Time marches on...

With Winston and Ruvimbo

Erin and David's beautiful baby girl, Christina James Bratsky was born on April 7!!! Her mother says she is the best baby ever. I would expect nothing less. I am hoping to be able to meet CJ in August.

March was a great month! I went to visit Ronald in Botswana for spring break and meet some of his family and friends. I met his aunts (who are his mothers in his cultural tradition) Lily and Pamela, and his cousins Winston and Ruvimbo. The last night I was there Aunt Lily made a wonderful traditional dinner and I got a cooking lesson. One week was not enough, but it was so nice to see Ronald, be back in Gaborone, and have a bit of a break.

As soon as I returned to Philadelphia, I submitted our fiance visa application! It has now been a month, so hopefully things will get resolved in the next five or six months. We will have a small civil ceremony when he gets here, then our wedding will be in Bozeman on August 14, 2010! That is two weeks after the bar exam, so it will be a busy summer.

I've been busy with events and class since the break. We held the third annual Penn Law Idol and raised $200 to benefit the Black Law Student Association (BLSA)'s spring break service trip to South Africa and People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression, and Poverty (PASSOP) a South African non-profit that helps refugees from Zimbabwe in South Africa. We picked new board members for IHRA and EJF for next year, and I've been working with my fellow Symposium Editor on possible topics for next year's Journal of International Law Symposium.

I've been sick for the last three weeks, starting with a sore throat, headaches, bodyaches, fever, and congestion. Then I developed pink eye and a nagging cough. I feel mostly well, but I am still coughing and my throat is still sore, so I am going back to the doctor again today, just in case. Today is the last day of class; finals are looming. I can't believe I am almost done with my second year of law school--crazy!

Mom is coming to visit after finals and we are going to go to New York to look for fabric for my wedding dress! We are going to Mood, the store they shop at on Project Runway! Then I am off to Seattle for the summer. I am looking forward to being back in the Pacific Northwest.

Sorry for the silence

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted! Sorry about that. Here is what has been happening since the last post:

December: Ronald was told by immigration in Botswana that the committee that decides on work visas would not be meeting again until the new year and everyone who had a pending application would have to wait outside the country. This meant he was being sent back to Zimbabwe for an undetermined time. Because of the cholera outbreak and dire financial situation in Zimbabwe, he decided it was too dangerous for me to visit him there. So, my trip was canceled and I spent Christmas in Bozeman, instead. It was nice to be home, but I was very worried about Ronald. Thankfully, he was back in Botswana after a few days, safe and sound.

January: Back in Philadelphia, back at school. I am taking Antitrust, Refugee Law, and Conflicts of Law. These have all been great classes so far. The first draft of my comment on human rights and the power sharing agreement in Zimbabwe was due, so I did a lot of research into the history and current conditions in my future home country as Ronald used to call it.

February: I was chosen to be one of two Symposium Editors for the Journal of International Law for next year. I performed in the Vagina Monologues and we raised over $1,000 for an organization that helps victims of domestic violence in Philadelphia. The annual Equal Justice Foundation auction was a great success, raising money to support students doing unpaid public interest work over the summer. We also hosted "the father of human rights study in China" for a wonderful talk on criminal justice. I finished out the month with a visit to York County Prison to interview a detainee who is seeking asylum for my Refugee Law class.

My time is up for now, I promise to write about March soon.

Last day of class

I am sitting in my very last class of the semester. I am four finals and one paper away from being halfway done with law school! Weird. Lots has happened since my last post. As soon as I got out of my class I had a message offering me a job! What a relief... The never ending story has an end after all.

In other news, it seems I may be married within the next month or so! Ronald and I had been planning on getting married in August, but decided it would be better to have the ceremony while I am there over the holidays because the paperwork to get him a visa to live here takes several months.

Other than these few bits of interesting news, I am mostly just plodding along, reading, cat sitting, being attacked by Gordon and watching more TV than I should. I will write more soon about wedding plans, meeting Sven and Emily in Newark, and a cousin convention. Here is a picture of Gordon perched on a tub of books slated to live in the back of the closet:

Cranky and in need of a nap!

