The story continues
After the couple of days following my return from Montréal, things are generally more quiet work-wise. The highlight of that weekend was visiting the Blue Note Jazz Club, located downtown, for the late session on Friday night. It was a great gig, with a fusion-style band fronted by piano genius Brian Haas, and there was an awesome atmosphere in the packed venue. This was actually my second time seeing live music in NY, after visiting a bar which had some rock groups before leaving for Canada. On Saturday I saw an improvised theatre show: the four actresses receive only a short paragraph before going out on stage and make up everything as they go along!
During the week there were a few more meetings, including one with the Millennium Campaign's Youth Co-ordinator. I'm impressed they have created such a post - young people are vital to the MDGs and implementation will be impossible without our involvement. I believe they are really YDGs - Youth Development Goals - and this has to be more widely acknowledged. At the moment I'm working with a small group of young people at home to plan a campaign which will hopefully raise lots of money for fighting poverty and increase awareness of the MDGs amongst youth at the same time. This coming week I'll be trying to find ways this idea can be linked with my work at the UN and productively utilise the contacts I've made recently.
I also visited the Downtown Community TV Centre to sort a few things out for the documentary and started making investigations into the services provided for young people in New York. I'm really interested to find out what's on offer, how any structures work and who runs things. The Global Youth Action Network, which is based here in NYC, has given me info so I can get in touch with their contacts at the Department of Youth and Community Development of the Mayor's Office and Global Kids, a major organisation working for youth in the city. This week I'll be making enquiries and trying to set up meetings so I can learn about the work these people do.
The website idea for youth delegates is coming on well too. We've now finalised a co-ordination group, which will be organising the new site - working on design, content, features and any other ideas which come out. The importance of follow-up work happening after the youth segment of the UNGA60 is huge: we can't just all go back to our home countries and think the experience is finished!
On one free day I decided to cross the Brooklyn Bridge by foot and explore this up-and-coming area. The weather was perfect for such an excursion and I got some great photos of the Manhattan skyline from the bridge. As for Brooklyn itself, I found a great contrast. Wandering around for the best part of three hours, I noticed one side was quite busy and full of small, slightly dodgy shops, while the other was a lot more peaceful and less rundown. I think this part is called Brooklyn Heights and it must be quite a nice place to live.
Halloween fever is gripping New York. I visited one shop near Union Square entirely devoted to the occasion, with all varieties of costumes, toys and accessories to a near-ridiculous extent. In London it's not anything like such a big deal, this must be a North American thing: Montréal was going through similar preparations, with people specially decorating for the night a week in advance. I'm looking forward to the parade though, it's supposed to be a pretty spectacular event!
The clocks have just gone back and this is the time of year when I start to sense that winter is really setting in. Strangely enough though, tonight was a clear, warm evening and I took a walk along the riverside. Reflections from buildings on the shores glimmered in the water and it was almost like this was going to be a ceremonial final goodbye to pleasant weather, before the cold and windy stuff comes back.
This week is almost definitely going to be my last here, after extending the time away from home three times. New York has really started to feel like a second home during the past month and it will be sad to leave. But it's very important for me to get back, with work and responsibilities having been put off long enough! It's been the longest period of time I've ever had away - my travels over the past few months were broken up by intervals in London - and I've enjoyed every moment of it.
During the week there were a few more meetings, including one with the Millennium Campaign's Youth Co-ordinator. I'm impressed they have created such a post - young people are vital to the MDGs and implementation will be impossible without our involvement. I believe they are really YDGs - Youth Development Goals - and this has to be more widely acknowledged. At the moment I'm working with a small group of young people at home to plan a campaign which will hopefully raise lots of money for fighting poverty and increase awareness of the MDGs amongst youth at the same time. This coming week I'll be trying to find ways this idea can be linked with my work at the UN and productively utilise the contacts I've made recently.
I also visited the Downtown Community TV Centre to sort a few things out for the documentary and started making investigations into the services provided for young people in New York. I'm really interested to find out what's on offer, how any structures work and who runs things. The Global Youth Action Network, which is based here in NYC, has given me info so I can get in touch with their contacts at the Department of Youth and Community Development of the Mayor's Office and Global Kids, a major organisation working for youth in the city. This week I'll be making enquiries and trying to set up meetings so I can learn about the work these people do.
The website idea for youth delegates is coming on well too. We've now finalised a co-ordination group, which will be organising the new site - working on design, content, features and any other ideas which come out. The importance of follow-up work happening after the youth segment of the UNGA60 is huge: we can't just all go back to our home countries and think the experience is finished!
On one free day I decided to cross the Brooklyn Bridge by foot and explore this up-and-coming area. The weather was perfect for such an excursion and I got some great photos of the Manhattan skyline from the bridge. As for Brooklyn itself, I found a great contrast. Wandering around for the best part of three hours, I noticed one side was quite busy and full of small, slightly dodgy shops, while the other was a lot more peaceful and less rundown. I think this part is called Brooklyn Heights and it must be quite a nice place to live.
Halloween fever is gripping New York. I visited one shop near Union Square entirely devoted to the occasion, with all varieties of costumes, toys and accessories to a near-ridiculous extent. In London it's not anything like such a big deal, this must be a North American thing: Montréal was going through similar preparations, with people specially decorating for the night a week in advance. I'm looking forward to the parade though, it's supposed to be a pretty spectacular event!
The clocks have just gone back and this is the time of year when I start to sense that winter is really setting in. Strangely enough though, tonight was a clear, warm evening and I took a walk along the riverside. Reflections from buildings on the shores glimmered in the water and it was almost like this was going to be a ceremonial final goodbye to pleasant weather, before the cold and windy stuff comes back.
This week is almost definitely going to be my last here, after extending the time away from home three times. New York has really started to feel like a second home during the past month and it will be sad to leave. But it's very important for me to get back, with work and responsibilities having been put off long enough! It's been the longest period of time I've ever had away - my travels over the past few months were broken up by intervals in London - and I've enjoyed every moment of it.
Labels: travel
posted by Frederick at 02:30
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