“Je suis comme ça. Ou j'oublie tout de suite ou je n'oublie jamais." Samuel Beckett

Yesterday was a bad night and this morning was a bad morning. The heat was too much for me and I couldn't fall asleep. In the morning it was so bad I woke up sweating. At 6am.

I lied in bed, read some news and did nothing for a bit. Then I was so bored I got up and started getting ready for work (in this original post I actually wrote school - this is how tired my mind is).

I mean - aside from the burns on my fingers.

I actually burned some of my fingers pretty bad on a pot at home so when I got to work, I asked around for a first aid kit.

Turns out none of the floors have one. If I want a simple band-aid, I'd have to go down to the fifth floor medical floor. I just wanted some burn cream so they sent me down to the Medical unit.

It was my first time there. In fact, I think it was one of the first times an intern or anyone I have actually ever known working at the UN had to go to the medical unit. It was interesting. It was super early, around 8:40 so when I went in, the guy told me I could either wait 20 minutes for the nurse to come back or I stay until 9, so I left.

Cheese and fruit and champagne :D 

At around 9, I went back downstairs and had to wait to see a doctor (yes they sent me to a doctor even though I literally just asked for burn cream like polysporin) who pulled out a chart and started asking me what was wrong.

I explained to her what was wrong. She just looked at me, put away all her charts and just gave me the burn cream. I think she was a bit disappointed (I wonder how many people actually know about the medical clinic, let alone go there?)

She actually applied it on me so I was quite grateful.

Afterwards, I did a little bit of work and then headed over to a nearby coffee place to meet with my professor.

When I got there, he was having a meeting with a delegate from a large state. And he had already had meetings with several other Member States.

I feel like I was the only person he met up with that wasn't a country or member state...

We had a very good, short talk and then afterwards I had to run off to a meeting (busy, busy in the life of a UN intern).

Drinks at the DL

I went back to the office and worked on some research for one of the big projects I was doing until about lunch. Didn't actually end up taking lunch since it was so busy in the office...

Afterwards, we put out surprise cheese, fruits and prosecco for Bastille day for our French colleagues in the office. It was pretty jolly.

We cleaned up and worked a bit more. Afterwards, a colleague and I headed over to the Delegate's lounge where we enjoyed some French special drinks and sat around and talked for a bit. 

Afterwards, I headed over to meet up with some friends at the bar where we sat around and enjoyed each other's company.

I headed home but had to wait to be let in, since I had a visitor who had my keys, and it was the first time I had ever been so harassed on the streets, I had three people tell me to "smile more" and make unnecessary comments as well as try to touch my things. 

I cannot believe how disgusting it was. Do people really think that is justifiable at all? Like that's okay? It's not. 

Kind of a bad end to a good day.

"Culture drives great results." - Jack Welch

Today I woke up kind of late and cleaned up around the house. I was a bit tired so I wanted to rest a bit, but there was stuff going on!

I made myself some breakfast, watched some more Scrubs (I just love cheesy stuff like this) and then headed out.

It was a dark and busy Bastille day celebration...

Today, right beside the park, was the Bastille day celebration! I walked up the street, enjoying the view and the weather and met up with a friend. We walked through the crowded streets, tasted some delicious samples and kept walking.

It was packed with so much French spirit! Especially because the Euro cup was on and France was playing against Portugal. There was a huge TV set up on the other side of the festival, where people were all sitting down enjoying the show. It was quite cute but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was less packed with people... But it was still nice to walk around, listen to the legit french accents and all the people selling french food.

How did I know that it was real french food? They took a huge piece of butter and smeared it between the pan and the crepe while they were making it. Too hardcore for me man. Too hardcore.

And I still wonder how they're so fit!

Afterwards, I took the bus down and walked around for a bit before hopping onto the Subway to Williamsburg where I met up with a few of my friends (again, Canadians, I guess we all just miss home?) and we headed over to the GiglioFeast held every July. In case you are wondering, this is what the site says about the Festival:

"The story, which is passed on through the generations on both sides of the Atlantic, is that around 410 AD, North African pirates overran the town of Nola. In the chaos, Bishop Paolino was able to flee into the countryside with some of the children. Upon his return, Paolino learned, from a sobbing widow that many of the young men, her son included, had been abducted into slavery. Moved to compassion, Paolino offered himself in exchange for the boy and was ferried off, a prisoner of the brigands. While in North Africa, word of the courage and self-sacrifice of Paolino spread and became known to a certain Turkish sultan. Taken with the tale of altruism, the sultan intervened, negotiating for the freedom of this holy man. Through the sultan 's efforts, Paolino and his paesani, were freed.

