Day in Court

I spent the day in family court today with the Courtroom Advocates Project (CAP). CAP is a project in the NYC area that allows law students work together with attorneys to help battered men and women prepare their petitions for protective orders. 

I've been signed up to attend for a while, so when today arrived, I was somewhat nervous but mostly excited. The law students worked in pairs, and each pair was assigned to help someone prepare their petition. I kept looking around, expecting someone to see me and say, "Hey! You aren't qualified to be here! Who do you think you are?!?"

As I listened to the woman we were advocating for, I was so impressed with her courage. She has lived in an abusive relationship for many years, but finally decided that it wasn't good for her daughters to see her relationship as an example, so she began the process of getting the law involved to radically change their lives. We spent most of the day with her, helping her prepare her petition, helping her to make a safety plan for moving forward, then helping her prepare to see the judge, and then appearing before the judge by her side to get her protective order. Afterward, as she waited for her paperwork, I explained once more how she will proceed from here. We'll be in touch for the next few weeks as the details get sorted out, but most of the work will have to be done on her end, and some of it is kind of complex but crucial paperwork. She thanked me for making it all seem more simple. She said it was so complicated, and that she was glad to have someone to make it make more sense for her. I smiled, and thanked her for letting me have the opportunity to work with her today. 

She grabbed my hand, and said,

"You're going to be a wonderful attorney."

I hope she's right.

Cold Calling

When you're in law school, your teachers call on you. When you haven't raised your hand to volunteer.

A lot.

Depending on the teacher, you can end up answering questions for an extended period of time - sometimes, the teacher asks you questions for an entire class period. It's all part of the Socratic method, and although the merits of the method are debated, it's heavily utilized in basically every law school.

Most students prepare for this by doing the assigned reading carefully. However, each class has a substantial amount of reading for each class period, and since you have more than one class, each case sort of blurs into the others. Then, the teacher might ask questions that have nothing to do with the case, asking you to try to extend the rule that you've learned in the case to other situations. Of course, they do this to show, by your incorrect answers, the limitations of the rule, or at least your understanding of the rule.

It's exhausting, it's stressful, but it's an inevitable part of law school.

Another inevitable part is that, at least once, everyone will say something wrong, stupid, or downright weird when being cold called.

When you're the one saying something stupid, it feels terrible. When it's someone else saying the awkward thing, it just helps to keep the class interesting.

This week, someone (not me, thankfully) got called on in one of my classes had one of those unfortunate incidents. After some discussion about the person who was bringing the lawsuit (the plaintiff), the exchange went like this:

Professor: So who is Mwani [the plaintiff] suing here?
Student (while scrambling through notes): Uh, well, he's suing bin Ladin, and, um...(pause)...I forget the other guy's name...
Professor: Afghanistan.
Student: Oh, yeah, Afghanistan.

It's usually a good bet that the defendant is a person, but every now and then, when it's a country, you can have a really awkward moment.

Fortunately, that professor is fabulous, and she just moved right along. We do have some other professors who will really tell you if they think your answer is wrong or stupid (sometimes in those words). I try to avoid eye contact in those classes...

I've Got Mail!

I got two care packages from home yesterday. I LOVE getting mail, so it was like Christmas. One package was some mail and little newsletters that my parents forward to me.

The other was full of things I requested from home, either because I can't find them here, or they are too expensive here. My mom also threw in a couple of little treats.

In my care package:
Popcorn salt
Maple flavoring
Pumpkin pie spice
A USB drive
Fruit Fresh
Strawberry mentos

I know it probably seems like an odd collection of things, but I was so happy to get them all.

I'm a simple woman.

USB Keys

I have approximately 1,476,409 USB drives. I have big ones, small ones, old ones, new ones, cute ones, ugly ones, and basically anything you can think of. They used to be expensive, but now they seem to fall out of a cereal box when you open it.

When I found out that I needed one for exams at school, I didn't worry too much about it. I have so many. You have to have one for the exam, and then the school collects it for a few days, after which you can get it back, so it needs to be one that you're comfortable parting with for a short time.

When it came time to find one in my apartment, that was a bit tricker. After much searching, I managed to find just one.

Unfortunately, it was given to me by another law school that I ended up choosing not to attend, and it has that school's logo on both sides.

Awkward.

What Law School is Like

Some of you have wondered about what my day-to-day life is like.

I don't really have time to go into it all right now. I am really, really busy this week with lots of research for a paper I have to write. Legal research is not quite the same as regular research, and at this point in my legal studies, it all has to be done in the library at the school. Then, when I'm not at the library, I'm reading for classes, working on the paper some more, etc. No matter the venue, I'm working on school.

Anyway, here's a quick video that pretty much sums up my life at this point. Hope it'll tide you over until I have time to type up something longer about what my life is like these days.

