"Turning and turning in a widening gyre...."
When I ventured onto the streets of Washington, I did not expect them to be fundamentally different from those of Calgary. Both were metropolitan environments, and I was sure that the differece between Canadians and Americans wasn't so acute, that it would translate to radically different changes.
Turns out,however, that wearing one's uniform in a suspect district, in the heart of Washington, DC., is not an advisable idea. I spent half of my walk,staring furtively around me, trying to ignore the leers and the barely disguised sneers, from locals.
I suppose we did what every tourist does in Washington- we took the metro to the Smithsonian Museum, saw the Washington Monument, saw the White House from a distance, saw the memorials etc. What struck me, however, was how entrenched Washington was in the past- so much so, it had forgotten the present. The ancient monuments and buildings, built so long ago with the birth of American democracy, are utterly incongruous with the actual infrastructure of the city- cracked concrete, worn roads, decrepit buildings with grafiti smeared everywhere.
Whatever remains of the past, the people from Washington cling to- and the present slips away.
_
The conference, (the Global Young Leaders Conference) began the next day- my twin and I had both been nominated by our principal. I wasn't venturing forth, however, with many great expectations- we had paid a hefty sum to attend the conference, and I couldn't escape the nagging feeling that it was a scam- preying on credulous, ambitious, overachievers.
It turned out, like so many other times, that I was completely and utterly wrong.
GYLC, was akin to a model UN conference- but better. We were taken through a whirlwind of events, from the Department of State, to the World Bank, and finally to the hallowed halls of the United Nations. We simulated the Security Council, the World Trade Organization, and the General Assembly of the UN- learning about the difficulties of coming to a consensus, and solving world issues that appear ostensibly easy.
Most importantly, as youth from all corners of the world (95 nations in all) we connected in unimaginable ways- on a level deeper then the cultural chasms and rifts that were supposed to seperate us.
_
I remember distinctly, and rather peculiarly, the second day when I sat down to lunch. It was just me and my twin, sitting in a rather large booth obviously made for four. There were 360 people at the conference- a number which was not exactly conducive to the process of making friends. The bewilderingly large amount of people made it difficult to fit in. I remember thinking, dismayed, that we would spend the rest of the conference
this way- isolated.
I didn't know that within ten days, I would've developed friendships as close as those it took 10 years to forge at my own school- that my eventual departure from the conference would be accompanied by an inevitable pang of grief, that all of us would never be again together.
I can't thank them enough for the ten days they gave me- ten days of understanding and realization.
The accounts that will follow are short portraits of my time there- brief, fleeting glimpses into my indescribable experience.
Turns out,however, that wearing one's uniform in a suspect district, in the heart of Washington, DC., is not an advisable idea. I spent half of my walk,staring furtively around me, trying to ignore the leers and the barely disguised sneers, from locals.
I suppose we did what every tourist does in Washington- we took the metro to the Smithsonian Museum, saw the Washington Monument, saw the White House from a distance, saw the memorials etc. What struck me, however, was how entrenched Washington was in the past- so much so, it had forgotten the present. The ancient monuments and buildings, built so long ago with the birth of American democracy, are utterly incongruous with the actual infrastructure of the city- cracked concrete, worn roads, decrepit buildings with grafiti smeared everywhere.
Whatever remains of the past, the people from Washington cling to- and the present slips away.
_
The conference, (the Global Young Leaders Conference) began the next day- my twin and I had both been nominated by our principal. I wasn't venturing forth, however, with many great expectations- we had paid a hefty sum to attend the conference, and I couldn't escape the nagging feeling that it was a scam- preying on credulous, ambitious, overachievers.
It turned out, like so many other times, that I was completely and utterly wrong.
GYLC, was akin to a model UN conference- but better. We were taken through a whirlwind of events, from the Department of State, to the World Bank, and finally to the hallowed halls of the United Nations. We simulated the Security Council, the World Trade Organization, and the General Assembly of the UN- learning about the difficulties of coming to a consensus, and solving world issues that appear ostensibly easy.
Most importantly, as youth from all corners of the world (95 nations in all) we connected in unimaginable ways- on a level deeper then the cultural chasms and rifts that were supposed to seperate us.
_
I remember distinctly, and rather peculiarly, the second day when I sat down to lunch. It was just me and my twin, sitting in a rather large booth obviously made for four. There were 360 people at the conference- a number which was not exactly conducive to the process of making friends. The bewilderingly large amount of people made it difficult to fit in. I remember thinking, dismayed, that we would spend the rest of the conference
this way- isolated.
I didn't know that within ten days, I would've developed friendships as close as those it took 10 years to forge at my own school- that my eventual departure from the conference would be accompanied by an inevitable pang of grief, that all of us would never be again together.
I can't thank them enough for the ten days they gave me- ten days of understanding and realization.
The accounts that will follow are short portraits of my time there- brief, fleeting glimpses into my indescribable experience.
posted by gah at 3:58 PM
1 Comments:
Roshan it is amazing to read your account of the conference because you remember it with such great detail ! reading your blog is like a novel. but you are totally right about making friendships in those two weeks as lovely as some back home forged over years! awesome.
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