It is that time of the semester: too much to do and too little time! I have planned two events (with a great deal of help) in the last week, Thursday will be my fifth interview in two weeks, my reading is piling up, and I only seem to be able to muster enough energy to stare blankly at the wall. In addition, my bank is trying to take advantage of me and finals are looming on the not-too-distant horizon... Enough whining. I have been feeling pretty sorry for myself lately, which I know is counter-productive and makes me WAY less fun to hang out with. So, we can move on to the positives:

I have some AMAZING people in my life! From my parents, who never fail to make me feel better, to Maisha, who drove me on a long expedition into the middle of nowhere to satisfy my Red Robbin craving, to Gordon, who always knows when I am in dire need of a snuggle, to the people in the Career Planning and Public Interest offices, who are cheering me on in my job search, and the friends who answer the phone and listen while I rant, I am a lucky girl. Then, of course, there is Ronald. What a lovely human being he is! He is so supportive and loving. I am counting the days until I arrive in Africa for Christmas vacation (36!). It has been difficult the last month or so to get through via telephone, but I discovered I can use Skype to send text messages.

While the job search is exhausting and frustrating, I am amazed at the number of positive responses I have received from e-mailing out my resume and transcript. Things could be worse! Perhaps by the end of all of this I will be better than a mediocre interviewer. I have never really liked selling myself, so this has been a beneficial experience. I keep telling myself that. I know when it is all over I will be better able to appreciate that. I'm waiting...

The last two IHRA events were also very successful, last Thursday we co-sponsored a documentary screening with Lambda Law about the right to marry as a basic human right. The passage of Proposition 8 in California is very disturbing to me. I have always believed that consenting adults should be allowed to marry, but lately the whole issue has become much more personal to me. 50 years ago there were states which would consider my marrying Ronald a crime. I hope it doesn't take another 50 years for the LGTB community to have their rights recognized.

We also had a great lecture on Legal Aid in Xinjiang province as part of out Human Rights in China speaker series. It was very interesting to learn about the types of cases being handled by legal aid and the legal system in China. The event was well-attended, and I hope that momentum continues for our events next semester.

Mom asked for some pictures of Gordon. I haven't gotten the new ones on my computer yet, so here are some older ones to tide her over.

This one's for mom

OK, I have now been MIA for far too long. My apologies. Things started getting a little hairy just after my last blog post. I will try to fill in the gaps:

I finished my internship at HIAS, and had grand hopes of being back in the office one day a week by mid-September. This has not happened yet, and may have to wait for next semester. My three weeks at HIAS were incredible, the attorneys and staff are wonderful and I learned SO MUCH in three short weeks. I miss everyone, so I hope to be back soon.

On Campus Recruiting (OCR) started the Sunday after my last day at HIAS. OCR is a two week process where firms from all over the country (and some Government employers) come to campus and interview Penn Law students. I had 25 20-minute screening interviews and several firm receptions during the two weeks. That is a lot of being "on" and also a lot of running around in a suit in the late August heat and humidity in Philadelphia. All-in-all, I met some really cool people, got some practice interviewing, and even discovered a new area of interest: Antitrust.

School started during the second week of OCR, and with classes came Journal orientation, source hunts (where you have to find either and electronic or hard copy of every source the author of an article sites), and edits. I am also taking 5 courses which have been interesting thus far. I am taking Immigration, International Trade Regulation, International Human Rights, Lawyering in the Public Interest, and Professional Responsibility. I am also on the board of the International Human Rights Advocates (IHRA) and the Equal Justice Foundation (EJF). So, I am keeping busy, in other words!

Callback week is the time when we travel to interviews with firms that we met at OCR and have been offered an additional interview with. Unfortunately, this year it happened to coincide with the economic collapse. Not the best time to be looking for a job! My birthday fell on Tuesday of that week, so my friend Maisha had a surprise party for me on the Friday before at Ted's Montana Grill. It was nice to see some of my friends and enjoy a bison burger. Maisha had even gotten in touch with Ronald, who was waiting up for us to call him so he could be a part of the party! It was very nice! I have great friends!

On Sunday I headed down to DC and visited with my friend Rania, who is a 3L at Georgetown Law, and her husband, Ben. I had an interview on Monday and then took the train up to New York where I stayed with my cousin Nick and his girlfriend, Kayt. I had an interview Tuesday morning, and then I met Kayt and we walked around Manhattan, past Ground Zero and Wall Street. We met up with Nick when he got off work and headed to a birthday dinner at a great Senegalese restaurant in Brooklyn. The next morning Kayt made muffins and I headed out to another interview. I almost landed on my face when my suitcase got caught in the turnstile, but luckily someone caught me and I made it to my interview unscathed. After my interview, I met up with my friend Dana, who I stayed with in New Zealand. She just moved to New York, so I am hoping to be able to go back and spend some more time with her soon. I caught my train back to Philadelphia and spent the night in my own bed.

