Today I realised I only have five more weeks to finish, wrap up and put the pink ribbon on my thesis - it is due on the 24th September. Maybe I should have started to count this a bit earlier...
Today I also tried to improve my time management. From now on, I'll try to use the early minutes of my morning to sort out all the "intern coordination" stuff: answering questions, updating lists, sending notifications for events, etc. It's not that much work, but it's popping up at all time and I need some method to deal with it.
In the morning, I finished some side-work I'm doing to help my colleagues with a project for Angola. Knowing Portuguese is still handy sometimes, after all... Let's hope that people keep forgetting about that, about Angola, Brazil and all their potential - yes, because we, in Portugal, already had our time 500 years ago; and it won't come back... - and stay focused on the now-trendy Spanish and Chinese.
The rest of the day revolved around my thesis, my writings, the path to follow and the comments and guidance of my supervisor. I have my first commented draft and also advised readings to help me finding my ways. But that's for tomorrow. Tonight I know exactly where I'm going.
Good nightzzz...
Wednesday, August 8: A "professional talk" with Mr. Khalil Hamdani, Director of the Division on Investment, Technology, and Enterprise Development (DITE) of UNCTAD, and a "talk & drinks" session about corporate social responsability and principles for responsible investment.
Picnic-ing in Geneva
Weekend #6 (August 11-12): An early morning tour to the known and typical Ferney market, just across the border, and a picnic by the lake with the product of the morning incursion. Later, the fireworks of the Fêtes de Genève. Sunday was spent at home - cleaning, working, et caetera.
Wednesday, August 15: An almost-farewell Japanese dinner after a busy day at work. Time's running out of control.
The cafeteria with a view
Thursday, August 16: The eagerly awaited lunch at WMO and the consequent disappointment due to high expectations. Not that it is bad, but I bet the view tricked many of the people who sold me this as the best cafeteria of all. But I still manage to see the machines they use to do the weather, though. Later, the intern coordinator meeting, where I was as representative of UNCTAD interns. Quiet calm, with no big frills. Me and my UNCTAD colleague decided to show how people from the right countries of Iberia - Portugal and Catalunya, respectively - enjoy meetings in bars and pubs by leaving the table to get food and drinks. It was a pity they had already finished when we returned...
The weather-makers at WMO
Friday, August 17: It was yesterday, for me. Work, lots of work. The last stop of the Cafeteria Tour, with the Red Cross Museum delivering its usual (good quality). And a this-is-it farewell dinner at a Portuguese restaurant (no, I didn't get any fee for arranging this!) and a late-night (and early morning; well, not for usual Portuguese standards) out in a club in Pâquis, dazed by being listening to kuduro in Geneva. Yah!
Weekend #7 (August 18-19): Home, sweet home.
The Celestial Sphere, Palais des Nations
The day rotated pretty much around UN/CEFACT's repository on "single windows", with me trying to read, understand, write. It was also the day of my first event as UNCTAD Intern Coordinator, a post I was recently promoted to. I know it's fancy and I must say I'm very proud of being the guy that has the power to update a mailing-list and, each Tuesday, send an e-mail to all UNCTAD interns calling for the Traditional-UNCTAD-Intern-Tuesday-Lunch. Today's lunch was a success and we even had to put tables together to fit all interns present, something usually not seen it this kind of initiatives - especially in August. Will this be the beginning of a wonderful career as a party promoter after arriving to Portugal?
The missed event of the day was a professional talk at WHO about current global health threats, epidemiology, and international health regulations. That and the football game after work. But more Tuesdays will follow - the next one will be tomorrow, as a never-ending round of talks and conferences is promised. I will let you know.
Boa noite!
Mont Blanc, La Môle, and Lac Léman guarded by the UN flag at the UN beach
There was also work, of course. But this week was particularly intense because of the high number of intern activities scheduled. With the end of July approaching, many interns are leaving Geneva in the following days and several events took place.
On Tuesday, the Traditional-Tuesday-UNCTAD-Intern-Networking-Lunch is already a classic. Every Tuesday interns meet at 12h30 at the cafeteria to lunch together, ending up scattered through all the premises in groups of three or four per table. This Tuesday was no exception, but it had an extended version, with a post-lunch photo session in the UN park.
On Wednesday, the much awaited dinner at the UN beach (an area by Lac Léman mischievously called "beach") was followed by a late-night incursion in the street-bar Le Terrasse. Thursday was to rest and get ready for a Friday late-afternoon sun bathing & swimming at the Bains des Pâquis, followed by a dinner. I skipped the disco afterwards, as I needed to get ready for more important duties.
Good night, and good luck.
