What Gives Me Pause

in Istanbul for the week0 got a day of sun before the rain/snow...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:44:33 -0500

in Istanbul for the week0 got a day of sun before the rain/snow came in. Other than the London-reminiscent weather, Istanbul is absolutely beautiful. Check my fackebook for more pics!

A sunny day in London- maybe the weather is hinting at...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:05:34 -0500

A sunny day in London- maybe the weather is hinting at spring….

"There’s no smoke without fire. There was something so vulnerable in the way he relied on this..."

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:09:16 -0500

““There’s no smoke without fire. There was something so vulnerable in the way he relied on this conviction, that Samad had never had the heart to disabuse him of it. Why tell an old man that there can be smoke without fire as surely as there are deep wounds that draw no blood?””

- White Teeth- Zadie Smith

The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:31:40 -0500

The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011:

Heart-wrenching, searing, hopeful, beautiful. A reminder of the past year.

The Underground

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:10:53 -0500

That feeling when you smoothly jump on the train as the doors close.

That feeling when you think you smoothly jump on the train as the doors close, but the doors stay open for two minutes after.

That feeling when you barely miss the train.

Imperial War Museum

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:35:23 -0500

Imperial War Museum

My favorite place so far- Postman’s Park. It’s a...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:40:49 -0500

My favorite place so far- Postman’s Park. It’s a beautiful little park in the city of London that sits on top of what used to be a graveyard. In the corner of the park, old gravestones lied stacked up like a filing cabinet of things that the city doesn’t know what to do with. On the shaded wall, little plaques celebrate everyday people who died trying to save some else (generally in a fire or by drowning). “It’s quite Victorian,” my professor says, noting the over-the-top language used on the plaques- “Alice Ayres, daughter of a bricklayer’s labourer, who by intrepid conduct saved 3 children from a burning building in Union Street Borough at the cost of her own young life, April 24 1885.” It’s a bit of a morbid place, but it’s insolated from the hustle and bustle and noise and walking and cityness of London. It’s eerily and peacefully quiet, and if I could, I would have sat there for hours. Yet, we had to move on to the Museum of London, so I will have to find this place again.- Cheers, Jasmine

One of the main reasons I am here is to do some research about...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:29:00 -0500

One of the main reasons I am here is to do some research about London. I have two projects, both related to human trafficking. The first project will topically compare different aspects of trafficking between Houston, London, and Istanbul, and I am charged with looking at this issue from the legal perspective. We are presenting this (in less than a month!) at a conference in Istanbul. Pretty good for a spring break, no?

For the other project, I want to look at how sex trafficking is related to the Olympics, which will be help in London this summer (see picture for an overcast look at the stadium). I am leaning towards the idea of studying how the issue is represented by the media, because I have found some contradictory info about what the media predicts and what some people say actually happens. I have an official research blog (linked) for this project, but I’m sure some of my questions and frustrations will seep into here. This is more of an FYI post so that if I post/talk about sex trafficking, everyone knows why. - Cheers, Jasmine

Click here for my London pictures from Facebook

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:05:16 -0500

Click here for my London pictures from Facebook

Obligatory Intro

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:01:51 -0500

Hello all- After a bit of an internal debate, I’ve decided that I want to blog about my experiences in London. I’ve been here for about three weeks, and while I still feel overwhelmed by the city, I feel some its previous shine dulling. Places and sights and events are getting to be routine. So, I’m going to shake it up a bit. I plan to write about anything that catches my attention, anything that stops me from blindly walking about in my usual self-absorbed stupor, anything that challenges my perception. So hopefully it will turn into a mix/record of the city (pictures, quotes, musings, news articles, my research here) without the self-imposed feeling that I have to write about it chronologically. If this way works, then hopefully I can carry on with this blog after my return to the States because that promises to be an exciting time for me as well. Well, here it goes. Hope you enjoy! -Cheers, Jasmine