Aztec inspired walls. Not grey Aztecs, but grey walls that have Aztec-ian angles. Well, she arrived and we started taking care of business. It took awhile. We had a confirmation email about our reservations. It had a confirmation number. The confirmation number was for somebody else. It made sense, the reservations for Braun-Braun and I were the result of taking over this somebody else’s room. But somewhere along the four-person reservation train his and my name got tossed out the window. (This is in addition to the reservation crew not knowing what the hell they were doing, as our reservations a. weren’t under Braun-Braun’s name and b. were confirmed via email for Saturday and not Sunday and c. they were stupid).

After some arguing, we finally got in. We had to get past another issue of payment; we had prepaid but apparently nobody knew. Well, they found it. We registered, got past the name and payment issues. It was ridiculous. We found our room, 4141 all the way at the end of the hall. Ugh, at least we had a room. Opening the door, looking for relief, and smelling mildew. It was nasty. Nasty, but maybe acceptable. So we dressed down and hit the gym. After the workout, we returned to the room, in hopes for something better. Still mildew. Still nasty. I took a shower…I was sweaty. The water came out brown, though changed to mostly clear after a little bit. The soap came out brown, but then cleared up. The shampoo, which looked blue in the container, came out brown to start. Yeah, I felt pretty clean after that.

After showers and changing, we decided to find out if our coordinator and the other had nasty mildew in their room…naturally they didn’t. That was it. We had to change. We didn’t want to deal with the front desk again, considering all the trouble to that point, but a week in a mildew room definitely was not happening.

So we hit the desk, I asked, and it was easy. So, we packed and moved. There’s no mildew, and there is working A/C. Sweet, sweet redemption. Then we ate and drank and it was good.

At the end of day 2:

I went to an NGO strategy meeting. It was tiring. I am tired…and supposed to get up for breakfast at 6:30. Oh, and tomorrow I’m going to be following MRV and IAC issues. That is: transparency and accountability issues that haven’t been solved yet….Also, I know about as much as you do. See you soon.

Love you!

Law.

Doodee doo-be do

Dear Bro,

I know, I know; I've been like a stranger for awhile. Well, let's face it, I'm terrible at multi-tasking. I mean I've been dating Helga (who's pretty amazing by the way, if I haven't mentioned it) and over the Summer I was in Montreal working (sort of) and I am now back to school studying again. Basically, I want you know that even though I'm not telling you about what's going on very often:

I'm still here, I'm still alive, I'm still thinking about you; and I'm hoping you understand when I'm inconsistent with writing to you! It's been ohh....3 months or so this time. What a consistent and amazingly dedicated brother I am to write to you so often! Sorry. Well, despite how often I've been writing, I do love you, and figure I should let you know.

SO, quick recap of the past 3 months or so.

CRARR (the center for research-action on race relations) or (le centre de recherche-action sur les relations raciales):

Officially i was a "legal intern" and did mountains and mountains of legal research in French and in English. Officially, I'm now incredibly well versed in the complexities of Quebec Criminal and Civil Law and am adroit at helping the underrepresented minorities who have been discriminated against. Officially these may be a bit of an exaggeration.

I lived, for all intent and purposes, kitty-corner from where I worked--right downtown.

It was very convenient and all...although the temptation to buy video games was intense because I passed the 'futureshop' (a Best Buy sort of store) and 'gamebuzz' a video game shop in the 50 steps from my apartment building to work. Plus they had Dr. Mario for the N64 in the window and I wanted to buy it but I didn't really want to spend $50 for a game to a system that is nearly a decade old and two video game generations in the past; plus I don't have the N64 anymore and would buy it only to play on others' game systems (which I still seriously considered 'cause I love me some Dr. Mario puzzle action). Aside from the temptations of everyday life, I did go to work and did do legal research in French and English. I mainly focused on 4 different cases (with a little bit of other research here and there). Here's the gist, despite a very open charter that gives rights and freedoms to everyone within Montreal and Quebec, there is a lot of tape to get through in order to get any compensation for an alleged abuse of those rights. So yeah, that's 3 months of Montreal in a nutshell: CRARR, research, video game shop, oh and I went to the Y fairly regularly.

I tried Poutine. In case you're wondering what Poutine is, or you're thinking to yourself, "Hmmmm, I've never had poutine but the people I've met from Canada love the stuff so maybe I should give it a try." Don't worry about it, you are not missing much. Despite the sound of the recipe (french fries, brown sauce and cheese curds) it was edible. So i tried it and would like to say that I don't ever need to eat it again...nor do you. Trust me, it's not all that exciting. (I got mine with "Spicy Italian Sausage" from Montreal Poutine which was in the Old Port area of town...the "spicy italian sausage" resembled thick sliced bologna with a hint of pepperoni. Uh......yum.)

