Simply Serendipitous

Undeniably one of the most fun parts of the spring semester as a Hopkins senior is Senior Week.  There’s always about a week in between the last day of finals and graduation day, so seniors take this opportunity to get a little wild before we all disperse and have to behave like grown-ups.  There are a ton of different Senior Week events, but the most interesting/blog-worthy topic is the Preakness.

What, you ask, is the Preakness?  Well, it’s the second race in the Triple Crown — it’s officially known as Preakness Stakes.  (In case you’re wondering, the Kentucky Derby is the first race and the Belmont Stakes is the third).  Preakness is a tradition that Baltimoreans take very seriously –in a manner of speaking.

Preakness Infield Fest -- those big hats are actually very practical. My face didn't even get sunburned!

Although I was a delinquent senior and didn’t purchase the Senior Week ticket package, I managed to buy a ticket from a student who decided not to go to Preakness – I was unbelievably excited and immediately went hat shopping and downloaded the Preakness iPhone app.  Don’t let the big hats fool you, though, this was not your typical seersucker-wearing, mint-julep-sipping kind of event; the biggest draw for Preakness is the Infield Fest.   This year’s unofficial slogan was something along the lines of “Preakness: a ten hour party for a two-minute race.”    The inner portion of the track is gated and grassy and there are multiple stages, food vendors, and a “mug club” for those of legal drinking age.  The mascot for the Infield Fest was “Kegasus,” a centaur with long hair and a beer belly.  I hope you’re getting the picture – this really is a big outdoor party in the middle of a horse racing track.

If I haven’t sold you on it yet, I should also mention that the headlining concerts were Train and Bruno Mars.  Both were amazing performances and definitely worth the few hours in a crowded, sweaty, and shade-less standing-room-only section.  And, of course, there was the horse racing.  Sitting in the infield prevents you from getting a good view of the races, but there are those few seconds each time when they run by your corner of the track and everyone gets super-excited.  And yes, we did actually see the Preakness itself, though we had to pull out the smart phones to find out who actually won.

The actual Preakness race - as seen from the Infield. If you look closely you can see that there are actually horses there.

In case you haven’t fully grasped the Preakness experience, let me tell it another way.  The buses left around 10:00 AM for a race that was scheduled to begin at 6:18 PM, and many of my friends took cabs so they could arrive when the gates opened at 8:00 AM.  Preakness, at least for us, wasn’t about the races or the betting – it is a truly unique Baltimore experience that you can really appreciate after living in the city for nearly four years.  It’s a bit sloppy, very sweaty, and somewhat of an unpleasant picture, but it was by far one of my favorite Saturdays ever spent in Baltimore.

As you may or may not know, Baltimore is a great central location if you’re ever looking to take weekend excursions.  I’ve taken a few out-of-town trips over the last few years up along the east coast, and now that I have a car up here with me, I’ve been taking trips out to the ‘burbs more often, too.  What can you get to from Baltimore?   Well, it depends on what you’re looking for, but here are a few of my favorite excursions.

Visiting the tree at the Rockefeller Center in New York City

1. A weekend in the City:  For no more than $40 round-trip (and significantly less if you book in advance — $2 round trip, anyone?), and about four hours each way, you can get to New York City.  There are a number of great discount bus lines servicing the east coast these days, though I’m personally a fan of Bolt Bus.  With outlets and wireless, the four hours fly by.   They also have early-morning departures, so you could go up just for the day if you so chose.  Bolt Bus picks up and drops off at Penn Station (both the one in Baltimore and the one in New York), so you don’t have to worry about stepping off the bus into some random/unknown part of either city.

I’ve made the trip up there every few months this school year to visit my med school-bound boyfriend (congrats, Will!) and you could even do work on the bus – back in the fall when I was applying to law school, I wrote three application essays and my reward for the hard work was a weekend in NYC.  Perfect.

