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

Das Ist Schön--the Weekend I discovered I am an ALPaholic

Friday morning came quite quickly.  After a whole week of little sleep and lots of activity, I wasn't certain how a full day in Bern with my art history class would go over.  The morning started off with a brisk walk to the Gare Cornavin and then a 2 hour train ride to Bern.  Talk about a picturesque train ride!  Views of Lac Leman, vineyards, and gorgeous green countryside the entire time...not too shabby!  Upon arriving in Bern, our class split up and picked up a little snack before starting our jam-packed day of site seeing.  I settled on a delicious salami sandwich on a pretzel roll--delicious!--but such an interesting experience.  Being in a German speaking canton in Switzerland really placed me out of my language comfort zone.  I tried communicating with the man behind the counter in a combination of French, Spanish, and maybe what I thought was German but ended up settling on hand motions and smiles to relay my desire for the sandwich!  He asked, "Americana?  Obama?"  I couldn't help but laugh.  Once we left the train station, our entire class had the difficult task of trying to keep up with our long-legged, speed walking teacher.  Our first stop was outside the Bundeshaus, which is the primary government house in Switzerland's capital city.  The water fountains jetted skywards as we left the site and continued onwards to the Bern Munster, or cathedral.  Founded in the early 13th Century and funded by St. Vincent , the Bern Cathedral is rich in history and architecture.  Post Reformation when a majority of Catholic cathedrals experienced iconoclasm (the smashing of saints and very characteristically Catholic objects such as Mary), the Bern Cathedral maintained a lot of its original figures and paintings.  Zwengli, the leader of Reformation in Bern, was less extreme and seeing as the cathedral has only recently been completed, decided to allow a lot of the original features remain in and on the cathedral.  A figure of Mary was replaced with an iconic figure of Justice but the side panels emulating the Enunciation and Adam and Eve are still in place today.  This particular cathedral has three naves, or aisles (the "long, vertical"part of a cross) with the most incredible stained glass and ornate ceiling details above and near the apse.  My personal favorite piece of stained glass was the "Dance of Death" which was originally created by Niklaus Manuel around the 1520's.  Each panel shows death ascending on various members of the population.  This is a unique, social commentary that was meant to reinforce the idea that "death levels all" regardless of your position in society.  Following the Cathedral we explored the rest of the Old Town, visited the Bear Gardens, and ended our day at the Museum of Art History across the river Aar.  A lot of the original objects and figures from the Bern Cathedral are housed here and are uniquely NOT displayed behind glass cases but are instead exposed and resting on pillars!  A little daunting thinking about accidentally knocking down or leaving a pen mark on such a historic object!  Also, we even were treated to a guided tour of the clocktower that was originally built in the late 12th Century!  We saw how the clock functions from inside before watching the actual exterior action of the clock an hour later from the town square.   Carla brought us the traditional Bernese dessert call Hazelnuss-Leckeril.  This treat tasted like hazelnut but had the consistency of a power bar...not sure I could consume them on a daily basis but I am excited to try more traditional desserts of various towns and Cantons across Switz!!

Okay, enough about Bern...even though I could go on for another post JUST about the capital I want to get to one of the most magical weekends I have ever had!  A lot of people not in Art History met up with us in Bern before taking an after 7pm train to Interlaken.  Last Bernese anecdote...we ate Rosti, a traditional Swiss-German meal of hash browns with onions, ham/bacon, cheese, and topped with a fried egg (delicious!!), at this little restaurant and asked for water.  Long story short, we get the bill and see a 40 CHF charge for the water.  Water is so easily accessible and safe to drink from fountains all over the city, including the one right next to our restaurant.  We were all literally speechless and couldn't help but laugh.  What were we supposed to do?!  We drank every last drop and I ate everyone's lemons.  Most expensive water EVER!  Okay back to the surreal weekend that followed...

