Life is like a box of chocolates....

The great thing about living in New York is that day-to-day, you never really know what’s you’re going to get. Like when Tillie and I were waiting in line (for 3 hours) for the Daily Show when 6 men all dressed like and wearing George Bush masks walked by handing out shot glasses that read, “Everyone deserves a shot.” Or the bright M&M candy leather-jacket-wearing Starbucks regular who thinks he’s Elvis. Or the wedding in Times Square. Or Sponge-Bob Square pants walking down the street. Or the people selling Sarah Palin, Barack Obama and Joe Biden stimulus package condoms, only $10 for 3.

The UN interns also recently got the chance to hang with Billy-bob Clinton and Ban Ki-Moon (oh Ban!). I sadly missed those events, but did attend a Care movie screening which was followed by a panel featuring, among others, Natalie Portman and Madeleine Albright discussing women’s economic empowerment in the developing world. And if I had been organized, I would have been at the MDG awards where Macy Gray and Akon were among the guests performing at a lifetime achievement event for Desmond Tutu, whom I had the wonderful privilege to hear speak 3 years ago while with Habitat in SA.

The past two weeks have been action-packed, and there are so many stories that it’s hard to know where to begin, but maybe I will offer a few. First, the Commission on the Status of Women was on for the first two weeks of March, and was an incredible experience. For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, this was the biggest CSW yet, with more than 5000 women descending on NY from all parts of the globe to find better ways to fight for the rights of women in their home countries. For many, including myself, this was their first CSW, and on the first day, and it is a rather remarkable experience to hear women speak about their experiences. A lot of the material covered in this conference is not for the faint-hearted. Like the documentary on how increasing violence in porn can be linked to increased domestic abuse. Or the presentation on how the presence of handguns in households following post-conflict situations can also be found to have a similar effect. Or the Iraqi woman who apparently couldn't contain herself and the fact that she could speak freely and got up and told everyone about how she has recently become an MP. Or the woman from Mali who spoke about challenging traditional within the patriarchal society that she lives in that prevents girls from getting an education. A sampler of a pretty intense but amazing week.

I also recently had the opportunity to visit the Iranian mission to the UN with the UN interns where I witnessed an example of political spin quite unlike anything I have seen before. For example, in response to the question, what exactly did Ahmahinejad really mean when he said that Israel would be wiped off the map, the Counselor replied that he simply meant that “if a democratic referendum was held today in Occupied Palestine, Israel would cease to exist as a country as a result of demographics.” To the question about Holocaust denial, the Counselor replied that Ahmadinejad simply meant that, “if one can question the existence of God, why can they not dispute the existence of a historical event?” Perhaps some may view this as a legitimate academic question, but I hardly think that he will make new friends with these explanations. Three women were also present (from CSW) who explained at length how many improvements had been made in the situation of women in their country, such as laws guaranteeing equal opportunity and compensation, strong female education enrolment rates, careers where women are dominating such as medicine and within government bureaucracy. But to my twice-asked question about female parliamentary representation, I got a very long-winded non-answer (it turns out there are 8, which amounts to 2.3%). And after spending 2.5 hours in their company, I was struck by the incongruity, at least from a Western perspective, of the message they were delivering and the fact that they are forbidden to shake our hands or look us in the eye as we parted ways. And also by the reminder that words such as progress and freedom are all relative terms.

Last weekend, I also flew to Calgary to speak at a military conference on two papers I write this year, the role of media in inciting violence, and on the impact of resolution 1325 on Security Council behavior. Although I was quite nervous going into the conference, seeing how nervous everyone else was actually calmed me down, and I was really happy with how my first academic presentation went.

Finally this weekend, Deb came to NYC for a fantastic visit and managed to be the voice of reason when my computer tanked when I was hours from completing my submitting my first draft of my Masters research paper (I was able to retrieve the data, and stayed up all night getting it out). We had a fabulous time hitting the city and checking out all the cool little corners. Until we go to our graves, I think that the words “its in the toaster” will lead us both ti keel over laughing hysterically.

And this coming weekend, I fly to Texas for the first ulti tourney this winter with the U of O ladies. Hope I can keep up! It will be a few more weeks before I can get another post off, but wanted to share some of the stories from this amazing month.

The calm before the storm…

So I have about one week of sanity left before my hair lights on fire and I become incommunicado for a little while. To celebrate the ½ way mark of my internship, I will be spending my week writing my paper. Yay! Ok, not so exciting. But what is remotely more exciting that its coming along well and hope to finish soon.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty interesting as I have been attending the International Studies Association conference, providing a pretty amazing opportunity to network with practitioners and academics in my field, and trying to narrow down a few career options (perhaps one of my weaknesses). I’ve also been getting out for some ulti including some pick-up games and to training with the local ladies teams. One of the down-sides to life in NYC is that all the decent fields are backed by major highways and auto-routes. But great people, and its really good to be playing again, especially with all the tourneys coming up. I am known as the Canadian refugee…

One of the girls I met works for the Stanford Group. Apparently in their Florida offices, regulators have been storming the offices and shutting them down as part of the investigation. She seems to think that her Investment Banking branch is legit, but is nonetheless working on her CV at the moment, and is a little stuck with what to write. To help her out, we suggested a few bullet points: Thinking outside the (legal) box; flexible and adaptable to new situations (and applying ethical values); networking and resolving disputes with challenging transnational partners (such as Mexican drug lords), etc.

And of course the financial world just keeps on keeping on… imploding, that is, with UBS recently admitting to conspiring to defraud the US government and planning to disclose its US account holders, all possibly marking the end of road for off-shore banking… interesting times indeed.

