Life is Getting Busy!

A pink work outfit is the best!!

It has been a minute since my last blog post - sorry about that!!! These last 3 weeks have felt very busy, in a good way! I now understand the phrase "The City that never Sleeps". It seems that life is just hectic here, and everyone just gets on with it. As much as I am loving being busy, it is hard to find the time to stop and reflect and to write these blogs.

Taking it back to the middle of October, after coming back from the FAYA retreat, I had one week left before my placement was due to start. I enjoyed spending time with some friends who I met on the retreat, took a solo adventure to meet Lady Liberty, enjoyed exploring through the concrete jungle and became a Swiftie*! All in all, it was a very wholesome week. At this point, I was starting to get my first sense of NYC feeling like a second home. I am definitely getting the hang of the streets and the city layout (it does help that it is 95% a grid structure which makes it very easy to grasp - but still!!). The thought of starting work felt strange having got used to not working - but I was so ready to get stuck in to the working world.

*A Swiftie, for those who do not know, is a Taylor Swift fan. I went to the cinema to watch her concert and became a convert to the Swifties.

My Office is to the left of the tall glass building.

My first day at work was the 16th of October. I was so excited, but also very nervous to start. Coming from the "Physio" world, I had no idea what to expect when entering the more "corporate" world. I was extremely excited about my outfit I must say. So much so that I had looked it out the night before - it was such a difficult decision knowing what to wear on the first day. The day itself was fairly chilled with a tour of the UN HQ, and a trip to security to get my bade (this was a very exciting experience). My boss and I then took an early finish and went out to a Mexican restaurant for a late lunch (I believe this is a tradition in the corporate world). It was a great feeling finally starting having waited for 4 weeks, after such a 'chilled' first day, I was only shocked with the craziness of the rest of the week!

My first day!!

My second day at work was straight into a full day of meetings, with hardly a moment to catch breath. These meetings were varied in nature, some with other NGOs (non-government organizations) and some with government representatives. Many of the members of the meetings were members of different faiths, with religious leaders from Hindu, Buddhist , Islam, Jewish and Baha'i as well as many other Christian denominations. Many of the meetings, however, quickly became focused on the raging conflict in the Middle East. Having started just days after a recent escalation to the conflict, it was, and still is, a priority for the UN and many affiliated organizations.

Over the last 2 weeks, I have participated / observed many different things. I have had the privilege of observing a multitude of UN Security Council meetings, alongside emergency and scheduled UN General Assembly meetings. I participated in a multi-faith 'prayers for peace' service to pray for the situation in the Middle East, I have attended many events both in the office and in other parts of the city. Maggie (my flatmate) and I volunteered at an Amnesty International event to which we had one duty of handing out name badges to guests. We were thrilled to be provided with free wine and food, and couldn't believe it when they also paid us at the end!!

The 'Prayers for Peace" service.

This role is going to be very challenging, I am sure of that. It is tough to hear about conflict and incidences where international law, international humanitarian law and human rights laws have been broken and violated. Each day is filled with harrowing statistics and very graphic descriptions of conflicts and human suffering. I know I will need to work hard to ensure my mind can have a healthy work-life balance, ensuring that my brain can switch off a little from the intensities of the situations around the world.

I am very enjoying learning about the relationship between NGOs and the UN, as well as learning about international law, international humanitarian law and human rights law. Additionally, I feel very inspired learning about ways in which NGOs are working worldwide to promote human rights and advocate for all peoples of all faiths, ethnicities, gender, sexuality, age, nationality and religions.

Anyways, moving on from the heavy stuff, I have been enjoying starting my discernment process and reflecting on the questions of "what is my purpose?", "what does God have in store for me?" and "what does life look like post YAV year?". I am excited to share with you that I may or may not have a calling to Seminary ;) !!! Now this is news which has not yet been shared to the public outside of NYC - so you reading this are the first to know!! This is a very exciting, but also a very scary realization (to which I have recently established I have been ignoring for quite some time). I am super excited to explore this more over the year, and I have some great people around me who are supporting me through this process. To continue with this journey, I am taking a trip up to New Jersey to visit Princeton Seminary. Some friends from FAYA are currently studying there and are interning with the church, and so have offered to show me around, have me sit in on a class potentially, and just generally get a feel for the idea of seminary - so I will keep you posted!!

This has turned out to be a very long blog - to which I apologize - so I think I will end it here. As always, I am grateful to those who are reading and keeping up to date with my endeavors here in NYC. Once again, sorry for the delayed uploading of this blog, as you can tell it has been a very busy time!!

Sending all my love to those reading from back home, I love and miss you so much!!!