"It's easy to impress me. I don't need a fancy party to be happy. Just good friends, good food, and good laughs. I'm happy. I'm satisfied. I'm content." Maria Sharapova

ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment
event and reception

I woke up pretty early this morning and went into a Prevention for Sexual Exploitation and Abuse meeting that started at 8:30am and was hosted by the IOM and IASC (They're both really great groups). My friends were there already and so I sat down beside them and listened to the meeting.

It was actually a great meeting and it looked like the AFPs had done a lot of substantive work through collaboration with each other and the UN. It was great to also see that some of the issues and problems that they brought up were actually problems that our office is already proactively trying to solve!

After the meeting, I headed back to work and worked on a bit of a project I was assigned on, had some lunch in my office and then stayed at work until late. 

Other than the meeting, it was a fairly uneventful day at work... That is until the evening.

Oh my god, I've never been to so many events in one night.

Law of the Sea has been going on for
a while and they had some pretty
awesome food for their reception

I was planning on going to the reception for Humanitarian Affairs which was going to be hosted by the Swiss Mission, but I ended up going to 4 different events that night.

The first even was a reception for the Law of the Sea, and interestingly enough, they had smoked
salmon and shrimp (how is that for law of the sea) and a bunch of different foods and snacks.

As we were enjoying the event, a bunch of my friends actually passed by with gift bags from the Dutch Mission. I asked them where they went and they told me there was ANOTHER reception/party being held by the Dutch Mission (Not another DJ
sadly). So my friends and I headed up and man, it was a cool reception. It was, again, in the dining room and the first thing you got when you walked in was freshly made Stroopwafels. How cool is that?! God, they were so good. I can still taste the freshness.

There was (another) open bar with some specially mixed drinks as well as (the normal) wine and other stuff. Outside, there were a bunch of people partying and enjoying the vibes there. They even had a live jazz band playing! All around, people were giving out hor d'eourves and drinks and it was just a fun event. Met up with two of my fellow Canadian friends from the Mission and we just stood around and enjoyed each other's company.

The Dutch reception!

Afterwards, we headed out and got these amazing gift bags that had this thing called a "waka waka power" charger. It is a solar powered battery that runs off of solar power and doubles as a flashlight. It is designed by a Dutch person and for every one waka waka power bought, one is donated to a community that needs it (Mostly in Africa where they do not have as many resources or much access to electricity). 

Man the Dutch dropped a lot of money on this. I know I mentioned this before, but the elections are seriously ridiculous with the amount of money these member states spend. I mean seriously, this money could go back to your own economy or your own social needs. (Although I did benefit from it so I don't know if I can complain that much).

On the other end of the same hall there was a reception for the the Humanitarian affairs segment
. They had a lot of people and hor d'oeurves as well and they had some Swiss Lindt chocolate on the tables everywhere. It was quite cute. It was a proper reception where people were actually standing around and discussing all these different things and different ideas related to the Humanitarian affairs event. 

Earlier on at the Dutch event, we caught wind of another party being hosted. Another Mission, the Khazakstani one, was hosting an event at the Plaza Hotel.

Yes. That's right, I wrote Plaza hotel. The big, beautiful, ridiculously fancy and expensive one in front of Central Park. 

The plaque for the Khazakstani Mission

Kazakhstan wanted a seat on the Security Council. Really Bad.

Oh, in case you're wondering why these missions are having these free gelato, free espresso, free DJ Hardwell, Midsummer festival events? 

In the lead up to the Security Council Voting tomorrow, everyone is trying their best to secure and procure votes by doing all these events. 

Yup.

You know, you wonder who wins after these events, and seriously, my only answer for you is capitalism.

We headed over to the Kazakhstani Mission event at the Plaza where they had rented out the most beautiful and gorgeous Conference room. In the middle and on the sides, there were fully stocked open bars, on the sides were hot buffets with roast beef and roast turkey, potatoes and vegetables and in the back was a dessert section.

I had eaten so much tonight at all my events that I felt sick. It was the most I've ever eaten I think my whole life and probably the first time since I've come to New York that I've actually left plate on my food (It was a horrible feeling I will make sure never to do that again). 

But the event was amazing, we found a table to put our food and drinks down and got to watch this pop star sing (really well) songs in Kazakhstani and in English and just in general had a really great time dancing.

Fun photo and dancing 

There was an 80 year old lady there as well tearing it up on the dance floor and it was AMAZING to see, my god, I hope I have as much spirit and energy as her one day! 

We danced for a while and then headed out (with these cute gift bags that had Khazak Chocolate as well as a cute little handmade horse (since they are known for their horses). 

We ended up going to the bar for a bit afterwards to talk and sing (to live music) and then headed home... (late - bad idea)

This was not a normal Monday and I'm really glad that because I took the chance to try to go the Swiss event, I was able to experience and attend so many others. I was able to learn a bit more about the UN system and what it's all about. It was cool.

