"We live in the age of the refugee, the age of the exile." - Ariel Dorfman

Beautiful made in
Guatamala

Today I got to work and it was quite quiet, something different than normal. 

I bought flowers in the morning for a co-worker and that was about the busiest I was all day. I worked on some menial stuff, tried to make myself my own work and then headed out for lunch with a friend to the UNICEF centre. Halfway through walking with her, I pulled out an ice cream cone and she literally burst into laughter because she could not believe I had just pulled out an ice cream stick out of my bag. #WendysBag

We noticed that UNICEF was having a 75% off sale so we dropped in, but it was almost empty. I talked to the guy at the register and he told me that the store was just simply not making enough

The platform for it

profit and they were going to close by Friday at lunch. 

It's kind of sad to hear that, but apparently their website will still be up and running and they'll do shipping rather than having a physical store. 

I bought some change purses that were made in Guatemala and then headed back over to work where I did a little bit of stuff and then we took a break and wished our co-worker a happy birthday! We sat and talked for a bit, took some photos and then went back to work.

The man fighting
for rights

I stayed back at work for a bit since there was a reception coming up later that day that I wanted to attend for World Refugee day. It was downstairs in the m
ain Visitor's lobby (I assume so that everyone, even visitors could see it). And I waited there with my colleague to try to get a photo with one of the guests: Ban Ki Moon.

The speeches were quite wonderful and I really enjoyed the unveiling of the Refugee exhibit that they were there for. They had pictures and photos in the main hall for visitors to take in as well as a gigantic container where you can go inside and actually talk to a refugee somewhere in the world. It was pretty amazing.

Food made by refugees!

We had a few more speeches from other refugee groups as well as a USG for DPI. It was a truly great event.

After the ceremony, I went to find my friends and talk to them about the exhibit. It was pretty cool.

Of course, at the end of every reception opening... there was an open bar and food.

My photo with him :D

The food this time around was quite interesting! All the food that we had was made from Refugees!
There was a lot of Middle Eastern and Nepalese food there. It was delicious and so well made. I really appreciate the reception providing us with it.

My friend and I headed over to Bryant Park where there was this really cool event called "Movies in the Park" and they were playing the movie Ferris Bueller's Day off. 

We managed to find two seats in the crowd, grabbed some drinks and chairs and sat down and enjoyed the movie.

Movies in the park! :)

I gotta say, it is amazing being a part of something that is so much bigger than myself. When the music in the movie started playing, people actually got up and started
DANCING during scenes where there was music! It was so fun to watch! And people danced hard.

It was a bit difficult to hear, however, they had subtitles under the movie screen (which was also hard to see) for all to hear and enjoy. 

After the movie, I took my short walk home and crashed into bed.