FRIENDS :D Behind us there is the tower

Overjoyed by his safe return, the entire town greeted him carrying lilies, symbolic of love and purity. That joyous homecoming jubilee is considered the very first observance of what would develop into an annual sacred event. Through the years, various trade guilds farmer (ortolano), butcher (beccaio), tailor (sarto), breadmaker (panettiere), blacksmith (fabbra), cobblers (calzolaio), deli merchants (salumiere), and wine makers (bettoliere) ) began to compete to produce the most sensational display of lilies. Over time, these displays became more flamboyant.

Today, although still called lilies (gigli), they have evolved into huge flower-laden steeples of wood, 82 feet in height. In Nola, these gigli structures and a boat (la barca) are carried through the streets on the shoulders of hundreds of men, in remembrance of the return of Paolino to Nola. The atmosphere is quite competitive and each guild hires the best lifters they can secure, because the carrying of the gigli is judged. Creativity of construction and musical accompaniment is also scrutinized even after the formal competition ends, and the men of Nola carry and dance the gigli throughout the night."

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We went over and saw a tower up top with people singing on it... but also a fake boat where people were singing and playing guitar! It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, the festival itself was super small, with mostly like touristy food carts and carnival games (that are totally a rip off, my friend shot a whole star except for ONE small corner and he didn't get a prize).

We decided to head out after that and grab some food to eat. We headed to a place called Pop's which has a lot of comfort food so of course, I ordered some cheesy fries (with 'American' cheese) and some BBQ wings.

We grabbed some drinks and headed up to a friend's Rooftop where there was another party going on.

We played some card games and then the other party came over to hang out with us and talk. It was a pretty good time sitting around, talking and just enjoying the atmosphere.

Great way to end a week with the relaxation.

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf." - Rabindranath Tagore

Today I got through work pretty easily.

Football game

There was a little bit of work, lots of meetings and then worked on some projects until it hit about 5pm and then headed over to the Delegate's Lounge with my friend for MAI TAI DAY!

It was Mai Tai all days in the Delegate's Lounge and my friend and I sat there and watched the soccer game going on (Portugal won) and watched the delegate's freak out during the game. It was quite interesting to watch.

Mai tai day!

Afterwards, we headed over to another building where they were hosting their first United Nations Intern Association (UNIA) elections and I went over with my friend to listen to the speeches and vote for my friends.

Afterwards, my friends and I headed over to the UNOPs building where they were having their once a month after work happy hour. It was amazing. It was great vibes, everyone

was super young, they were happy and everyone seemed so talkative and like they really enjoyed their work.

Up on the roof

The UNOPs place was amazing. It was in their kitchen and had a beautiful patio outside view of New York from the sky. It was gorgeous and such a great place to talk and enjoy meeting other people and mingling. The music was all whatever we

wanted, the drinks were cheap and the snacks were good. 

It was a great time.

Afterwards, my friends and I headed over to another place where we tore up the dance floor and then headed home. 

“There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless.”—Simone de Beauvoir

Sunset with a friend

This morning I started off by meeting in the Delegate's Lounge about the new project I was working on and drank a medium coffee for the first time since being here.

Bad idea - forgot that coffee and I don't mix...I had a headache all day and I was super sleepy. But the day kept going. We had another meeting after this meeting (how do we ever get work done eh?) and then at lunch, I headed over to the UNDP building (which is actually quite nice, big, and has lots and lots of security).

I went upstairs to go to an interns' meeting where I learned more about the different events and outings that happen all around the city.

The great thing that made me really happy was that I already knew about most of them and I could tell people about a few more.

After that headed back to work and made a new friend from Canada along the way! Good thing too, since she was going to celebrate our National holiday with us.

Sunset

I went home straight after work for the first time in a few weeks now, grabbed some groceries (not that there was much to be honest, the place seemed like it was closing down) and chilled for a bit before heading out again.

I headed over to my friend's place, which was just down the street (literally two blocks from me) and we went up to his rooftop.

I didn't realize it, but we weren't supposed to open the door... Awkward. Silent alarms went off :( :(

But we got to stay there, talk and enjoy music and enjoy the beautiful sunset, which was, of course, everything. It's amazing being on a rooftop that is surrounded by tall skyscrapers and beautiful views.

