Sydney Spy Classic
First week in New York City and the UN!
First of all, how fast a week passes! It seems like only yesterday I was watching the 7:30 report repeat on Channel 10... and now I’m in the Big Windy Apple City... that doesn’t sound right...
New York:
New York is so monumental! I’ve been SO jetlagged every day that I had been falling asleep at 7 or 8pm every night so far. So all I had seen until yesterday was 1st Avenue, cable TV and inside the UN. Sensational... but limited. Yesterday I got the chance to be a BIG tourist! Hot dog in Central Park, Times Square, Pizzerias, Chrysler Building, Meatball hero sandwich, Starbucks, Yellow Taxi, Broadway, Macys etc. It’s all beautiful and/or delicious (actually the coffee was a bit beetle grindings + sludge), but what’s magic about New York is just the vibe. It’s just as hepped up and cool as that Jay Z and Alicia Keys song, as moody and gritty as Law + Order, as sexy and chaotic as Sex + The City and as RA-RA OH-LA-LA as Lady Gaga. Walking down the street feels like you’re in a TV show, a runway, a glossy magazine and a taped-off crime scene at the same time. Now that my jetlag is conquered, I’m so looking forward to discovering every part over the next few months.
UN Orientation:
I thought the other interns would be completely full of themselves. You know, thinking they’re messengers sent to New York from God to save the world. To my relief, only a few are like that! Hahaha, no, they’re all pretty cool, friendly, down-to-earth and internationally minded. When I arrived and was standing in line to get inside it was so cold, then I met a lovely girl from Tanzania who was also cold. We clicked.
The orientation was a bunch a speakers. There was Kofi Annan’s former assistant, a NYC cop talking about safety and subway ‘pokers’ (don’t ask!), psychiatrist on stress, librarian on the Dag Hammarskjold UN library, Smoky the fire bear on fire safety and others. It was interesting but I was so jet-lagged by the end I could barely stay awake, I had to meet my landlord straight after though to move in. Love the apartment!
Work
Ok, working life so far in NY is certainly different compared to Australia or Budapest. It’s a lot more aggressive than what I’ve experienced before, but I think it’s also very efficient. Decisions are made fast, resources are emailed instantly from phones right there in the meeting - it’s all really dynamic and exciting, and everyone at the table has an opinion to air... but they respect each other as well so it works.
It’s tricky getting a hang of all the acronyms they use in the UN, so it’s all:
“We need to get a focal point from DPKO, SCAD and WFP, how about so-and-so?”
“No they’re a D1 in DESA in DC2.”
“I thought they were a P2 in DPI in DC1?”
It’s difficult getting a word in, but I’m getting the hang of pushing in aggressively and bulldozing to fit in. Very useful! Hahaha!
The UN is, surprisingly, international! In my team they’re from Iceland, France, Tunisia, the US, South Africa....all over the place. Haven’t detected any kind of cultural confusion or tensions so far, which is great.
Haiti:
My first task is well... intense. The Haiti earthquake crumbled the UN Mission in Port-au-Prince, killing 60+ UN employees. Right now, the team I’m interning with is writing the obituaries for the deceased colleagues. This means researching their lives, their history with the UN and making contact with their friends or co-workers to get quotes on their character etc. Needless to say, this can be a challenging and emotional task.
One of the other team members said she had a dream last night where the person she was writing about came to visit her. I can’t blame her! I’ve stayed late every night so far, and after doing this for a week straight, it gets a bit much. While it is very difficult to read through the hundreds of condolences, and write a factual and appropriate article you hope this person’s loved ones will see fit, it’s a very engaging task I feel up to.
We’ve done well so far, and other faculties have written to us saying that we’ve done a great job. They also mentioned nominating our team for some kind of internal UN Award. Cool!
The fallen colleagues were such achievers! And I don’t just mean that in the ‘don’t speak ill of the dead’ sense - the last woman I wrote about was a Spanish policewoman serving as the bodyguard to one of the deputies in Haiti. I found out that she was the daughter of deaf parents and worked as an interpreter for the hearing impaired when the Pope visited her home city in Spain. So many stories... but let’s move onto something lighter.
UN Cafeteria
Phenomenal! I just wish all the foods sat in a circle with their nationality in front of them…
Other than that, I’m going to the annual compact-signing ceremony hosted by Mr. BAN KI-MOON in 2 weeks!
See you there!
Summary: New York = awesome, weather = freezing, work = intense but good. Overall = loving it! Marta = coming from Stanford to visit next week :)