Swiss Immersion

Monday was a reality check.  I holed up in my room and later the study room downstairs in preparation for my Art History quiz yesterday.  Hello Junior year!  I felt like I was back at the Clara this past June studying for my finals, but knock on wood, it paid off.  Yesterday, I had the entire day off once I finished my quiz in the early afternoon!  Mags, Steph, and I decided to put our local tram passes to use and after initial confusion of tram numbers and directions we found ourselves walking through the gates at Place Neuve to the Parc de Bastions!  The park is situated on the University's grounds and lots of people, young and old, were out and about enjoying the beautiful weather we had yesterday!  I quickly discovered the city of Geneva provides their citizens with wireless internet and Mom and Dad happened to be on Skype!  Talk about an idealistic setting for an afternoon Skype!  After a quick hello and update, I read some public health reading for class today and sent some emails.  Danny, Lauren, and Nancy met us after their class that is held at the university.  We soaked up some sun before deciding to make our way back to Muzy.  Our attempt to board the jam packed train must have been amusing, to say the least, for locals on board and we tried to play it off and casually walk away without drawing too much attention to ourselves.  We ended up walking back home--a short 15 minute walk away--in the pleasant early evening temperature.  I went for a quick run along the lake but had to make sure I was back before 6:30 when our program was hosting a "Swiss Food Tasting" for all of us!  Good thing I made it back with plenty of time because it was heavenly.  There were four kinds of bread with hand-churned butter, an assortment of cheeses, my favorite being the Chevre...there was Gruyere also!, various local wines, hand pressed apple juice, a special grape juice using grapes that are just barely pre-fermented before turning to wine, apple tarts, prune tarts, salami and another cured meat, and little pickles!  Before coming down to the tasting, our program directors reinforced the point that this was merely a sampling and NOT a meal...I was stuffed and in one of the greatest food comas ever post "sampling."    

Pre-Food Coma/Inhalation of Deliciousness

Danny and the Swiss Canton Flags

Homework in Parc de Bastions