weehawken!

There is something about Weehawken.

It is the best kept secret in New Jersey. Half the people cant pronounce the town, its tough spelling it out (W like Wisconsis, E like Elephant, Elephant again, H for the hawk, continue writing the word Hawk, add an elephant and then N as in Nancy)

I would absolute hate moving away from here and the mere thought of getting married and having to move makes me very uneasy. I still need the social order to change so that perhaps I won't have to move, he could in fact come into my house.

I went for a run and realized everyone from Weehawken is extremely peaceful at heart. Hello's and have a nice day's are a part of being from Weehawken. We are close enough to new york city (5 minute bus ride, 10 minute ferry ride, 3 minute walk to path train) and we have Hoboken, Jersey City, Fort Lee and Edgewater.

Running and walking anywhere else, with the tree-lined streets, stone walls, the breeze from the water and the view of the entire new york skyline is just something I will never, ever, want to leave.

update of May/7th day of Russia

I have been working, in school and watching movies. I will be interning at the US Federation for Middle East Peace and I know I will enjoy the experience. The objective of this organization is to just encourage and promote peace. I have too often fallen back and as per my "about me" I am a very cynical person. If nothing, this internship will at least set me to look at more positives in a society that receives such negatives.

I have decided to go to Rutgers University- New Brunswick for their Middle Eastern program and political science department. I think I will be more satisfied with everything, the diverse community, the mix of intellect and lack thereof, but really all aspects of today's youth is most likely represented at Rutgers.

I also am Vera close to finishing day Vinci Code and I recall my father (three years ago) telling me to read this book, I would not regret a minute spent on it, instead I would praise him for passing on the book to me. He was extremely grateful for some reading time after having stopped his John Grisham novels that continued one after the other but abruptly stopped. I miss him and I wish I could have just taken the DAMN book and read it then, instead of proving myself falling towards a "different" genre of 19th century British novels. I regret not having picked it up and reading it with him and recall the night I sat next to him and he said "why don't we read it together, so we can talk about it and argue," I told him "we argue anyway!" It got a laugh for a few seconds but we could have laughed for much longer if I took his advice.



But it happened and I shouldn't regret something that already occurred. yes, yes, moving on... I just miss him.

SO, I also saw The Break Up, with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. An usual approach to a comedy but it was extremely interesting to see something more serious coming out of such comedy.



Last day of Russia

The people we met were at the end were those we considered, with a failed attempt to erase any sign of cheesiness, best friends forever. Everyone left a lasting mark and in our week in Saint Petersburg, it was more than a political summit arguing issues. It was a weekend we realized politics of our personal life were quite possibly host to more complicated dynamics than we previously thought. Our personalities clashed and we worked around it, our policies differed but we found consensus and on things we did not agree on at all, we put away for reasons of practicality. We wanted to be after all, practical people for a better world.

Day Six of Russia trip

We moved into sessions and I walked into with great stride in hopes that my performance as a diplomat would be tested and proved. I was now going to portray beliefs that I mostly work against. For pins that I sport on my bags that state “Pro-Palestine, Pro-Israel, Pro-People” something some argue the US believes and what most Americans know is not the case in Iraq is on another pocket, “End War, Bring Peace.”

Now I was speaking against dialogue with Palestinians and against signing on troop withdrawal in Iraq. Foolish Nadia, what I thought would be new and exciting, now was putting a horrible damper on my heart. My words were coming out and my head felt heavy all I kept thinking in my mind was that I spoke on, I didn’t believe. That was what helped me make sense out of this trip though. This was helping me realize that my life would never be easy and if I wanted to work with the US State Department or around the world for bettering the Middle East, I needed to start being open to compromising theories, clearly theorizing both sides of the conflict and analyze what changes meant to those who would eventually receive it. Things were not always as simple as our rationality makes it, especially when reality hits.

I was grateful for viewpoints from the Japanese proposals of peaceful dialogue, Russia’s strategic place on Middle East investment, and the refusal of war by the Germans and the voiced anger at the handling of Iraq by France.

In my speech, after hearing many declarations of anti-Iraqi war sentiment, I told my counterparts “Iraq is a war that won support from the people in the country, they are now voting and to think three-fourths of us in this room, of the most powerful leaders in the world, did not support or initiate it, saddens me.”

The response from the French delegation put both my worlds into perspective. Marina told me the war was wrong, the outcome was good, the road that is being taken now is towards more wrongs. The Italian minister, Enrico continued “now, we should play smarter roles, understand the people on the battle ground and this war will end, yes?”

Yes. I agree.

What I actually said was something else. “No I don’t agree, because we do understand the cultures on the ground, they must be more receptive to us, we cannot control their minds and it will take time to work with these people, which is why we will be there until no specific deadline.”

Shortly thereafter, Enrico, the Italian Foreign Minister angrily came to me during dinner and said “I don’t know if you want to be a diplomat or a politician but all I know, is that you would be a great actress.”

I realized, this worked against everything I wanted to achieve and now it was time to change my approach without letting go of the current Administrations handlings. I realized at that moment, the point of this conference was to think about the future, not about the theories of a government whose reign would be over in two years. The real test was figuring out solutions our government would most likely consider in two years in what will be known to our generation as the most pressing transitional period.

Day five of Russia!

We each had consultation with delegations with respective consul Generals and specialists this morning. The American delegation would meet the Russians privately, with three officials for Culture and Youth development from the Russian United Nations Association of Russia. After stating our approaches to our respective ministries, we asked questions to the officials about spreading democracy in the Middle East, Hamas, energy and education.