2. A day in DC:  For $8-15 each way, you can get to our nation’s capital in about an hour.  The Smithsonian museums are free and the metro makes it very easy to get around.  Wear comfortable walking shoes – trust me.   Washington has a very different feel than other cities and it’s a wonderful place to explore.  With countless great restaurants and lovely shopping options, it’s perfect for a day trip.  Of course, if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can get great deals on hotels, too.  A close friend of mine celebrated her 22^nd birthday in DC and got a hotel room to make it easier to go out and enjoy the nightlife without worrying about getting back to Baltimore in the wee hours of the morning.

At the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC

Consider planning a trip out to DC in the spring during the cherry blossom festival – the trees are absolutely gorgeous and the weather (usually) is, too.

3. White Marsh: There will come a point (if not already) when you’ll start to think it’s fun to look at furniture – especially furniture with funny names and cheap prices.  White Marsh, about 30 minutes from campus, has an Ikea.  Aside from great (cheap) furniture, you can stop in for some Swedish meatballs or $1 fat-free frozen yogurt.  When I was getting ready for my 21^st birthday, I bought champagne flutes in a six-pack for $4.50.  I guess admitting to that makes it significantly less fancy, but hey, it’s college.  White Marsh also has a decent-sized mall and a ton of outdoor shops and restaurants.  If you really want to make a day of it, you can stop by the movie theater, which is one of the best places nearby to catch a movie in IMAX.

What can I say – I was raised in suburbs and I just can’t get past their wonderful convenience of having every single store within a small radius.

4. Arundel Mills: Out near the airport is this glorious mall. If you’re a bargain-hunter or just love big, huge, suburban shopping centers, this is the place for you.  If you’re feeling a little kitschy and want to catch the Medieval Times show, you can do that, too.  If you’re missing home and want Chick-fil-a – okay maybe that’s just me – you can find one here.  There’s a Dave & Buster’s, a Lego Land, and countless stores, both standard and factory outlets.

In fact, I’m heading out that way after I finish this blog!

Okay, so I guess my short list is a little heavy on the shopping trips, but there are plenty of other places you can explore as well; Philadelphia, Annapolis, Alexandria (more shopping, admittedly), Southern Maryland (my birthplace and first hometown!), Colonial Williamsburg, Ocean City (either the one in Maryland or the one in New Jersey), the mountains, the bay, the beach – your options for weekend trips are truly great.  If you don’t have a car and want to go somewhere beyond the reach of public transportation, check out Zipcar, an affordable and easy way to rent a car as a student.

Little Italy.  Greektown.  Polish Festival, St. Nicholas Greek Folk Festival, LatinoFest, African American Heritage Festival, Caribbean Cultural Festival, International Festival, FestAfrica, PowWow Native American Festival, Ukrainian Festival, Irish Festival, Korean American Festival, Russian Festival.  Locust Point.  Seoul Plaza.

Bet you never realized that Baltimore offers such a rich cultural experience, eh?  I was surprised myself, but upon making plans to have dinner in Greektown, I decided to do a little research into Baltimore’s ethnic offerings.

Yes, the Inner Harbor has more than shops and restaurants!

Let’s start with a little history and context.  Baltimore is a port city and historically served as a landing point for many immigrants.  Okay, so we’re no Ellis Island, but Baltimore’s port served as an entry for large populations of Irish, German, Polish, Italian, and Greek immigrants.  Many would go from ship to railroad and head for points west, but some stayed and settled in the city.  Fun fact:  Baltimore’s famous Little Italy neighborhood used to be a predominantly German-American population.  Who knew?  (Well, I did, but I’m taking a class on history of public health in Baltimore).

We may not have an abundance of ethnic enclaves in Baltimore, but there are a surprising number of exotic restaurants – they’re simply stand-alone and not centered in a cultural district.  Arguably, Baltimore cuisine represents exotic culture of its own – fried lake trout, Berger cookies, and (good) crabcakes are hard to come by anywhere else – I’ll say it: even in New York City.