"I love exploring New York and I think that's what is so exciting about it. You find places that you've never heard of or seen before all the time." - Tory Burch

We woke up nice and early (I usually do because of my stupid internal clock, and he usually wakes up at 6 for work) and headed on our way out. We walked downtown so that we could see the Empire

Starting the day off
right with a street festival!

State building and some of the parks. It was quite a nice walk since it was so warm out and headed all the way down 6th avenue to Union Square Park. There we ran into a street food festival (we were starving, had barely anything for breakfast to prepare us for a nice meal in the park) and gosh was the food ... delicious smelling. There was grilled sausage, pork, chicken leg, pretty much everything there that could torture a person did torture a person (me). We kept walking around, ended up grabbing some free sunglasses and then headed over to Union Square Park.

Street festival on Bedford! 

At Union Square Park, there were a bunch of tents with fresh foods, baked goods, veggies, pretty much everything you can think of! We walked by and to try to sedate our hunger, we got to try some samples, like lamb sausage, duck confit, beer, juice and more! It was nice trying a little bit of everything.

So many people... 

Afterwards, we got into the subway and hopped on a train over to Brooklyn to try Smorgasbord! Chris had never been so I had to bring him. We started off by walking around a bit and ran into this really cool festival that they were hosting on Bedford Avenue. There was real grass that was rolled out on the streets so that people could hang out there as well as sit down and enjoy the weather. I found out that it was a part of some music festival where bands would be playing on the street all weekend! Pretty cool.

SO MUCH FOOD

But first, I was meeting up with some friends to walk over to Smorgasbord. We first headed over to the Artists and Fleas market where there were many handmade goods and other things for us to see! Unfortunately, for a "flea" market the prices were very steep. It was all hand made jewellery and artisianal stuff so it was quite cool to look around and check it out. When we headed out there was a musician playing a very interesting instrument with over 20 strings outside. It was interesting to see.

Swag of the day

We headed over to Smorgasbord where we were, of course, surrounded by an insane and immense amount of hipsters, people and overpriced food. It was pretty overwhelming - especially because there were so many people everywhere and the line ups were long. I decided to settle down with some fish and chips (they actually gave me a very generous amount for what I paid in comparison to the other places) while Chris grabbed some duck confit.

We sat by the beach for a little while at a picnic table before we got up and left to check out the street festival at Bedford Avenue.

At the street festival, there were many bands performing free concerts outside and as we were walking down, we ended up grabbing a bunch of free samples (yeah I know this keeps happening please don't hate me) of this new drink by Pepsi, somelemonade and a bunch of jerky. It was a pretty cool experience.

Giving out samples the classy way

Afterwards, Chris and I jumped on the metro to head down to SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown. We grabbed some gelato (after walking around to find the perfect gelato place) from Ferraras and then headed over to the park to grab a seat to eat. 

People, people, people. 

We sat down in the middle of Columbus Park (also known as five point park) and enjoyed the view of people gambling, singing Chinese opera and playing musical instruments. It was quite enjoyable. I called my mom to talk to her a little bit and then just sat around for a bit with Chris.

Gelato! 

Afterwards, Chris and I walked towards city hall and I tried to give him a quick history lesson and some fun facts about the building but turns out my memory melts a bit in the sun. we walked around for a little while longer and headed down past the church (which was left completely unscathed during the 9/11 attack) with the beautiful old cemetery.

We were walking down so that we could see the memorial of One Trade Center (didn't go into the museum, but for anyone interested, they are free on Tuesdays).

Imposing.

It is truly a heartbreaking memorial when you go and see how gigantic the holes in the ground are and how deep both the holes and the scars in peoples' lives run. 

After the memorial, Chris and I rode the metro back home so that we could change and head over to the (Free!) Off-Broadway show, Trip of Love. We tried to head over to a rooftop bar beforehand (I wanted him to see the Empire State in all it's glory), unfortunately, when we went there, we were told it was closed for a "private event." Very sad that we couldn't get in so we went to the nearby Bryant park and sat down for a bit and relaxed... relaxed that is until I looked at my phone and realized I completely screwed up and instead of picking up tickets half an hour at 8, it was pick up tickets half an hour before 8.

The memorial, there are two gigantic
holes where the twin towers used to be...
but now instead have memorial fountains

Whoops.

