Returning to normal (y las cuatro metas)

The down time between the end of my first year in law school and my trip to the Dominican Republic has been absolutely wonderful. After getting out of school on May 11th, I flew to the Philly area and traveled between there, New Jersey, and my favorite city in the world, New York. I have shopped (a lot), eaten (A LOT), slept past noon, spent hours on Netflix, caught up on my favorite t.v. shows, spent time with family and friends, and best of all, RELAXED! I often partook in this whole "relaxation" thing while in college, but not being able to do it truly for the last 10 months was awful. In these last two and a half weeks, I've begun to feel like a normal person again!

This last week of my relaxation time has been the most exciting. My best friend from college, Ang, flew up from Kansas to spend a few days with me before I depart for the Caribbean. Although I'm staying in Jersey, she flew into LaGuardia, so I decided to go meet her in the city. Wanting to kill two birds with one stone, I also met up with my absolute best guy friend in the entire world who I hadn't seen in over a year! Now, he also just finished his first year of law school and with that being said, you can already imagine how busy we both were. (As the year went on, we began speaking less and less). But anyway, we met in Times Square, aka the worst place in the city, (along with another friend who also just completed his first year of law school) and spent the entire night roaming the city and catching up. We literally met at 7PM and didn't make it back to Jersey until 7:30AM the next morning- NO SLEEP! Needless to say, once we got back, we crashed and slept for almost 12 hours.

Ang and I spent Memorial Day Weekend in between Jersey City and NYC with a friend of mine, Celena, from my time at Barnard/Columbia (love her!). It was Fleet Week in the city and if you know me you know I absolutely LOVE Sex & the City, so the entire weekend seeing men in their white sailor suits reminded me of that SATC episode. (I made it a point to get a picture with the some of the sailors because the Carrie Bradshaw in me just had to!). The weekend was great, though. We went to a lounge called Taj on Friday night where I met up with one of my friends from college and partied the night away. Again, we didn't make it back home til 7AM (after missing two JSQ bound trains-- but that's another story), but the incessant yawning on the PATH train and tired feet from walking around the concrete jungle in six inch heels were all worth it for the memories made. The next day was pretty lowkey, as the the weather wasn't the greatest. We hung with some girls from Barnard and drank on a rooftop in the financial with a BEAUTIFUL view. Later that night, we met up with one of my absolute favorite Morehouse brothers who graduated a year before me and lives in South Jersey.

Anywho, my time up top ends today as I fly back to Georgia in a few hours. I had a great time and normally wouldn't be ready to head back down South, but this time is different because my trip to la RD is just four days away! There are so many lose ends that I need to tie up and people that I need to see before I leave! Since the trip is so close, naturally, I can't stop thinking about it so I've decided to come up with five goals (cuatro metas)  that I want to accomplish while abroad:

1. Refrain from speaking English for 24 hours + : This is probably my most favorite goal. I can't say it enough: I WANT TO BECOME FLUENT! Although I know it won't happen overnight or even within this one summer, speaking as little English as possible obviously means I have to speak something else to communicate- Spanish. It seems like this would be super easy, but a lot of people in the DR know English and I will also be living with American students, so slipping into English conversation will be easy. I hope I don't do it too much!
2. Learn how to dance la merengue: I love to dance and have fun, so this is only natural. I want to learn this dance so well that the Dominican natives will confuse this morena for una dominicana =)
3. Go zip lining: I am deathly afraid of heights. Like for real. I've zip lined before and was super scared but I want to try it in the DR because of all the beautiful scenery I'll get to view on the way to the other side. 
4. Explore a cave/waterfall: Also something that can probably be done stateside, but the reality is that I probably won't do it here in America. The Caribbean is home to much beautiful and exotic flora and flauna, so what better way to take it all in than to go on an excursion?

Anyway, my flight is super early and I know I'm going to regret staying up this late during my airport time, so until next time, take care. Ciaoooooooooooo <3

Ang & I with Fleet Week sailors in the city (an ode to Sex & the City!)

I'm Back!

Que lo que?

Hey guys... I'm officially done with my first year of law school! To sum the experience up in a few words, IT WAS HELL... and I mean that every bit of literally. Case briefs, the Socratic method, praying to the law school gods not to get called on in class on the days you didn't read, late nights and early mornings... It's all over (... at least for the summer, anyway). Post-1L life-- although it's only been two days-- is just fabulous. Lounging around, sleeping, shopping, what's better than this? Anywho, I took a hiatus from both blogging and Facebook to study, so now that I'm back, I'll just put down a few words....

