Traffic People

I forge my own path every day. Literally. I commute from the core of "The City" which is the true original city of London and the financial hub into the heart of the city at large in its center, and the area of law firms clustered around the courts and chambers of law. Of course, I make this commute at the busiest times of the day: 8 am and 6 pm. It's like playing frogger, and God forbid I decide to text or look down to change the song on my phone and I've been run into or I have run into someone else. Remarkably though, traffic of people, completely unprotected by the metal of a car, isn't that much different than Atlanta or LA traffic. Everyone sticks to their own bubble and there are certain public transportation rules that everyone observes. Obey the unspoken code, or receive stares and glares galore.

Just like there are rules of the road, the rules of the riders for Transport for London have a code of conduct. 
Escalators: walkers walk on the left side, standers stand on the right. This is taken seriously and you will be run over or pushed if you're doing the wrong action in the wrong 'lane'. Switching lanes is also dangerous and must be done swiftly.

You cannot hug a pole or handrail, you can merely hold onto it. Hugging, or leaning your whole body against such a place for others to put their hands makes everyone sway unsteadily and causes social strife. 

There are no consequences for jay walking. 


No talking. Well, you can talk, of course, but no one else is. And whoever is, is a tourist. This rule is taken less seriously on the overground or bus where there is service but it's still widely observed. 

Speaking of tourists, every pedestrian cross walk has 'LOOK LEFT' or 'LOOK RIGHT' instructions so that pedestrians know which direction to check before they cross the road. I love this because I do actually use it a lot. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when they decided to paint these instructions on every corner and crosswalk in this massive city. The staffer to the Mayor, "Sir, for the last calendar year, we've had 11,567 accidents on crosswalks where the injured reported that they didn't understand which directions the cars were coming." "Bloody hell, do we need to put instructions to all the tourists on every corner?!!" Yes, apparently so. (If you don't get this joke, you're forgetting that they drive on the wrong side of the road in this country)

On the note of crossing the street, this is a good place to mention that no matter how confused you are on which direction to look... If you wait for the light to completely change and don't start darting across the road in between cars, you're a tourist. 

Food and drink rules are interesting. Drinks are forbidden on the buses to the point where a bus driver will not let you on the bus if you have one in your hand. Drinks are cool on the tube, but food is not. You are welcome to bring it of course, but no one eats on the tube. Especially if you have something like chips, I mean, crisps, and you're just there crunching away, you'll catch all the stares of that entire cart. 

To finish this post about rules of the London commute, I will say, if you ever happen to drop your phone on the tube tracks, its best not to panic. It's NO BIG DEAL. You'll just use the emergency button/"help pointe" to call a member of staff. They will determine, depending on where your phone has landed on the tracks if they will be allowed to retrieve it. Then, they will stop the tube cart completely, make the driver get out of the cart, and then other members of staff will use this little stick thingy to retrieve your phone from the track. If the stick thingy doesn't work, they will do the entire charade over again and use the same stick thing a second time. I wouldn't know or anything.... ;)

A Check off the Bucket List: Iceland

Iceland was AMAZING.

I won't ruin the pictures by overcrowding them with too many words, but while I know I have your attention, hear me clearly --- you must find a way to go. Iceland was like a sixth grade science project in real life. When we first arrived, it was snowing sideways. We met our driver who told us on the way into Reykjavik (the capital) that "In Iceland, the earth is alive." And it is so true. The land is made of dried lava, there are glaciers and volcanoes, geysers and waterfalls, mountains and valleys, seas and lakes, rivers and cliffs. Natural hot springs and the Northern Lights were clearly two of the best highlights.

Our trip was the perfect mix of relaxation, laying around, yet adventure-filled and abounding with incredible sights. It was rejuvenating and powerful to experience nature in this incredible country.

We saw TWO NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD in the same twelve hour period. I mean, what a place!

Enjoy the photos... and find a way to go!

^This is the famous Blue Lagoon where we bathed in the natural hot spring

Bery Beary

After two heavy posts, here are just a few photos from Alaska- August 2014

The first pink I've ever caught! 

Red Salmon - beautiful! 

Barbara in her Haz-Mat suit

Running Wild

Beloved readers, a catch-up post is much overdue. As I never seriously intend to blog frequently while state-side, I recognize that living in California I am separated from many of whom I love the most, so I should be more serious about updating this page regularly.

What has happened since I left London?
I finished the semester, and headed back to Atlanta. Hang on for this whirlwind:
Saturday - London to Atlanta, Sunday- drive to Alabama, pick up Grey, drive back (almost 10 hours in the car), Monday - fly ATL to LAX followed by a surprise party with all my friends thrown by my sweet boyfriend. By Friday, I had signed a lease on a new place to live. We spent Christmas in Orange County on the beach and then I moved into my new place the next day.