We ran over to the theatre as fast as we could on 42nd (and you know how bad 42nd is for walking right?! Right by Times Square?!) and went through what I would call the quicksand of people. It was the worst thing I had ever gone through when I was in a rush. And even though we were already past 5th and needed to get down to 9th... It was not something easy to do. You'd think just a few blocks would be easy - it's not. By the time we got into the theatre we were sweating quite a lot.

The venue itself was quite nice, with escalators and high ceilings to enjoy the view of the entire theatre and a window to look out onto 

42nd. I was very impressed with how nice the seats were and how well done the decor was. With the

Free tickets :3

high ceilings, it made the place feel very large and very fancy. I really enjoyed the venue. And it helped that our seats were just two rows from the stage!

They had decorated the sides of the walls to reflect the Broadway play that was playing. 

The ushers there were quite nice and very polite, willing to answer any and all questions we had and at the end, when the Broadway show was finishing up, I looked back and all I could see was the ushers dancing and just jamming to the show. What a cool group of people working there.

In the theatre! 

Unfortunately, the play was not as great as I'd hoped it would be...in fact I didn't even like it until about 3 songs in because I had no idea what was happening. It seemed like they were just singing songs... but once I accepted that they were just singing songs, I started to enjoy it a lot more as just entertainment rather than a play with any plot whatsoever.

After the play, I was particularity hungry so I demanded that Chris walk with me for about 20 minutes and grab some Shake Shack with me. I had never been before so I just wanted and had to try it out!

We both grabbed burgers, fries and he grabbed a milk shake. We took it to go, walked home and sat there, watching Bo Burnham (who is extremely offensive, don't google him if you don't want to be offended or anything) and enjoying our fries.

Crispy fries and yummy burgers

Oh my god. Those were the BEST burgers I have ever had from a fast food establishment, I am honestly still so blown away by how amazing and delicious they were. I enjoyed them so so so much. The fries were particularity good and the bacon cheese burger I had was just bursting with flavour. I can still remember how delicious it was and it's making my stomach rumble a bit.

After the much-needed food and humorous entertainment, we headed to sleep.

"My life is not that glamorous. I actually live a pretty simple life, really. I just work. I don't have time to do all these glamorous things. I just do my thing, just work." Olga Kurylenko

He came all the way to see me!

This morning I walked into work pretty pumped since I was going to leave early. I headed over to work, started doing my own thing, skipped lunch and did as much work as I possibly could. The morning was quite hectic as I had to put together some materials for a huge meeting my office was about to have with the EOSG.

I got called out a bit early so I could go out and find some office supplies (that were not available at my office) and then headed over to another place to pick up some plants... It was an

In the TCC. 

interesting morning, to say the least. 

After doing my work and then heading over to pick up supplies, I walked over to Grand Central Terminal to pick up Chris! We met up at the Opal clock (that's worth millions of dollars) and just stood there for a bit (I hadn't seen him in over a month). 

Two loves of my life.
And Chris

I grabbed him and then took him home to drop off his stuff and then we headed over to the UN! There, one of my colleagues was kind enough to bring us both upstairs and then we took a mini tour of the building with Nan and Chris bought some goods. He saw a bunch of the artwork and the Trustee Council room which was empty. Afterwards, Chris got to meet everyone who worked in the office (except for the USG). We headed over across the road and went into a building where the night before, my friend with the

"Day of Portugal"

Portuguese Mission invited me to a Portugal day celebration! I hadn't RSVP'd so when I went up to the guy, I showed him the online invitation I got and told him I RSVP'd late and he just told me "it's ok, 12th floor". I'm sure my UN badge had something or another to do with this...

We headed up to the 12th floor and there, we were greeted by a bunch of large posters celebrating

View of the UN, Secretariat and East River. Best party ever

Portugal day and, knowing no one there (The person with that Mission wasn't there yet and my friend who sent me the invitation information wouldn't be there all night since they had work to do), I headed over to the balcony where I stood and talked for quite a while.

The view was completely and utterly spectacular. It was a view of the East River with a perfect shot of the UN, Secretariat and all the (empty) flag poles. I was lucky it was so sunny and bright out, since it gave me the best view of the UN and beyond.

After a little while, we headed inside, where it was starting to really fill up and as we walked in, there

Enjoying our open bar

was an open bar with orange juice, red wine and vino verte (green wine). We grabbed a glass each and walked around to take a look at all the decor, the piano and the flags all around. We stood for a bit by the piano and had an excellent view of the proceedings when they started.

