Guest Post: International Day of Peace at the United Nations in NYC

I arrived in NYC on Sunday afternoon. I checked in to my hotel and did some exploring of Central Park and The Central Park Zoo. I had dinner at a pub right next to my hotel and then went to the Nicholas Roerich Museum for Anchoring the Spirit of Peace: A Gathering of Souls Honoring the Spiritual Foundations of the U.N. International Day of Peace.
The museum is amazing. The paintings are indeed peaceful and so beautiful. I might have said I could stay there all night and still find pretty and new details in each painting. After some meditation and praying for peace, we were introduced to the Peace Violin. The history of how it came to be is fascinating and the different parts that it is made of are fantastical! I was truly amazed at its beauty and the history of it. It was played for us and words cannot describe. I was more than happy and honored to bless the violin with my hopes for peace as many before me have done. It was a special evening and I will definitely return to the museum to explore the many acts of peace observed in the paintings.

Monday was the big event, International Day of Peace at the United Nations. The structure of the building itself is truly a work of art. Add in all the nations’ flags and it sure is a site to see. The outside of the building has many pieces of art promoting peace, unity, and putting down of arms. We spent several minutes taking it all in and then went in. Inside is may be more beautiful than out. Several works of art were spectacular. We then went into the chamber we would be taking part of Peace Day in.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon led the opening ceremony for peace day in a courtyard outside. We got to watch it on the screen inside and they concluded the ceremony by ringing the peace bell. They ceremony participants made their way inside where Secretary General addressed us and how important the work youth are doing toward peace is. There were plenty of Selfies to be had by the panel waiting to address us which included Dr. Jane Goodall, Michael Douglas, and Herbie Hancock to name a few.

We were allowed to ask questions of the panel and listen to them tell us about their work on peace. We also had on conference a group of youth from Lebanon. We got to see a taekwondo demonstration from Korea, Yo-Yo Ma played the cello for us, and the UN Youth choir sang for us. So many cool and beautiful things happened during this all morning and some afternoon session. It ended with the youth of the world presenting their projects that have promoted peace. It was an amazing words cannot describe event.

After a brief lunch we headed over to the Church Center for the United Nations Tillman Chapel for an afternoon of praying for peace, presentations on what many people, groups and organizations are doing to promote and foster peace, and a world peace flag ceremony. During the flag ceremony we were lucky again to hear the World Peace Violin played for us as we wished peace in every country in the UN. We had 45 minutes to wish peace in 193 countries. We succeeded and it was truly an amazing experience and a great way to end International Day of Peace.

After the events I enjoyed dinner and more places around NYC and called it an evening. Tuesday I had plenty of time before my flight back to Cleveland so I went to the September 11^th memorial and museum. I spent several hours there taking in the memorial outside, the new freedom tower, and reflecting on the artifacts in the museum. I feel it was a very fitting end to Peace day.

Afterwards on a recommendation from my hotel doorman I went to Angelo’s pizza by Times Square for some NYC style pizza. It was delicious and a good place for lunch! I then walked around Times Square and went into the Hershey’s store and the M&M store.  After some exploring I headed back to my hotel to retrieve my bags and head to the airport for home. I had to leave a little earlier then I hoped since they were already blocking off streets and canceling buses/shuttles to the airport in preparation for Pope Francis.  But that gave me plenty of time to get to the airport and relax a little before my flight.

It was an amazing trip and I met so many new friends. A great experience I’ll never forget.

This is a guest post to by Kristina Jakubec, the winner of our New York City trip contest.