Okay, so maybe fried lake trout can’t be found in New York for reasons other than their lagging diversity in cuisine.  But the point is that Baltimore is surprisingly rich in its cultural offerings and has so many great opportunities to try new things.  Admittedly, I’d never had Indian or Thai food until college (and now I can’t imagine living without naan or pad Thai).   However, even for those much more cultured than I, Baltimore does offer some of the big city diversity, without the big city feel.

Now that I’m in my seventh (and last!) semester as a Hopkins undergrad, I’ve gotten much better about exploring Baltimore, or at least having an idea of what’s going on.  My friends joke that I’m practically a local, which is a huge exaggeration, but I do my best to read the local papers, subscribe to various event email lists, etc., so I have some idea of what’s going on where I live.  When you’re at such a beautiful campus and in a fun neighborhood, it’s easy to stay at home/close to home all the time – it’s not like you have to go downtown to find something to do.  But when the semester has really gotten going, I find that I really enjoy getting away from campus some weekends to take a break and recharge.  At the very least, it’s a nice change of pace to keep me from getting into a boring routine with my weekends.

Although the semester has just barely started, I already feel like I’ve been staying home too much (read: being lazy), so I thought I’d share some of my favorite neighborhoods and their cool little places to give you the inside scoop – and give me the motivation to get back out in the city, starting this weekend!

1. Waverly:  This is the area east of campus by about 6-8 blocks.  While I wouldn’t recommend wandering around at night on your own (as I would say about any place in any city), it has a couple of places that are fun for a group of friends.  The Farmers Market runs every Saturday, year round, from 7 am – noon.  It’s small and local, which makes it all the more fun.   I’ve come to know exactly where I can buy which things and I’ve also gotten very spoiled by always having fresh produce to cook with.  Also in Waverly is Pete’s Grille, an outstanding breakfast/lunch restaurant that’s the favorite of one of our hometown heroes, Michael Phelps.  It is diner-style with a long counter, so it’s not ideal for a huge group (as you might have to wait for a bunch of seats in a row), but it’s worth the walk and/or wait.  There’s also Thai Restaurant, which is exactly what it sounds like, and absolutely delicious.
2. Hampden:  To the west of campus is this charming little neighborhood that has the Hairspray vibe.  It has charming rowhouses and a quirky collection of shops and restaurants along The Avenue, or W 36^th Street.  I’m a fan of Holy Frijoles, a Mexican restaurant, and I love browsing the antique/vintage stores.  There’s also Lovelyarns, which is, in fact, a lovely little yarn shop.
3. Inner Harbor:  This is a popular tourist destination and is home to many big chain restaurants, but it’s still a fun place to go even after living here for a while.  Personal favorites include Miss Shirley’s, another breakfast/lunch place with an incredibly unique take on many classic dishes.  There’s also a Cheesecake Factory down there, which is one of my favorite places for an overly indulgent meal.  The Barnes and Noble is really cool to walk around, as it has the old structures of a power plant inside amongst the bookshelves.  Of course the aquarium makes its home down there as well and at super-discounted tickets on Friday nights, I think it’s going to make its way into my upcoming weekend plans.
4. Camden Yards:  As a formerly diehard, now more casual fan of the Orioles, I have to put Camden Yards in its own category.  Even if you’re not a baseball fan, the ballpark is gorgeous and it’s a fun late-summer activity.  Of course the food is delicious (Boog’s barbeque is my personal favorite, along with the funnel cakes), but if you need more incentive, they have $7 tickets for students on Friday nights.  Yes, they’re in the nosebleed section, but you still get a great view of the park and it’s a wonderfully cheap way to spend your evening.
5. Harbor East:  As the name implies, this is the area to the east of the Inner Harbor.  It is within walking distance of the Harbor, which adds plenty of options to a day in that area.  This is less touristy than the harbor, so the restaurants aren’t the huge chains and the shops are more trendy/boutique-y.  There’s a Whole Foods (yes!) and several great sushi restaurants, including Ra, which has half-off many things from 3-7PM during the week.  There’s a great theater down here as well, which shows 3D films and has a full bar for those of age.  They also sell crab-stuffed pretzels at the snack counter (I’ve never tried one).  Harbor East is just south of Little Italy, which is a charming little neighborhood that’s perfect for an Italian meal or all-you-can-eat dessert at Vaccaro’s on Mondays.
6. Fells Point:  Continuing in our eastwardly trend, moving further along the waterfront will bring you to Fells Point.  Often known only for the huge Halloween celebration and its low-key but expansive nightlife, this historic neighborhood has cobblestone roads and tons of antique shops.  On the outskirts of Fells Point are two very fun places, both very different.  Latin Palace is kitschy and a little overwhelming at first, but they have great food and offer cheap salsa dance lessons.  If you love to dance, you’ll fit right in.  If you’re like me, you’ll probably just enjoy watching everyone who is way more coordinated than you are.  Also nearby is Pazo, a beautiful and elegant tapas restaurant.  The food is incredible, but it can be kind of a pricey outing, so I tend to save it for special occasions.

