Last few day in Geneva: We spent the day at the ICRC and heard some lectures about International Humanitarian Law and we also took a tour of the ICRC warehouse. The last day of the trip was the longest and most packed with a trip to the UN in the morning and talks with Canada and Human Rights Watch.
The nights have been relatively laid back. We all went out for Edwin's last night with us on Tuesday and Lindsay had a greaaaaat time. Ill leave the details out for everyone's gag reflex's sake, but it wasnt pretty when she got home hahah.
Last night we went to our spot again to start the process of saying goodbye to our bartenders. Erin is just trying to get a picture with Ashee so she can leave Geneva a happy girl. We ran into some delegates from the CCW at the bar. We observed as they had some bilateral negotiations over tower of beer....i guess you work hard, you play hard in geneva.
We now have a new south african friend and an new australian friend. Our new south african friend was way too swanky for us...because we were only wearing flip flops (or thongs as they call them in australia) and he was in his suit and we would not be allowed to go to the other clubs in the city. We were learning some new phrases from our Aussie friend, like "sunny jim" which means "whatever"...yeaaa i get it? And "sticking it to ya".
He questioned why all Americans use the phrase "yall" hahaha which is quite stereotypical if I say so myself. But he was quite the stereotypical Australian i guess...he had a big kangaroo on his sweatshirt haha.
So today, on my last day in Geneva...i took great advantage of the beautiful weather and napped...inside...
Oh well, i was tired and I am trying to take preventative measures so my cranky pants self wont be too bitter tomorrow after 20 hours in transit.
We have a dinner tonight with the entire group at the Private UN Club....almost too swanky for me...but it should be a nice going away dinner...and hopefully the food is amazing.
Wake up time tomorrow is about 6 am....HA HA HA.
see you all tomorrow...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Inconfortable
we finished up our week on thursday with negotiations at the UN and a conversation with the Austrian delegate. He's hilarious and great and i kind of wish we could be best friends.
We had Friday morning off so we decided to go to mr. pickwicks for karaoke as a whole group. Except erin, lindsay, and I got there first and proceeded to practice on stage before the others got there. One audience member goes, "was that you who just sang britney spears? Bad sound...but great performace!"....umm embarassing. Later on there was a great group performance of the spice girls as well...only slightly less embarassing. We even got Professor Garcia up there a few times. Thursday night proceeded on with erin and I making a last call appearance at our favorite spot and ill elaborate later if you'd like to hear.
Friday afternoon we met with our international co-op coordinator who is here in Geneva making connections with Prof. Garcia's connections to get us international co-ops in switzerland. All I can say is that Ketty Rosenfield and Denise Garcia are the two most fabulous ladies I have ever met in my life.
There were some alumni of northeastern who spoke to us as well. These alumni had no idea that Northeastern was no longer an engineering school so after we gave them the Northeastern Inc. commerical they were a bit shocked and things got a bit awkward.
We also met with some swiss private bankers who gave us a grim outlook on the economy but tried to persuade us that private banking is a great field to go into. Personally, since I dont even understand how to pay my credit card bill without help, private banking is not the field for me. Even after talking to the 24 year from Mexico working for Meryill Lynch who is making 6 figures and driving a Jaguar around Geneva who made banking sound extremely sexy- I just cant see myself handing other people's money because I'm not the best at handling my own haha.
One of the bankers was a schoolmate of prof. garcia and he is probably the smartest man i've ever spoken to...knowing everything about everything and just happened to "fall" into banking after working in foreign affairs. I was lucky enough to be able to sit next to him at dinner and pick his brain a little bit. OH because we had dinner with all of these private bankers and alumni at this cute restaurant in the old part of the city. it was the best meal ive eaten thus far.
Saturday we got up at 6 am and went to Paris. Let me just say, last year, I hated Paris. Because I got ripped off everywhere I went. Well, this year, because my French is so great now (hahaha) and I knew the vacinity of things, Paris for 7 hours was a lot better this time around. We decided to be uber touristy and get on a double decker bus and go around the city so er and linds could see the whole city. BEST IDEA EVER. 29 euro. BEST DEAL EVER. we could get on and off the bus whereever we wanted and how many times we wanted. Much better than walking around aimlessly. Then we got off and had a fabulous lunch and shopped in the Latin quarter for some souveniers. I love Paris as a tourist.