Unfortunately, quite a lot of it was in Portuguese. I caught a few words here and there (English really does steal from every language, doesn't it?) but I didn't really get the gist. There were a few speakers throughout the night and some of them actually did speak English, which was nice to hear. After the speeches, we were delighted to hear some musical accompaniment by a Portuguese student playing on piano. As we walked around, we were served many Portuguese dishes, including deep fried cod balls, Rissóis de Camarão (Portuguese Shrimp Dumplings), Black-eyed beans salad and pasteis de nata (egg tarts). It was a delicious night. Before we left, everyone got a small "Portuguese day" gift bag with catalogue stuff, a mouse pad and a box of "science (the event was cosponsored by a Science and Tech Organization)." As we left, I ran into my Portuguese friend and thanked him for the night and left him to his party and thanking delegates.

On the Patio of the Delegate's Lounge

Afterwards, Chris and I headed over to the UN where we were let in by my friend from the "Mission of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta." Yes that is a thing. She led us into the Delegate's Lounge and since it was so many people's first time there, I had to show them how to get in.

When we got up there, the weather was beautiful! So there were many people both inside and outside of the Delegate's Lounge just relaxing and enjoying themselves. It was the first time I had been to the DL and there were that many people.

Dinner was SO GOOD

I ended up pulling Chris all around the outside patio and inside of the building to show him around and see all the different people, artwork and other stuff around the DL and I'm sure he loved it, hanging out at the "local" UN drinking spot and seeing everyone talking, enjoying and unwinding after a long week. I got to talk to quite a few of my friends (introduce them to Chris) and found out that they had actually been in meetings all day long and my heart is actually crying a bit for them since a lot of them, at the missions, have to stay really late - like sometimes 8 or 9 pm late.

Corner to corner!

Afterwards, Chris and I headed out of the DL to meet up with some other friends (yes busy day) where we grabbed some late night dinner and drinks at a local and delicious restaurant/bar in the neighbourhood. We were sitting in an area that was both half in and out of the restaurant, and we ended up not only watching part of the football game, but also watching an arrest scene... We got to see cops run down the street, arrest someone and then spend about 30 or so minute writing down the arrest. Chris really got the full New York experience today. 

It was interesting. To say the least.

Afterwards we headed home from the fun night and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We dropped by Grand Central Station (since earlier we wanted to try this) and we went downstairs where it was mostly empty and did the WHISPERING WALL!! This is right in front of the Oyster bar and it is engineered so you can whisper into the corner and hear the person on the other corner perfectly fine! Actually many guys propose to their girlfriends this way... (wink wink)

"Personal relationships are always the key to good business. You can buy networking; you can't buy friendships." - Lindsay Fox

Today was another one of those days where there wasn't anything too big going on so it was a very laid back, chill kind of day. I messaged some friends to meet up for lunch, only about 3 people came and what I didn't realize was that a bunch of people had messaged me (since I had no wifi) so a much more people would have loved to go. I ended up going to the nearby park and ran into a bunch of other interns as well, sat with them and ate. I met some new mission interns who were also hanging out at the park. We sat with them and talked until we had to head back into the Secretariat building.

At the networking event.

I worked until normal time and had a networking event later on that night, but since I had some time to kill, I decided it would be a good idea to take some of the friends that I had met and bring them over to the bar that the interns usually go to so I could have them meet up with some other friends. I hung out with them outside for a bit before the happy hour started and then headed out, met up with my friends and went over to this networking event where I got to meet a bunch of people from start up groups. 

It was very interesting to see the confidence and the sheer aggression from the people who were part of the start up group. Even though I wasn't an investor or an intern with them, they were quite aggressive with their tactics. Interestingly enough, i gave someone my E-mail and asked them to e-mail me with more information about their start up and they still have yet to e-mail me back (oh the business world, nice to your face). I met a few other interns there and they were quite friendly so I guess I networked well? 

fter the event, I decided to go back to the intern bar that all the UN interns go to and hang out with friends there. We danced and sang to the songs they played (actually they played a lot of Canadian music, like Drake, Bieber, The Weekend, Magic!) and just had a great time. I even made some new friends! Near the end of the night, I headed out while others went to the bar beside to watch the hockey game. All in all a pretty cool day.

"Experience is the teacher of all things." - Julius Caesar

Today was a beautiful day. Started it off by walking to work and literally just entered in some confidential information and worked a bit on my project. 

