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| After completing my last day of work at the OAG and attending a huge 8000-in-attendance Hilary Clinton rally/fundraiser (twas cool to see how she was running her campaign to really target women and to see that a majority present were women, but she didn't really say much of substance in her 15 minute speech. Former US Secretary of State Albright spoke) I went straight to a debate hosted by Johns Hopkins' SAIS program. 3 democratic presidential candidates--Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel--were attending.
It turned out to be such an amazing experience. I've been watching the TV debates, but those aren't really debates; more like 90 second sound bites that are all more or less prepared before-hand. I still haven't been able to get a good grasp of the candidates from the debates. But this event forced the candidates to really lay out what they had because of the audience. Since it was held at SAIS you've got an audience of students & professors in international studies, journalists, diplomats, etc--ppl who know their stuff on foreign policy. It was supposed to be a debate, but Gravel and Biden had to vote on the immigration bill, so it turned into 3 individual lengthy talks on Iraq with Q&A after.
Mike Gravel went first. I liked him. He was very frank and, from my interpretation, communicated that he knew he wasn't going to win the election, but that he was very passionate about the war and wanted to speak his mind about it. He said he knew the public saw him as the "crazy grandpa from the attic" and called himself a "maverick democrat." He seemed very intelligent and was a good speaker. I have to say I'm pretty pitifully ignorant about the war in Iraq so I can't evaluate how well he understood the Iraq situation, but judging from the reaction of the audience he was ok.
Dennis Kucinich went next. Sooo. First, he introduced his trophy wife sitting up front--a red headed, long-locked, 25-year-old-looking beauty who turned around and waved at the crowd. WTH was that?? You're speaking in front of academics and experts in the field who are there to hear what you have to say on Iraq--you don't need to show us your wife!! It was so inappropriate, the way it came off. Then he proceeded to speak for 40 minutes in abstract, idealistic, general terms about Iraq. I'm not kidding--we're looking at stuff like America needs to use its greatness to uplift the rest of the world. Our truth is like a high frequency wavelength, and some other nations are at a lower wavelength, and so by our proximity we will increase the frequency of their wavelength. He didn't use those precise words, but that was exactly the idea he was trying to illustrate with the wavelength analogy. Another one--someone asked him on his stance on some kind of economic issue, and he responded with this. The problem with America is that we've divorced our economic principles from our moral principles. And then he proceeded to list out our neglect of workers' rights, fair wages, safe working conditions, etc. It's not that I don't think those issues are important or that there are moral considerations to keep in mind, but we were talking economics internationally, and..he just wasn't answering the questions throughout. For 40 painful minutes he used lofty language about peace, justice, etc. and nothing concrete, nothing to show that he'd actually know what tangible things needed to be done with America if he got into office. He could not show me he was learned at all. He said he opposed NAFTA and the WTO but couldn't offer a decent explanation for it. This guy had no business accepting the invitation to the debate, especially this debate where you have a room full of people who aren't your typical ignorant Americans. The audience obviously knows their stuff, and he obviously didn't (even I could tell, and I'm not at all well versed in foreign affairs). I had to duck my head for a good part of his discussion to hide the bewilderment on my face. People around me were chuckling or shaking their heads and shuffling uncomfortably. At the end he hardly got any applause. It was so painful. I honestly think his stupid level matches that of our current president. Good thing Kucinich will never have a chance in this election.
Joe Biden went last. He definitely knew what he was talking about, judging from the nods from everyone around me. He was also very succinct and genuine, and looked and carried himself like a president would (unlike the other 2). Though I have to say that I wish I was more knowledgeable of the issue. Also, at this point I was quite tired from the day.
I was on such a high for the next few hours from this event! Had to unleash the energy by scrub scrub scrubbing all the dishes we'd accumulated for a few days and sharing this stuff with several people. So glad Jason told me about this event!
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| So glad the OAG internship is over! (Felt soo good to remove that from my employment info on facebook =P ) Yesterday I ruined a new intern's day cuz i gave her my honest opinion of the internship...i felt so bad!! she had such high hopes and I dashed em.
And the 15-page research paper (pass/no pass) is finally done so I will not be writing any more papers for more than a year! I might be writing legal briefs for cases at SPIN but that's just pure fun =) The last few days here are all mine.
These past 10 weeks here were life-changing. Perhaps because it coincided with the fact that I'm graduating and have no longer carried the burden of focusing so much mental energies on school. I haven't felt so free to slow way down and focus on myself and what I want for myself. The decision to take a year off before law school is probably the best thing I could done. Although I'm wondering whether I should take more than a year!
But as for the actual UCDC experience, I have to say I've met far, far more interesting people of all ages and backgrounds here in DC during these 10 weeks than in my whole college career. My perspective on welfare and the prosecution of welfare fraud has changed. I've had the ability to travel more or less alone for a couple of days--my first time ever! I've made some really good friends, and that's encouraged me to carry out my goal of being more deliberate with the friends I keep in the future.
I've learned about myself. I've been put in the position to make a major life decision during these past couple of weeks, and I'm pretty proud of the way I handled myself, though I'm still being careful. Though the decision was tough and mind boggling and shocking and seemingly crazy, I am pretty sure it was the right one.
I feel much more grown up. I'm ready to be independent. Ready to start a new life in San Diego!!! The main thing I'm doing next year is volunteering at SPIN during weekdays, and I might be volunteering as a JusticeCorps member once a week (assisting litigants who can't afford an attorney with their cases). To pay the bills I'll be doing some kind of paid night job, maybe waitressing, and I'm planning to limit those paid hours as much as possible (the point of the year off is the volunteer stuff). It's helpful that I've found a cool place with probably very very cool people for only $320/month! But besides this work stuff, I want to meet new people who inspire me. I want to strengthen the friendships that will help me grow and fan my flames. I want to see the other side of San Diego and get connected with it. I want to read read read. I hope I can reconcile my present dilemma (why am I focusing on domestic poverty when the poverty in underdeveloped countries is so much more intense?) I want to remember to relax and not overwork myself. I'm excited!