(video no longer available online...sorry!)

Whiners

So, in the effort to make my blog more pleasing to the eye, I've been playing around with a few simple templates to spice things up. Since you all know me, you'll know I'm a pretty conservative decorator, and since this is as close to decorating as one should reasonably expect me to be, we can assume that there won't be any big changes to the blog.

I've tried a few different options, and they've all been met with resounding dislike. I have many requests for the old bacon back.

Sadly, I cannot figure out how to get the old bacon back. It's a template that's not there anymore, I guess...sorry. You'll have to settle for this for now. I don't have time for a lot of research.

Slowly Going Mad

Gee, shouldn't you be sleeping? (This is what you're all thinking, as I'm sure you notice the time stamps on my posts).

Yes, yes my friends. I should be sleeping.

However, I have one particularly noisy neighbor who plays really loud music on the weekends and is really giving me a run for my money tonight. And to add insult to injury, someone else has cranked up their own loud music. Different song, of course...would be too simple for them to just use the song we can ALL HEAR FROM THE OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

And really, REALLY, must you sing along??? If I can hear you singing along with my windows closed, you're singing too loud!! And off-key, but that's not the point.

ARGH! Angry bacon blog!!!

I am not one to yell. I'm not one to get into confrontations with anyone.

But seriously,

SHUT UP ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

True or False in NYC: Sports

True or False: New Yorkers are VERY passionate about their sports teams. You should steer clear of making negative remarks about any professional sports team from the city, as you never know which ones the people you are with support.

True. Oh, so true.

The only sports team in NYC that you can feel secure in making jokes about is the Knicks. Man, the Knicks are bad. Everyone knows it. Bad, bad, bad. Lots of people bought season tickets for this season of the Knicks in hopes that LeBron James was going to come play here, and that the tickets would then be worth a nice chunk of money in the resale market.

Negative. It still cracks me up that they thought he would come play here, for the KNICKS, but whatever.

Other than the Knicks, you can't make a remark about any other team. Joke about the Yankees? Heaven help you. Think it would be safer to joke about the Mets? Probably not. You never know who you are with.

It's not even safe to make disparaging jokes about other teams in the general area. I live very, very near an establishment that caters to those who support/worship the Boston teams, so no Red Sox jokes here. Or only very, very quiet ones.

New Yorkers are all very loyal to their specific sports teams, but not the other ones. Mets fans hate the Yankees, Giants fans hate the Jets, etc.

And everyone hates the Knicks.

True or False in NYC: People

This post is the beginning in a semi-regular series I'm calling "True or False in NYC." There are lots of things that people think about NYC, from stories they've heard, to what they've seen in movies or on TV. When I get a moment or think of one of these things, I'll address them here. If you have something that you want to know if is true or false, pass it along, and I'll give you my take.

Today's common assumption: The people in NYC are not very nice. They're not friendly, they only care about themselves, and if something bad happened to you, they would turn the other way and ignore you. They are very self centered and just don't care about anything else.

This one is FALSE.

The people in New York City are some of the kindest people in the world. I am consistently surprised and impressed by them, and I'm actually from somewhere where they people are considered to be quite kind.

Not a day goes by that I don't see at least one person jump up from their seat on the subway to offer it to a family, an elderly person, a woman, someone who looks tired, or basically anyone. It's amazing.

Once, on the subway, my beautiful, fancy water bottle fell out of my backpack and I didn't notice. Losing it would've ruined not just that day, but SEVERAL days. It was a special gift from a dear soul who sacrificed so that I could have the exact water bottle I wanted, and I just love it. Anyway, I had no idea that it had fallen out, but someone else on the subway saw it happen. They came over to me to tell me that my bottle had fallen out of my backpack. I thanked them and picked it up, relieved that it wasn't lost forever. Then, someone else let me know that a pocket on my backpack was unzipped. So kind!

There are often homeless people on the subway who are begging for money. I never carry cash (still not a good New Yorker, sadly), but I never see those people come onto a subway car without seeing several people give them money. And it's not just change. Several dollars, sometimes. It's always incredibly impressive.

The people here aren't necessarily friendly in an outgoing sort of way, but that's largely just because there are so many people here. You can't possibly say hello to everyone you pass on the street--you'd be exhausted! But when you do engage with people, they are largely so kind and warm. People are always looking out for each other. There is no question in my mind that if something bad were to happen to me on my walk to or from school, more than one person would rush to help me.

That's just how New Yorkers are.

Priorities

Sometimes, I forget why I came to law school.

Today, in the email that runs through a list of events that are coming up at the school, there was a blurb about an upcoming panel discussion. The panel is on a topic of great interest to me, and one of the professors participating in the panel is one of the people who influenced my decision to attend Cardozo whose work I greatly admire. Great topic, brilliant panel of brilliant people, and a hot buffet lunch. Sounds like a great use of an hour that day.

