The End is Nigh

Hey Guys

Another update from Austin, Texas! We've got one month left here, and time is really flying way too fast!

It has been an absolutely manic semester so far. As part of my course I've been able to work with a Capital Punishment Clinic run by the Law School, which has been the experience of a lifetime without a doubt. The clinic screens and selects convicted criminals on death row who have compelling arguments for innocence or bad legal representation, and then assign students to work alongside lawyers investigating and researching their cases. With no idea what to expect, we went along to the first class and were immediately assigned to a man who was scheduled to be executed on the 4th of April! Working on his case was unbelievably eye-opening to the criminal justice system here in Texas, and getting to meet him and others at Texas's death made you really wonder whether taking a life like this could ever be justified. Long story short, we managed to stay his execution 8 hours before he was scheduled to be executed - see the news report at http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-05/justice/texas.scotus.inmate_1_sodium-thiopental-new-execution-protocol-first-execution?_s=PM:CRIME (Maurie Levin was the lawyer we were working with on the case!)

But it hasn't been all work. Living next to New Mexico we thought it would be silly to pass off the opportunity to go skiing/snowboading in the Rockies, so a while back we headed off for a weekend to an amazing little place called Sipapu, staying in a little log cabin there and enjoying the snow. For Spring Break, we drove from Austin to Key West - the last island in the string of little islands off Florida, a 1600 mile journey in total! On the trip we stayed in New Orleans and Miami, both great places well worth visiting! The French Quarter in New Orleans was something out of Europe, with great food, music and nightlife. Miami was similarly European, in fact felt a bit like Monaco with all the Ferraris and Lamborghinis and rich French people. Sadly I managed to get full blown Vertigo while in Key West, rendering me unable to walk in a straight line at all! Luckily one of the girls on the trip also got insured on our rental car, so we weren't stranded, but it could have been a lot worse!

Last weekend though I experienced a proper Texan weekend when my friend from Texas A&M invited me out to stay on his cousin's ranch. It was an awesome weekend of fishing, jumping off cliffs and hunting from the back of outrageously massive trucks, and almost reminded me of my home country of Zimbabwe!

Its been great fun out here. We haven't got long left though, so certainly will be looking to make the most of the last couple weeks. This weekend we are going to try out a water-park which supposedly has the best rides in the US! Should be good..!