Friday was my last CSD day since I have two more exams on Monday and I get kicked out of housing at NYU the day after. I will be returning to good ole' Calgary, where there are actually lawns and trees that line the streets, and of course, the Canadian Rocky Mountains! I can't wait to go into the mountains and just hide away for a day or two after spending a year in downtown NYC. Of course there's always the irony that Calgary is the oil capital of Canada... haha. 

 Anyways, CSD was extremely satisfying for me. Sure the plenaries got boring at times after sitting through it for 2-3 hours, but just being there is always interesting (paradox?), for example, flipping through the 7 different language translations, talking to a diverse group of youth delegates (I've met more European youth at CSD then I ever have in my life, and I learned so much about Belgian culture from Joann --> interestingly, my Belgian economics teacher at NYU is a skeptic of the UN and the CSD), and just soaking in the feeling of being in the middle of UN Negotiations. I've never done Model UN before, or had any idea how the UN technically functioned, yet by the third day, I was walking around the UN like I worked there. That was extremely satisfying. 

I also met some great people like the Deputy Secretary for Environment and head of the US delegate, the head of the Canadian delegation, the Swiss delegate (just bumped into him), a leader of the South Korean Ministry of Environment, and various NGO representatives, including two from International Atomic agencies. It's amazing talking to these people because they really augmented my perspectives and opinions of sustainable development, especially on corporate social responsibility since Industrial Development and the Corporate world are my areas. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance effectively lobby because the Business and Industry Cacaus was large, all over the place, and didn't have a single standpoint. Some of them love sustainable development, others hate it. 

Wondering around the UN was fun too. The world press competition photos were amazing. You can see them online, but the ones in the lobby were supersized and definately had more emotional impact than seeing them on a comp screen. Contrary to what I was told, UN food was terrible. My dining hall food at NYU is better, and that's saying a lot. Trust me. But I want to emphasize again that the best part of CSD was chilling with my fellow delegates, who are some of the friendliest people I've met in a long while. Treehuggers are chill, eh? I felt that everyone was really tight with each other, since we were all friendly faces in a mish-mash of high-level diplomats. I especially love the I.D. team, Caitlin, Lindsay, Yochi and Joann, since we spent a lot of time together at I.D. Plenaries and drafting our statements. I'll miss you guys! until the next CSD eh?

 Well if you are passionate about sustainable development, thinking of going to CSD, and is reading this blog, then I definately, definately encourage you to apply to go with SustainUS. You will have a lot of fun, meet a lot of interesting people, and most importantly, learn in an environment that few have the opportunity to.