Then, I remembered that the same day, at the same time, the Student Services office will be giving out free pumpkin pie, apple pie, and hot cider on a different floor of the building.

I spent a long time today thinking about what a difficult decision this was: which to attend, which to attend.

Oh yeah. Wait. I remember. I didn't come to law school for free pie.

Still...

Ten

In honor of the date today being 10/10/10, I thought I'd share ten things I love about New York City. These aren't necessarily my top ten favorite things about New York, but just the ten things that are tickling me today.

1. Central Park
2. Food carts on the street - you can buy basically any food you want for very little money while you're just walking around the city
3. Rain
4. Walking or riding the subway to get basically anywhere
5. Cute temple right in the city
6. Listening to New York couples disagree with each other (too hard to describe, but it's hilarious)
7. Bagels
8. The Chrysler Building
9. Pizza places on every street - there's even an Argentine Pizzeria near my house
10. Plants - everything here just grows on its own. Trees, grass, you name it, we've got it!

The Price is Wrong

Thing you don't know about living in Manhattan:

After you've lived in Manhattan for even six weeks, you'll no longer be able to successfully play along at home with The Price is Right.

I no longer have a good sense for the price of groceries.

I didn't watch for too long, because it starts to get depressing when you realize that you overpay for basically everything.

Fortunately, then I went to Costco, where the prices are just like they are in Utah. I bought a gallon of milk and then hauled it to the bus stop to get it back home. I must have passed at least ten different, closer grocery stores on my way to and from, but I only paid $2.39, and I couldn't have been happier about it.

Me and My Shadow

When you live alone and spend lots of time alone in a city where you know basically no one, you tend to talk to yourself. Don't judge me--I'm an excellent conversationalist, after all.

Anyway, I just had the funniest little conversation with myself in my head. I thought I'd replicate it here for you. We'll call the sides of the conversation "L1" and "L2."

L1: Holy cow! I can't believe how much it has rained. And it's supposed to rain at least another inch tomorrow! It's craziness!
L2 (clearly, the more calm part of my internal conversations): Yep, it's soggy out there.
L1: But just think about it! There are puddles EVERYWHERE! Water is racing down my street. And another inch tomorrow? Where will it all go??
L2: (silently humiliated by other half)
L1: Oh yeah! The ocean, that's where it'll go. What's at the end of the street? The East River. It'll all just run into that. Huh. Guess it's not a big deal, then. But still, WOW!

Fortunately, I had this conversation silently, so no one around me at school got to witness that brilliant moment. I can't help it if I forget that I'm next to the ocean, and that I forget that there's not additional rain flooding down toward me from mountains above. I've got YEARS of training in that, and only moments of being a near-ocean dweller.

And for what it's worth, we don't need to worry about too much flooding here: I brought most of the water inside with me in my shoes.

Dear iPhone

Dearest iPhone,

It's not often that one piece of technology enables a person to lead a simpler, more beautiful life.

iPhone, you are that piece of technology. Without you, I'd be hopelessly lost a significantly larger portion of the time than I already am. Your dedication, reliability, and map skills are truly inspiring.

Yesterday, I doubted you. I really did. My overconfidence, coupled with subway construction and stop modifications, led me to believe that you were mistaken. I didn't judge you for it; I felt pity that you were being thwarted by the tall buildings around us.

How wrong I was, iPhone. I should have trusted you.

No longer will I disbelieve when you identify our current location.

Even when you think we're in a different borough than I think we are.

Sigh.

I'll get this NYC thing figured out eventually. Until then, I'll keep you close by, dearest iPhone.

Love,

Liz

Navigation

I was attending a Young Single Adult conference for church last weekend. It took place at the Lincoln Center chapel, which also has the Manhattan Temple in it. Sadly for me, the Lincoln Center chapel is on the Upper West Side, and I live on the Upper EAST Side, so I had to do a bit of mapping with some cross-town buses to find my way over there.

Once I arrived, I started walking in what I thought was the direction of the temple. (It wasn't. Most important lesson of New York--everything looks the same.)

It turned out that I had the address wrong, so although I was walking in what would've been the right direction if that had been the correct address, I was instantly hopelessly lost. I got out my trusty iPhone (a must-have for a girl moving to the big city) and found that the dot for the location of the temple was basically next to where I was standing. Baffled, I looked around for a minute.

Then I looked up.

Angel Moroni. Such a handy navigational tool...if only I had remembered to look up a bit sooner!

Note: You're not all off the hook. I don't want to punish those who have complied with my demands, but some of you had better GET ON THE BALL! 

