Week 4
You may not know this about me, but I actually grow plants for fun using a hydroponics garden. I like to grow herbs (like basil, rosemary, and chives), in addition to larger edible plants like bok choy. My current equipment was a gift from my brother last year (thanks, Myles!). Upon arriving back to Williamsburg after Winter Break, I was excited to plant jalapeño peppers; I love spicy food and hadn't yet grown peppers of my own. While I had been told they take a while to grow, I wasn't really aware of just how long that would take. Fast forward to June... Over the weekend before week 4, it was finally time to harvest the peppers. I let the other interns know I had many more peppers than I needed, and offered to bring them to work if they wanted; I was a bit surprised by everyone saying they would like some! I made a mental note to remember to bring the peppers to work later.
One of the benefits of coming back to a city where you have worked before is reconnecting with people; my former boss (and current friend and mentor) took me out for barbeque. It was also great to hear from him how things in his office are going, and what has changed since I worked there. But also, this was my first chance to sit down and talk about what I am doing this summer with someone who is already familiar with my work product.
Now, onto my work product: I had an interesting assignment of finding out how many law faculties and legal associations exist in the country of North Macedonia. The research skills I learned from my Mongolia task in week 3 was once again useful here, as Macedonian (the predominant language in North Macedonia) uses Cyrillic text. In case you are curious, there are thirteen law faculties; one bar association; one association for judges; one association for prosecutors and judges; and one young lawyers association in North Macedonia. I was asked to join (and take notes) during a meeting between NCSC staff and the Executive Director of ILSA, the organization that hosts the Jessup International Moot Court Competition; the discussion centered on increasing the participation of teams from smaller countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, and North Africa. I also had the task of updating a task order for William & Mary Law School's own Professor Franklin, who plays an important role in the NCSC's work to implement a legal research and writing course program in Moldova!
As for the peppers: on Thursday, I brought the entire Ziploc bag to the office, and I finally had the opportunity to give some of them away! Each of the interns took some, and so did our boss! Sarah (the other intern from W&M) would later use them as a garnish on sushi she made, which might be one of the most innovative ways a sliced jalepeño can be used.