Following this, we went to the Mariinskiy Palace that usually hosts the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg. We sat, listening to assemblymen, a Diplomacy League official, G8 Research Group advisor, and heads of state speeches from each delegation.

Our conference was officially opened and it felt great. We had time for a reception and it was in the congress hall. It was then, most of us tried to search for our ministries that would hold our policy friends, our military enemy, or finance marriage partner and our defense policy divorcee.

We laughed about politics and events, leaders and past presidents. We talked about our individual approaches to situations we would discuss over four cups of tea for me and wine for the others. We slowly realized our sessions would be heated. So we smiled a nervous smile. We may have all looked confident but in truth, we felt dreadful. We didn’t know what to expect.

Day four of Russia

This is the boredom felt from the triviality of this day

04/04/06: Major Session Begins

Our plenary sessions began today and we went over the happenings that would occur over the week. When the Russian delegation said we were going over the planning for each day, we didn’t think they meant they would go over every hour of the day. I kid you not,“11 p.m., 12 p.m., 1 a.m. till 8 a.m., we will sleep… 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m. we will eat breakfast.”

In this plenary session, each delegation sat together and we were all staring at everyone else trying to figure out their approaches strictly on their facade: Hardliner or compromiser? I chose to use the exciting way, the American approach of hard in the room, a jokester outside sessions, confused the hell out of everyone.

Every delegation went their separate ways for sightseeing and the Americans laughed about already having finished every possible street corner in Saint Petersburg, we were done!

We waited, relaxed, a few left the hotel, me and Nicole paid what seemed like a million dollars for 2 minutes on the internet and I sat (rather patiently) for my missing bag that was lost in Moscow! Mind you, it had all my suits and sessions had already begun!

Day three of Russia!

04/03/06: Sight-seeing, delegations arrive

We visited the Hermitage, the Fortress of John and Paul and a vegetarian restaurant. We took several stops in many churches and it took me back to my Medieval Civilizations class with the frescos and the arches, portraits of saints and baby Jesus held by Mary in several different forms.

On the streets of Russia, I often felt we went back two decades. There were old cars, dark-tone clothing with fabrics of the 80s we made fun of our parents for wearing and genrally the city’s look. We did see construction to mark Saint Petersburg’s rich history, perhaps this was their road to fit into the millennium. I wondered if these people cared to match their streets with the rest of the world. Or was it just the American theory of giving pity to those who did not have the American ideals or the American façade, maybe they truly enjoyed living in a calmer, more cultured city with thousands of statues, hundreds of small bridges and small shops aligned with larger ones, without competition.

I don’t know whether to call them the people you meet or if it’s a long-lost friend reunited. This trip hadn’t begun its summit portion for discussion on forming a communiqué; we were given time to socialize with all the delegations.

For a person with my personality, I wondered why they hadn’t started the debates and discussions between ministers of affairs yet especially since we would get to know them in sessions anyway. The answer was simple, the personalities you get in politics is quite a different face you receive during dinner. I imagined myself arguing policies with Russia and I both cringed and smiled, I got it now…. Oh no. I no longer was anxious to rush into session, instead I enjoyed my dill potatoes and bottled water.

Day two of Russia trip!

Here is my second day... :-)

04/02/06: traveling and sight-seeing

The weather is slightly unfavorable to a New Jerseyan who just got comfortable in putting on sneakers and shirts instead of boots and sweaters. By the end of today, the American delegation argued every other hour about every possible argument that could occur but shortly thereafter laughed about yes, everything that could be laughed at. We ended up finishing each others sentence, sharing gloves, paying lunches and getting away from the formalities, such as “so, the weather is different from home, huh?”

The streets in Russia had no lines separating traffic and the metro felt like an inferno. The hotel bed epitomized the stereotype of everything European style meant everything half-sized. The toilet paper felt like sand-paper and the small food portions were so normal to Russians that it was as if Weight Watchers formed a coup over Russia.

But for some reason, we felt good about being here. I think we would have fed into the American stereotype of being seen as “uncultured” if we didn’t accept all these things that put us out of our “comfort zone.” It still felt like the Russians were the British guardsmen outside the Queen’s palace, we wondered how we’d make them laugh, smile or move.

Nicole as my roommate, I joke, is the white version of me. She does things I would do if Islam didn’t say sacrifice some enjoyments and pleasures on this earth for eternal happiness. It’s a good sell. For some who don’t have tenants questioning faith on a constant basis, my decision to wear pajamas instead of a cocktail dress are different approaches to life. Nicole made me feel comfortable, and when she found me prostrating in the corner of the hotel room, she grabbed her necklace with a Saint of Catholicism and closed her eyes in reflection.

That night during dinner, the Japanese delegation arrived and exposed to us the most perfectly aligned but natural unforced smiles. It was a few minutes after meeting the Japanese, each American thought we now had to repeat our thoughts thrice in our heads before we said a comment or joke, if it was something ONLY an American would understand, save it for later.

Then, the Germans came! The first-three were Karsten, the uplifted, free-spirited jokester, the second was Max, the tall broad model-type with the softest heart and the third was Moritz, who had a wild-boy look who analyzed everything with great thought. The rest of the Germans slept and Max number two, who would be in my ministry, was flying in from another UN conference from Beijing. It was also this night we hereby declared the Germans as the Americans of Europe.