To start off with some GREAT news, I was accepted into the Oxford Law program in England! I am so excited! Come January, I'll be studying in England, mainly classes in international law. My friend, L, was also accepted and we've already decided to cram as much travelling as we can in those four months abroad. I've already checked flight prices and round-trip ticket prices to France and Spain start at around $230-- STEAL! Who would have ever thought that I would travel so much while in law school?

And speaking of travelling, I leave for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in just 19 days! It seems so unreal, I've been dying to go to the DR since forever. Although I've been studying Spanish for the last 8 years, I have yet to travel to a Spanish-speaking country so this is a huge milestone for me. While in the DR, I'll be interning at an insurance company in the legal department. This will be my first time working in the corporate sector so we shall see how it goes! I'm hoping that by the time I complete this internship and my fall internship that I will somewhat know what type of law I'm interested in practicing.

Once in the DR, I plan on taking in as much of the culture as possible (which, for me, mainly means food). I cannot wait to try AUTHENTIC mofongo, a fried plantain dish stuffed with various meats, and mangú, a boiled plantain dish, usually served for breakfast. The program recommends that we don't eat street food, but that's where the most authentic food comes from. (I may have to take my chances on that one but I definitely won't be drinking the local water!). Besides eating, I plan on travelling throughout the entire island. I'm hoping that we can go to Boca Chica (the beach closest to Santo Domingo) the first full weekend that we are on the island. I'm also planning on going on hiking excursions, taking bachata and merengue lessons, maybe a few cooking lessons, and most importantly, bettering my Spanish. 


That's pretty much it for now, though. I will def be blogging more often the closer it gets to my departure date, so stay tuned. <3. 

Progress for Trayvon

If you know me, you know that the Trayvon Martin case is something that I have been very passionate about since I first became of aware of this tragic situation. For almost two months, Trayvon's murderer was a free man- he hadn't been arrested and continued to live his life uninterrupted by the pain and anguish that he had inflicted upon Trayvon's family. The Special Prosecutor, Angela Corey, seemed to be taking forever to bring charges against Zimmerman, and frankly, I was losing hope that this man would ever be held accountable for his actions.

Yesterday at 6:00 PM, Corey announced in a press conference that Zimmerman would be charged with murder in the second degree! (For those that don't know, he couldn't have been charged with first-degree murder without the case being heard before a grand jury. However, that charge likely wouldn't have flown as murder in the first-degree requires that the actor have acted with the specific intent to kill- in other words, a premeditated murder). I was literally moved to tears. I couldn't help but think about what a relief that announcement must have been for Trayvon's parents, but no matter how much relief they felt, it wouldn't change the fact that they would never again have their son back. Nevertheless, an arrest was made and Zimmerman finally spent his first of (hopefully) many nights behind bars.

An arrest is definitely a step towards justice and finally a glimmer of hope in this sad situation. I can only pray that justice is served at trial so that Zimmerman will finally have to pay for his actions.

#JusticeForTrayvon

Usual Friday night...

It's a typical Friday night for me-- TV tuned to TLC mindlessly watching Say Yes to the Dress and Four Weddings, computer in lap... Well, let me not say typical, if I could I'd be out right now, but I decided to stay in. Anywho, as I haven't blogged in a little over a week, I just wanted to get a few words down.

So just last week, I decided to apply for this program at my law school and if I'm accepted, I'd be studying in Oxford, England for FOUR MONTHS! How fabulous would that be?! While I've never had a strong desire to go to England, say it with me... "Location, location, LOCATION!" I could go to  Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, etc... all for about $300 or less ROUND TRIP!!! While I know I would actually still be in school, that opportunity sounds just too good to pass up. I'm a jetsetter at heart and I love to travel. This has my name written all over it and besides, the passport could use a few more stamps. So I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying that I'm accepted. (My goal is to physically be at my law school as little as possible. Fall externship and DC 3L year... Praying on it!).

More school related news? I'm running for a position on the Executive Board of my school's Black Law Students Association Chapter. BLSA has been so good to me thus far, and I can't wait to be able to help out the chapter and the new first years coming in in the fall.

Umm... I actually don't have anything else to talk about so I'm just gonna dip now. Oh yeah, last thing-- 57 days until Santo Domingo! 

Ciao bellas.

