Little girl, big city - Episode 3: An important dinner

As mentioned in my previous post (http://annikagreco.blogspot.com/2015/09/little-girl-big-city-episode-2-united.html), a large part of my role as “UN intern” at the WEA is attending UN events on a variety of topics and writing summary reports that are forwarded to the relevant person within the alliance. For example, if I attend an event on gender inequality, my report goes to the Executive Director of the Women’s Commission, or if I attend a forum on religious freedom, my report gets sent to the Co-director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom. I really like this role as I enjoy writing and I’m gaining a lot of insight into some very important topics that are affecting the global geopolitical and socioeconomic realities.  

In my last post I ranted a bit about the egos that work in diplomacy and foreign affairs. There are a lot of people who are in it for the status and/or cushy job. But I do need to say that there are also a lot of career diplomats, both in and outside the UN, who truly do care about making the world better. There are many people who hold very stressful positions and juggle an enormous amount of complexities and contradictions and continue to do so because it matters. Last night I was able to spend some time with a few of these individuals. 

The entire WEA executive team is in town this week and I got to join them for dinner at a very expensive establishment on Wall Street (http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/locations/ny/new-york/nyc-wall-street/8039) where we were ushered downstairs into a private dining room which used to be a gold vault. I spent the evening hoping it wasn’t obvious that I’d never been in such a swanky restaurant before (I mean, I’ve been to some pretty nice establishments, but this was a whole other level). The food was rich (both in price and quality) and I could go on about how good it was, but I don’t want to make you jealous of me even though you should be. 

Apart from the amazing gastronomic experience, this was a really significant dinner for me personally. Understand something - I am a nobody in this field. But I got to sit next to and converse with some very influential somebodies because I am just busy living in the favor of God. Here’s what I mean: The WEA’s permanent representative to the UN (and the one footing the bill for this splendid meal) invited me to join after having known me for about five minutes. She absolutely insisted. And then during dinner she told me she’d received high praise for my reports from some of the other executives and heads-of-commissions around the world and apologized profusely that the WEA didn’t have enough funding to offer me a paid position upon graduating but that I should send her my CV and she’ll pass it on to some contacts she has in Washington DC and New York. And I’m like, whaaaaaaat!? That’s favor. 

And then the Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Kim Won-soo, walked in and joined us. And I’m (very calmly and collectedly) freaking out in my head because I just saw him speak at the UN event on nuclear testing last week and included his statements in my report. To meet the man in person was kind of awesome for me. And as I listened in on the conversation, I realized that he has probably the most difficult and the most important job at the UN right now. With the geopolitical situation as it is, with all of the divided politics surrounding the issue of nuclear weapons and disarmament, and with Russia exerting its influence in the Middle East in increasing measure, this guy is kind of important. If you a person who prays, pray for this man. 

In conclusion, I am a nobody. I’m just busy living in the favor of God. And right now He’s allowing me to make some incredible connections that may be significant in the future. I graduate in June of next year and have no idea what the next step is. Truly no clue. But I am genuinely unstressed about the whole thing because I know that I don’t have to worry. I’m just enjoying the ride. 

The photo is terribly out of focus, but the Under S-G is the man in the middle with the magenta tie.