Time's running by and work must be done - this was the main conclusion of today's meeting with my supervisor. I presented what I've done till now and expressed my main ideas and concerns. The goal for the next two weeks is having a decent first draft of the literature review. We noted that, given the areas already covered in the literature, the data available, and the time constraint, probably the best methodology will be to work two or three case studies: one with a PCS already implemented, other of a port in the implementation phase, and another with a port still to implement it. The bad new is that the most wanted efficiency improvement analysis is difficult to perform, which doesn't recommend a quantitative approach for now. The most logical relation between ICT and efficiency would be in waiting times, but data with the appropriate detail would be hard to find. It was decided that, nevertheless the time constraint, further analysis is needed before issuing any questionnaire or conducting interviews with port stakeholders.
Work apart, Tuesdays are the usually intern's lunch day and I got the chance to meet some new people and pre-arrange a weekend trip. This is one of the advantages of being old and having an European driving licence, something that rent-a-car companies like and allows for some benefits in intern's pockets. The day was only complete after a small birthday celebration at the office. Happy birthday, partner!
Fridays are becoming the high-level days for me here in Geneva. After the "professional talk" from last Friday, today I was completed devoted to trade and development, hardly working in my thesis.
The morning was spent at the WTO, assisting, as UNCTAD representative (or guest of UNCTAD's representative, to be more exact) to the trade facilitation negotiations. My place is showed in the picture above, alogside with other observers (from OECD, IMF, the World Bank, e.g.) and facing the empty, side-by-side seats of Iran and The Holy See. No, it's no provocation, it just happens that the observer countries are sorted alphabetically.
The meeting was not very exciting, but being there, with (almost) all the world represented, the translators hidden behind their window-booths, was quite thrilling. Just like in TV, but with me starrring in the show. When it ended, I still went to have a look at the WTO building, and confirmed that it's probably the nicer that international organisations have here in Geneva. Planted in the park and only 50 metres from the lake, the view is superb and the charm is second to none. Funny enough, the second floor has some huge Portuguese tiled murals, painted the traditional way and depicting primary-sector activities: pesca and lavoura.
In the afternoon (or what remained from the afternoon), I headed to the ITC building, for a professional talk with Ms. Aïchatou Agne Pouye, Head of the Division of Trade Support Services.
Ms. Pouve explained the basics about the ICT - International Trade Centre and how this joint agency of UNCTAD and the WTO tries do enhance trade and knowledge with programmes destined to private companies (especially small and medium enterprises) of developing countries. After Mr. Belka's talk from last week, it was good listening to other voice with a very different background and understand the different areas of intervention of UNCTAD and ICT (UNCTAD being mainly a policy adviser to governments, whilst ICT takes care of the private sector). Ms. Pouve also shared her past experiences in Senegal, her home country, and addressed the main differences between the public and the private sector, where she originally started her career.
And that was all for today. I'm tired now. I'm over&out.
If you interpret it literally, you cannot prevent smiling when you see students exchange "business cards": which business do they run? I prefer the Portuguese expression cartão de visita, which can be literally translated as "visiting card" - even if you plan to do business, your intentions are hidden beyond the "visiting" purpose. This way we make sure there is always food and drinks involved.
I remembered this when I was on my way home after an intern get-together at a bar near Plainpalais. The event, inscribed in UNING (UN Intern Network of Geneva) casual Thurday drinks, was less casual than usual and I saw myself surrounded by networking professionals, mangling ideas and exchanging business cards as they were playing poker. I didn't escape, even if I tried to keep quiet with my friends in the very edge of a bench looking at the square. The conversation was nice, but it was too hot and the wine was rubbish.
Weekend, finally. Not that I have a lot to complain about today. The major highlight was this morning's "professional talk" with Mr. Marek Belka, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Under the organization of the UNING - UN Intern Network of Geneva, the session was destined to interns only and proved to be a very interesting initiative. I will make sure I won't miss any of the forthcoming.
The meeting took almost all morning, which meant that I was only able to work on the thesis during the afternoon. And the progresses weren't much; or, at least, didn't look much, as everything I keep doing: hours of reading and always going back home with the feeling that no advances are being made. Probably I should start writing - something.
The bulk of the afternoon was spent with a recent article about the impacts of electronic commerce on the strategic management of container shipping companies. Not bad, but not that relevant, either. I also search for some literature on IT and transaction costs (good ol' Coase, always present!) and browsed through some data I had requested from HQ back in Portugal.
The history wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention that the weather is fine, at last, and that the white mountains popped-up for the first time since I arrived in Geneva. With a scenery like this, time passes me by faster at the scenic cafés and cafeterias of the Palais.
Have a nice weekend!
