a perfect BIC day

there are moments when i feel like blogging but never cease them; then the moment is lost, and my thoughts join those others past, probably never to reclaim its place in the forefront of my mind. ay today i questioned my ability to retain precious things like memories, moments of revelation, or important information. not fun figuring out the answer. but today is an appropriate day to blog, so hurray that i finally am doing it.

i shared with two people today that it's one of those days that make me fall in love with BIC and this work. Vince (who normally works remotely from Texas) was in DC all this week, and that always means interesting meetings and a whole lotta inspiration. we set up a bunch of meetings with Executive Directors (ED) at the IDB and the US Treasury this week, but i will just talk about today, which was especially awesome and emblematic of a perfect BIC day.

9am, we met with the ED of Chile and Ecuador (he's Chilean, duh from the accent). Vince, Paulina, Andrew Miller and myself (Kris Genovese would have join if she was in town). started out like a typical meeting with a non-allied ED- he tried to put BIC in its place as "not who (the Bank) responds to; the Bank responds to its donor and borrower member countries." but the last topic we touched on was MICI (grievance mechanism of the IDB), which is his baby, and there was a tender moment where he admitted that he takes responsibility in it having become the "animal" it now is. the last exchange there was definitely constructive.

10am, Josh L comes over and says he's looking for maps of indigenous territories and deforestation for the REDD Indígena report that AIDESEP is printing, and asks if I had a minute to think/look for some out there. how FUN. and then we play around with this mapping platform where you can overlay different features in the Amazon, just cos we're both map nerds. and we thought about how maps might convey the researched-and-proven fact that deforestation is significantly lower in indigenous territories. love.

11am, internal SESA (environmental and social assessment for REDD) workshop. yay, my fav peeps in the office: Josh L, Paulina, Vince, Patrick and I. well would have been sweeter if Christian and Jelson were around. steep learning curve for me, as always, and everytime I find myself in the presence of the people I most admire, it is hard for me to take risks and test my ability to contribute. and so i often leave the meeting feeling lousy about myself. but i absolutely LOVED listening to the rich experiences of my amazing colleagues and absorbing everything i could. SESA is fascinating. and sharing a pizza for lunch with my colegas is nice

2pm, REDD/R-Package Working Group. once again, another of my favorite parts of what I've been involved with at BIC. a group of intelligent, prominent NGO folks in the REDD/forestry realm debating the actual creation and insane brickwalls of international environmental policy. blows my mind that I find myself in the room where that sorta discussion takes place. of course Rick of Global Witness (my current dream boss) is there too

4pm, chatted with Vince! a convo had been brewing in my mind all week, wanted to ask him the secret of his passion and dedication to his work. the answer, anti-climatically, was "i don't know, it just feels natural." what d'ya mean, Vince, no secret prescription i can follow? since last summer (refer to old posts) i've held him in very high regard, and sure enough Vince's excellence and humility as i've seen this time round have not fail to inspire. on request, i shared with him my own aspirations in this field, and well it was just great to have a casual conversation with him about his research, family and personal aspirations.

i've said this before, but one of the things i am most glad to have gained over the past few months, interning, are mentors. people in the field that i truly respect and who, seriously, are so acclaimed, yet incredibly humble and generous with their time and advice. simply being able to work alongside them has taught me so much, and their work inspires. you may put Zach and Josh L at the top of that list.

so clearly, work has been great. salsa-wise (hehe), i'm just starting to get into it again e.g. Rumba Cafe in 15mins. loving portuguese class, church and friends there, old friends, and roomies. but i feel like i'm at a social low, though. it picked up a little after midd, but it's sorta crawling back down again. i half suspect i just need to exercise more. and get more job/fellowship applications out the door. and then i can go happy-go-lucky again, for a while.