It took a bit to get it all set up, and there is still a project or two left to complete, but overall I love living here. Since I have a job in downtown this summer, I needed to live somewhere half way between the city and school. I live on the edge of Santa Monica, where two streets over its technically LA. It's got a lot of character. In addition to my art, the art I've collected from travels, tons of pictures and furniture from our Atlanta house, its got Spanish tile throughout and new appliances and cabinetry. Anyways, it feels like home.

Over the holidays, I had several friends get engaged - including two of my closest friends so I am absolutely thrilled for them! One of my best friends in law school with me is pregnant, and another couple that I love just had a baby. It's a really fun time to be supporting them.

This semester, I am taking several classes and also doing a program where I am working with clients who are applying for Asylum in the US because they have been persecuted or have a fear of persecution if they are forced to return to their country. It takes up a lot of time, but is incredible work. The first few weeks, we worked with one family on their case and it was granted! Lots of stress, hard work- totally paid off! It's great to know we helped make a huge difference in their lives, and they no longer have to fear for their lives. Now, we are working on another case and preparing for a trial that will be held in March.

For Christmas, my beau surprised me with concert tickets for the next five months. Our January concert was a band from Nashville called Moon Taxi that put on a great show. Our February concert is Greg Laswell, a very chill singer-songwriter. We go tomorrow, so I am excited! Dad and I also had a particularly wonderful opportunity to go VIP to the Eagles, which was incredible.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. I haven't had any revelations yet as an old and wise 25 year old, but you'll be the first to be informed of one.  My actual birthday was spent working all day, and I was in a trial courtroom for trail practice and preparation until 9:30.

But the night before, Brian had taken me on a wonderful sushi dinner right on the ocean in Malibu. Then, the day after my birthday, we headed to a favorite wine-bar for "Wine Wednesdays." Then on Sunday, about twenty of my friends braved the cold California weather (it was 60 degrees) to hang out at a winery in the Malibu mountains. The drive up there weaved through the canyon, looking down on the ocean and was really beautiful. On our way back, the stunning Pacific was in our right lane. We had a huge picnic, lots of great food and company and tried a few different very creative wines like Orange Muscat and Pinot Noir Rose.

The spring semester is off to a great start, and there's a lot more excitement to come!

"Oh, I'm asking why can't we live tonight? 

We are running out of time. 

Just for now, we could come undone with the rising sun. 

Oh, oh, running wild. 

So, drink it in." 

-Moon Taxi, Running Wild 

40 sleeping law students

The European Union and how learning comes into play amongst these many adventures

I know you're probably wondering if I ever study. The answer is yes. As I've said in earlier posts, law school has not slowed down in any way. One of the largest attractions to this program in London is the two school trips that are offered. The first is of the European Union - to the European Parliament in Brussels and to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. 

Since taking a course on international organizations in undergrad, I've been fascinated by international cooperation and conflict. What makes states decide to work together, and what makes them fight tooth and nail for centuries on end? From a political science perspective, from a historian's perspective and from a legal perspective, there are dramatically different answers to these questions. In the case of the EU, cooperation is mostly economic. It was incredible to see at the European Court of Justice a case tried over an issue that was decided decades ago in the United States. In many ways, European Union law is just a much much more complex version of our federal law. This semester I am taking a course called European Union law, so it was interesting to visit these places  as a way of bringing words in a textbook to life. Although these institutions are open to the public, we had special treatment by getting speakers and guided tours. 

See if you can guess what all these ingredients lead to.  Take 40 law school students to a beer capital of the world, then drag those 40 hungover students to a court room at 8 am, toss 'em  in the room with little headsets to translate from German that is not simultaneously translated into English for the first 30 minutes and what do you have?? 40 sleeping law students? You guessed it. We didn't exactly represent our University in the finest light that day, but it wasn't entirely due to apathy. 

Luxembourg, country number 28 for me and for London, country number30

having a chocolate covered strawberry in front of the original Godiva. DELICIMOSO.

Navigating the chaos of tarmacs and baggage claim

Its been ages since I've had one spare second to write a post. I am finally back into the swing of law school and actually feel like I am a student again. The first weeks here were whirlwinds and it was all I could do to get myself out of bed and to where I was supposed to be, managing to read about 50% of what was expected from me. But get prepared for a series of great posts!

I went to Copenhagen with five fellow law students at Pepperdine who are also spending the semester in London. There was a spectrum of travel experience, ranging from one friend who has been to over 30 countries to one friend who landed in country #3 upon our arrival in Denmark. I can never appropriately reiterate how blessed I've been not only to travel as much as I have, and that most of that travel has been throughout Europe. Copenhagen has been somewhere I really wanted to go for quite some time and it did not disappoint. 

The highlights of the weekend were a canal tour through the city and endless wandering on accident because many canals left us at dead ends. 