Earlier that day, someone had messaged the whole intern group and asked if anyone wanted to go out for lunch (since it was honestly GORGEOUS) out and I agreed. I walked over to the building where we were supposed to be meeting up and awkwardly stood there by myself before I walked up to a group of people who also had A badges and finally found my group. It was really cool, I met interns from all over the UN as well as 3 new Canadian friends, one from Japan, one from France, one from China and one from Belgium. We sat and talked while having lunch together and I accidentally let it slip that I go to walking tours all the time and because of that I know a lot of info about the city. I told everyone about what I knew and, amazingly enough, people kept listening and were really interested! 

Guess I'm not as boring as I thought.

We ended up staying a bit later than lunch entails (I talk too much when I get excited about history and fun facts) and I headed back over to work. 

 I finished up my project and then after work, headed into the Subway and metro'd all the way down to Cooper Union Frederick P. Rose Auditorium to attend an event hosted by the Canadian HIV/AIDS legal network called, "Consent: HIV Non-Disclosure and Sexual Assault law, Under the law, what does saying yes to sex really mean?" It was made up of a reception and then a screening of two documentaries:

http://www.consentfilm.org/watch-the-film-discussion-guide/ and http://positivewomenthemovie.org/video.html. As this was a Canadian legal network, I learn a lot about how being HIV positive may impact how the law sees them. For example, the Canadian laws in place state that if you are HIV positive and you do not tell your partner before having sex with them, it is aggravated assault. Makes sense at first glance right? It's not as black and white as that. I've heard about cases where even if they did have consensual sex and the person did disclose their HIV status, they have to have something to prove that they were having safe sex. So the case I heard was that sometimes, they'll freeze a condom to prove that they had protected sex. 

That's ridiculous. 

There was also one case in Canada of a woman who was HIV positive in a long term relationship where she said that she disclosed her status from the start. The relationship was abusive, and every time she tried to get out of it, he would threaten to bring her to court for aggravated assault, which is a charge that would carry a life sentence as well as being put down as a sex offender. She ended up staying in that relationship for almost 4 years before she got out and was charged with aggravated assault.

Like I said, things aren't always black and white. On top of that, it is a cycle. Even though these people are bring challenges against those with HIV, what do they think they'll be in the future? The victim will become the perpetrator one day. It's actually quite sad and frustrating to think about since it feels like our system is so broken. 

Anyway, back onto the event. When I got out of the subway, I was 100% not going the right way and even though I was definitely in the right area (btw the subway only took me like 9 minutes to get all the way downtown) I wandered and took the wrong turns and stops quite often. It took me about 10 minutes to finally find the right place to go...after being given the wrong directions by a security officer. Whoops.

When I finally got there, the venue itself was quite nice. It had very high ceilings, it was modern,

sleek and had this very cold but technological vibe to it. I liked it. We went downstairs where we were greeted by catered Indian food and drinks (How is my life like this, seriously) as a reception before we headed into the theatre. The theatre was also really nice, the walls were beautiful with this wavy patter and it was just in general a really cool place to go! The chairs were comfy and there was loads of space between my chair and the one in front for leg room. It had a slope down, which meant that even though people were taller than me sitting in front of me, I could still see everything that was happening. 

First we watched two screenings and then afterwards, there was a panel discussion with four advocates, one from New Zealand, one from France, one From Canada and one from the US. It was really interesting hearing about the comments that everyone had up there, coming from someone like me who is so ignorant to these issues and listening to the questions and answers from the audience/panel. 

At the end of the night, there was another reception with more drinks and leftover food and I ended up making friends with the students behind the counter who were attending college nearby and told me that their club usually sponsors and hosts events like this all year round! Hardworking youngin's. I actually ended up making such good friends with them that they asked me if I wanted to take the rest of the uneaten food home.

Uh.

Yes.

I caught an uber with my friend (who was the one who originally told em about this event) heading in somewhat the same direction as me and brought my literal tray of food home. 

All in all, great day for a learning experience.

"Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen." - Conan O'Brien

Got to dress up casual

I literally woke up at 7am today. I am so tired.

I mugged around and just kind of walked around the apartment, tried to write some more blog posts (since I am like a week behind honestly).

At around 2:30, I headed over to work to help out with the report again (yes on a Saturday and no - I wasn't forced to, I wanted to).

But before work, I walked around for a bit and just walked into two street fairs - the Murray Hill Street fair and then again with a Japan street fair. It was quite

Japan fest :D

cool being able to just see these street fairs outside and just having them, BAM, literally right outside my door. I didn't get a chance to eat or try anything since I needed to head to work asap.