The train ride home from Paris was a quick 3 and a half hours (compared to the 8 hours from Venice). Sounds lovely right? Well no. We were tired, delirious, and acting very American. and being judged for it. But I'm over it. i AM from the US. judge me. hahha
Today, irony caught up to us. I knew it would happen after such a delightful day in Paris...the fates were going to turn somehow. We went to go take a boat to Yvoire, this medieval French town on the other side of the lake, but we get there at 12:20 and it leaves at 12:30 and there is NO ONE in the ticket booth. So we missed the boat on that one (ha ha ha pun intended). then we decided to take a boat tour of the lake and just as I say "we couldn't have asked for a better day for a boat tour" the sky on the other side of the lake starts to turn black and thunder. Oh well...the boat tour was lovely while it was nice out.
And, so now it is Sunday, and there is nothing to do in Geneva because the city shuts down. If you are hungry, that sucks. you have to go eat out somewhere because the grocery stores are closed and all of the shops as well. I suppose we will go get some kebabs or falafel because we went there last night and they are still in love with me at that shop. But, lesson learned the hard way: lay off of the hot sauce unless you want your mouth to swell up and cause you horrible pain.
We had Friday morning off so we decided to go to mr. pickwicks for karaoke as a whole group. Except erin, lindsay, and I got there first and proceeded to practice on stage before the others got there. One audience member goes, "was that you who just sang britney spears? Bad sound...but great performace!"....umm embarassing. Later on there was a great group performance of the spice girls as well...only slightly less embarassing. We even got Professor Garcia up there a few times. Thursday night proceeded on with erin and I making a last call appearance at our favorite spot and ill elaborate later if you'd like to hear.
Friday afternoon we met with our international co-op coordinator who is here in Geneva making connections with Prof. Garcia's connections to get us international co-ops in switzerland. All I can say is that Ketty Rosenfield and Denise Garcia are the two most fabulous ladies I have ever met in my life.
There were some alumni of northeastern who spoke to us as well. These alumni had no idea that Northeastern was no longer an engineering school so after we gave them the Northeastern Inc. commerical they were a bit shocked and things got a bit awkward.
We also met with some swiss private bankers who gave us a grim outlook on the economy but tried to persuade us that private banking is a great field to go into. Personally, since I dont even understand how to pay my credit card bill without help, private banking is not the field for me. Even after talking to the 24 year from Mexico working for Meryill Lynch who is making 6 figures and driving a Jaguar around Geneva who made banking sound extremely sexy- I just cant see myself handing other people's money because I'm not the best at handling my own haha.
One of the bankers was a schoolmate of prof. garcia and he is probably the smartest man i've ever spoken to...knowing everything about everything and just happened to "fall" into banking after working in foreign affairs. I was lucky enough to be able to sit next to him at dinner and pick his brain a little bit. OH because we had dinner with all of these private bankers and alumni at this cute restaurant in the old part of the city. it was the best meal ive eaten thus far.
Saturday we got up at 6 am and went to Paris. Let me just say, last year, I hated Paris. Because I got ripped off everywhere I went. Well, this year, because my French is so great now (hahaha) and I knew the vacinity of things, Paris for 7 hours was a lot better this time around. We decided to be uber touristy and get on a double decker bus and go around the city so er and linds could see the whole city. BEST IDEA EVER. 29 euro. BEST DEAL EVER. we could get on and off the bus whereever we wanted and how many times we wanted. Much better than walking around aimlessly. Then we got off and had a fabulous lunch and shopped in the Latin quarter for some souveniers. I love Paris as a tourist.
The train ride home from Paris was a quick 3 and a half hours (compared to the 8 hours from Venice). Sounds lovely right? Well no. We were tired, delirious, and acting very American. and being judged for it. But I'm over it. i AM from the US. judge me. hahha
Today, irony caught up to us. I knew it would happen after such a delightful day in Paris...the fates were going to turn somehow. We went to go take a boat to Yvoire, this medieval French town on the other side of the lake, but we get there at 12:20 and it leaves at 12:30 and there is NO ONE in the ticket booth. So we missed the boat on that one (ha ha ha pun intended). then we decided to take a boat tour of the lake and just as I say "we couldn't have asked for a better day for a boat tour" the sky on the other side of the lake starts to turn black and thunder. Oh well...the boat tour was lovely while it was nice out.
