Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Well, fortunately today did not end like it began. I woke up exactly seven minutes before our bus was departing for Geneva! I am now on a self-imposed ban of hitting the snooze button for the remainder of my time here. Surprisingly, I was able to wash my hair (praise God for dry shampoo), get dressed, and grab all of the necessary make-up to make myself presentable for our site visits…not to mention passport, notepad and pen, etc. necessary for the day’s activities. I’m quite glad that I normally put my bag together the night before!

Our first stop was at the United Nations. Just walking inside the building where such vital topics are discussed was an incredible honor. The room we were seated in and held our discussions was the room that the members of the Disarmament Council meet. It is also the room where the original League of Nation members sat for their discussions. The murals painted on the wall were beautiful…one wall depicted Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War…it was interesting to see such a blatant display of the United States. The topic discussed in this meeting was disarmament at all levels – nuclear, biological, and chemical. The topic was not one with which I have had a lot of interaction, but it is an important piece of the international community puzzle and I believe that it will be relevant in the work that I hope to do.

Following the meeting at the UN, we went to a meeting much more in line with my specific area of focus – The International Committee of the Red Cross. The person selected to conduct our meeting could not have been more perfect – he is in charge of all ICRC activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Considering Afghanistan is a place where I hope to work one day, the knowledge that he had of the area was invaluable. The ICRC is a completely non-political organization whose mission is to “protect and assist the civilian and military victims of armed conflicts and internal disturbances on a strictly neutral and impartial basis.” The idea of helping the “other side” is controversial for some, but for the most part, people understand that the work that they do is necessary and good.

After this meeting, we headed back to Fribourg for dinner and sleep. I personally got a bit carsick on the ride home (a side effect of the hash brown pizza at the UN cafeteria?), so I sidestepped the heavy pasta and ate a breakfast bar instead. I felt much better by the end of the evening and went to the computer lab to check email and study the reading for tomorrow’s class.

Everything pretty much quiets down here around 10 p.m. There is actually a “quiet time” that is enforced from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (no congregating in the halls, playing music, etc.). I can’t say that I mind…we all know how much I appreciate my sleep – especially with all of these early mornings!