Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Geneva - the UN City

Our stay in Geneva has turned out to be much nicer and more interesting than expected.  After a stimulating week in Rome we thought we would suffer withdrawel systems, but great weather, Geneva's beautiful lakeside location and distant views of Mount Blanc and the Alps have made for a very enjoyable few days.

This is the first time I've worked at a US Mission (as opposed to a US Embassy).  The Embassy to Switzerland is in Bern whereas the US Mission in Geneva, with three resident Ambassadors, is fully oriented towards US interests in the UN's specialized agencies.  Despite the fact that the UN Headquarters is in New York, most of the organization's real work is done in Geneva where there are 45,000 employees of the various agencies and their many international delegations.  One of the pleasure of being in Geneva is to observe alls of the beautiful young, well-dressed bureaucrats and diplomats from the UN member countries.   Due to the great weather and the fact that it now stays light until after 9, these young people gather along Lake Geneva after work where they sit on the lawns in droves with wine in hand engaged in long conversations over politics or whatever!  Oh to be young again and living in Geneva

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