More exciting then Montreal and my time spent there, were the few times I got to visit Helga in New York City. Okay, I'll admit it, though I'm not the biggest proponent of the Big Apple, I had a good time and there are a TON of cultural things to do there. I'm still not comfortable to say that I would want to live there or anything, but then again, The Cuban Roasted Corn was so good that I wouldn't have a problem eating it every day. ....

WOH! I just got hit hard by 100 pages of reading....okay. I was probably supposed to start sometime last week, but I was reading other stuff. Okay, Maybe I wasn't reading-reading, but I did a little bit of reading...for other classes. It's just that, well, sometimes a delicious crab boil gets in the delicious way and you have to spend time with your good friends. You understand, right?

So....5 classes: Juvenile Law, Trafficking in Persons, Environmental Law, International Organizations and Multinational Institutions, and Criminal Procedure. ... That 100 pages or so for tomorrow, yeah, Ishould probably get on that.

I'll try to update you and the others a little more frequently, it's just important that you know even though I'm not writing tons and tons, I'm still thinking and sending my love your way! Promise!

Love

Law

c-RARR !!!!

Dear Casper,

So here I am, and there's my view ~~~~~>

Anyway, I'm resigning to write to my brother and to the world all at the same time. Pretty clever huh? Okay, maybe a little lazy, but is that really important? No. No it's not. So here I am, about 2 months behind in letting you and everybody else know what's going in my life. Sorry.

The first year is done. Officially I'm a rising 2L. Some people have issues with the term 'Rising' 2L. Honestly though, I'm not in elementary school any more, I can't go on pretending I'm a 2L when I haven't even started the year or bought any books or any supplies or...well, you get it. So, as with many other hip legal students, I believe that 'rising' 2L is preferred.

In answer to your first question, I don't have all of my grades yet. I do have most of them though. Essentially, I'm doing much better the second term than I did the first term. That is to say, I managed to get an A in a class! Don't ask how, but I did. Criminal Law, one of the more ... uh ... difficult-to-pay-attention classes with little reading (which was awesome), gave me the A, and I'm proud to say that as far as the exam goes, I killed it. My other grades...well...I got an A this past term and that should be enough for everybody.

What now? Well, as every good law student knows, you're not allowed to really take time off. There is no summer vacation, only moments in the summer that you use to pretend to take personal time. Some are still in DC, working for the man, or for a man, or for a woman, or for a judge, or for a library. Some went to different courts in the country, to New York to work for the Federal Court of International Trade, some to some other places. Some went abroad, paying $9,000 to study international legal traditions, and international brew traditions as well. Some have gone abroad, like me, to intern for non-profit organization and try to help the world one small research assignment at a time.

Yup, I'm in Montreal, Quebec (or Montréal, Québec) and I'm working for CRARR. Which, as it turns out has no pretty way of being said. You can try "CRARR" but with the strong ARR sound at the end most people tend to either take is a strange pirate word, or an animal sound (as for me, i usually raise a paw and go for a lion). If you (like me) have trouble with CRARR, you can try it's full name, "the Center for Research Action on Race Relations." Which after saying outloud and stumbling through you may think sounds better in French, "le Centre Recherche d'Action sur les Rélations Raciales." Again, if you (like me) have stumbled through the awful incarnations of the name, you'll likely fall back to Crarr (and raise your paw). CRARR (www.crarr.org) does some pretty interesting work here in Quebec, Canada. As the name indicates they have a deep commitment toward righting the injustices of racism in all of its forms. From clear hate crimes to more systemic problems like racial profiling, CRARR works hard to raise the issues and get them fixed.

phew...take a breath and ....

What do I do? Oh, I sit at a desk and listen to music. They also have me doing legal research on specific issues addressing legal cases that come in, can't tell you what they are exactly, so let's just say that when you're looking through color tinted glasses, everything seems to come up unjust and based on race/religion/sexual orientation/national origin/culture/social position (class)/ etc.. Also, as I've been a part of the organization, I've attended a couple of hearings by the Commission on rights of the person and rights of the young (sounds better in French) whereby they invited several organizations in Montreal to give recommendations for the issue of racial profiling and any other race-based injustices that may not have been brought to the commission's attention. Well, turns out that Montreal, as its city officials would have you believe, doesn't have any racial problems, especially not racial profiling. What's ridiculous is that they were brought before the commission on hearings about racial profiling and how to better the problem--instead, they simply denied that there was a problem. Good work Montreal way to not only miss the point, but you've missed the bus filled with opportunities for solutions.

