Brief Update

Beautiful summer fields in Michigan

Just like the past several weeks, this week is no different with more and more intense studying and catching up with more studying on the bar exam.  But just a brief update with that and other things happening in the world.  My goal with these bar exam updates is to start with something positive, acknowledge a bit of stress (because this is real life), and then end on a positive note.  

First, the good stuff happening.  Although I am not able to enjoy as much of the summer right now as I would like, I have been able to take advantage of some nice things.  A walk yesterday evening revealed that beautiful shot above of the rolling summery fields and a bright blue sky.  It's pretty peaceful.  In a related nature note, I also helped a turtle cross the road the other day.

I have also been exploring new study spots in the city because I think I get too stir-crazy if studying in the same place all the time.  So, I've been able to hit up one of my favorite bookstores ever, Schuler Books, and I also made it to the Frederik Meijer Gardens to study before an intense thunderstorm.  

The Meijer Gardens has a beautiful botanical garden inside with several different rooms that always have something cool happening, whether it's the "Christmas around the World" in the winter (focusing on holiday celebrations around the world in December, and also including celebrations from other religions, despite the name) or the butterfly exhibit in the spring where the tropical gardens are filled with beautiful butterflies that will land on your outstretched fingers.  

The Meijer Gardens also has a beautiful outdoor sculpture park, with an amphitheater for some excellent outdoor summer concerts.  The Gardens is especially famous for the American Horse, a gigantic bronze statue made in 1999 by Nina Akamu modeled off of Leonardo da Vinci's horse for the Duke of Milan in the late 15th century.  There were two 24-foot horses cast in 1999, one for the Meijer Gardens and one for Milan (side note: I cannot believe that I totally forgot about the Horse in Milan!!!  I was in Milan!!!  I could have seen it!).  There are so many other cool sculptures outside though, that anything you see, including the cute children's park, is bound to impress.

Also, Iran and Bosnia play in the World Cup today for the final game for Group F.  Hopefully Iran advances!

Go Iran!

[Update: Iran lost that game 3-1, so now Iran and Bosnia are both out, and Nigeria and Argentina advance to the next round.  It's too bad that Iran lost that game, but look at how Team Melli came together and scored this sweet goal!]

In other news now, the bar exam.  Enough said.

Willy Wonka is a condescending meanie.

Normally, I try to live by this motto:

But even the amazing Leslie Knope has her moments...

But ending with POSITIVITY.

Back to positive things.  And even better, these positive things are actually related to the bar exam *gasp.*  In studying all of the federal civil procedure stuff, I remembered that this also includes the crazy, crazy process that is a deposition.  Which reminded me about some of the crazy videos of depositions that are out there.  Enjoy.

1.  Tupac's 1995 deposition.  Start at about 4:30 for this exchange:

“Do you remember what year you started receiving fan mail?”
“No, I don’t.”
“And do you also get unfavorable mail?”
“Oh yeah, like this.  I get a lot of unfavorable mail from y’all.”
“From fans?”
“No.  From y’all.  Y’all.  You guys. The lawyers, the law students.”

Then skip to the 6:30 mark for more...

“Were you trying to provoke people to do things?”
“Yes.”
“Could you tell us what?”
"Think.  Use your head."

2.  The Justin Bieber Destroying his Own Career Deposition.  Only watch this portion of the video though because possibly any longer would be detrimental to one's health and best interests.  Start at the 3:27 mark to listen to the Biebs admit, under oath, "I think that I was detrimental to my own career."  We all agree.

...But perhaps one of my all-time favorites...

3.  TEXAS STYLE DEPOSITION!  I told you I would end on a positive note.  This is ridiculous and hilarious and no matter how many times I watch this video, it is still so funny.  Enjoy the glory of the American legal system.

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Posted in: Bar Exam,Bosnia,Botanical Gardens,deposition,English,Iran,J-Mad,Meijer Gardens,Michigan,Pure Michigan,United States,World Cup

First Week in Geneva

Flower Clock in Jardin Anglais in January

Since arriving to Geneva and checking into my new residence for the next four months, I've been lucky to have done some significant exploring.  Comparing guidebooks and websites, my friends and I have been trying to fit in as much as possible before work starts so that we can have more free time to explore other parts of Switzerland and see the things we really want to see first (also, since things in Geneva apparently all close at 6:30pm).

One of the main symbols of the city is the giant Jet d'Eau, right on the shore of Lake Geneva by a little marina, splashing whoever is lucky enough to have their assigned dock right under the fountain.  According to the Geneva Tourism Office, the fountain pumps out 500 liters (132 gallons) of water per second to a height of 140 meters (460 feet) at a speed of 200 km/hour (124 mph).