So there you have it – some of my favorite places outside of the Homewood/Charles Village area.  I also love Mt. Vernon (near Peabody Conservatory), but I haven’t been to enough places down there that I can make legitimate recommendations (don’t worry, it’s on my list for this year).

Like I said, Homewood campus and Charles Village are great places to be and it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole city around us full of great restaurants, shops and other attractions.  I’m glad to have the best of both worlds with a gorgeous, residential campus and a fun and exciting city that’s incredibly accessible.

In honor of the BEAUTIFUL spring weather that has fallen upon Baltimore, I decided I’d tell you about some of myfavorite places within walking distance of campus (and, also, in part to respond to one of the suggested blog topics on the Hopkins Forums.  Keep the suggestions coming!)

At some point or another, we’ve told you all about our gorgeous campus, the Inner Harbor and Little Italy and a bit about the nightlife, but on Saturday mornings when the weather is nice (much like right now), I’d trade in the fancy restaurants in a heartbeat to wander around Charles Village and Waverly.   In my humble opinion, every single freshman should get out and see the surrounding neighborhood in order to feel like they really live here, and not just go to school here.  Does that make any sense?  It definitely helped me adjust to my new home and get excited about the coming years I’d be spending in Baltimore once I had my little spots around the neighborhood that I’d venture out to.  Even if it’s not a regular thing (I know I certainly don’t get up in time to make it to the Farmer’s Market every Saturday…), the sense of familiarity is wonderful.

Without further ado, here’s my super-secret (not really) absolute-favorite spots in Charles Village and Waverly.

1. Carma’s Café.  If you’ve read any of our blogs, you’ve probably read about Carma’s already.  It’s a tiny little café tucked in on 32^nd street between Charles and St. Paul—right across from Chipotle and Eddie’s Market.  I could probably eat every single meal at Carma’s without getting tired of it.  My personal recommendations are the hot chocolate, blueberry muffins, and chicken salad sandwich.  Of course, they’re famous for their homemade yogurt and daily specials.  And by famous, I mean they got a shout-out in the New York Times.
2. The Waverly Farmer’s Market.  Every Saturday (and I mean EVERY Saturday), from 7am-noon, just a few blocks east on 33^rd Street vendors from all over Maryland and Pennsylvania (and probably other places) sell amazingly fresh vegetables, fruit, pastries, flowers, cheese, milk, eggs, soaps, etc., etc., etc.  It’s so much fun to browse and think of all the wonderful meals I could make if I actually knew how to cook.  One time, in an abundance of ambition, I bought a huge bunch of fresh basil and tried to make pesto.  It was a disaster.  But it’s great to support local farmers and get such fresh produce.  It’s also a fantastic place to get apple cider and Zeke’s coffee (a Baltimore coffee roaster).
3. Pete’s Grille.  Just a couple blocks east and one block south of the farmer’s market is this gem.  Hometown-hero Michael Phelps allegedly cites this as his favorite restaurant, and it’s certainly believable.  It’s always packed, mostly because they only have one counter, but if you’re ever looking for a quick meal, they’ll never let you down there.  Definitely the best grits in Baltimore, which is quite a high honor coming from this Southerner.  They close at 1:30 or so on weekends, which is most unfortunate because their lunch menu sounds pretty tasty as well, but I’m always in the mood for breakfast (or brunch, if you want to be technical) at that hour on a Saturday.  Also, the hotcakes are bigger than your face.
4. The Book Thing.  After a big breakfast/brunch/lunch at Pete’s you’re probably going to want to walk it off a bit.  The Book Thing is just a couple blocks further south and it’s a little weird from the outside, but I promise it’s worth it.  The premise?  A warehouse full of books that anyone is invited to take, completely free.  The books are all donated, the place is staffed by volunteers, and the entire purpose is to promote reading.  It’s fantastic.  I’ve found some great things there; it’s always fun to look through all of the crazy old books.
5. BMA.  The sculpture garden at the BMA is perfect on days like today and it’s so close to campus there’s absolutely no excuse not to go.  And on the days less perfect, browse the collections!  Better still?  It’s free.