#JusticeForTrayvon

#JusticeForTrayvon

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two weeks, you're probably aware of who Trayvon Martin is, or rather, was. But just in case this information has somehow missed you, here's a brief recap of the tragedy:

Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old Black high school student, was walking back to his father's fiance's house in a gated community in Sanford, FL after going to a nearby convenience store to buy Skittles and an iced tea. Trayvon, wearing a hoodie, caught the attention of George Zimmerman, a 28 year-old, self-appointed neighborhood watch captain who called 9-1-1 to report Trayvon as "suspicious" and proceeded to follow the boy against the emergency operator's directions. Within minutes, Trayvon was dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest, inflicted by Zimmerman. Zimmerman, who is 250 lbs, claims that he acted in self-defense and reasonably feared that Trayvon, who was a mere 140 lbs, was going to kill him. He further claims that he had a right to do so under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law. (In short, the law allows for the use of deadly force in a public space when one is in reasonable fear of bodily harm or death). This all took place on February 26, 2012... Zimmerman has yet to be arrested.

Now, to drill in the facts, let's recap again: Zimmerman. 28 years old. SELF-APPOINTED neighborhood watch captain. Acted as the aggressor against an unarmed Black child and murdered him. Hasn't been arrested. A child MURDERER. But as some people urge, this case (or rather non-case) is not a racial issue.

... A blind man could see that it is. Trayvon Martin is dead because he was Black. There, I said it... because it's the truth. Apparently, walking down the street while Black is a crime enough to warrant murder.When is the last time that you've heard of an unarmed white man being brutally beaten within an inch of his life or murdered by cops or an unstable vigilante? When is the last time that you saw a group of white men being harassed by the cops for standing in a public area while socializing? When is the last time you've heard of white men being racially profiled? I, for one, can tell you that I cannot recall because these types of things don't happen to white men. However, Black men? Prime targets. As the sister of an 18 year-old Black male, events such as what occurred in Sanford on that fateful evening hit close to home and weigh heavily on my heart. This could have easily happened to my family and we could be the ones without answers and without justice.

Earlier this week, I had a somewhat heated debate on Facebook with some law school classmates of mine who insisted that this was not a racial issue. While they agreed (for the most part) that Zimmerman should have been arrested, they didn't believe that this was a Black/white/racial issue. "How do we know that Zimmerman followed Trayvon because he was Black? How do you know that this was a racially motivated hate crime?" they said. (I guess they ignored that fact that Zimmerman could be heard referring to Trayvon as "they" and a "f***ing coon" and "suspicious" on the 9-1-1 call). And then it dawned on me. As obvious of a racially motivated hate crime as this seemed to be, people who have never experienced racial stereotyping can't seem to grasp that it actually exists nowadays. Or maybe they just choose to ignore it. My friend Lindsay gave me a great analogy for this. She said, "In my 23 years of life, I've never seen deep snow, like up to my knees, but I know it exists because I've been told and because I've seen pictures." Okay, I forget word-for-word what she said, but her message was along the lines of, they know it exists, but since they have neither seen nor experienced it, they can't actually grasp that it's real.

But sadly, it's still real. This country has come so far, yet sometimes it seems we haven't really gone anywhere. The lives of Black men, women, and children (and other minorities) receive so much less protection from the justice system as do the lives our pale-skinned, light-eyed counterparts, and it's sickening. What's even more sickening is that there are people who actually believe Zimmerman was justified in murdering Trayvon. One girl said to me, "Well look at the statistics. There are more Black men in prison than in college..." I became livid, instantly. Basically, she insinuated that because Black men are "more prone to violence and/or a life of crime" (notice the quotation marks), Zimmerman was at least partly justified in assuming that Trayvon was a suspicious person. There could be no way that a Black male actually LIVED in the gated community! The fact that people think like that and have the nerve to call themselves "educated" is beyond me.

But that would open up an entirely different can of worms and I could go on forever. I say all this to say that stereotyping gets us nowhere. To be the most powerful nation in the world, America has this huge elephant that never seems leaves to room-- race. Being Black doesn't mean that one is a criminal and being white doesn't automatically mean that one is a saint. At the end of the day, we will all have our preconceived notions, but to act on them so far that negatively impact the life of another is shameful. Further, allowing people to violently act on these stereotypes and get away without so much even as a slap on the wrist is downright appalling.

Although the Martin family can never have Trayvon back, I can only pray that justice is served so that the Martin family can finally have some sense of peace.

Take 2.

Back in July or August of last year, I decided to try my hand at blogging and blog my candid thoughts about my law school journey. But then life-- or should I say "law school"-- got in the way of that, and that goal fell by the wayside. Recently, my friend Lindsay (check her out @ http://diplomaticfashionista.blogspot.com/) decided to begin blogging and that inspired me to try this blogging thing again.

So here it is: Take 2. My plan for this blog is to to write about my life and things that happen in my life which can be conveniently divided up into three main topics-- Life, Love, and Law (see what I did there?). Kind of like an online diary, a chronicle of the journey on which life is taking me...

So sit back and enjoy the ride =)