St. Pierre's Cathedral by night

Another important feature in the old part of the city is St. Pierre's Cathedral, or Cathédrale Saint-Pierre (for St. Peter, in English).  It took about 100 years to build the first version of the cathedral, beginning in 1160, and at the time of the Christian Reformation in 1535, the cathedral became a place of Protestant worship.  The cathedral is located right next to John Calvin's old lecture hall and even has his chair inside the cathedral by a pulpit.  

For 5 CHF, you can climb the 157 stairs to the north spire for an amazing view of the city along Lake Geneva and the Alps.  You can also climb to the southern spire, although the views are not as great.

There are red and green lights indicating when the narrow spiral staircases are clear to go up/down, but sometimes other visitors don't follow them.  Even though we hollered that we were coming up, a giant Frenchman and his wife decided to ignore our multi-lingual holler (and the color-coded lights with four languages describing their function) and instead barreled down past me, my friend behind me, and three other people behind us, squishing all on their way.  The cathedral is also beautiful lit up at night, and there's even a wifi access point sponsored by the City of Geneva nearby.

Outside of the Basilica Notre Dame

Next to Gare Cornavin, the central train station, there is the Basilica Notre Dame (yes, same name as the one in Paris).  The outside of this church is not as impressive at St. Peter's Cathedral in the Old Town, but I thought that the inside was far more beautiful.

In exploring more of the Old Town in Geneva, we stopped for lunch at the famous Chez Ma Cousine, the best food value for your money in Geneva.  For 15 CHF, you get a delicious half of a rotisserie chicken, tons of fries, and a salad.  House wine is about 3.70 CHF per glass.  

Tasty, tasty chicken!

Geneva also has some great museums.  In the first week, I visited several: Maison Tavel, the oldest house in Geneva; the Botanical Gardens; the Reformation Museum; the Museum of Art History; and the Natural History Museum.  The Patek Philippe Museum, Red Cross Museum, Ariana Ceramics Museum, and Museum of Modern Art are also on my "Geneva Bucket List" before I leave.

The Botanical Gardens are beautiful and are actually located right behind the United Nations plaza.  Even in January, there are beautiful flowers inside and the park surrounding the greenhouses is also lovely.  In the spring time and summer, there should be roses in bloom, which will be beautiful to see.

Maison Tavel, the oldest private residence in Geneva, was also pretty great.  Like the Botanical Gardens, it was free to visit, making it even greater.  The house is named after the family who owned it from the late 1200s to the early 1500s.  The house's vaulted cellars date back from the late 1100s and are the last example of Roman cellars in Geneva that are so large.  In the Middle Ages, the cellars were used for trade and opened directly onto the street and were isolated from the residential part of the house.  Although the house was destroyed by a fire in 1334 that left only the cellars, the house was rebuilt.  Over the centuries, the house underwent numerous architectural transformations, especially during the time the house was owned by the Calandrini family from the 1600s to the early 1700s.  In 1963, the city of Geneva acquired Maison Tavel and began restoring the house.  In 1986, the house opened as a museum, and has been open to visitors ever since.

Maison Tavel

Geneva has a strong connection to the Protestant Reformation.  As reformists were leaving their countries of origin, they flocked to Geneva and continued their religious movement from the city.  John Calvin's chair sits inside St. Peter's Cathedral.  Even Maison Tavel shares connections to the Reformation.  As I wrote above, the house was owned by the Calandrini family from the 1600s to the early 1700s.  The Calandrini family was actually an Italian merchant family who converted to Protestantism and fled Italy for Geneva, where they purchased Maison Tavel.

Reformation Wall in Bastions Park
(John Calvin is 2nd from Left)

The Reformation Museum was interesting for more history on the Protestant Reformation (but I would not necessarily recommend it unless you find that period of history fascinating - it's a bit dry for me).  The museum has many manuscripts, paintings, and engravings that tell the story of the movement that partially spread from Geneva in the 1500s.  The museum itself was built in the 1700s on the former site of the cathedral cloisters where the Reformation was voted on in 1536. One interesting artifact the museum has is an old copy of a Protestant Bible that likely belonged to French Huguenots who were prohibited from having these editions of the Bible, so it was likely hidden in a space behind the fireplace.  Another interesting exhibit was the collection of caricatures and political cartoons from both Protestants and Catholics berating leaders of the other side.

Russian Orthodox Church - not a tourist destination

On our way to the Art History Museum, we were wandering around a bit and asked an older woman for directions to the museum.  She gave us good directions and then told us to go inside the Russian Orthodox Church because it was "historic" in Geneva.  While she was probably right that the Russian Orthodox Church is historic (like everything else in Geneva), it was definitely not a tourist destination and we had to pay 2 CHF to get in to realize this.  While the old lady was nice to give us good directions that eventually led us to the Art History Museum, I think she just got us to unwittingly donate money to the Church on our way...

Museum of Art History, Geneva

The Art History Museum itself was very nice (and free!).  The museum's building itself was beautiful, and it had a large collection of mostly classical styles of art.  There were a few pieces in more modern styles as well in one of the temporary exhibitions.  While the museum really had a lot of great pieces, one of my favorites that made me laugh is an artist's self portrait that looked like "the original selfie."  It also made me laugh because it reminds me of the pose that Stephen Colbert does when taking pictures with other people.