Honestly not how I expected the day to go.

I though I was going to go home early. 

But it's the unplanned days that turn out the best right?

"You're off to great places. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way." - Dr. Seuss

Today, no one expected Wendy...

Today was my first day at the UN and, much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expected me. The day was.. eventful and ... it was something. Well. To be completely honest, the reason why it was something was because ... no one planned for me to be here today. I was expected May 17th.

First day at work selfie

I went to where I needed to go this morning, I showed up at 8:30 for my 9:30 meeting. I called a few times - no answer. The doorman called a few times and still - no answer. It was about 9:50 when the doorman/security got frustrated and tried to call every contact I had. Finally, he asked someone to bring me up to the department. When I got there, I found out that the person I needed to report to... wasn't there. He had that day off. DIDN'T MATTER, I WAS STILL STOKED TO WORK AT THE UN! Honestly, I could have probably waited days.

Well, instead I got to wait about an hour and 20 minutes ... and then I was told to wait for someone else who could help me. It took another hour before someone showed up. It was about 11:10 by then... All in all, I took about 3 and a half hours to get to someone to help me. BUT! The person was super nice, super talkative and really kind. She helped me a lot with my paperwork. She also found the people who were in my department and called them to tell them I was there and ask if I could go over.

How badass.

Turns out they thought I was getting there on the 17th. They had nothing prepared for me.

But life must go on, so the UN employee took me over to the card office to get my new card! Man it was so exciting, getting that beautiful baby blue card!! Totally worth the wait. Seriously. it can get me

into most departments, conferences and other places too! Because my department needed some time to prepare something for me, I went out for lunch.

First day at the UN finished!

My friend who is also an intern with the UN came to pick me up from the building and brought me around the UN! He showed me around, where the lunchroom is, where I can get into, all the works! It was so kind of him. After the tour and lunch, I went back to my building and found out my department was ready for me, so I headed back over to the UN with my shiny new badge and met my new office. It was pretty surreal. It's a super high profile office with some highly sensitive information (So I may not post a lot because of the nature of my work).

It was pretty insane first day, lots of getting slammed with information on what's going on, sitting in on meetings, knowing that there are an immense amount of meetings going on and being given an idea of a project that they want me to work on already. Oh and sitting in on a meeting with pretty damn big meeting with an NGO.

So all in all a pretty ... something day. Waiting for 3 hours for a pass and then getting slammed with information and a meeting. Not what I expected at all in the morning and not what I expected in

Yum yum! 

the afternoon. Not what I expected at all.

But you know what? That's exactly what I want, new things to do, new challenges and getting a chance to contribute and do something good! I'm super excited for Monday.

I left the office at around 5pm when one of my co-workers told me to and walked around to grab some pizza for dinner. Very mentally fatigued after today.

First Post!

Less than a week away and I'll be heading over to New York City to start my Internship with the Office of the Special Coordinator on Improving the UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse! I've gotten so much insane amounts of support from everyone and I feel so humbled to have so many people really believe in me and the work I will be doing. I got a stupid amount of likes for posting this. It's been awesome. I can't believe how much encouragement I've received. Over 350 likes!

I'm sitting on a chair on my computer and I'm so super stoked right now. I've gotten a lot of things done so far, things that needed to be done before I left (and for anyone who ever does apply and get an internship)

- TB test - which was free at my local doctor's but if you get it at a public health place, it's about $25, check around

- B1 Visa - even though I am a Canadian citizen, if I am doing anything that is not short-term visit for pleasure or REALLY short meeting, I had to get it. Apparently you can get it for free at the border if you show all your documents, but I went to the Embassy in Canada (Protip: Do not bring a bag of any sort at all. They will turn you away and tell you to put your page somewhere else) and to get the Visa. Make sure that before you do anything, call the Embassy or consulate in your country.

- Transcript

And those are pretty much the only things you I really needed (I mean other than hard work and sheer will power)! And of course, because it is unpaid.. I needed some money too. So with the suggestion and help of a professor and my mentor, I e-mailed a bunch of organizations, people I knew, people I know and everyone in my network asking for a donation. I even started my own fundraising page!

Already, I've raised over $4000 with the generous support of friends, organizations such as Soroptimist International Toronto, and the generous help of friends I've yet to meet. It's been a really awesome experience. I've even gotten my link shared over 300 times! I feel humbled by this investment into my future. As an added bonus, I'll also get the chance to take this course as academic credit. 

Any who, this was meant to be a very short first post to give everyone a bit of an insight into how happy and excited I am to embark on this trip! I can't believe this is happening. In less than a week, I'll not only be flying to New York, but I'll also be starting an internship at the UN! I'm very excited.

Stay tuned for more.