This Week - A Notice

You all might be wondering how things are going here. How was my week? Was I anywhere near yesterday's freak storm and tornado? Am I enjoying the celebration of the Jewish holidays?

Ah, the stories I could tell. The anecdotes I could share. I even have some funny pictures from around the city.

But I'm holding them hostage. None of the rest of you are updating your blogs. Some of you have gone a couple of weeks, while others haven't blogged in a couple of years.

Some of you protest that there's not much interesting going on in your lives. I beg to differ, and as I am now far away from basically all of you, even those who are sort of local, I appreciate updates even if they aren't particularly witty or whatever it is that you're waiting for. If you have children, post pictures and charming stories! If you are working, share a funny tidbit about a conversation with a coworker. If you are pregnant, post some delightful morning-sickness sagas.

This is where I draw the line. It's a two-way street, people. I'm happy to share my world with you, but some of you, dear readers, need to step up your respective games and POST already!!!

Manipulative? Absolutely.

Do I care? Nope.

Edit: Somebody's Mother wanted me to clarify that I am safe and sound after NYC's freak storm yesterday.

Holiday Update

I cannot count the number of times over the past week that I've seen "Happy Holidays" signs in stores or been wished happy holidays by people.

What? You're not all enjoying your holiday break? Bwa ha ha ha...I am!! It's Rosh Hashanah, so I've been off of school for a couple of days. It's also the end of Ramadan, and maybe some other holidays that I don't know about. I'm learning, though.

When people at school asked me what my holiday plans were, I told them that I was going to go to Costco. 

I still haven't gone.

What have I done? Some homework, lots and lots of sleeping, lots of lounging around, and cooking 157 meatballs for the freezer. I also took some wonderful walks in Central Park.

Many of you have requested pictures of my apartment. While I don't have those for you yet, here are a couple of pictures I took with my iPhone while I was out walking.

Hope you're all having a lovely holiday weekend!

Looking downtown across the reservoir

Standing at the Castle looking northeast across Turtle Pond

Please

Dear Locker Thieves:

Thank you so much for not breaking into my locker this past week. Although I don't keep too much in my locker, I'd sure miss my textbooks. And my floss.

Please continue to not steal my books. I tend to write Tolstoy-esque novels in the margins, so the resale value would be pretty low.

Kind regards,

Penniless Liz

On Honking

I live on a no-honking street. Completely true. There are signs all over it. Fine: $350. Of course, you can honk if there's a legitimate emergency. Some people have pretty loose standards for that, but all in all, there's not nearly as much honking on my street as there is on some others.

I'd really like to see them levy that fine on someone, though. I'm just curious about how that all would go down.

*********************
I got honked at the other day when I was crossing the street by a taxi. It was sitting at a red light. I was crossing on a green walk signal. Right hand turns on red are illegal in the city, so I'm not sure what his issue was. People flip each other off here on a pretty regular basis, but I'm not the angry type. I do, however, have a particularly expressive face, and I can only imagine the total bewilderment that I must've displayed at that moment.

Days later, I still have no idea why the taxi honked at me.

*********************

I've often discussed with my mother how babies crying in church seem to feed off of each other. Remove the right baby, and the room calms down. Get the wrong baby in there, and you can suddenly have chaos.

Honking in New York is just like that. Lots of the time, no one is honking. We're all just going about our day, minding our own business, and basically ignoring each other the best we can. Then, someone honks.

Instantly, someone else honks.

A honking war ensues. Every car in the vicinity instantly involves itself.

They honk differently here in NYC than they do back in the good ol' UT. One quick honk is never sufficient. Apparently, there is some statute or something that specifies the minimum number of honks required and a minimum duration for at least one of the honks.

But as quickly as it started, it's silent again. It's all very odd. I have a suspicion that there's just one really honky car driving around, stirring up all of the other cars, and that the crazy loud honk-fests are just occurring wherever this car is.

Obviously, this car is a taxi.

Bob, et al.

One of my professors is a bit eccentric. He also seems to have a real problem being wrong. I keep a pretty low profile in that class... To protect the innocent, I won't be identifying which professors/classes I'm talking about when it's something like this, but it is super funny and I wanted to share it with all of you.

From our class today:

Professor: Baby steps, baby steps...you know, like Bob? What's that movie, "Where's Bob?"
Entire Class (in unison): "What About Bob?"
Professor: I don't care.

Also, today in this class, the professor threw an apple at a student. Really, he was throwing it to a student, but it is a big room and his aim wasn't great, and he almost hit another student in the head.

It was a pretty big apple.

In addition to laying low in the class, I'm also thinking that I should've picked a seat that was way out of the line of fire. He didn't come near me this time, but he has talked about how a guy right behind me deserves an apple. Until today, we didn't really know what that meant.

It was a simpler time.