Finally, I visited the Natural History Museum (actually located very close to that Russian Orthodox Church).  The Natural History Museum was probably better for children, but if you looked closely, there were still some things to keep the adults entertained.

Sense of Humor from the Curator

The Palexpo, a huge arena where the Geneva Auto Show is held later on in the winter, also had an exhibition with replicas of the treasures from King Tut's tomb.  Even though all the things in the exhibit were replicas, they were very well done and the exhibition did a good job of giving the history leading up to Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb in 1922.  The exhibit also had a section where the main treasures were darker and then gradually illuminated, just as Carter would have seen them when first unsealing the tomb and slowly shining more light into the darkness to see what was held inside.

It's been a great first week in Geneva, and I am looking forward to exploring more of the city and Switzerland this semester!

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Posted in: 3L,Botanical Gardens,Cathedral,English,Geneva,J-Mad,Jardin Anglais,Jet d'Eau,Maison Tavel,Museum,Notre Dame,Palexpo,Red Cross,Reformation,Switzerland

April Adventures

Since the last post, April took off with a flying start and was a very busy, final month in DC. One of my friends from New York City came down to DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Luckily, there were still enough blossoms outside. We spent the weekend seeing all the different memorials and went to Tidal Basin area twice to see the blossoms. There was also a kite festival taking place on the National Mall by the Washington Monument.

On the final day that we went to Tidal Basin, we stopped by the Jefferson memorial. We happened to be there at the right time on the one not-rainy day that weekend, and there was a group setting up for a wedding. There were two guys with guitars under trees outside waiting for it to start. Because the bride and groom are not supposed to see each other that day until they are at the altar, the wedding party had set a privacy screen and a tiny plastic chair outside for the bride to stay behind until the wedding started.















On Tuesday, April 12, our Farsi conversation class decided to go to the E Street Cinema to catch one of the Iranian films playing in the Film Festival that month. We ended up seeing "Dog Sweat." It was a pretty interesting and well-made film. And definitely better than sitting in a classroom.

That Saturday, the weather was raining again, so I went to the one place that I knew was guaranteed to have good weather - the Botanical Gardens. The rooms there are very cool, especially the Jungle Exhibit. The jungle room has a tropical rain forest in it, and there is a catwalk up above so that you can walk around the perimeter of the exhibit at the canopy level and look down. From the Gardens, I went to walk around the Capitol Building and spent a bit of time in the Library of Congress. Now that I've got my nifty LOC library card, I was able to get inside the Thomas Jefferson main reading room through underground tunnels and get into the room's alcoves. It's pretty much the closest thing to a Beauty and the Beast library that I've seen in real life. I want it.

On Sunday, April 17, I met my cousin and we drove to the National Arboretum. It is so beautiful and there are very nice trails for walking, biking, and driving. There is a bonsai tree museum part that has trees from the late 1800s. There is also what looks like a temple sitting on the grassy hill. Those columns are actually from the portico of the Capitol Building that was taken down in 1958 in order to make the expansions on the building. The reflecting pool in front of the columns in the National Arboretum is made of marble taken from the old wall of the Senate wing of the Capitol Building when renovations were being made.After spending some time both walking and driving around the National Arboretum, we made our way over to Annapolis, Maryland. We crossed the 5 mile long Bay Bridge over the Chesapeake Bay to get a view of the water and then turned around and headed straight into downtown Annapolis. Our first stop was a quaint ice cream shop downtown by the marina and Naval Academy. We walked around the marina area for a little bit and found a statue of Alex Haley, author of Roots.
We then walked into the US Naval Academy (USNA) and strolled around the campus. We walked around past the really nice houses that are homes to the families of the Deans of the USNA. Past this area, the USNA has a gorgeous chapel and a huge courtyard that has a statue of the figurehead of the USS Delaware.
The USS Delaware was one of the first ships that the US Navy built. It was scuttled by Union troops during the Civil War to prevent the Confederate Army from using it. When the Union soldiers returned to the wreckage, they found that the ship's wooden figurehead had survived completely intact. The bronze cast statue of the figurehead is now a good luck symbol for students come exam time.On our way out of Annapolis, we passed St. Johns College. It was originally named King William's School, founded in 1696 in the Maryland colony, and officially chartered in 1784. It is obvious that the area surrounding this school is pretty old itself by the architectural styles of the houses and the narrow streets. We also passed the Maryland state capitol building, which apparently is pretty cool. If I get a chance to go back to Annapolis, then I will have to make sure to visit these places.

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Posted in: Annapolis,Botanical Gardens,Capitol Hill,Cherry Blossoms,English,J-Mad,Library of Congress,National Arboretum,Navy,Washington DC