So that’s just a brief little sampling of a few places right near campus.  There are plenty more that I haven’t thoroughly explored or taken advantage of yet, and others that I’ve left off (besides, why spoil all the fun by just telling you everything straight from the start?!).  I hope this gives you some idea of what a fun little neighborhood we live in, it’s such a treat to explore and feel fully acclimated to the surroundings.

I’m sitting here, early into Sunday afternoon, almost ready to get serious, but not quite.

You see, this weekend I decided to give myself my own fall break.  I’ve already mentioned that I don’t have classes on Friday, but this doesn’t automatically mean a three-day weekend.  Most Fridays I try to get up at the same time I do Monday-Thursday, have a bit of a leisurely breakfast, and then get to work.  But not this Friday.  I woke up late (does 10:00 count?) and somehow managed to do nothing productive with my day, at which point I decided I was on fall break.

My fall break coincided with fall fest and young alumni weekend, meaning there was a TON of stuff going on, with both on-campus events and off-campus parties. Of course, as any break should, mine included plenty of laziness.  I spent the majority of Saturday watching movies and re-watching Thursday’s episode of The Office (3 times, so far).  Aside from that, I saw a screening of The Hangover on the beach, and stopped by a couple of other events and parties as well.  The closing event of my fall break was a trip with friends to Pete’s Grill and The Book Thing this morning.  Pete’s Grill is an awesome place a few blocks away that’s garnered fame for being Michael Phelps’ favorite breakfast place, and this morning I understood why.  Delish.  And The Book Thing is Baltimore’s free book warehouse.  Walk in, browse, pick up anything that appeals to you, and leave.  It’s so great and a short walk from Pete’s Grill, making for a perfect morning.  I left today with six books on criminal law, American politics, interest groups, and the like.  My friends picked up entirely different things (of course) and it was kind of funny to look at what we all got and compare.

So I realized that sometimes, once in a while, on occasion, it’s okay to completely disregard real life and focus on having fun.  It’s good and perhaps even necessary for maintaining sanity.  And even Hopkins students do it!  Of course, now it’s time to buckle down, go back to being a normal person and do my biostats homework (I can’t even tell you how much I’m dreading all of that), but it was a fantastic break that hopefully prepared me to get back to reality.

Springtime at Johns Hopkins means all sorts of wonderful things.  Mostly, for me, it’s starting to mean procrastinating, but that’s another topic for another day.

Here’s my favorite things about springtime at Hopkins:

1. BASEBALL SEASON!  I’m an avid Orioles fan and baseball season has finally begun!  I can’t even describe how excited I am to get out to Camden Yards (one of the prettiest ballparks in the country) and settle into my seat with a Boog’s BBQ platter, ready to keep score and track everyone’s stats (I used to keep the book for my high school baseball team, and now I can hardly sit through a game without wanting to do it).  Okay, I know I said this would be things about springtime at Hopkins, but the start of baseball season is my absolute favorite part of early spring and we’re so close to Camden Yards!  So I’m going to go ahead and say this is allowed to be on the list.