In an outpouring of God's goodness, my boyfriend was offered a job in London next summer and they flew him out here for the weekend. We had a chance to do a few touristy things I hadn't done since I was in London a year ago. As he poetically point it, we took "a mile wide instead of an inch deep" approach, but had a lovely stroll from the Tower of London all the way past Parliament and Big Ben. It was wonderful to have him here and this whole long distance thing is old. Although it is not the end of our long distance chapters, as I have already accepted a job for next summer in Los Angeles and he accepted the offer to work here in London. The phrase "when you plan, God laughs" has never been more poignant. I'm so proud of him and thrilled for his incredible opportunity. 

Brian spoiled me by taking me to a sushi restaurant on the 38th floor of a building in the city center for our 1 year anniversary dinner. 

My schedule has never been crazier. Law school is no joke, and I am still expected to read about 100 pages of cases (tough reading) per day, plus working for a law firm, plus juggling any other responsibilities and expectations. Then I am traveling every three or four days to some places I've already been, and new lands I haven't yet seen. I get that not everyone would choose this lifestyle - the jetsetting, navigating the chaos of tarmacs and baggage claim. But I have no post code envy,  I love what I am doing, I love where I am at and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's likely that I will hit fifteen countries this year alone. I'm amazed at what I am learning, and its my sincere intention of carving out more time to tell you about it. 

As always, thanks for reading. 

off the beaten path

In celebration to me traveling to country number twenty-seven (yes, indeed #27) and the buzz in the air of travel plans for the semester... I thought I would upload a few of my favorite places I've been in Europe. Of course, Madrid, Paris, Rome are all amazing. But some of my favorite memories on this continent are in the nooks and crannies of these countries, down little roads that we found on accident. 

Maastricht, The Netherlands (2012)

Oxford, England (2012)

Ronda, Spain (2010)

Essen, Germany (2011)

Ghent, Belgium (2011)

Lagos, Portugal (2010)

Chefchaouen, Morocco (2010)

Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangu, Germany (2009)

Sienna, Italy (2008)

Porto, Portugal (2011)

St. Jean-de-Luz, France (2012)

San Sebastian, Spain (2012)

I guess I'll know when I get there

Well it's been a full year since I began law school. And oh my what a FULL year it has been. Law school is notorious for throwing you in the deep end and making you learn how to swim. That's a good analogy, but the one I prefer is making you hike up a never ending Mt Everest in a bikini blind (not blindfolded, but actually physically blind). 

It's odd to be sitting in a classroom again, reminded of how little I know and how much I still have ahead of me to learn. This semester I am taking some international law courses that Im really excited about. Last week alone, I was assigned over 200 pages of reading. This isn't exactly study abroad undergrad style, it's still the brutalities that law school has to offer except now the temptations to do anything except law school are 5 times stronger. 

I landed Tuesday morning in London and headed straight to class. It was surreal sitting in that room taking notes. My mental sloth is evident in the abnormal amount of motivation it takes to get through one page of dense textbook reading. It's nothing like devouring a John Grisham in just a few hours. 

In addition to trying to get back into the swing of school, I am starting to get settled in this great international city. Reverse culture shock has hit me pretty hard. It's so strange to see women with painted nails, be surrounded by English speakers that I can understand, read all the street signs and billboards with ease, walk up to anyone and ask a question expecting to be understood, availability of Internet at my fingertips.  The public displays of affection and the liveliness of the Brits chattering away on the tube have also jolted me quite a bit. It feels like living in London can hardly be classified as living abroad. Not to discount the differences between American and British culture, but I can walk into a grocery store and get bagels and Philadelphia lite cream cheese or a dozen Krispy Kreme. 

Then again, compared to East Africa, life almost anywhere else would be easier or at least more Western. I took the weekend to be selfish. I needed to catch up on sleep and spend some time in solitude just reeling from my weeks in Rwanda. In Tom Petty's Learning to Fly he says that "Coming down is the hardest thing." He also sings about a journey that started out on a dirty road, all alone. Then for the end of the journey, he ends the song with "I guess I'll know when I get there." 

I have secured housing, learned how to successfully text on my new phone, navigated around with delightful ease, survived my second week of law school and booked my next flight to new lands not yet explored. This week, I move into my apartment, attempt to get caught up on school and hopefully get to re-explore the city a bit. I will be here until the end of December and travel plans are whirling in my mind. Greatness lies ahead. 

Ladies and gentlemen, beloved readers, welcome to London where this journey continues on. 

a wild time

These photos speak for themselves. We saw over one million wildebeest, lions, lions mating, elephants, baby elephants, giraffes, thousands of zebras, hundreds of warthogs, cheetahs, vultures, crocodiles, hippos- if its in the Lion King, we saw it. We hung out with it over the weekend.

Some moments in your life pass by slowly and you think, "it's never going to get any sweeter than this." This was one of those moments. A truly once-in-a-lifetime, all the cheesy phrases you can think of - that is a safari in Africa during the Great Migration. It was beyond spectacular.

the wildebeests fording the river for their life

hyena pup

tanzania/kenya serengeti/masai mara border

Check them all out here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200648457430135.1073741835.1121340352&type=1&l=544e993826