On Thursday morning I went to the airport and caught a 6:30 flight to Seattle. When I got to the hotel, I thought I would take a quick nap and then have time to get some Thai food and enjoy Seattle. I ended up sleeping for about 8 hours. Oops. The next morning I had my fourth interview. I then met a friend for coffee, went and had Thai food (thank goodness!), met another friend for coffee, and then headed to the airport. I landed in Bozeman late Friday and got to see my mom, dad, and Gordon! On Saturday we had a nice birthday dinner with my parents, my grandpa, my next-door neighbor, and my friends Molly and Abby. After dinner I showed Molly, Abby and Kirsten my photos.

Sunday I tried to get my thank-you e-mails to the firms that had interviewed me sent and almost missed my plane. I was happily surprised to run into my friend Molly (not the same Molly) on the plane. We got to spend some time together at the Minneapolis airport before I headed off to Philadelphia and she headed off to London. Maisha met Gordon and me at the airport and took us home. It is so nice to have him back! I know mom misses him, so I feel a little guilty about that.

October flew by, but was characterized by extreme frustration at the dodgy telephone network in Botswana which made it hard for me to get in touch with Ronald. I also helped plan an event with a speaker on Guantanamo Detainees for IHRA and the Tortfeasors' Ball fundraiser for EJF (everyone dresses up as a character from their favorite case or legal theory). Lots of flyers, announcements, phone calls, and publicity. I still do not have a job offer for next summer, so I am in the process of retooling my job-search. Happily, I did get my ticket to South Africa to visit Ronald for Christmas! We don't know where exactly he will be living by then, due to the difficult nature of work permission in Botswana, but I do know I will see him soon :)

Yesterday I finally got off my butt and volunteered for Obama in Southwest Philadelphia. I knocked on doors and tried to make sure everyone would show up at the polls on Tuesday. I have reading to do today, but I hope to make it back out on Tuesday to see what I can do to help. If dealing with the economy being so bad and the job search being so difficult is the price I have to pay to get Obama in the Whitehouse it will be worth it. Here's hoping!

Sorry

OK, I have been remiss in my blogging, I admit it! My last week in Botswana was bittersweet. I got to spend some one-on-one time with Judge Dow and did two draft judgments by July 31. We had a nice luncheon with the Penn folks and I spent some quality time with Ronald. While I was excited about working at HIAS and looking forward to my fall courses, I was not looking forward to leaving. So fate decided to teach me a lesson.

My flight out of Gaborone was delayed so I missed my flight from Johannesburg to Washington D.C. They told me they could try to put me on a flight to New York if someone didn't show up (it was fully booked). I got a seat and ran to the gate. There are only two flights from JFK to Philadelphia a day on Delta and I missed the 8:15 am flight. My luggage didn't make it of course, so I filed a missing luggage report and settled in to wait for the 5:25 pm flight. At about 3 pm I looked up at the board and saw that the flight to Philly said CANCELLED. Bummer. So I went to the counter and the guy said he would send me to Cincinnati and then to Philadelphia. That is how it worked out and I ended up in the Philly airport only 12 hours later than originally scheduled. My friend Lindsay picked me up and took me to her place. I was certainly glad to be home.

Lindsay has a beautiful long-haired cat named Cleo and is fostering Gracie and her kittens Shirley and Mo for the shelter I got Gordon from. They all have upper-respiratory tract infections, of course, so they get antibiotics and eye goop twice a day. Poor little Mo cut his eye trying to get it open after it crusted shut, so he needed some extra TLC. It was nice to have some kitty time after all those weeks. I had to go to my apartment to grab some clothes because my bags were somewhere between Africa and Philadelphia. Then I SLEPT. It was so nice to be in a bed again!

On Monday I started at HIAS, it has turned out to be a great internship. It is nice to feel like the work you are doing is making a huge difference in someones life. I have had the opportunity to work on lots of very different kinds of cases and even got to go to a Master hearing with one of the attorneys. I've worked on asylum, spousal petitions, victims of domestic violence cases, change of status petitions, and work permit renewals. The people in the office are great, but after tomorrow I will be the last intern. I also got my fall schedule, I will be taking Immigration, International Trade Regulations, International Human Rights, Lawyering in the Public Interest, and Professional Responsibility. It should be a wonderful semester. I also have my interview schedule for fall On Campus Recruiting. I am excited to be interviewing with some very exciting firms. The future looks pretty promising right now.