And, so now it is Sunday, and there is nothing to do in Geneva because the city shuts down. If you are hungry, that sucks. you have to go eat out somewhere because the grocery stores are closed and all of the shops as well. I suppose we will go get some kebabs or falafel because we went there last night and they are still in love with me at that shop. But, lesson learned the hard way: lay off of the hot sauce unless you want your mouth to swell up and cause you horrible pain.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
post.
We stayed in Geneva for the weekend. Relaxed on saturday morning and went shopping and out to eat. Then we proceeded to the techno party downtown. It was such a crazy place. A lot of fun at the time but looking back on it, i never want to do that again ha ha.
Sunday was also relaxing. I actually dont think i accomplished anything on Sunday. great use of my short time in switzerland.
Monday we spent the day at the Geneva Environment Network or UNEP. We were given lectures on the environment's relation in security policy etc. Today was somewhat the same, except we had focused specific lectures on environment assesssment groups, depleted uranium, and climate change. Then we all took place in a negotiation dialogue about windmills. My group lost.
Tomorrow we have another negotiation dialogue in which I am playing the role of a local government official in Cambodia on the issue of Landmines. This should be really interesting because we have a lot of different delegation groups going to be participating.
Sunday was also relaxing. I actually dont think i accomplished anything on Sunday. great use of my short time in switzerland.
Monday we spent the day at the Geneva Environment Network or UNEP. We were given lectures on the environment's relation in security policy etc. Today was somewhat the same, except we had focused specific lectures on environment assesssment groups, depleted uranium, and climate change. Then we all took place in a negotiation dialogue about windmills. My group lost.
Tomorrow we have another negotiation dialogue in which I am playing the role of a local government official in Cambodia on the issue of Landmines. This should be really interesting because we have a lot of different delegation groups going to be participating.
Friday, July 11, 2008
fUN times
So we've been hanging around the UN all week. We take the long route to get there every morning up the big hill. I leave the hostel looking amazing but after 45 minutes of walking uphill in the heat I'm cranky and sweaty. And I have to grab another cup of gross and extremely strong coffee before I am ready to get down to business and negotiate about bombs.
Its been extremely interesting watching the CCW negotiations on cluster bombs, but even more so interesting talking to the delegates who are doing these negotiations. We spoke to members of the US delegation, the Canadian delgation, the Norweigian delegation and the Secretariat of the meeting. Getting the perspectives from each of these countries is amazing because the US has an extremely different view on cluster munitions than the Canadian or Norweigian view. The CCW negotiations were slow to begin with but then they have picked up after Wednesday when the US' new policy on cluster munitions became public and we actually saw REAL arguing today. We are all anxious to see what the outcome of this conference will be and how it will effect the Oslo process (started by Norway and six other core countries and established a comprehensive ban on cluster munitions at the end of May, but it will be signed in Dec.)
Its great to be able to walk around the UN recognizing the delegates as you pass them in the hallway and use the computers in the library. Everyone is very nice to us and they seem to be so pleased to get to talk to us. The UN is a huge enclave and its slightly confusing at first but after you wander around a get lost a few times you start to explore and understand it better. And the cafeteria is amazing! i love being able to eat something other than bread and cheese. Green food is nice.
This weekend we are supposed to go to Paris, but Id rather stick around for the Lake Parade which is going on tomorrow all day/night. Its a big parade/party/techno fest which I would love to take part in. I will probably "forget to set my alarm" for my train to Paris in the morning hahah.
In other exciting news:
I am apparently a regular at the Kebab place up the road, which is slightly embarassing. Most of them do not speak English and they just laugh at me every time I come in for food...which seems to be a lot because its the only place open late at night!
