The R-MWC delegation, representing the country of Jamaica, received three awards voted on by their peer delegates from more than 270 colleges and universities.
The students were recognized as a “Distinguished Delegation”, for “Outstanding Position Paper”, and as “Outstanding Delegate in Committee”.
Women in High Places
It’s times like these when I am thankful for the intensity of classes at R-MWC.
If it wasn’t for the fact that most of the delegation is quite used to staying up half the night, being involved mentally and intellectually for the greater part of the day and has become quite adept at finding that last ounce of energy somewhere deep inside, there isn’t half a chance that we might have survived yesterday. After stumbling out of bed, bleary-eyed, to the nearest Starbucks at seven am and being subjected to the fog-horn voice of the barista (You give money,I give you coffee, si), we amazed ourselves yet again by being ready a minute earlier than we were the previous day and made our way to the Jamaican embassy,a little nervous about meeting the same people we were trying to be.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that both the dignitaries were women, a rare sight in the diplomatic world. What followed was an hour of questions and answers, information on Jamaica’s foreign policy and the realisation that we were in the presence of two very smart, very intelligent and very able women who showed us, in the subtlest of ways, what empowerment of women really means. Feminism with a twist of the traditonal, for a world that’s still learning to accept it was the lesson of the day.
After a noisy brunch of real food, fresh juices and some more delegate bonding, we presented ourselves at the United Nations for the opening ceremony. Our speaker for the night was the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations herself, Asha-Rose Migiro, more living proof of diplomacy’s changing face, and seemed confident of the fact that a future Secretary-General of the United Nations might have been sitting in the room and that “she” would certainly change the world.
Needless to say after that, the committee sessions were engaging and intense, and something to look foward to today as well. Once again, here’s to coffee and conversations, UN style.
There is hope for the world yet, and here’s why I’ve seen it in the last two days here in New York City:
1. Buses: After introducing himself to us as “My first name’s ‘Hey’ and my last one’s ‘Driver’, and a chow-stop at the ‘Liver and Onion Palace,’(his idea, not mine), Nowhere, Maryland, our very entertaining driver unloaded us and our luggage in the middle of the slush that currently passes off as Manhattan, New York. Twenty minutes later, we were in the lobby of the Sheraton, waiting for our keys, bickering over lost bags and generally spreading the love all around. For a change, the lifts worked like a charm, or so we thought, until a slightly bewildered guest worked up the courage to pipe through the estrogen infested air and ask, “So, um, why exactly are you all here?” “For the Model United Nations Conference! To block the elevators!” Precisely that, and then some.
2. City Lights: The dedicated bunch that we are, it took us all of ten minutes to plonk our bags in the middle of the room and begin our research. Because the conference itself was to begin on Sunday, our alternatives were very limited of course. There’s little else in the world that can compare to freedom, especially when it’s coupled with the generosity of lights, and everywhere we looked, we saw that same energy in the eyes of people, and before we all knew it, we were part of that give-and-take that is, in the name of civilization, a feeding off and a symbiosis, because it’s when you’re two snowy breaths away from the next complete stranger that you realize what humanity truly is.
3. The Most Divine St. Patrick: who had graced all of New York through shamrock hats, songs and six-foot tall leprechauns. We spectated for a while, then progressed to the opening act, and finally became the main one itself. It was, as Christina Morgan, our very own Irish maiden would say, “Brilliant craic! Fantastic banter!”
4. Conference Day One: Sunday was it, the beginning of the reason we are here, and if anything, a fair bit of the fun too. Stephenie Stovall, our videographer and I spent the greater part of the evening traipsing through the labyrinth of our hotel looking for our delegation in action. Everywhere, they were coming by the hundreds. The future of diplomacy had emerged, and it was hard at work. It’s a truly heartening thing to see your friends and college mates interacting with others to try and make a change in the world. Evgenia Filimyanova was the first Jamaican delegate to speak at the podium, and the silence after her two-minute speech –on the need for world cooperation and unity at the highest diplomatic levels— only showed how serious everyone was to help Planet Earth. For a few hours, trivialities and personal differences were thrown out of the nearest French window, and issues like global poverty, AIDS, terrorism, narcotics and crime prevention were the words on everyone’s tongues. It looks like altruism and selflessness are the flavors of the week.
