Revisiting New York City has allowed me to curate my favorite Manhattan people, places, and food into one splendid week.

It’s always gratifying returning to old favorites, but darn if there wasn’t one glaring never-made-it-happen left on my NYC To Do List.

Day #11,556: It was a last-minute decision.  (And the obsessive planner in me is beginning to learn that beautiful moments often arrive packaged in spontaneity.)

Flying by the seat of my winter tights, I accidentally timed my visit to fall on International Human Rights’ Day. Serendipity, I tell ya.

Our tour guide gathered a fittingly international tour group from the waiting area (I was the only American in the bunch) and began taking us through the central building and meeting halls.

I had no idea that the United Nations Headquarters is actually not located on American soil.  To ensure that each country is on equal footing, the land is internationally-owned; the UN maintains its own security force (NYPD isn’t permitted on the grounds unless invited) and even has its own postage stamps!

The UN was created in 1945 after the Second World War in an effort to promote human rights and wellbeing and to keep a Third World War from ever becoming a reality.

193 countries are currently members of the UN, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.  (The newest member of the UN is South Sudan, which entered two years ago.  All the flags that generally line the outside of the Headquarters in alphabetical order had to move down to make room.  Musical chairs for flags.)

No matter the size or population, all 193 member countries are equal in their vote.  These votes normally take place in The General Assembly, where the countries are arranged alphabetically: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon picks out of a hat to determine which country will get the first seat, with the other nations seated alphabetically from there.

{I also found it interesting that in addition to the 193 members, there are two observing parties that are always present, but don’t get a vote.  Any guesses on who they are?  Hint: I wrote about visiting one of them (click on the link after you guess, cheater!), where Mr. M & I tried to reign in our inner heathen.  Answers at the bottom.}

Because The General Assembly is currently undergoing renovation, we weren’t able to get a peek- nevertheless, I was surprised by just how up close & personal the UN lets guests get.

Our group was able to sneak through a meeting about eliminating homophobia from athletics and to see the room where Malala Yousafzai recently spoke (the 16-year old Pakistani education activist who survived a Taliban assassination attempt).

I was especially excited to visit the meeting room of the Security Council, the branch of the UN charged with maintaining international security.

Our guide told us that The Council had just recently decided that France could legally invade the Central African Republic in an effort to preempt a possible impending genocide.

More than just maintaining peace, the UN works to improve people’s quality of life by championing universal primary education and promoting women’s rights, among lots of other things.

One of their newest campaigns was explaining the importance of toilets.  A lack of toilet facilities can easily lead to contaminated drinking water and subsequent illness and death.

Something really shocking?  One in three people in the world does not have access to a toilet.  One in THREE.

Learning more about their educational campaign was one of my favorite parts of the tour.  In parts of the world where girls are not deemed worthy of education, families are provided with not one, but two cups of food (one for the child and one for a parent)- as incentive for families to send their daughters to school.

For two years, my visit to the United Nations Headquarters kept getting pushed aside in favor of glitzier New York City attractions.  The complex is located a bit off the beaten path (mine, anyways) and without it being all up in my face, I honestly didn’t think much of it.

But it dawned on me that thinking globally is much the same way; it’s so much easier to consider the stuff that’s in front of me on a daily basis that I catch myself forgetting about all the reeeally important stuff that’s not.

Stuff I take for granted… vaccines, mosquito nets, food, and, yes, even toilets.

The United Nations Headquarters requires a little nudge to remind you that it’s totally, 100% worth visiting- if only because we require a little nudge to remind us how important it is to be aware of the world in which we live.

I’m considering myself… nudged!

Details of the Day: You’ll need to do a small amount of pre-planning (just a tiny bit!), as tickets to tour the UN Building must be reserved online.  On a Tuesday afternoon, I was able to find an available tour time slot with only two hours advance notice.

If you want to make a day of it and will be visiting from September through December, make reservations in advance (and come dressed in business casual) to dine in the Delegates’ Dining Room alongside ambassadors, delegates, and other insanely interesting people from all over the world.

Plan to arrive around 20 minutes before your scheduled tour time, as you’ll need to get through security before entering the UN complex.

**Any guesses on my educamacational quiz?  The two observing members of the UN General Assembly- present at every meeting but without a vote- are The Holy See (Vatican City) and Palestine.

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