A Bit of Home in 1207

Today was our first real rain and it definitely reminded me of Spring rains in Washington--except it was warm.  We woke up relatively early to make our way into Old Town for our art and architecture tour.  Our tour guide, Anna, was very knowledgable and had lots to say about everything we saw.  We saw everything from the Henry Dunant memorial (founder of the Red Cross), which was located at the site of the guillotine used during Napoleonic time, to the Academy of Music, and le Cathedral de Saint-Pierre in Old Town itself.  There was so much information to try and absorb especially dates and styles of architecture!!  I am so excited to learn more in depth about all of these things in my "History of Switzerland through Art and Architecture" class that starts up on Monday.  After our 4 hour tour we decided to wander around the farmer's market that takes place every Wednesday and Saturday.  A lot of people bought paninis while I made sure I had enough food for the weekend.  After returning back to rue Muzy, Maggie and I slept from 2:30-4 before starting our scavenger hunt around Geneva.  We were about to cut out about half of the hunt because of our morning's tour in Old Town and our visit to the international district of the US Mission.  We discovered a new shopping place, Manor, where we located cheap wine and cheese!  After we completed the scavenger hunt, we made our way back home in the rain.  Steph, Mags, Lauren, and I continued our search for an inexpensive Fall Break trip and as of now (fingers crossed) it looks like Madrid and Morocco!  I was able to Skype with Case tonight which was great!  Even though I am loving every bit of Geneva, I am definitely overcome with waves of nostalgia as I think about this time last year and getting to move in to my Sophomore year.  Most everyone decided to go out--seeing as it was our first Saturday night--and Steph, Mags, Lauren, and I found ourselves quickly pulling outfits together to get ready to go!  We attempted to make our way out to a club called Shakers but ended up talking with some local students, and maybe football players, at a bar we don't know the name of close to Old Town.  They were really nice and I LOVED getting to finally practice my French.  I don't think I spoke English until we got back home!!  We enjoyed our time out, even though we didn't stick to our original plan, and before too long we were getting tired and declining to progress our night at a salsa club.  We got back home and hung out with some people in our program we haven't hung out with much before and they were so nice and enjoyable to spend time with!   I love that everyone is really making an effort to get to know one another and I am excited to continue the "getting to know you" process with everyone in the weeks/months to come!  What a fun weekend so far--only augmenting my love for the incredible city that is Geneva :)