5. The Ex-Presidential Wave: While on our mission, Stephenie and I chanced upon what looked like Ali Baba’s Cave of Political Wonders. The forty thieves were the glitterati of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s election campaign and the flashing light-bulbs everywhere blinded us into curiosity. So of course, we turned our delegation badges over and our New York Times sponsored- lanyard cables became our entry tickets into the event. The commotion in the left corner attracted us, and before we knew it, we were twenty-feet away from Bill Clinton himself. Stephenie, ever the professional, promptly stood on the nearest silk-clothed table and produced her trusty camera. After about ten minutes of open-mouthed gaping and shouts of, “Over here, mate, Hillary Clinton’s standing next to me!” we walked out, a little dazed and shell-shocked, but with some footage that any documentary maker would die for. Needless to say, it was the much-needed entertainment that our tired delegation needed. Diplomacy met politics last night, and left us all excited for more.
Cheers then, to hope, but above all, to the young human spirit.
We’re leaving tomorrow!!
The Model United Nations delegation is on its way tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn, braving rainstorms, gas station food and Manhattan traffic. Diplomats unite, we’re off to change the world, or so we sincerely hope.
There’s plenty more to come, so watch this space…
R-MWC students attended the 2007 National Model United Nations Conference (www.nmun.org) in New York City. Delegates Matea Osti ‘08 and Mekhala Chaubal ‘08 kept a journal of the group’s experiences.
This was the day I got to actually enjoy the beds of the Marriot. I awoke late Saturday morning, and everyone had gone ahead with their plans. The Security Council was with ECOSOC and others. The Security Council had to deal with a simulated crisis involving Chad, Nigeria and Sudan. However, one half of NATO was resting comfortable in bed.
I ended up meeting a fellow delegate, Maria where we ran into one of the delegates from Lynchburg College. We went to a great Mexican restaurant near the hotel, did some touristy shopping, and stopped by Washington Square Park where an open market was set up nearby. We also watched a man juggle torches, and then we headed back.
The roomies and I went out to dinner, went out to the village, did not find anything worthy there, came back to the hotel and hung out with the delegates from Lynchburg.
At seven p.m., a friend and I decided to walk to Central Park and a secret was revealed: New York actually does sleep. Times Square was EMPTY. It was very much like the beginning scene of Vanilla Sky.
Central Park however was full of squirrels, morning joggers, and cyclists.
After coming back to the hotel and sleeping for an hour, four girls rushed around the hotel, attempting to pack and meet the bus downstairs at 9:45.
It was a bus full of zombies, with everyone’s excited chatter dying down within the first hour as they fell asleep. The ride back was as uneventful as the ride to NYC. We were all tired, but satisfied.
Friday was the last day of sessions for most committees, and NATO was among those lucky ones. We finished our first topic and passed all resolutions on that topic.
We moved onto our next topic. By then, everyone started lagging, and everyone was so excited about the end finally being near that it made it hard to concentrate.
After lunch, we came in slightly refreshed and ready to listen.
Well almost.
Every committee had a keynote speaker that came in to talk to us. Our keynote speaker was about the private sector rebuilding other countries. I have to admit it wasn’t the most interesting of topics, but I managed to keep awake…with some help from my committee partner.
The day ended at 5:30 p.m. and because I am definitely being smited, it ended with rain. Actually it was raining before, but it started pouring as soon as we got out of sessions.
We decided in lieu of going out to order Chinese food.
When four girls finished getting ready, it was pretty late, and no one knew where to go, so the night consisted of walking around Times Square in different directions every time someone changed their mind.
At the end of the night we ended up hanging out in the hall with some Canadians who cursed French-Canada and actually did say words like “aboot” and “soory.”
