My day at the UN

So I just spent my day today at the UN in meetings and editing a 20 page formal document synthesizing the member states comments on a UNECE Sustainable Housing Treaty, that I will aid Johannah in finishing editing tonight, no big deal. 

Are you kidding me? This internship is ridiculous. A good, amazing kind of ridiculous though. The UN was... not what I expected and exactly what I expected all at the same time. A UN culture develops among the thousands of people working there, who all become a tiny cog in this giant bureaucratic machine. Long hallways of closed identical doors and bar codes. Many cafés and bars spread out on many different floors and many buildings of the UN Palais des Nations grounds. Each filled with delegates, representatives and staff discussing various bits and pieces of what eventually become international treaties, projects and missions.

It's all painstakingly boring and dull, but interesting and exciting all at the same time. As for Geneva, I didn't really get to see much of it on our 20 minute trip from the train station to the Palais des Nations, and from the Palais des Nations back to the train station, as is the life of business travel. However, from what I saw, very Swiss. To Canadians, this might not mean much, but to Europeans or anyone familiar with Swiss culture, that is all the description needed. Also outrageously expensive. 2 half baguettes and a bottle of water and coke cost Jo and I 17 francs. Seventeen.... The bathroom Jo used at the mall/train station cost 1,50 francs just to get in. However, it was the most luxurious and cleanest public bathroom we had ever seen, as would be expected of the Swiss.

The entrance to the bathroom, Jo getting change.