But back to fun stuff before I sign off. So this week, I have managed to get tickets to the filming of the Daily Show (not an easy task, to be sure). Look for me in the audience on Thursday night! Also, Deb and Clara have now both booked to come visit me here which is quite exciting!

Ok, that’s all for now. I will do my best to keep up the blog as my travels begin. Wish me luck! Missing everyone at home! Hope you’re all well.

The days are just packed…

Ok, not really. But I’ve always liked the Calvin & Hobbes title. And my schedule has been a little more robust that it has been in recent months, with lotsa new stuff coming up.

But first a quick recap of the last few weeks:
• Ma and b-stop hit NYC for an action-packed 3-day long-weekend in mid-January that included two Broadway shows (Billy Elliot & Osage County), one empire state building, a certain Statue of Liberty, a visit to one mostly submerged US Airways in the Hudson, two celeb sightings (William H Macy & Lucy Liu), a LOT of shopping, and a walk around the World Trade Centre site.
• For inauguration a couple of days later, I hit Times Square for a lot of raw emotion and celebrations from the people on the streets.
• By some miracle, this year’s Super Bowl actually managed to top last year’s game, and while my motives for cheering on the Steelers had nothing to do with football and everything to do with revenge (but she seems so sweet!) and I was the sole Steelers supporter at a party where I knew noone, it did not stop me from cheering loudly and obnoxiously when they stole the game back in the dying seconds.
• Saw a New York Ranger vs. Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden - the game was complete with back-to-back fist fights, seeing Ovechkin kick ass, an overtime period, and a Rangers win in a shootout
• Catching up with friends in the city and family that I haven't seen in eons
• Visiting the South African permanent mission to the UN (next week: China and Zimbabwe)
• Seeing Mira Sorvino become the most recent Goodwill Ambassador to the UN on matters of Human Trafficking

I just returned from a fabulous couple of sunny days in Florida, and getting my head ready for the months ahead. I am partying with all the UN interns, checking out the hot spots around NYC and generally having a great time. The rest of February is dedicated to paper-writing, but the pace picks up after that. The UN Commission on the Status of Women Conference runs from March 1 - 14, I fly out March 13th to speak on two panels at a conference in Calgary, Clara visit at some stage, I jet to Texas a week later for an ulti tourney, and somewhere in between I need to submit my first draft of my paper. In April, we play sectional in Ithica, NY, regionals in Princeton, NJ, and I potentially fly to Vancouver at month-end. My final paper is due mid-April, I hope to visit Deb & Rory in DC and maybe Jordan in Boston, and somewhere near the end April, I head back to Ottawa. I’m not even going to talk about May.

I don’t know where I will land next or what I will do, but I’m increasingly feeling that, bit by bit, the answers that are starting to take shape into something more concrete, if still fluid. And while I have had moments of doubt along the way, I’m really very happy with the direction I am headed. Sometime this year, I will choose a semi-permanent home and try to beat my record of 3 years in one city since 1992. Not sure where this will take me, but as my brother once described his outlook on unemployment, with no prospects, “open skies, baby, open skies!”

Week 1.5 in NYC!!!

So admittedly I'm pretty terribly about keeping up my blog, but I thought I thought my 3-4 month stint to NYC for a research internship warranted a post. For those who don’t know, I found myself an internship that was completely unnecessary for the purpose of my program, but one that promised to offer some exposure to people and organizations (namely the UN) relevant to my research. I am now armed with a shiny new UN grounds pass ID, so I dropped in yesterday to hi to the gang for my first Security Council debate on Civilians in Armed Conflict, and followed that by lunch in the UN cafeteria overlooking the East River surrounded by unsurprisingly multi-cultural crowd of delegates, interns, aid workers, and bureaucrats.

To the best of my knowledge so far, my internship will have three components: to prepare for and attend the upcoming UN Commission on the Status of Women conference, including a number of events that my org will host; advocacy work to the permanent UN country missions regarding Security Council Resolution 1820 on Violence against Women in Conflict to influence the operational direction via member states, and; research on ICT as a resource for women in developing and post-conflict countries to capitalize on the opportunities presented by globalization.

My office overlooks the front of UN HQ, which has proven distracting for a newbie unaccustomed to the constant flow of delegate convoys, periodic rallies (both anti and pro Israel), random NYPD emergency drills involving hundred of police cars, and countless dudes in black coats and shades strutting around sporting Secret-Service-like earpieces. My daily commute from Hoboken, where I live 2 blocks away from Eli Manning and where I’m renting a room in a 2 bdrm apt owned and normally inhabited by a gymnast who I will probably never meet because he has run away to Greece to join circus, involves a (normally) short bus ride under the Hudson (where a US Airways plane decided to go for a leisure cruise today) to Times Square and a 25-ish minute walk down 42nd St from the east side of Manhatten to the West past the The Pond (famed skating rink) and Grand Central Station (whew!). Contrary to my expectations, I have found New Yorkers to be incredibly friendly and helpful. And safe! Even Harlem seems pretty tame, though admittedly my standards are a little skewed after visiting places like after Khyalitsha and Kibera (the slums around Cape Town and Nairobi).

I have spent a ton of time just walking around Manhatten getting familiar with the neighborhoods, and although I’m not really into shopping, I have to admit that I am LOVING exploring Soho and other famed districts for things I can’t afford.

My to list includes: a live TV show, a hockey game, the met, the museum of natural history, skating (though nothing beats skating on the canal), broadway, the world trade centre, the Coyote Ugly bar, DC, the meat packing district, the Guggenheim, etc. etc. etc. (suggestions welcome) I have a couple of great friends who live two blocks form me, and a bunch of others folks planning on stopping in for a visit! Woo hoo!

Will try to do better than a blog every 8 months, at least for a little while!

That’s it for now! Please drop me your news! I’m sure I miss you! Luv Ren