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| So much to update on, but so little time! I'm still in the process of uploading NYC photos (only the best traveling experience I've had EVER) but here's what I've got:
Album 1
Album 2
Album 3
Also, I got to watch the closing arguments of a murder trial today. Murder by shotgun at a crack house in DC. *sigh* but no time to get into it now. Gotta get cracking on the 15 pager on welfare time limits! due in 1 week.
Chatted with Kate Grant, Executive Director of the Fistula Foundation (you should really check that out) after work after she gave us a presentation. Talked about her studies and work in international development (i guess sorta synonymous with fighting global poverty), domestic poverty vs. global poverty, decisions decisions decisions... twas good.
I hate it when I don't have time to actually reflect on what happens during my day. For instance, I have all these great moments from NYC furiously jotted down on the cover of my book (I couldn't find paper on the bus ride back to dc) but no real reflection/analysis of them all. Sadly, everything's being left in bullet-point format for now.
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| physically i feel shitty right now cuz i had way too many of my roommate's cookies and shouldn't have drank wine. and I'm totally exhausted (but from a good long day) but i feel like i hafta get the day down before i forget. bullet points it is.
- at work i sat in on a meeting with the DC's whole welfare fraud investigation team and the two welfare fraud prosecutors i've been working under. wow! seeing that they all seem like nice, decent people performing a necessary function in the welfare system. aka seeing the other side that wasn't visible from SPIN. always good to have a balance.
- continued working on that bizarre case i talked about earlier
- had a happy hour/dinner with Danielle Keisser (one of the coolest girls I've met here at DC) and a local woman named Kristi our age who turns out to be a zillion times more involved in social justice work than anyone i've ever known and is totally awesome!!
- went with Kristi to a local community forum on low-income housing and the need for tenants to organize and fight against the dire shortage of affordable housing (and against the threat of homelessness)
might sound boring to some, but this is EXACTLY what I came to DC for. well, mostly.
negatives about today:
- my cell phone's battery is messed up so i have no cell phone. and i took a 1 mile trip during my lunch hour all the way to the store to get a new charger but ended up not fixing the prob...but i guess this can be a potentially liberating experience! I've always lamented our enslavement to technology. though i do feel sorta..naked without the cell. and i am going to NY this weekend....
- realizing that i'll have only 1 week to pretty much start and finish a 15 page research paper
- coming home to roommate tension (not with me involved but still...)
- eating too many cookies and getting slightly drunk when i really wanted to get work done......right now...
- feeling like i really wanna talk about my day with someone..THOROUGHLY..but no cell =(
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| Cool day today. Took the day off because I had a 0.05% chance of being sick still and I needed to finish up a paper.
So what was supposed to be a quick trip to the bookstore ended up a becoming a long... hangout (?) with this middle-aged dude that turned out to be creepy. And a brief but fun encounter with another middle-aged eccentric but really funny dude.
At the bookstore I was approached by a Chinese man in a suit old enough to be my dad. We conversed at the travel section, and turns out he's from Hong Kong but grew up in a French international school, went to college in Switzerland and then in DC, and is now a real estate / businessman internationally. It was interesting conversation and he seemed like a relatively harmless guy so I agreed to have lunch with him across the street. Funny thing though--he appeared to be hiding his ring finger hand in his pants pocket or underneath his coffee cup (who holds their coffee cup at the bottom anyway?) so I was amused as to whether he'd actually take the ring off. Sure enough, by the time we sat down at a little Americanized "Japanese" place the ring had disappeared. Hah! Way to not be slick at all. Anyway, he was a decently interesting conversationalist; we talked politics, places he'd gone, family, etc.etc. Later he asked whether I had roommates (YES I have 3, I lied) and whether we had singles (NO I totally share a room) and what I do during my lunch hour (eat with the other interns) and whether we could have lunch tomorrow (NO I already have a luch date, sorry; I lied) and whether I wanted a ride back (NO I seriously live 2 blocks from here I'll walk thanks). Have to admit he was very interesting to talk to. Seems like people who have lived more than twice as long as me have a lot of things to teach and share. (Like the Oaxacan man I chatted with on the plane ride to LA. Did I blog about that? Dude that guy was amazing. And not at all creepy.)
Then a block away from the restaurant this dude on a bike comes from behind and asks if I'm German. I laugh and say "No I'm Chinese, but my name's Hilda" and it took off from there. He's also middle-aged, looks homeless in all honesty though he claimed to have an apt, and was originally from India. Really funny dude, and strangely enough we really hit it off. I think it was maybe partially cuz he might have been drunk/high. But anyhoo he was a self-proclaimed "Quack" (proclaimed proudly and with hearty laughter after he handed me his business card labelling himself as a "Dr. of Naturopath & Acupressure" ), worked a side-job as a dog-walker, sandwich-maker at a local shop, and gardener. He also wrote on the back of the card, "Do not look 4 the garden of flowers 4 it lies within U." Eccentric, no? And apparently he sensed some really good energy from me.
I think I might need to hold back on the friendliness to strangers...but it's so fun!
This has certainly been an amazing vacation here in DC. Anyone out there considering the UCDC program? DO IT!! And do it when you don't need the credits. And save up some money. You'll have a blast!
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