Between the Olympics airing really late and the jet lag I have been pretty tired lately. I am slowly unpacking all the things I put away before I left and following gymnastics and swimming. The women's all-around competition is winding down as I type. I'll try to be better at posting in the next few weeks, there should be some pretty interesting things happening!

A trip to Mombasa!

So, less than a week after arriving back from Vic Falls and Chobe I woke up before the sun and went to the Intercape bus stop. For some reason, I neglected to do much in the way of planning before setting out on this adventure, which is fairly uncharacteristic. I tried to book a ticket over the internet the night before I was supposed to leave, but it would not work. Then I realized that all the Batswana students who are studying in South Africa would also be looking to head to Johannesburg around that time. I panicked a little, but Ronald came to take me to the bus stop and waited with me while they tried to figure out if there were any available seats. He made sure to stand near the conductor so that she didn't forget about me, and in the end she told me I could have her seat! I sat in a regular seat until we stopped to pick up the last person with a ticket, and after that I sat up front near the driver and the conductor stood in the stairwell. When I got to Jo'burg I asked about a taxi and she helped me find an Intercape employee who agreed to drive me to the airport. People have complained about the lack of customer service in Botswana, but they are just not looking in the right places, I guess.

I got to the airport at about 2 o'clock and found out that the Kenya Airways staff doesn't arrive until 8:30, so I would have to wait to check in. I spent a few hours at one little cafe and then browsed the three shops available, then spent a few more hours in the other little cafe because there were no seating areas that were not attached to cafes. Then I found a phone card and a phone booth and called mom and dad and Ronald to let them know I had made it to the airport. I finally checked in and browsed the more abundant shops inside the terminal and decided they need a wedding registry at the Jo'burg airport. They had so many amazing housewares! I managed to get some sleep on the plane and when I landed in Kenya I got my visa and made my way toward domestic departures. A man approached me and said you are going to Mombasa? I will show you where the terminal is, sit here until the line dies down and I will check to make sure you are in the system. Hmmmm. This guy clearly wanted money. I had a boarding pass, why would I suddenly drop out of the system. I told him I could find the terminal on my own after he tried to get a 1000 shilling tip. Nice try, buddy, look for some other mzungu to hustle!

I finally arrived in Mombasa and Ruth was waiting at the airport. We drove through Mombasa and took the ferry to South Beach where Ruth lives and where my hotel was. Mombasa city is on an island, so the ferry is the only way to get from South Beach into town. We arrived in the village of Ukanda. It was so vibrant and lively that I immediately felt welcome and at home. We then headed to my beach front hotel, the Kaskazi. This was the view from my balcony:

After a much-needed shower and nap we headed out to see the village and try some traditional Swahili food. I called it a night early; I was exhausted from the 30 hours of traveling it took to get there. The next day we headed in to Mombasa city on the ferry and took a tuk-tuk (pictured below) to Fort Jesus, a Portuguese fort built almost 500 years ago which is now a national monument and museum. The "Anti-Corruption Suggestion Box" was my favorite part... Though the views were also quite wonderful.










Then we went shopping in town and I got some great fabric, a leso (traditional cloth), and a dress. That night we went dancing at Sharkatak. Ruth is one of my all-time favorite people to dance with.

On Sunday we went to Shimba Hills game reserve with Ruth's friend Sylvia and her sons Joseph (6) and Nick (14 months). We saw buffalo, warthogs, elephants, and two male giraffes fighting by hitting each other with their necks. We also found a tailor to make me a dress out of my new fabric.
On Monday I got my hair braided. It took three ladies four-and-a-half hours to complete. Then we went in to Mombasa and ran around for hours trying to book me a hostel for my night in Jo'burg on the way back to Botswana. We watched the show at the hotel, which was "Lord of the Dance" that night. It was a little odd to watch Irish step dancing in Kenya, I have to admit.

Tuesday we went snorkeling at the coral reef in the marine park, it was so beautiful!
Then we had a seafood lunch at a hotel and walked through the mangroves. The black stuff is dead coral--the entire area used to be under water at one time.


Then we went and picked up my dress at the tailor and enjoyed "African Night" with traditional food and dancing at the hotel. On Wednesday we did one last round of shopping in Mombasa before heading to the airport. My flight from Nairobi to Jo'burg was delayed, so I didn't get in until about 1:30 am. The people from the hostel were there to pick me up, though and I got some sleep. The next day I took a taxi to the bus station and took the Intercape back to Gaborone. Ronald met me at the bus stop and took me home. I gave him the shirt I bought for him and we had a little fashion show.