don't you think the Hebrew is a bit much?

My days at work have a rhythm now. I go to the courthouse, watch court until 11, 11:30. Then I go upstairs and do some filing. I eat lunch there, or go out with my attorneys, or go across the street to eat. And then I work at the office until I leave. My workspace at the office is a desk with a partition around it low enough for a counter. The counter area, and the centralized location of my desk, and the fact that I'm right next to the printer leads a lot of people to believe that I'm a secretary. It's a little frustrating when people come up to me and ask me where an office is. I don't know. In fact, my AAGs' offices are a couple doors down. The offices I am nearest belong to the Tax Section, I think. Or something. They're definitely corporate-type lawyers. They deal with contracts. There is a woman whose office is across from my desk. Unfortunately for me, and for anyone who's ever met her, her voice is one that is such a frequency, as to raise one's hackles. And she's a Loud Talker. (Though, luckily not a Close Talker.) I surmise that she's Jewish, given her name, and how she, while speaking on her cell phone, will lapse into speaking Hebrew in the middle of the conversation. That part is actually kind of cool. I wish I were fluent enough in another language to be able to have a conversation in either language. But other than that aspect, she has a tendency to grate on my nerves.

The trip to the State Department was anti-climactic. We were herded about, and then down to the basement where we sat in an airless room in uncomfortable chairs for a half hour while we waited for our speaker. When she finally came, she spoke about terrorism and counterterrorism. I was hoping for some new insights, or a glimmer of hope that soon things would get better, and we could get rid of the Alien and Sedition Act... oh, I mean the Patriot Act. She fed us the party line. During Q & A time, one of the program students asked her about the future of our relations with Iran. He's in my Allies and Adversaries class, and we have a paper coming up in which we have to indicate in a memo-type format, a sort of risk assessment for the U.S. in 2025. As soon as he said that he was asking for a class assignment, a little State Department lackey immediately spoke up and "reminded" us all that anything that was said was to remain in house and was strictly off the record. Poor kid. He didn't have a tape recorder on him or anything, not even a pencil in his hand. These government types are so jumpy.

Speaking of government, I have come to an unsettling conclusion that I may end up working for the government. Not only that, but working for the Executive Branch, horror of horrors. I think I want to work for the Department of Justice. There's all sorts of offices in there. I can prosecute traffickers, child pornographers, federal capital cases. I'm not quite sure why the federal level appeals to me so much. Maybe I'm more in love with this city than I realize. I mean, I wouldn't mind coming back here to work a summer while I'm in law school. Or coming here to work after I graduate. Huh. Maybe I should apply to one of the schools here, just in case.

By the way, tomorrow (the 17th) is my Daddy's birthday. So, if you see him, tease him about the fact that he's 53. Happy Birthday, Daddy!