Life is good!

I probably never would have done this blogging thing if I'd known how stressful it was going to be. Before coming here, I had NO idea how little free time I would have. Most days, I leave around 8 AM and don't get back til 7 or 8 PM. And when I do get back, I have so much to do that I can't even think about doing something like this. And forget weekends--I'm traveling. But alas...today, Thursday the 2nd of June, is a national holiday here in Switzerland, so no work! I can't say that I know what I'm supposed to be celebrating today, is that bad? But at least I have the time to catch up on a few things.

The work I do at the UN is great. But because I've put this off for 3 weeks, there is no way I will able to update on everything I've been doing. But as a brief overview:

The World Health Assembly (WHA), sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) went from May 16 to May 24. I do not have a lot of background in medicine, so a lot of the proceedings of the WHA went over my head. However, I did learn a TON. I was very impressed by all of the WHO's goals, and all of the work that is being done to improve health worldwide.

Here is a picture of Andrea, me and Jeff (our Australian friend with an awesome accent) at the opening of the WHO. You can tell how far away we had to sit...but we were there, nonetheless!

At the opening ceremony, we had the opportunity hear some very important people speak. First off, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Here she is below (sorry I'm too lazy to rotate the picture). You can tell from the quality of the picture how far away we were. Ha ha.

And...Bill Gates!

Here he is, getting ready to go speak. He and his wife started the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, so he addressed the WHA. He had some interesting things to say, and he really pushed for the upcoming decade to be the "Decade of Vaccines." He also said that with Microsoft, his dream was "a computer for everyone." Now, his goal is, "good health for everyone." He has devoted his full time to his foundation and promoting good health throughout the world.

Andrea and I were initially the only interns, but there more now! Currently there are 5 of us: me, Andrea, Jessica, Nicole, and Elene. For 2 weeks, there were two other interns--Tina and Haley--but sadly, they left yesterday. We will really miss them, they were awesome.

Andrea, Haley Kraaima, and Tina Kraaima

While I'm thinking about it...if you are reading this blog post, please do me (and Haley) a favor, and go like the page "Awesome Evan" on facebook. It is for Haley's son, Evan, who is in need of an organ donor. She is trying to get as many "likes" as she can. I know that Haley will really appreciate this.

The WHA is now over, and the Human Rights Council (HRC) started on Monday. I am much more familiar with these kinds of issues, and it has been very interesting to hear the proceedings of the UN on human rights and violations of these human rights. The HRC will go until June 17...but I will be gone before then! I leave June 14th for Paris, and then from there I'm going to London for six weeks!! In case you missed my last entry, I will be working for an organization in London called the Orchid Project, and their objective is to end female genital mutilation (FGM). This is a terrible practice I didn't know anything about before coming to the UN. During the WHO, the creator of the Orchid Project, Julia Lalla-Maharajh, came and spoke to my organization about the practice. I cannot wait to begin my work in London, and help Julia and the Orchid Project with their research and advocacy.

Here are some more random pictures from the past few weeks:

Andrea and me in front of the UN!

Andrea and I...with Mont Blanc (highest peak in western Europe) in the background. Mont Blanc is in France, but you can see it from Geneva

in front of all the flags at the UN

This upcoming weekend or else the next, we are hoping to go to Italia! I can't wait. 2 weekends ago, I took a little weekend trip to Grindelwald, Switzerland (with Andrea, Julie and Deon) right in the heart of Switzerland! Unreal. It was this little mountain town set in the Swiss Alps, possibly the most beautiful place I've ever been. It was like going back in time 200 years. The people still cut their grass by hand, the cows wear bells around their necks, men wear overalls and smoke pipes as they work out in the fields, what a different world! Switzerland is the most beautiful little country, and so diverse! Yet it's only the size of two New Jerseys! Each region has such a different feel to it. It's crazy--you drive and then all at once, it switches from French to German-speaking. And at the same time, the whole look of everything changes. The architecture is different, the food is different, the language is different, the people look slightly different, etc. It's amazing. We drove through Bern, and I got to see the Bern temple. That was great, too. Here are some pictures from Grindelwald:

Here is Grindelwald! With cute little Chalets and everything

View from the hike we did up to the glacier...or where it used to be. Here's Julie and Andrea

The Eiger...the beautiful mountain we stared at for 3 days

While in Grindelwald, we took a train up to the top of the Jungfraujoch...the 2nd highest peak in Europe (after Mont Blanc). It was absolutely beautiful. Here are some of the pictures...on the way up, at the top, and on the way down.

at the top, there was this cool ice cave...we were literally walking around inside of the glacier! How cool.

This is the view from the top. Funny story--there were a ton of Indians up there, and we asked one of them to take the picture. Well he took it...and then one by one, about 10 of these Indian men asked to have their pictures taken with Andrea and me! Ha ha! Must be because we are both so tall, and they were all about a head shorter than us. Made my day.

On the drive down, back into the valley. So beautiful!

The next day, we went to a beautiful Swiss-German town called Lauterbrunen, and did a hike in the Swiss Alps. By the way...being in German speaking Switzerland was a whole new experience! It was my first time ever being in non-French speaking Europe. I literally could understand NOTHING. I had all of these flashbacks to my first trip to France when I spoke no French. I'd forgotten what that felt like, being in a place where you cannot understand anything! It's disarming and kind of scary, but at the same time I love it.

Lauterbrunen (who knows if I'm spelling that right. German is over my head)

From our hike in the Swiss Alps. So beautiful!

Later that day, we went to the beautiful resort town of Interlachen. From what I was told, it has been the "playground," so to speak, of European royalty for centuries. Now I understand why!

Interlachen! So, so beautiful. You can't see it here, but there are just beautiful mountains surrounding it in every direction.

On the way home, we stopped in the Swiss-French of Gruyère. Where the famous Gruyère cheese comes from! It was so beautiful. This is a picture above. 

This is Gruyère! Such a cute, charming little town. Hardly any cars, cobblestone streets, fountains...like something from a dream.

Me with the cathedral of Gruyère in the background. We also toured the chateau while we were there...it was beautiful. 

Near Gruyère was the Caillé chocolate factory...that we toured. It was awesome, I ate my weight in chocolate! They had free samples and we just kept eating...it's the best, richest chocolate you can imagine. We all felt sick afterward though. Oops.

Overall, very successful fun weekend! Switzerland is such a cool and diverse country. Unfortunately, that was two weekends ago...and I still have last weekend to catch up on! Ahh it was so cool. And then tomorrow morning I leave early to go to Zermatt--this Swiss town right on the Italian border by the Matterhorn. They don't even allow cars into the city! It's going to be like going back in time. I'm really excited.


Well, à bientôt! Grosses bisous de la Suisse,


Maren