Busted!

Last Friday, I turned in a report to my boss that I was fairly proud of - many hours were spent researching why Pakistan has registered reservations (protests, in other words) to two important anti-terror conventions, the International Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. OK, so it wasn't an earth-shattering report, but I thought it was interesting. I even included an analysis section on why Pakistan doesn't support the terrorist bombings convention. I argued that because the country's military has links to terrorist organizations, any acts they engage in could fall under the convention and Pakistan would be forced, under international law, to prosecute those parties involved.

Whoops! I guess I took that analysis section a little too far for the UN. Upon receiving said report, my boss gave a gentle scolding. If I remember correctly, I think his words were, "If anyone from the Pakistan ever saw this, our entire unit would get fired." Oops.

But one of the lead stories in the NY Times today discusses the relationship between Lakshar-e-Taiba and the Pakistani government. So even if my analytic skills aren't quite what the UN is looking for, at least the NYT is backing me up.

Mmmm, Schokoladenkuchen ("chocolate cake")

On Wednesday, the UN staged a mock terrorism drill at 9:00 in the morning. It involved pushing 5,000 UN employees out of the giant VIC complex into a park two blocks away. The weather in Vienna has been unbelievably fantastic since I got here, save for the 45 minutes we were forced to stand in that damn park.

Because of that tortuous experience, I've had a wicked cold for the past couple of days. I haven't done much other than work and struggle to buy food at the grocery store (always an experience!). In terms of work, I just finished up preparing documents for my supervisor's trip to Pakistan. However, if you've been reading the news over the past 24 hours, things seem to only be getting more chaotic there. Yesterday, the Taliban ordered people to leave Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Multan, and Islamabad, where the UN mission is going to take place. While it's difficult to determine if the Taliban's threats are credible, attacks have skyrocketed over the past few months so it does seem that the group has the manpower and resources to carry out large-scale attacks in the country. For a solid read on extremism in Pakistan, read this.

In lighter work news, my co-worker Emre (a.k.a. the Turkish ambassador to the 12th floor) is leaving the UN to return to Turkey this weekend. Emre is an expert on all things related to basketball and American Dad, so he will be greatly missed. To the right is a picture of the going-away cake my co-worker Leslie made for Emre. The picture below is of Emre holding his delicious cake, with my co-worker Luis in the background.

Outside of work, I am still trying to figure out how to unlock the shopping carts at the grocery store. Here in Austria, you have to leave a deposit for a damn shopping cart and only then does the cart unlock. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to unlock the carts. Yesterday, I stood there jamming a 1 euro coin into the cart for a good 15 minutes before I got so many strange looks that I abandonded the operation. Instead, I decided it would be better if I just ran to the dollar store next door, purchased a large piece of tupperware, and then used that as my make-shift shopping cart. I was definitely the freak of the supermarket, but at least I got my groceries. Evidence below.

Nerd Alert

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my supervisors is going on a mission to Pakistan beginning next week. If I failed to mention this, apologies. Part of my responsibilities therefore involve preparing reports on the current political situation in Pakistan. I know what you're thinking. "These people are experts, Lesley. Why in the hell do they need you to help them out, you lowly grad student?" Well, the people in my office are generalists (hello, Fletcher!) who focus on larger themes - nuclear terrorism, terrorist financing, domestic criminal law regarding terrorism, etc. When they go on a mission, someone's got to do a little digging on the specifics of each country. That's where I come in. So far, I've put together some briefs on Pakistan's judiciary and police system, both of which are royally fucked up.* I don't know how exactly these briefs are going to be of any use to those UN officials taking part in the mission. If anything, at least they'll know it's a real shit show** before they get there.


Outside of work, I've made some valuable discoveries. One is Donau Park. Donau is only two subway stops from my house and it's absolutely gorgeous. Waterfalls, ponds, beer stands, and rows and rows of flowers, as pictured at left.

















A horrifying subway story led me to my next find: Karlskirche ("St. Charles' Church" - pictured at right). After work, I had planned on taking the train one stop in order to swing by the store on my way home. Unfortunately, I'm like a magnet for psychopaths. The guy who sat next to me on the train was simultaneously drinking a giant beer and eating a hot dog covered in mustard - mustard that started dripping down his arm like lava flowing from Krakatoa. I decided that I would wait for him to get off the train first. Twenty minutes later, he was still there. As was I. Only then did I realize that I could spend the rest of my life on that train sitting next to my drunk, mustard-coated hobo friend. I made a break for it at the next subway stop. When I popped out of the station to get some air, I stumbled upon Karlskirche, an 18th century Baroque church.

My third disovery is that European Diet Coke, a.k.a. "Coca Coca Light," is sickening. I can't drink it anymore. This alone might make me reconsider living anywhere outside of North America.


*sorry, Mom
**sorry again, Mom