We are still on a mission to find lindsay and Erin swiss army men
Wine is cheaper than soda here. and Geneva wine goes down like water
We sat on Bus 1 for an hour and "took a tour" of the city because we were too lazy to get off
and I have yet to make it to the grocery store because things close too early around here! (which is why ive been living off of bread and carbs for the past week)
Its been extremely interesting watching the CCW negotiations on cluster bombs, but even more so interesting talking to the delegates who are doing these negotiations. We spoke to members of the US delegation, the Canadian delgation, the Norweigian delegation and the Secretariat of the meeting. Getting the perspectives from each of these countries is amazing because the US has an extremely different view on cluster munitions than the Canadian or Norweigian view. The CCW negotiations were slow to begin with but then they have picked up after Wednesday when the US' new policy on cluster munitions became public and we actually saw REAL arguing today. We are all anxious to see what the outcome of this conference will be and how it will effect the Oslo process (started by Norway and six other core countries and established a comprehensive ban on cluster munitions at the end of May, but it will be signed in Dec.)
Its great to be able to walk around the UN recognizing the delegates as you pass them in the hallway and use the computers in the library. Everyone is very nice to us and they seem to be so pleased to get to talk to us. The UN is a huge enclave and its slightly confusing at first but after you wander around a get lost a few times you start to explore and understand it better. And the cafeteria is amazing! i love being able to eat something other than bread and cheese. Green food is nice.
This weekend we are supposed to go to Paris, but Id rather stick around for the Lake Parade which is going on tomorrow all day/night. Its a big parade/party/techno fest which I would love to take part in. I will probably "forget to set my alarm" for my train to Paris in the morning hahah.
In other exciting news:
I am apparently a regular at the Kebab place up the road, which is slightly embarassing. Most of them do not speak English and they just laugh at me every time I come in for food...which seems to be a lot because its the only place open late at night!
We are still on a mission to find lindsay and Erin swiss army men
Wine is cheaper than soda here. and Geneva wine goes down like water
We sat on Bus 1 for an hour and "took a tour" of the city because we were too lazy to get off
and I have yet to make it to the grocery store because things close too early around here! (which is why ive been living off of bread and carbs for the past week)
Monday, July 7, 2008
4th-7th...but it felt more like a month
I rode a bike all around Geneva on Friday. So beautiful! But i'm not going to lie...it was slightly tough trying to learn how to ride a bike again. Had a few close calls with the on coming traffic! and going up the alps on a bike is not really my thing...but it was nice to get my barrings around the city. Then we all went out as a group to the American bar up the street to celebrate the 4th.
So we got back from Italy at one in the morning last night. Italy was...bizarre. We started the trip off on a great foot by getting 2 hours of sleep the night before (worst idea ever). I stayed up on the train to Milan because it was so picturesque that I could not fall asleep. Going around lake geneva and seeing the mountains and the vineyards and then northern Italy was just breathtaking.
Milan was breathtaking too....but in the "it's too hot outside i can't breathe" kind of way. Milan was kind of dingy and we got so lost and really weird things happened to us. Like our hostel for instance, Hotel Medusa, which looked straight out of a movie with a hostel you would never want to stay in haha. There were no locks on the door and it was a 9 person room! hahahah we definiately got our 13 euro worth i suppose. Then, we got hijacked by pigeon people who threw corn in my hand and forced me to stand there while pigeons landed on me. And then forced me to pay them for this service which I did not ask for....hmmm. After walking around for miles with no map and no clue, we finally settled down for a nice dinner at...Mcdonalds...hahah! because we could not find anywhere else to sit. We got back to our hostel and I delirously made friends with our new roommates and fell asleep for 9 hours, which was the best part of that day.
Venice the next day was worth the entire trip. It is exactly how you imagine it. Very romantic. Also very hot haha. But we drank wine by the grand canal and I ate spaghetti (an awful choice for it being 90 degrees out, but whatever...I was in Italy). It was an amazing four hours in venice hahah until we were so hot that Erin and I decided to put our feet in the water and then pour canal water all over us....HAHA. We were smelly and partially diseased for the 7 hour train ride home.
Oh and I have developed a horrible case of talking in my sleep which culminated on the train by abrubtly waking up and shoving my train pass into some poor Italian's face thinking he was the conductor coming my to check my ticket. And then yelling at my roommate Caitlyn telling her that I lost my key in the middle of the night.
Today was our first day at the UN. And a very full day at that. We saw the beginnings of the CCW negtios on cluster munitions and then met with the secretariat of the CCW (Convention on Conventional Weapons for short) and also met with a representative of the Human Rights Watch. So interesting to see everything. We will be observing these negtios over the next week off and on. They should be going on until the 25th when they are supposed to come to a proposal on the use of cluster munitions ( ha ha yea right). UN track negotios take a long time and are mostly not as effective nor efficient as other negiotiation tracks.