So here I am. In Montreal, learning about law, racial issues. Also, I'm waiting for my last grade...maybe tomorrow. Don't worry, like many of my peers I'll check when i get up in the morning as part of the morning computer routine. Gmail, grades, facebook, gmail, facebook, stumble. Somewhere in there I might check the news and will probably eat breakfast.

I love you,

Law Pal

PS. All these french cases and french briefs and french memos are exhausting.

PPS. If I missed anything, just ask a question in the comments and I'm sure when I write again, I'll get to it. Seeing how it's the Summer, I should be able to update a little more frequently, for those few of you that are interested to know what's going on in my little ol' life.

PPPS. If you read this and thought, "Hmm, that really wasn't that interesting," or, "Do I really care about CRARR and Lawrence's life?" Well, check it, this was written for you to know what's going on, and it was written to my brother--so there.

NAH nah na na, Nuh nuh-nuh na na....All right All right.

Dear Casper,

YEP! I'm writing this blog entry and trying to kill two birds with one stone. This way I can just print the blog out, send it to you and I'll have both written in my blog and written a letter to you.

As Finals are approaching and I've found myself far too busy to write a blog entry during the regular part of the semester where I was theoretically studying and being quite diligent, I thought that I would take precious time away from the hustle and bustle of the finals study schedule (which is supposed to be every waking moment) and apply it in a less-productive manner. (That may have been a run-on sentence...oh well). In any case, here's the sum up. Life's crazy. Crim Law isn't much fun. Property has a great Prof. Con Law is con-fusing. Comparative law is unlike any class i've taken thus far. I've registered for courses next term, and I will be struggling through: Family Law, Environmental Law, Trafficking in Persons, International Organizations, and the mandatory Criminal Procedure.

Family Law: I'm very interested to learn how we legally define families and all of the influences that can affect a family.

Environmental Law: Didn't know I was going to be interested in until I met the staff in the environmental department here. Because the staff is engaging and impassioned, I thought that perhaps the courses will be as well. That being said, I don't know the professor teaching the course but it seems like a good introduction into the field.

Trafficking in Persons: It's going to look at how we see international trafficking of persons from an international and comparative perspective. I'm looking into specializing my courses into dealing mostly with family, children, and people, and the potential injustices they may face. So naturally, this course should cover some of those issues, and I'll get new perspectives, always a bonus. I think.

International Organizations and Multi-National Institutions: Wait, what did I sign up for?

...

Criminal Procedure: I have to take this course. I'm interested, generally, in how the process works, but like so many before me if I have to take it then the class is naturally that much less interesting and compelling. (Because if it were REALLY good, i'd want to take it, non?)

Okay, Finals are coming. Con, Crim, Comp, Prop. Ready? Nope. Not at all. I have to learn and relearn all of the cases and facts that I missed throughout the term. It's okay, most people are just as confused (well maybe less so), but it was an overwhelming term. Though I'm scared, I'm going to go into the tests with the kind of overconfidence and hopes that have gotten me to where I am today... living in a French-American Family's basement in DC with spider crickets and, most recently, a new mouse roommate.

The final for Con Law, if the course is any indication, should be as clear and well communicated as a bell... without a tongue. Wish me luck and keep good thoughts, as I'll likely be working through the Commerce Clause which has hidden powers like Alex Mack, and the Equal Protection Clause which only applies to people that the court finds appropriate. Hypothetically speaking, I'm not looking forward to it. Basically, I just need someone to explain it all...

As for the Crim final, there R certain things that the prof doesn't want. She has certain PetPs that she said she could do w/out on the Xam. In a field of law that runs a gamut of misDs and flnys, we've really only covered H-cide. We've taken a couple of moments for burglary and robbery, and certainly touched on rape, but it's truly been an H-cide-centric course. Of course, at times it's also been slightly ego-centric, perhaps afro-centric (I'm sorry), but rarely edu-centric. All that aside, I'm going to prepare for the exam by grabbing my $17 latte (don't worry, I've got the Kreb Scout discount).

Comparative Law will be a breeze, once i understand the 1200 pages of reading from the term that I may, or may not, have actually done when it was assigned. That being said, most of comparative law was theory, so I suspect that I can work hard and come up with my own (well reasoned and supported ideas). Okay, I'm in a study group and it should go well.

Finally, I'll have a property final. This taste is really mine for the taking. Okay, not really, But if I hold onto it long enough I'm pretty sure it'll be mine. Though, someone is likely to be giving it to me on the condition that I give it back, so that might be an issue. Well, even if it isn't I think I'll do well, after all I have some interest in it. Maybe not an executory interest, but at the least there's some vested remainder left for me, unless I don't get the A, then I think B, in holding a FI in the EI and not a PI in the FSSEL, will get it...the test. Okay, I'm confused.

