UN Day - Clear In

Well I have just finished my 1st day at the UN compound UNMIS. What an experience. I could not count how many different uniforms I had seen or how many countries were represented. Reminder that the UN force here is comprised of over 55 countries and there are over 57 police forces here. Speaking of which I bumped into an RCMP, Ottawa and Halifax police officers so far.

The UN facility/compound here is about the size of a small university however it is completely surrounded by a 12 foot cement fence with barbed wire with armed guards at every entrance and on every corner.

When the UN arrives and sets up in a city it quickly becomes the main employer for that city. The UN can even cause changes to the economy as markets raise their prices because they know the UN members will pay.

Its about 45 degrees here and not a cloud in the sky. I have spent the morning running from this office to that office from getting one signature to finding another one. This also meant running from one building to another. There is over 40 buildings on this site. I was drinking water non stop. I was told by my friends here that there are some people that have very limited jobs (MASSIVE BUREAUCRACY) ...One woman's job was to look at the sheet you had and hand it to the guy behind her, you sat with him he placed a stamp on it, he moved you to the next guy who took your picture then back to the last guy for a second stamp saying that the pic was you then back to the first woman to leave the paper and pick up a lanyard. That's 3 people doing a one person job. There was a great deal of this in the UN. PS all these people and the other 3 picture takers were in one office and existed 4 feet apart from each other....

We ate lunch at the UN outdoor catered cafeteria.. that food is great. I enjoy the fresh watermelon juice. Hamburgers, Shwarma, Kabobs are the staple. They even have mist machines above all the tables to keep you cool while you eat. Again its amazing to see all of the different uniforms.

We headed back to Canada house at about 1:00pm. Went out for dinner that night for Lamb ribs. They were ok. I have learned that food here is really based on the salad, soup, and bread as there is never much meat.