So we got back from Italy at one in the morning last night. Italy was...bizarre. We started the trip off on a great foot by getting 2 hours of sleep the night before (worst idea ever). I stayed up on the train to Milan because it was so picturesque that I could not fall asleep. Going around lake geneva and seeing the mountains and the vineyards and then northern Italy was just breathtaking.
Milan was breathtaking too....but in the "it's too hot outside i can't breathe" kind of way. Milan was kind of dingy and we got so lost and really weird things happened to us. Like our hostel for instance, Hotel Medusa, which looked straight out of a movie with a hostel you would never want to stay in haha. There were no locks on the door and it was a 9 person room! hahahah we definiately got our 13 euro worth i suppose. Then, we got hijacked by pigeon people who threw corn in my hand and forced me to stand there while pigeons landed on me. And then forced me to pay them for this service which I did not ask for....hmmm. After walking around for miles with no map and no clue, we finally settled down for a nice dinner at...Mcdonalds...hahah! because we could not find anywhere else to sit. We got back to our hostel and I delirously made friends with our new roommates and fell asleep for 9 hours, which was the best part of that day.
Venice the next day was worth the entire trip. It is exactly how you imagine it. Very romantic. Also very hot haha. But we drank wine by the grand canal and I ate spaghetti (an awful choice for it being 90 degrees out, but whatever...I was in Italy). It was an amazing four hours in venice hahah until we were so hot that Erin and I decided to put our feet in the water and then pour canal water all over us....HAHA. We were smelly and partially diseased for the 7 hour train ride home.
Oh and I have developed a horrible case of talking in my sleep which culminated on the train by abrubtly waking up and shoving my train pass into some poor Italian's face thinking he was the conductor coming my to check my ticket. And then yelling at my roommate Caitlyn telling her that I lost my key in the middle of the night.
Today was our first day at the UN. And a very full day at that. We saw the beginnings of the CCW negtios on cluster munitions and then met with the secretariat of the CCW (Convention on Conventional Weapons for short) and also met with a representative of the Human Rights Watch. So interesting to see everything. We will be observing these negtios over the next week off and on. They should be going on until the 25th when they are supposed to come to a proposal on the use of cluster munitions ( ha ha yea right). UN track negotios take a long time and are mostly not as effective nor efficient as other negiotiation tracks.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Rainy rainy
Good day today. Lectures with directors from the small arms survey. Got accredited for access to the UN. Would love to explain but I have exactly 17 minutes left on my internet card and we have to find a hostel in Milan for SATURDAY!! YAY
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
day one
Kudos to Air France...lots of food, blankets, pillows, and a personal TV. AND their seats had those little head rests that fold over so that your head does not flop around like a fish while you try to sleep. However, I was lucky enough to sit in front of the one man on the plane who did not wish to sleep, but instead play with his interactive television screen the entire flight...pushing and proding my seat. I was in and out of sleep the entire flight, which makes for one cranky Rachel the first day in Geneva.
The city is beautiful. Expensive. And it seems like you may do whatever you please. If I spoke French, things would be a lot easier and probably cheaper ha ha.
Our hostel room is "cozy" a.k.a small. But its doable and I cannot complain so far. We have a terrace to go out to which is lovely.
We tried to adventure after our group walking tour of the lake/drinks by the waterfront. We were hindered by the fact that we were EXHAUSTED and found ourselves in downtown red light district. Fun sights to say the least.
Must be up and made beautiful by 8:45 tomorrow for a meeting with the Small Arms Survey...Hooray!
The city is beautiful. Expensive. And it seems like you may do whatever you please. If I spoke French, things would be a lot easier and probably cheaper ha ha.
Our hostel room is "cozy" a.k.a small. But its doable and I cannot complain so far. We have a terrace to go out to which is lovely.
We tried to adventure after our group walking tour of the lake/drinks by the waterfront. We were hindered by the fact that we were EXHAUSTED and found ourselves in downtown red light district. Fun sights to say the least.
Must be up and made beautiful by 8:45 tomorrow for a meeting with the Small Arms Survey...Hooray!
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