Saturday, July 16, 2011

Early Packing

Done! Done, done, and done!

Before all of you freak out at the ridiculous hour I have stayed awake until, I'd like everyone to know that I like getting things done early in the morning. As in 4 AM early. Especially when traveling. As of this moment, I am almost completely packed, with only my pajamas, toothbrush, and this computer still left to be put in a suitcase or bag for travel. I love being packed early. It means I have that much less to worry about come the morning and the subsequent chaos that ensues. I've been finished for almost an hour now, and almost went to bed without posting this blog!

Today was a good last day, although I'm very sorry it had to end. I got off to a bit of a rocky start: I'd been up until the wee hours of the morn as per usual, trying to find something, anything that I could use to justify the Patriot Act as constitutional and, well, nothing appeared. The entire Act is one blatant violation of the Bill of Rights after another. There isn't a single argument that can be made in favor of the Act that doesn't have an immediate counter-argument against.

Due to the difficulty of the case I would be arguing, I didn't really spend much time with my friends, either in the morning or at midday, which was unfortunate.

The afternoon debates were much better this time around than last time, for the entire class. We were better at forming opinions, citing precedents, and thinking quickly on our feet. Whereas before, watching the other teams' debates was quite the chore fraught with sympathetic embarrassment, today's other debates were a lot of fun to watch. My side lost the debate, though not for lack of trying: the case at hand was extremely difficult to prove on any grounds, frankly. I remarked to a classmate after the debate but before the verdict that I would be mad if the other side didn't win, but I certainly wasn't going to make it easy for them.

The afternoon was a lot of fun. I met up with some friends on the campus after the brief meeting with Mrs. L (she and the other ILCers were heading out to try and score some cheaper tickets to a good show), and we went out to a great dinner of pad thai and later cakes from magnolia before shopping for some masks for the dance tonight. That was quite a lot of fun too: much quieter and less rowdy than other school functions I'd attended back home, but definitely spirited and enjoyable too.

After the dance ended, we all slowly made our way back to the dorm halls, playing ping pong and pool for an hour before curfew, just killing time until we had to say goodbye. Then came the real challenge of the day: my room.

I cannot really convey to you the incredible state my room was in early last night. It certainly wasn't pristine, that's for certain. And I had to clean it good and proper, putting everything back where it belonged, before I could start packing my suitcases. It seemed like I'd never finish, but here I am, five hours later with happy exhaustion to show for it, with a clean room and a packed suitcase. The second I post this blog all my cables will go into my bag along with my computer, and I'll changed out of these un-slept-in pajamas into the clothes I'll wear on the plane and pack everything else away too.

Twelve hours from now I'll be in the air on my way home. I can't wait!