The United Nations!

Last Thursday, Inky and I decided to go an adventure to Manhattan. I was nervous, because we decided to go all by ourselves! We are both very independent and travel all the time, but this was my first time into the city without an adult.

We rode the train, then a bus, and finally we walked the last few blocks to the United Nations Headquarters. There were so many flags lined up outside! We had to go through security, just like at an airport. Inky and I had both packed backpacks with water bottles, a subway map, and our cameras. We put them through the scanner. Before we went in, we had to check our bags at a counter for safety. Luckily, we got to keep our cameras.

The first thing we saw was Sputnik! Inky is so proud of her country's achievement in launching the first satellite; I took this photo of her in front of the model. It is dark, because we couldn't use flash in that part of the building. You can still see how excited Inky looks!

After that, we walked through some exhibits of paintings. There was a special exhibit of paintings of the Olympics by children from all over the world. I loved it! Inky and I were very impressed by how well the kids could draw. There was a little station there to draw your own Olympic picture, so Inky and I each made one.


Then, we saw the portraits of the Secretary Generals. We asked another visitor to take a picture of us under Kofi Annan's portrait. He was the Secretary General when I was born, and only stepped down last year. Doesn't he look handsome?

Downstairs, we explored the different gift shops and the UN's post office. We each bought one another a little souvenir. I wanted to send my parents a postcard, but I didn't quite have enough money. Inky said that we might be able to go back again before I go home to Utah.


Finally, we posed for a photo in front of the UN flag. Inky says she thinks the flag is especially awesome because it shows the Arctic North, her favorite part of the world. I agree! We leaned really closely to see if we could see some polar bears!

On the way home, we pretended that we were both polar bears in the Polar Bear United Nations. We have matching polar bear toys and we decided that from now on, they will be diplomats!