SMORGASBORD WEEKS

These past two weeks have not had a single "theme," but have offered a real smorgasbord of interesting things--pretty typical of some of the topics the U.N. deals with. While the Security Council has been meeting every day on topics like Libya, the Ivory Coast, and Sudan, other U.N. and NGO groups have been immersed in other topics.

Just in the past two weeks, I've been to sessions on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, Decent Work in the Least Developed Countries, The Rule of Law in Violent Situations, and a Commission on Population and Development; have attended U.N. special events noting Autism Week, HIV/ AIDS, and World Health Week (with a whole day on Psychology and Education); and attended committee meetings on Mining and Indigenous People, Trafficking, a UNICEF meeting on children with HIV/ AIDS, a committee on Sustainable Development, a working group on Climate Change, a meeting of RUN (Religious at the U.N.) and attended educational film / discussion sessions on fracking and on the future of nuclear energy.

Now, either you are REALLY envious or else bored out of your skull at the very thought of all this...so I will end by telling you about what the two weekends were like! Two weeks ago we went to the Museum of Modern Art, to see a special exhibit on women's photography...and then I worked all the next day on minutes, reports... This last weekend Jessica (our Executive Assistant) gave us a walking tour of a tiny piece of Brooklyn. My favorite parts were the chocolate factory and the little park with a great view of the Manhattan skyline. We ended at the Highline Park, an old elevated railroad bed in downtown Manhattan,which has been recycled into what is probably the longest and skinniest city park anywhere. Beneath the place where a bridge goes over the park there is an "auditory sculpture" where every minute some different kind of bell rings--bicycle, fire, church--and on the hour, all 60 ring out at once, in a symphony of city sounds.

The next day we went to Macy's to see the spring flower show. We agreed that from now on if we want to see flowers we will go to the Botanical Garden...too many people at Macy's!

You weren't worried about my getting bored, were you?