Week Five
My work week started off with a continuation of my Mongolia research, as I dug further into the research process to determine the how many women serve in their judiciary. After wrapping this up, I prioritized my role in NCSC's proposal regarding environmental crime in Latin America. One of the most fascinating things I learned during this research is that there exists a market in East Asian for a rare beetle species in Bolivia, that are sold for the purpose of beetle fighting matches. When I was investigating crimes related to deforestation in Latin America, I became aware of the fact that timber itself has a large black market, and that deforestation is not just a result of clearing lands for better known illicit activity (drug trafficking, mining, etc.) On Thursday, our boss returned from his two week Italy trip and we were all so happy to have him back. We spent a good two hours on Thursday meeting as a group to discuss our progress and potential ideas for a collaborative final project.
Outside of work this week, I attended quite a few events around the city. On Tuesday I attended a concert at the historic DC punk venue "The Black Cat" and on Wednesday I went to bingo with a friend from law school and a friend from my undergraduate institution, Eckerd College. By Friday, DC had hit 99 degrees Fahrenheit and a heat advisory was issued for the whole weekend. The heat did not let up but I did not let it hold me back from attending events for the Summer Solstice at the Smithsonian. I visited the Hirshhorn, Natural HIstory Museum, and then attended a DJ set at the Arts and Industries building. It was a long, hot, and crowded evening on the National Mall, but well worth it. On Sunday I did a day trip to Baltimore to see the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, where I was able to ride in a (working) streetcar that was built in the 1890s!