As a final What's What in your favorite Law Pal's life, I'm in.

I applied to the dual degree program here at school and I was accepted. That means that at this time next year I'll be...studying for finals. But shortly after that I'll be planning on how to get to France, and then studying there for TWO YEARS!

Yup, that's about it. I'll try and be more on top of it. When I have some time in a couple of weeks I'll let you know how Barrister's Ball went.

Love, Your baby brother,

Law Pal

PS. Bonuses for my theme of the day....

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010!

It's a new year, and 2010 has hit the ground running. Maybe it was just me that hit the ground running. I'm not really sure. Either way, if the year keeps up at the pace it started, this could be the most jam-packed year yet.

Day one of the new year had a wedding. This was probably the most emotional wedding that I've been to, and tears came falling out of me like a newborn. I was the Best Man, and did my darndest to uphold my Best Manly duties. The bachelor party was a success and I think we hit a majority of manly activities, you know, bullets, bbq, beer, and breasts (yes, the bachelor party was sponsored by the letter B). The wedding was on the 1st, so it won't be too difficult for A or K to forget. There were some beautiful speeches made by several of the important people involved, particularly the maid of honor, man of honor (a specially made position for their wedding, that was filled wonderfully by that man of honor), and a couple of family members. It was my turn, and my speech went fairly well, except for the break I needed every 20 seconds while I bawled my eyes out and regained myself. After everything, I think the speech went well, everybody seemed to like it and I definitely made A and K cry like babies as well, so it was well worth it. Then there was dancing, dancing, and more dancing. My usual dance partner wasn't there, so I had to dance with several other people, including the bride, groom, members of the wedding party, and random guests (who weren't that random at this point). Which reminds me, A and K you have some amazing and dedicated friends. Also, some are hot!

Congrats. and Thanks.

So, now the high school crew is cut down to half, two bachelors left and on the same playing field...so if anybody out there is reading this and has a fun, beautiful lady friend, I'm available. oh and G, game on! Which reminds me, J, S, and G, I had a great New Year's spending time with you guys! Reminds me how important you are, and how important our friendship truly is, and that G is probably a better dancer than J. Really, you guys should take a weekend to visit DC! Also, G, you should apply to school out here and then we could be school buddies who study and stuff, but then get together and we can hang out giving in to our vices while we try to convince the other it's not a healthy habit (me, coffee; you, smokes). It might be unrealistic, but I'm pretty sure it would be fun as hell!

Really though, I'm not that available, Lady Law School has a pretty good hold of me yet again. Here within her grasp I rush to read, write, and research for the hours, days, and weeks to come. The difference between terms is simple, Spring 2010 has me more knowledgeable of what to read the cases for and pull out while briefing; S 2010 also has me applying for summer internships and externships. Moral of the story? The term might be a little easier on reading, but I can't let up because there is still much more to do.

This particular post may not have been very gripping, but just so you all know here are the highlights of the past 3 weeks:

-Flew to Portland and missed the snowstorm in DC.

-Visited everybody I could. I miss them all already.

Friends and family, thank you and I love you. Next time perhaps we'll be able to spend some more time together. Next time I'm getting a Bloody Mary.

-Drove to Austin and missed the snowstorm in Portland.

-Visited Heaven on Earth, and sampled the pie.

-In a "town" called Desert Center in AZ I stopped and ate at the Desert Center Cafe. I believe the town's population was there by the 8 people sitting inside not being customers.

While I was there I met a French family traveling through, biker Dad and biker Mom with visiting Grandpa and meek daughter. They left as I finished my meal and Visiting Gramps backed up into biker Mom as they were leaving the "parking lot".

-Drove through El Paso and missed the snowstorm there.

-Arrived in Austin spent a lot of time with the groom's family.

-Great Bachelor Party thrown for the groom; at the end of the night I was punched.

-Great Wedding set-up with several people being stressed.

-Rehearsal dinner with some of A's old friends, again, some of whom were very attractive and whom I ended up....not getting to know that much better.

-New Year's on the waterfront in Austin, the band "Foot Patrol" played; 2010 is allegedly the year of the Foot, or maybe Foote.

-Wedding was great, many close friends having a good time, a very personal wedding.

-My best friend is now a husband.

-Drove to DC, didn't miss anything in Austin.

-Showed up in DC with plans to park in house's garage at 2:30 am; had to clean out the broken wood with nails that were lying about in order to make enough room to park my car.

....