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What You Say?!?
July 3, 2005 10:15 am (4:17 am for you folks in the U.S.)
Yes, I am not in the U.S. right now. In fact, I haven't been in the States for the past week. Where am I, you
might ask? In beautiful (and expensive!) Geneva, Switzerland, as part of the fantastic
NYU United
Nations Study Tour. The program concluded yesterday, and was one of the most enlightenting, educational, and
unbelievably amazing experiences I have ever been through. I wish everyone in the world could spend a week studying
the U.N., to truly understand its purpose, its functions, its limitations and strengths. No newspaper, no
publication (it's ok, The Economist, I still love you), no TV production, no blog, no website, can
equal actually sitting down at a table with an Ambassador and speaking frankly about his/her concerns. There is
no equivalent to being in a room with reps from UNAIDS, WTO, WHO, and several other key agencies, and
hearing their perspectives, bombarding them with tough questions that the media is too afraid to ask, digging out
of them the truths and visions that make them and our world tick, absorbing their vast knowledge of a global
society that even the most educated in the United States have a relatively poor grasp of.
My adventures and learning here could span several pages, taking up time that I now want to devote to a true
vacation. After 7 intensive days of debate, diplomacy, and reading (for better or worse, I now know the U.N. Charter
like the back of my hand - we had a U.N. lawyer with us!), it's time for me to relax, meet up with
my parents, and travel to France to explore Paris. I'll be back in the States on July 10, and I promise
to gather my notes and picures so
I can share this wonderful trip (both the informational and tourist portions). I am extremely grateful to NYU and
the United Nations in Geneva for giving 23 curious, inquisitive students the chance to dive deep into an organization
that is so important yet so misunderstood in this world.
See archived entries for May 2005.
See archived entries for March 2005.
See archived entries for February 2005
See archived entries for January 2005.
See archived entries for December 2004.
See archived entries for October 2004.
See archived entries for September 2004.
See archived entries for August 2004.
See archived entries for July 2004.
See archived entries for June 2004.
See archived entries for May 2004.
Back to Self.
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