I Missed Jude Law

The security these days is crazy. They start checking our badges out on 2nd Avenue, have us walk between all these fences and police cars, check our badges again, then we pass all the press people setting up their equipment for the day, then they check our badges once more, and then we walk through the regular security with the scanners and metal detectors and everything, and then we can't get into the Secretariat building the normal way, but have to go down a flight of stairs, walk through the whole complex, then walk up one flight of stairs again to get to the elevators that go up to floor 37 and my windowless office. And my bathrooms.

Oh, the other day. This was last week. I was walking out from the bathrooms and caught the image of myself in the mirrors (with that amazing New York skyline reflected in the background, just so you know), wearing my formal business attire, with the light blue UN badge dangling from the chain around my neck. And I thought, "Who'da thought?" You know... for a moment there I was kind of infatuated with the whole idea of myself a grown-up business woman working at the UN Headquarters. Business suit and all.

But then the moment passed. And now I'm back to being the unimportant intern who had all these expectations--because this is, after all, the UN Headquarters--that dropped flat on the ground once I arrived at my little room.

And it's not that it's windowless. It's that I wasn't properly introduced, and that nobody seems to care, and that I didn't get any real assignments to make me feel that I'm actually trusted with at least some responsibility, and that the other Rebecca in the room walked past Jude Law in the corridor on her way up to our room today while I was sitting at my crappy computer from 1985 (give or take) listening to the General Assembly speeches (because nobody bothered giving me a pass so I could actually go to the meetings and be there, like some of the other interns) all alone. That's why.

Well, Hani was sitting there too. And he's Egyptian. Which means that I have somebody who feels at least a little bit friendly in that huge building, and someone I can say things like khalas and insha Allah to, and he will understand. That means a lot.

Okay, I know it's my second week, and they're not going to give me all these really fabulous super important things to do until they know I can handle it. But the thing is that they don't even bother to find out if I can handle it or not. Frankly, they hardly give me anything to do at all.

But anyway, the reason for the security wasn't because Jude Law was there (even if you'd think so). It's because almost every head of state from the entire world is there this week for the 63rd General Assembly. Which I'm sure I already told you. But did I tell you I'm seeing Mr Crazy Bastard Iranian President Ahmadinejad tomorrow?

He had like a 9 page speech today (at least double everybody else's) on how everything is God's creation, and how human beings were created from mud in the soil, but how we weren't destined to stay in the soil, and how the hegemonic powers in the world are screwing things up, and how things are still going in the right direction, and how his nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and boy, am I really interested in what he's going to say tomorrow when we meet him. A bunch of other interns and me.

As much as I'm looking forward to seeing him, though, I'd kind of prefer having a morning meeting with Jude Law at Grand Hyatt tomorrow instead. In a private room. Y'know.