We arrived in Interlaken around 9pm Friday night.  We made the trek to our hostel, Balmers, an internationally known hostel that attracts a younger crowd of people.  With "Metro Club," or the bomb shelter club as we called it, beneath the hostel, you really won't ever have a quiet evening.  We quickly became part of all the hustle and bustle downstairs and had a late first night in Interlaken.  The morning came very quickly, but Balmers was up and bustling seeing as Interlaken is known as the "Adventure capital of Switzerland" ( think Queenstown any NZ people!).  My friend Lauren is a Ranger during the summer months at Philmont in New Mexico so she had us up and ready to go around 8am.  As we waited for our first bus we encountered some traditional Swiss horn players who were on their way to the start of the marathon in Interlaken.  We heard them blow their horns, something we assumed to be the start of the race, before boarding the bus--how Swiss!  Next we got on a train to Lauterburnen (quick note, all the following spellings of towns are phonetic and very questionable!) where we saw the front runner of the marathon right before we boarded our first gondola up to Schilthorn!  This is where we experienced and tried to take in our first view of the immaculate landscape that is the Alps.  We had a perfectly clear, sunny day that only made the mountains appear to be more photoshopped and surreal than we already imagined them to be.  After a brief Alpine photo shoot, we began our trek to Murren, the town where slalom skiing was first done!  We weaved in and out of gorgeous country sides, trees, glacial streams, and of course immaculate views of the mountains.  Next, we made our way to the quaint village of Gimmelwald, which sits at 5000 ft. elevation.  we took an extended stay here where we ate at Pension, a restaurant with fresh Alpine cheese (that comes from Erica's house...she wasn't in that day to sell cheese because it was a hay day, literally.  Everyone was harvesting hay...unreal!) and an incredibly friendly Australian waiter.  AFter tearing ourselves away from the most majestic lunch spot ever, we took a roller coaster of a gondola ride down to Schleteburg.  Note to all you James Bond fans out there, this is a gondola in one of his movies!  I felt like I had descended into a fairy tale as soon as we stepped off the gondola and into this little town beside the river.  The path was surrounded by trees and scaled by the mountain side giving it the ultimate "Hansel and Gretl" feel.  We meandered down the winding path and absorbed the endless views of chalets, cows, and waterfalls.  After a winding 50 minute adventure, we were absolutely exhausted and piled onto a train, then a bus back to Interlaken.  We treated ourselves to a Kebab in town before heading back, showering, and getting ready for another night in the "bunker."  Sidenote:  hostel showers attempt to conserve water, but do not tell you before doing so.  I couldn't help but laugh out loud as my shower shut up mid-shampoo and started up again in a glacial temperature.  First time for everything and my hostel first time was definitely a memorable one!

Sunday, while the majority of the group headed home, a group of 10 of us stayed and made our way down to Thunnersee where we once again tried to comprehend the beauty of the Caribbean blue lake and mountain views.  The boys ventured into the lake more quickly than we did but I was the first girl to take the plunge into the glacial lake!  I literally could not get my mind around the fact I was bobbing in an Alpine lake with views of the Swiss Alps. Unreal.  We then made our way back into Interlaken and had 5 hours to kill before taking the train back to Geneva.  We ate kebabs, again, (attempted to) nap, watched a lightning storm from the station, and tasted an assortment of chocolates from the Coop.  Everyone (attempted to) do homework on the train, but we quickly found ourselves collecting our thoughts and attempting to process the whole weekend!  Quickly, we realized it was the 10th anniversary of September 11th and found ourselves recalling the morning of that memorable day.  Mind you, memorable in a very different way from the weekend we just had.  I recalled being my 5th grade self eating Cocoa Puffs and watching news coverage that didn't make much sense to me at the time.  Many others had similar recollections and it felt necessary to stop and take a moment of silence to reflect on an event that changed our nation's history forever.

We returned to Rue Muzy around 10pm, with a sense of renewal and awe, excited to load pictures and share stories, but more importantly, exhausted!  I quickly found myself showering and climbing into bed for a night of sound sleep and dreaming of the Sound of Music--something I am sure was sparked by an indescribable weekend among the Alps.

A Week in Pictures

 Lauren. Lindsey. Steph. Maggie.  A Night out in Geneve!

 Roomies!

 Le Jet d'Eau

 Henri Dufour: Swiss Army Officer who presided over the 1st Geneva Convention.  Place Neuve.

 La Clementine. 

 Danny and I in "Le Jardin de Cinq Sens" Yvoire, France

Armory with mosaic depictions of the 3 major historic events in Switzerland. Seen here are the medieval markets during the time of Caesar 

Beautiful flower at "Le Jardin de Cinq Sens" in Yvoire, France.

