One Month Later
It's hard to believe that I've already been in Ireland for a month! I apologize for the lack of updates, but I'll fill y'all in on what's been going on thus far.
My work for CDLP is, at once, growing more focused and more unwieldy. I've met with the director of the Centre to discuss my project a few times and each time it seems that it grows more and more expansive. I'm focusing on regional disability law initiatives in Latin America, particularly those in the Organization of American States. These initiatives include work within the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Decade of the Americas for the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, and the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (apparently they like long names).
Practically speaking, my work involves communicating with experts in the field, tons of research, and lots and lots of reading. If you thought reading case law was bad in English, try it in Spanish. It makes Cardozo seem like a walk in the park sometimes. In addition, there's a bit of a learning curve because the legal system is different than the one in the U.S. the Court uses a mix of civil and common law and individual countries in Latin America obviously have their own legal systems and judicial philosophies, so part of my work involves just informing myself on those differences.
Outside of work, I've been keeping myself busy. On Sunday, I ran in the Galway Women's Mini-Marathon with a co-worker. It's a women-only 10K through Salthill and the Claddagh, the beachside resort part of town. There were over 600 participants, which was pretty crazy. I'm definitely not a world-class athlete, but I managed to survive (and I got to go to a sauna afterward, which was definitely the best part of the day). There's always something going on in Galway on the weekends, so I've seen powerboat racing, Saturday morning markets, and a concert. Next month is supposed to be huge for Galway--there's a film festival, the arts festival, and the Galway races.
I'll update again as more exciting things happen.