This day is nicknamed Meltdown Thursday. We were in session from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and we were allowed two breaks during the day, lunch and dinner. People were desperately trying to type up their resolutions and get them passed.
Tensions were running high during the conference.
In one committee, Brazil was being attacked from all sides by notes. He stood up and said, “Can I make a motion to get people to stop passing me notes saying my policies are B—–!!” According to Kelly and Natasha, he was quite angry and shaking.
In the General Assembly, one delegate from Greece remarked that Albania was attempting to rule the European Union. I offered to show Albania a lesson, but by that time I had to return to session.
There was a constant surge of people in Starbucks, because apparently overpriced coffee is needed to get you through Meltdown Thursday.
At 11 p.m., Meltdown Thursday was officially over, but we had to trudge up to the 18th floor for a delegate meeting. That is when the elevators conveniently decided to stop working, so Catriona and I had to take the escalators to the eighth floor and go up 10 flights of stairs that were hot and smelled like thousands of delegates who had been in session all day.
It did not smell good.
When we finally reached the 18th floor, we collapsed in our head delegate’s room. Even 10 flights of stairs did not mar our plans. And the stairs could not keep us from going out. We were determined to head back to our room and get ready for the night.
Wednesday we were forced to get up early to go to the Greek Permanent Mission where we met one of the assistants to the ambassador. The session was surprisingly engaging and informative, and I did not find myself zoning out at all.
I have to admit our go-to man was quite attractive, save for the unibrow. In my thoughts about inter and intra state conflict, I also started thinking about how easy it would be to get a wax and a strip and….
After the mission briefing, we headed back to Times Square as sessions were due to start in about two hours. Maria and I ended up walking away from Times Square and ended up grabbing a huge slice of pizza at a local pizzeria.
We then had to go into sessions.
Caitriona and I did not have much of a problem with our committee, but our delegation in the Security Council, Ashley and Morgan, ran into some trouble with their committee. Their committee was populated by mostly cocky, unfriendly delegates. However, they did some strategizing, and there was talk of taking down a delegate from China. I heard the end result worked out well. I guess we really did win the Cold War.
This day we actually did work. We started drafting resolutions, and the horror of caucusing actually started to sneak in. Caucusing is quite possibly the worst thing in the world. Some people decide to actually get down to work and save the world, while the other half would rather talk as much as they can to seem smart.
While you can come up with creative solutions, some delegates would rather just write bloated resolutions. As a member of Florentina’s committee said “It’s all diplomacy.”
Opening ceremonies did not start until 5 p.m., so delegates were free to explore New York City until then.
We decided to head over to Canal Street and do some shopping. We indulged in some tacky tourist shopping, and we were pelted with calls of “I will give you good discount!”
After Canal Street we stopped off at a Mexican restaurant near the subway station. The Mexican restaurant was great.
After some more exploring, we headed over to the UN and partook in a common New York pastime: waiting in lines. Upon entering the UN we were seated in the general assembly, and there was not a seat untaken.
When the opening ceremonies ended, and we were released, we headed over to Little Italy for dinner. A group of women in business suits walking down Little Italy was not unnoticeable. Restaurateurs called out to us and one even started singing. We eventually settled on one restaurant where the food was amazing.
We then hopped on the subway back to the hotel for committee sessions and to meet those who sat on our committees. For a five-star hotel, the Marriot represented the definition of hell. On each floor there were twenty-five elevators and you would key the floor you wanted to go to and find out which elevator you would take. However, this proved to be a nightmare, because every few seconds the elevator you had to take would change. Now imagine hundreds of delegates attempting to go the three floors the sessions were held, and you can see what kind of horror we were dealt.
It was a hodgepodge mix of colleges; people from Italy representing France, Switzerland representing Slovenia, and if anything, it was interesting. The delegate from Canada was particularly interesting, we had actually thought his name was Louise rather than Louis, however I believe Louise would have fit him just as well.
The session was spent agreeing on speaker’s time and the order of the agenda topics. Strangely it took about three hours to agree on for how long someone would speak as well as the order of the topics.
After sessions ended, we were too exhausted to go out.