At the end of last semester, something one of my professor's said has really stuck with me. It was something along the lines of it being a very valuable life skill to be able to deal with ambiguity. Along with my French, I am beginning to discover that this semester is going to allow me much practice. We are basically never going to have a consistent class schedule in a consistent location... somedays we have briefings in one location, somedays we have class in another, some weeks we go to other cities, etc. It's fun and exciting, but proving to be a bit unsettling as I think many of us are hoping to feel more comfortable here, part of which may be developing a routine.
Today was fantastic, other than my incessant nose-blowing and feeling of being underwater. In the morning, we went to the UN (?!) to get our badges and tour of the library. Our badges allow us to access the libraries of the UN, HEI, IUED, WHO, ICRC, ILO, South Centre and UNDP! It's pretty amazing. The UN library was neat, but certainly not I was expecting- you walk in and it seems like there are no books anywhere, and it's a maze! It turns out it uses an old system where you can find books in the catalogue and the librarian will go retrieve them for you in the "stacks"- a giant room full of books hidden away. The building itself definitely looks like it was built in the time of the League of Nations.
In the afternoon, we were split up into groups of 3-4 and each went to the libraries of the different bodies. We were supposed to figure out what types of resources were available to us on different topics, and create some sort of report for the entire group. I went to the ILO (International Labour Organization) with Liz and Kara to see what we could find on HIV/AIDS in the workplace. The building was GIGANTIC and the library was pretty easy to use. It turns out that if you are researching a certain topic, you can talk to one of the librarians and they can put you in contact with a "subject expert" that you can meet and interview.
Liz, Kara and I finished pretty early so we took the bus to Old City and found a coffee shop that has wifi. These cafes are nice- the drinks are expensive, but you can get any drink imaginable- coffee, tea, every type of water, espresso, beer, wine, liquor, hot chocolate, juice... etc. It was a nice afternoon off and a sunny day :-). The pace of life here is significantly slower.
Ahhh I have to go...
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