A Day in France and Then Some

Wow!  I can hardly believe it has officially been a week since I left Lakewood and started my journey to Geneva!  I feel like I have already done and seen so much, it is incredible!  So for updates on the last two days...Sunday our whole group to a day trip to Yvoire, France.  Situated just across the Swiss border, Yvoire is a picturesque lakeside destination that transports you into a medieval feeling town adorned with gorgeous flowers, gardens, and views of the Yvoire castle overlooking the lake.  The program treated us to a delicious 3 course lunch at a restaurant named "Les Flots Bleus."  We ate our delicious salads (ahh fresh greens--what a novelty!), sauteed fish and chips in a yummy white sauce, and strawberry sorbet and vanilla yogurt while enjoying an obstructed view of the lake and the Jura mountains.  Unfortunately, the weather was quite drizzly so our views were not sensational (and we couldn't take the 2 hour boat ride there) however, the weather did add a small town ambiance that could not be replaced.  At lunch, I got to talk to Dylan, Radu, and Brian who are 3 of the 9 guys on our program.  They are all so nice and come from different backgrounds that I have began to learn about!  For example, Dylan is really into biking and has two younger sisters.  He originally went to Skidmore his freshman year and took a gap year following that to travel and work in France and Italy.  Radu is from Romania and plays defense in soccer, and Brian swam for BU his freshman year and is interested in swimming for the university here in Geneva.  One of the many aspects I love about our program is the intimate size that allows everyone to get to know each other if they would like to--which of course I do!  Following lunch, I talked to the restaurant host/manager who asked about our group and I continued my practical French application and replied in French.  I started speaking in English but made a quick transition into French which I think they appreciated!  The woman offered me a restaurant pen, which I have been using in class these past two days.  We then headed to "Le Labryinthe: Jardin des Cinq Sens," which Yvoire is well known for.  This maze of a garden has 9 separate areas each of which targets a certain sense us humans posses.  One of my favorites was "le jardin d'odorat ou des senteurs" that targets the body's sense of smell.  Some of the plants and flowers elicited smells of chewing gum, lemon, and lasted on the tips of your fingers for several minutes.  My personal favorite was the lavender bush!  Reality seemed so far removed from where we were as we made our way through the various sections of the garden.  After a little over 30 minutes in the garden, a group of us made our way down to the lake where there was a misty view of the mountains adjacent to the castle itself.  The path down to the water was lined with the most beautiful pinky/coraly colored begonias I have ever seen.  All the colors were so vibrant and lined all the flower boxes of the stone and cement homes that make-up Yvoire.  Several people spent our last hour in town in a creperie where the ambiance reminded me of what I associate with an Alpine ski lodge.  Everything was warm and cozy and my friend Danny, whose had a lifelong dream of going to France, could not get over the fact he was eating a crepe in France!  We made our way back up to the bus, which was situated right next to a home that housed chickens, roosters, and the biggest geese I have ever seen!  We left Yvoire feeling sleepy, content, and ready for a nap.  Later that evening a huge group planned our first, non-Geneva, weekend excursion!  There are 20+ people in our program who will be staying at Balmer's Hostel in Interlaken, Switzerland Friday and returning on Sunday!!  My Art History class has a field trip in Bern all day Friday so whenever everyone else finishes class, they plan to meet us in Bern and we will all take the train down to Interlaken after 7(when we can travel by train for free)!  Who knows what we will actually end up doing there but we all look forward to starting our exploration of Switzerland outside of Geneva!