When I got to the I sat around and helped out with edits again.

SO emtpy during weekends

It was quite interesting since we were so close to finishing and we were all so tired.

The entire contingent right here

After working so hard, I decided it was time to play hard (well I mean kind of hard).

I headed over to my friend's new place in Williamsburg and it was beautiful. She had a really cool rooftop, where myself and the entire Canadian Mission Intern contingent was there (Yes, all three of them). It was pretty nice going up top and relaxing and having a few drinks, talking to friends and just enjoying in general.

:D 

We headed out afterwards to grab a bite to eat and we grabbed some food from a Polish restaurant where I got to practise my very limited Polish and the guy was just having a ball listening to me say thank you and good bye in Polish and talking about all my favourite Polish foods!

After the delicious dinner, where I ordered this gigantic burger that was just overflowing with food, we headed down towards another bar, sat down and played some interesting drinking games and talked about life in general.

Gigantic plate of food

All in all, it was a great night of hanging out with friends and exploring the city. Got home a bit late, but I feel like that's starting to become a trend....

"How about the quote 'how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." - A. A. Milne

Woke up a bit late this morning and was feeling a bit sick from the night before, BUT I MADE IT INTO WORK, more importantly, I made it into work before a few people. I mosey'd around a bit, just

a bit, and did some work. I got a new task today so I'll be populating some spreadsheets for the next little while. 

While doing that, one of my good friends (he is Brazilian and Italian, what a cool mix right?) wanted to meet up for a coffee before saying good bye. *cue tears here* 

I met him up for coffee and we spoke and talked a bit and the whole time all I could think of was how fast the time was going and how short this internship is and will be. Already, I'm almost a month into the internship, which means I only have about two months left - only two months left in one of the greatest cities in the world.

I am heartbroken. What's even worst is the friends that I make now...are leaving soon. So many people that I've met only just recently are leaving. They're going home, they're continuing their lives and they're doing other things. It's heartbreaking because the UN is so full of happiness and hellos, while walking hand in hand with sorrows and goodbyes. The friends I make here, who I clicked and got along with, those who are kind hearted and whose wavelengths connect with him will come and they will go. It's scary and it's sad - it feels worst than being left alone; it feels like being left behind. 

Reflecting on this now, I know it sounds immature and it sounds insecure and yes I will move on and do other things, etc. but in that moment, being told that a friend, a cherished kindred spirit is leaving, it does fracture the soul a bit as they take a piece of your heart with you. I experienced that when I lived in France in Grenoble and my friends were leaving one by one... I was lucky because I was one of the earlier people to leave, and unlucky because I had to leave so much behind. 

But of course, those moments fade and that feeling, although now lodged in my heart, will eventually change and evolve into fondness, fondness of the memories that I had with these people who will leave. When I see photos or hear words or phrases, I will reminisce and remember the kindness, always the kindness.

Dessert, main, appetizer, bread stick and apparently some guy
from New York Fleet week showed up.

As I walked back to my office, I did some more work on my project and then at around lunch time, it was time for lunch! One of the very, very, very lovely ladies at my office wanted to take the interns out to lunch at the Delegate's Dining Room! We headed on down to the floor and had our reservations, went inside and were greeted by this spectacular view of the river, the bridge and the island across from it. The plates and the setting was done beautifully and the atmosphere was calm and ambient. 

When we sat down, we were brought a basket full of different types of bread and these delicious, almost flatbread like baked cheese bread "sticks" to start off with. There were three tables full of food for people to go and get whatever they'd like to eat. 

The first one was the appetizer table and they had smoked salmon, smoked duck, crab bisque, different salads and sauces and more that I just do not remember. It was very fresh.

The second table had main course and there were options with smoked cod, chicken and sausage, season's vegetables, Korean beef and a chef at the end serving a delicious baked salmon with mango sauce. 

At the dessert table was all kinds of cakes, macaroons, mousse, fresh fruit and others. 

It was delicious, for the price ($35), all you can eat, it was pretty good. The waiters came by to refill our water constantly, but I was a bit disappointed that they never came back with the basket of bread again. 

I think everyone should go there at least once to enjoy the atmosphere and have that great experience to dine with foreign dignitaries and other UN personnel. It's definitely a cool experience and great for your taste bud and tummies. We ended up talking for quite some time, for so long that by the time I got back to the office, it was almost already time to go.  I talked a bit more to my office co-workers and then headed out back home. I was so exhausted from all my activities and other things that I was doing this past week that I got home and just passed out. 

Goodbye with smiles

Couldn't pass out for long though, my friend and a few of his co-workers were meeting up in the park by my place so I got up (begrudgingly) and out of bed and headed over. 

When I got to the park, they had great eyes because I honestly did not seem them at all, they were the ones that found me and waved. We sat and talked for a good long while, long after the sun went down. It was really nice actually, it was the kind of conversations I really missed, ones where we talked about language, history, all these different academic and cultural-based topics where I could very freely ask questions to try to learn. It was really wonderful having people who were from different places explain, for example, their political system and their experiences as a person living in that culture. 

I love conversations like this. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's nice to talk about things that do not matter like the Kartrashians or Drumpf, but sometimes I'd rather talk about something that really does matter and will help me learn and grow in the future. I don't want to talk about the latest shoes or fashion trend (mostly because I have no idea what they are to be honest), I want to talk about the lastest news and the business trends. I want to know about what's going on in the world around me, how it'll affect me and how it'll affect those around me. 

At the risk of sounding like a complete loser - I thrive off this stuff. I'm such a news and trivia junkie (as you may have noticed after reading some of my blog) that I want to hear and learn more constantly. I may be curious by nature... but then again, I may just be nosy. I enjoy conversations that are intellectually stimulating and provoke curiosity.  

At the end of the night, everyone, unfortunately had to head home and say goodbyes. 

"Life is a lot like jazz, it's best when you improvise." - George Gershwin

When I went into work, it was definitely a party (not really). There were a lot of people there and now because there are so many interns it is difficult to have enough space during meetings for everyone to sit around. When I got in, I was told that we were ordering lunch that day and I got to choose some stuff for us to eat - lots of salad, pasta and pizza.

In the morning, it was all about killing time until lunch. Turns out it wasn't hard since we had another coordination meeting going on and may I just say, wow, there is so much though and there are so many complications when it comes to this. I am so glad I don't work for the UN.

Oh wait.

Champagne lunch, what what.

Right after the meeting, we had lunch altogether to welcome the new interns and our gratis personnel. It was quite lovely sitting around and talking to each other with our food and our glasses of champagne. We wall talked about our own personal experiences so far in the UN and learned a little bit from each person about their past. It was definitely nice.

Afterwards, went and got down to business. I left to head home and drop off my heavy bag and stuff but I still had things to do. My evening had just begun. I started off by grabbing a coffee with a friend for a bit and sitting down and catching up on her and some of the things she's been going through.

Afterwards, I headed over to the UNHQ and was denied entry. Was pretty great, gotta say. As I am a UN Intern, I am not allowed on the premises after 6pm. Great. So I had to ask a co-worker to help me go in. She did, she came straight downstairs, picked me up and brought me up to the Delegate's Lounge where I was able to enjoy some beautiful live jazz from a UN band with my supervisor and other co-workers. We got bottles of rose and a platter of charcuterie and fromagerie, a beautiful view of outside and got to really enjoy the evening filled with live music. It was actually very surreal,

Live jazz by UN personnel. So good.

sitting in the Delegate's Lounge in the United Nations listening to live jazz music (done beautifully btw).

There was a really cute little girl (I didn't take a picture of her, I'm not a creep) who was jumping up and down enjoying the jazz music and then afterwards, she ran up to us and offered us cookies that she had freshly baked herself. So cute.

After about 8pm, everyone was starting to leave so I went out onto the balcony where there was barely anyone there (unlike Fridays where ALL the interns go) and just enjoyed the sight, the weather and the atmosphere. It was amazing and the whole thing just felt very positive.

FOOD PLATTERS in the Delegate's Lounge

As we were heading out, we got a chance to meet a few other UN personnel and retired UN personnel. It was cool.

As I headed out to go back home, a friend invited me out to a bar, with the night still being early, I agreed and joined her. I was so taken aback and just humbled by her inclusiveness and kindness - I hope one day I can be even half as generous as ehr.

What happened next was not what I expected. It was quite a few people who worked for the UN and were from Murray Hill... singing Karaoke. It was an experience. An interesting one. I got to talk to some UN staff there as well about some of their experiences. Everyone seems to have this interesting and different perspective of the world and how it should be. It's always interesting to try to follow along.