2. The campus.  If you’re a prospective student, I guarantee you will fall in love with our campus if you see it in the springtime.  We have all the pretty blooming trees and nice weather and when you combine it with the classic buildings it’s just breathtaking.

3. The beach.  You know, the big grassy lawn in front of the library.  When the weather warms up,it’s the best place in the entire world to have lunch or take a nap.  Okay, there might be better places, but it’s definitely up on the list.  A lot of people also like to lay out and tan, although I’m not quite brave enough to bare my winter paleness, even if it is in the pursuit of a tan.

4. Spring fair.  Every year, for an entire weekend, our campus becomes like a fairground.  We have all sorts of vendors (both food and other things) and some carnival rides, plus all the student groups have things going on.  There’s also a concert one of the nights.  It’s really just a fantastic time right before the end of classes–the weather’s nice and warm, things are winding down without getting too hectic yet.  All is right in the world.  Sadly, I’ll be missing it this year for what’s looking to be an amazing (but quick) trip home, but more on that next time!

5. Introspectiveness.  I’m not sure if that’s a word, but spell check isn’t telling me otherwise, so I’m going to go with it.  What I mean though is that when the semester’s wrapping up, everyone’s looking ahead and kind of trying to figure out what to do with themselves.  Summer?  Next fall?  Next year?  It can get messy, but it’s definitely valuable.   I always like having those important conversations with friends where we all end up exasperated and thinking “WHAT are we doing with our lives?!”  Something about spring just brings that out and I’ve figured I might as well embrace it.

6. Everything else.  A little broad, I know, but there’s literally SO much going on around campus during the warmer spring months that this is as specific as I could get.  All sorts of student groups have events, amazing speakers come around, there’s lacrosse games, performances, etc., etc., etc.

If you can’t tell, I’m overly excited about the idea of consistently warm weather and switching over to flip flops on a more permanent basis.  If you’re reading this as an admitted student for the class of 2013, I hope you’ll be able to make it to one of our open houses to see some of this for yourself!

My family never has had a lot of our own traditions, but thanks to Hopkins, a school without too many of its own traditions, we’re starting to develop some around my time here.  Anyway, this past weekend was family weekend on campus, and though it has only been my second family weekend at JHU, my parents and I definitely have our own semi-traditions in place or evolving. [photo: my parents and I, last January]

My parents drove up from North Carolina on Friday, which amounts to a six-hour drive.  My parents are quite patient in terms of car rides…they used to drive my brother and I 12-14 hours down to Florida, so while these trips to Baltimore may be a bit long, they’re much easier than some of the ones they used to make.  They got here around 1:00, which was just after I’d gotten out of class and had time to pack an overnight back.  Tradition #1, every time my parents come to visit, they stay near the airport in Linthicum, MD, because my dad is often up here for work and knows the area well.  This weekend was no different, so they came up to campus and whisked me away to Linthicum.  Tradition #2, Family weekend is really just an excuse for my parents to come to Baltimore. They don’t take part in the programs on campus–we just like to hang out and do our own thing.

So we went and checked in the hotel, got lunch, and led right into Tradition #3, my parents and I always make at least one trip to Arundel Mills mall by the airport.  Tradition #4, There’s always a trip to Costco and Target involved, too. I kind of like shopping…a lot. (These are all within 15 minutes of each other and very close to the hotel).  After all of the shopping (mostly stocking up on food and replenishing toiletries’ levels) we had dinner and called it a night.

Tradition #5, Breakfast one morning on any visit to the Baltimore area must be a trip to Krispy Kreme, but only if the sign is lit to indicate they have hot donuts at the time we get there. I’d imagine all Saturday morning is constant-donut making, so we were in luck there.  We had our sinfully soft donuts that absolutely melt in your mouth and then did a few more errands in the morning.  We went up to campus to drop off all of my food and my new $20 bookcase (gotta love Target), and then hung out to wait and meet up with Mike and his family.  