Yesterday, Monday, I had my first day of Art History.  We met in the classroom at Rue de Vollandes, where our instructor, Carla, handed out our textbooks for the next 5 weeks.  All the Swiss books have such eccentric covers so I'm hoping the content will be just as interesting!  The majority of our classes are "on site" so our first class took place in Le Jardin d'Eaux Vives, which is about a 5 minute walk from our classroom.  Carla crammed our brains with SO much information it was incredible.  Certain sites we had previously seen came to life with so much more meaning and a greater understanding of how and why they were built the way they were!  For example:  all the homes made of stone represent the slave labor used in the area centuries ago.  Since a lot of the stone homes were built for wealthy citizens who wanted a lake view that wasn't immediately next to the water, all the stone had to be transported FROM the water TO the building site.  This obviously required lots of hard labor, which was carried out by slaves at the time.  Since there were no safety regulations at this time, these houses also represent the hundreds of lives that were inevitably lost during construction--or as Carla put it, "the houses built by blood."  There are so many aspects of history that can be easily overlooked so I am excited to delve into the past of such a historic country!  One of the other points, not necessarily directly related to class, that really stuck with me yesterday was the thought that you "look better when you don't know what you're looking for."  This, ironically enough, is Carla's approach to our homework.  She suggests not doing the reading until AFTER our class so that we can look back on our day's discoveries and continue to learn about them and support what we now know with the hard facts.  Naturally, I think deeper past Carla's intended meaning (or maybe she meant for it to be as philosophical as I took it!) and apply the thought to real life.  I often find myself trying to look for things in life--whether it be potential jobs in the future, a cute pair of shoes, or even something as idealistic as love (yes, yes I know this is corny but think about it!!) sometimes it is better going into things blind and with little expectations only to be blown away by what you discover simply by absorbing your surroundings and taking everything in as you experience it!  There is always time later that day, or later in life, to process and really understand an experience.  Okay, I know I'm notorious for these philosophical rants, but I thought it was a really neat idea!  After class, Steph and I went for our first lakeside run in Geneva!  It was one of the most spectacular runs I have been on ever.  We were literally RIGHT next to the lake and had views of the Jura mountains the entire time!  We both went a lot farther than I think either of us anticipated on running, but it was such a great feeling.  We haven't worked out since we have arrived, and while we walk EVERYWHERE, there is something about breaking a sweat that I love.  I'm sure we will discover more running paths in the months to come but I was so stoked to get that first run under our belt :)  Everyone attempted to get an early night last night seeing as we had to leave Rue Muzy AT 7:20 this morning!  Mags and I had crawled into be around 11 when Lauren came up to our room.  The 3 of us had an 1+ long pillow talk that was epic.  Lauren is one of the best story tellers ever so the hour flew by and before we knew it, it was creeping past midnight!  Needless to say, this morning was rough.  After chugging back a quick cup of coffee we were off to a DOL type office where we validated our extended residency and got finger printed.  I guess it's official, I'm here until December!!  After that, Steph and I went on our same run before a noon meeting with our internship coordinator, Aline.  She talked to us about our placements, interviews, etc.  and everyone's nerves definitely escalated a little!  A lot of us have yet to receive our placements and that combined with the prospects of interviewing with such prominent organizations brought about some nerves from most everyone!  In Public Health today we had a speaker from the WHO talk to us about Physical Activity and Diet--one of my favorite areas of public health.  Professor Xuereb had a lot to say on the subject matter and was very engaging.  There are so many underlying factors that are easy to overlook when looking at program development for healthier food initiatives and encouraging physical activities across the globe.  This is a subject matter I am pretty passionate about so I really enjoyed receiving a professional insight on the matter.  Apparently, there is the second ever UN convention on the matter on the 19th/20th of September--so watch out for that in the news!  Another jam-packed couple of days here in Geneva.  I'm barely 1 week into my abroad experience and have already been exposed to SO many different opportunities and experiences.  They will just keep coming and I will try and be as diligent and keep sharing :)

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 :)

A Visit to the US Mission to the UN

This morning was an early start (especially after a late night!) but an exciting one!  We used our bus passes for the first time to make it over to the governmental neighborhood that houses the UN, WHO, and other international agencies.  Apparently, the US Mission to the UN requires some of the top security procedures for entry into their facilities in Geneva.  We had to arrive half an hour prior to our presentation began just to ensure we were prompt.  After passing through security, we were greeted by food and drinks in a lecture room prior to the briefing.  There were some unfamiliar college-aged faces in the room and my friend Lauren, who had arrived on the earlier bus, was talking with them so I went over and introduced myself.  Apparently, this program was not as fortunate as ours in terms of rescheduling flights after Hurricane Irene played interference with their original departure.  A small number of the 30 people associated with their group made it to Geneva and have a week to kill before the rest of the people arrive.  One of the guys, Campbell, and I got to talking and after he mentioned he lived near Chicago, I mentioned my Aunt Ann living in Libertyville--lo and behold that is where he actually lives!  He goes to Miami of Ohio, Guillome goes to Kent State, and Nick goes to Wakeforest.  All of my friends on my program are familiar with these Midwest/East Coast schools but I have very limited knowledge on any of them!  The program quickly began and we were briefed by the heads of the Public Affairs, Economics, Security, and Migrant/Refugee sectors within the Mission.  All of the speakers were very engaging, but I definitely felt like I had a limited knowledge on a lot of what was being discussed--especially in comparison to a lot of the IR students who posed very sophisticated questions!  The final presentation, the Migrant/Refugee portion, was very interactive.  Ned Nyman, the director of the program, could tell we were all a little tired so he divided us on two sides of the room and named one side "Red Sox Nation" and my side the "Bronx."  Suddenly, he approached me and introduced himself.  I, suddenly intimidated and completely unaware of what was about to come next, composed myself and (hopefully) charmingly introduced myself as well.  He quickly informed me that I was president of the Bronx and continued on to name Natasha president of Red Sox Nation.  Mr. Nyman crossed the room back to me and continued his spiel briefly before telling me to hit Nick, who was standing next to me.  I think I gave him a blank stare as he continued to coach me to hit him!  I finally gave him a light tap and before I could take another breath he approaches Nick and says, "are you going to let your president treat you this way?!"  Nick moved to the other side of the room following Mr. