It's hot

People don't wear shorts down here. I've seen a few, but generally, not so much. Not many people wear sunglasses and sometimes sandals are looked down upon. For awhile there, I couldn't figure out why people were looking at my feet all the time (no, parents, I haven't wearing my really really crappy birks...they literally disintegrated off of my feet my first week here). My kind, gentlemanly roommate told me that it was because I have manly feet (!!!!), but I think it's actually just a more general not liking of the sandals. So sad! That's one of the best parts of summer!

I've gotten used to not paying attention to anyone when I walk down the street. It's very New England/New York of me. (Speaking of New England, and going back to the Moby interview, one of the things he said which I thought was hilarious was "I think there's something about New England that breeds some sort of contemplativeness and negative self-involvement." Hahahahahhaa!! Hence this blog...?) But when you walk down the street here the pssttinngg is constant. It's really obnoxious. I've gotten more used to it, but it still sometimes gets under my skin. This morning a guy did a more rhythmic pssting at me. Instead of the long psssstttt it was like pst psstt pst pst. Very creative, dude! Still not going to convince me that you're the man for me. Another unique one this morning was some kid grabbing his nostril and saying something I didn't understand - some sort of commentary on the nose ring, I presume. Is it time to let it go? Not just because of the kid...(Ryan is going "yes! take it out!") My first week here, I was walking around randomly and this guy pulled up and asked me if I knew where a hostel was. He was Dominican, but had lived in Chicago for a number of years, so his English was good. He asked me if I was a surfer because I had a nose ring. I love these associations people make with piercings. He then proceeded to tell me that he could take me surfing and be my tour guide and that we should exchange numbers and oh did I want a ride somewhere? Too much. (I didn't get his car, Mom. Don't worry.)

I'm in the process of redrafting a part for the first section of our best practices report on Resolution 1325. The publication will be building off of INSTRAW's "Securing Equality, Engendering Peace" report. The part I'm writing is a general piece about "Understanding Women, Peace and Security" including the legal framework and what Resolution 1325 and 1820 (on sexual violence) mean. It's a whole different style - writing a policy document versus an academic document. I have to keep shortening my sentences, taking out verbosity, not using words like verbosity, etc. I have kept in mind Professor Sommer's contradictory feedback on memo writing. Super helpful. I hadn't realized it, but it turns out there was quite the civil society movement prior to the passing of 1325, mainly through the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. I mean, makes sense - I just didn't know. How cool are transnational civil society networks?

Ok, I should get to it...