Tradition #6, Family weekend requires a trip to Hillendale Lanes duckpin bowling for some fierce competition (fun fact: it’s only a few miles from where my dad grew up).  We don’t even need to talk about how my scores turned out, but I did meet my dad’s requirement: your score must be at least your age.  We came back up to Charles Village and had dinner at Berts right by campus, and parted ways with Mike’s family for the evening.  I decided to stay another night with my parents at their hotel just to get the most time with them as possible.  They brought me back up to Hopkins around 10 this morning and are probably just about home by now (I should call them–and will once I finish this post!).

A lot of our traditions are tied to just any visit up to Hopkins–whether it’s bringing me up here to start a new year, visiting for parent’s weekend, dropping me off for summer classes, visiting in the spring, etc.   Our traditions may be a little different from “traditional” ones (no pun intended), but they’re getting to be very central to both my family and my time at Hopkins–and weaving the two together quite nicely!  Some of them are just out of necessity, like grocery shopping and donuts (just kidding on that last one), but they’ve all become a big part of my experience here, in addition to my parents’ experiences of my time here.

Okay, so it wasn’t actually my day in court, it was the day in court for about 27 people whose lives I glimpsed into simply by completing a class assignment.  The class: Business Law I, which is actually more like an "Introduction to Law as it Pertains to Business" class.  The assignment: observe court.  Over the semester, we have to complete two observations, and one has to be Circuit Court, the other has to be District Court.  One case has to be a criminal trial, and the other has to be a civil suit, but we can see either one in either court (i.e., we can see the criminal case in District Court or Circuit Court). 

Some of you may be wondering, "what’s the difference between district and Circuit Court?"  I’ll briefly explain (as it pertains to the state of Maryland), before I get back to my day in court.  The distinction is not very clear, and there is a lot of overlap between the two.   In civil suits, District Court will hear lawsuits between $5,000-$30,000.  Circuit court will hear civil suits over $30,000, or civil suits in which one or both parties want a jury trial.  The major difference between the District and Circuit Courts is that Circuit Court can hear jury trials.  As for criminal suits, District Court hears misdemeanors, motor vehicle violations, and some felonies (with lesser punishments), while Circuit Court hears felonies and District Court cases in which one or both parties wish to have a jury trial.  Clear as mud, huh?  In essence, the Circuit Court is the more "serious" of the two in terms of the types of cases it handles and the types of punishments it can hand down.

I hope I didn’t lose too many readers from that…if you managed to make it through that, you may
be exasperated to hear that my day in Circuit Court (the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse, to be exact) involved no jury.  I ended up wandering into the Drug Treatment Court, which is a (in my opinion) great program offered in Baltimore City.  The people in court that day were basically being checked on to gauge progress.  They were all individuals who had been convicted of some kind of drug felony, but instead of being sent to prison for 5-10 years (or more), they were given 3 years probation, which serves as time to complete drug treatment. 

I think this is such a great program, because while some may argue that sending drug dealers (as most drug felons are dealers) to prison would get more drugs off the streets, I think that if you are able to treat addiction, you are instead putting more clean individuals back on those same streets, which exerts a positive influence on areas that are very lacking in that.  If you send a dealer to prison, he/she will be replaced by another dealer in a matter of days (if that).  If you are able to rehabilitate a person and allow him/her to have another shot at a life, instead of just trying to take the "bad" people out, you’re putting more positive influence in.  Addiction doesn’t make for a bad person–so many of these people have so much to offer to their communities if only given the chance, which this program tries to do.

That being said, the judge (Judge Allen Schwait, who presides solely over the Drug Treatment Court), had to tell a few different people "if you don’t want to be here, there are plenty of people who do; we simply don’t have the money for people who don’t want to be successful."  I also found it very striking when the very first man to have his case heard went in as a free man and left in handcuffs for violation of probation, as he was not meeting the terms of his treatment program.  That hit me especially hard when I was walking from the courthouse back to the Peabody bus stop and thinking about him and the others who had lost their last chance, and subsequently their freedom.

