It's Official: I'm a Junior...in Geneva

So today officially marked my first day of Junior year...weird.  I had a solid night's sleep, which was great! I woke up feeling well rested and ready for my day.  We continued orientation with legal presentations, filling out forms, and receiving our University de Geneve student cards and additional information.  After a couple of hours of sitting doing nothing, we all began to get a little sleepy so walking back home was refreshing.  I had a little down time which I spent reading over our new pamphlets and before I knew it, 2 o'clock was approaching and Steph, Mags, and I had to be back at rue de Vollandes for class.  Our professor, Alan Harvey Schnur, is the coolest guy ever.  He is originally from the Bronx but has worked for Peace Corps and the WHO for 30 years.  He just retired last year but continues to teach our International Public Health course for BU.  Class was long but interesting.  Professor Schnur is very engaging and encourages lots of class participation.  During our 20 classes, we are scheduled to have 13 guest speakers from 5 continents and numerous UN, WHO, and various other health organizations in Geneva.  Professor Schnur carried out his 3 years in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia and shared with us a quote that says, "Kes b'kes inkulal b'igru yihedal" which in this particular Ethiopian language translates to, "Slowly the egg will walk on two feet."  Prof. Schnur supplemented this quote with Chinese characters pronounced, "Wan shi kai tou nan" which means, "everything is difficult in the beginning."  I thought these quotes were a nice touch to our opening class and were easily realtable to our time here in Geneva.  Additionally, they apply to implementing public health policy and thought it was a clever hook into our first class.  After our 2 and 1/2 hour class we were all feeling pretty sleepy.  Rob, a BU student in our class, suggested we all take a walk down by the lake.  Steph, Mags, Baruch, Tommy, and I ventured down to the lake and enjoyed the gorgeous sites the Lac Leman has to offer.  It was quite a warm day so when we ventured out to the enormous fountain, the spray was welcome :) We walked on a rock jetty for an alternative view of the fountain and enjoyed sitting and taking in the gorgeous scenery surrounding us! We plan on taking a paddle boat adventure soon--maybe even this weekend!  By the time we got back home it was closing in on dinnertime.  Maggie and I went to Deener, a cheap grocery store near by, and got some drinks to accompany dinner.  We got distracted looking up flights/making plans for our upcoming long weekend so Maggie and I didn't end up eating until after 8!  After dinner lots of people were coming in and out of Lauren and Steph's room and we all shared stories about Halloween costumes, student housing, and other college memories.  Before too long, we decided to join a group who had gone out an hour or so before and were down on the lake and caught in a lightning storm!!  It was absolutely gorgeous--lighting over the lake illuminating the Swiss alps...can't get much better!  Everyone went back home to avoid rain but Lauren, Steph, Maggie, Danny and I walked along the water and ended up by a park we had seen on our earlier walk.  The park is called the "Cheetah Baby Plage" where there were ridiculous rope ladders, rings, and tire swings.  We amused ourselves there for quite some time and even dipped our toes in the lake.  Finally, we decided to turn back seeing as we have to leave Rue Muzy at 8:45 tomorrow morning for our visit to the U.S. Mission in Geneva!  Bon Soir tout le monde, a demain!