If you couldn’t tell, treatment of addiction is something I feel strongly about, and I’m fascinated by the criminal "justice" system.  This overlap between medicine and law is why I’m so interested in pursuing both an MD and a JD, but as I always say, "we’ll see."  As a sidenote, I plan to write my Anthropology of Mental Illness final paper on the topic (somehow), so don’t expect this to be the last you hear on the issue.  It has deep personal significance for me, and I think more Hopkins students should at least be aware of the issue, considering what an epidemic it is in our city.  More on that one later.

So here I am, mid-day Sunday, waiting for the wash cycle to finish so I can put my clothes in the dryer, taking a break from all of my planning, only to come to this conclusion: it’s time to brace myself.  My first midterm is Thursday (physics) and I also have a courtroom observation due this week, meaning (drum roll please) the first round of midterms has begun!  After this, I have at least one major assessment every single week until finals, except for the week of fall break (which is coming up quite quickly as well)!

Since there will inevitably be mention of these assessments over later blogs, I decided to take this entry as a chance to tell you about a few of my trips around Baltimore lately. 

The first week of classes, I got to go to an Orioles game (only to watch them lose terribly to the A’s after walking in an embarrassing number of runs), but it was still wonderful to go down there.  We took the JHMI shuttle (free) down to Penn Station, and then took the light rail ($1.60 each way) to Camden Yards, making for an efficient and inexpensive trip!  We got there early enough to watch a little bit of warm ups, and of course get some ballpark food, which is absolutely crucial.  Although it rained the whole time, our tickets were discounted (I guess there aren’t too many people interested in games this late in the season when we’re so far out) and our seats were covered and behind home plate.  Just for good measure, I kept score, as I was the baseball scorekeeper for my high school all four years.  It was definitely fun to get out…as an Orioles fan, I’m kind of used to these disappointments so much that they’re hardly even disappointing nowadays.

The next weekend was a trip to the Waverly farmer’s market followed by a short walk to The Book Thing.  I had a wonderful muffin and fresh peach juice at the farmer’s market, in addition to getting some of Baltimore’s own Zeke’s coffee for my suite.  The Book Thing, for those of you who have yet to hear about this amazing place, is a huge warehouse full of books.  All free.  People walk in, browse around, pick up anything and everything they want, and just sign out when they leave.  If you look at the sign out sheet, you’ll see that there are people taking upwards of 150 books and that’s very much encouraged!  The Book Thing runs entirely on donated books and is staffed by volunteers.  It’s open on Saturdays and Sundays.  This time, I got a few law books because of my growing interest–it’s so wonderful to have the opportunity to explore the field without buying the books!  And of course, you can always re-donate the books if you decide you’re done with them.

Last weekend, my mom was in town for business and was able to stop by and pick me up to take me to Arundel Mills, a wonderful outlet mall right near BWI.  While I’m not sure this counts as exploring Baltimore, it was an excursion, and certainly a fun one at that!

Yesterday, I finally got to go down to BARCS, Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter,
which is located right by the Ravens Stadium.  I went for Orientation so that I can eventually start volunteering on a regular basis with Hopkins Paws (Pet and Animal Welfare Society).  BARCS has made huge strides in the past few years and it’s so great to be able to give something back to the community–especially to animals in situations they don’t deserve to be in.  Just as my dad guessed, it was very hard for me to meet the dogs…I wanted to take several of them home, but I’m still looking forward to getting involved, and hopefully it’ll get easier in time.

So that’s about it for my "adventures," for now at least.  I suppose they’ll be rather limited as the weather gets cooler and I get busier, but I hope to at least continue to make it out to the farmer’s market–there’s nothing I love more than apple cider in the fall!  With that, I think the wash cycle has finished–dryers await!   Until next week…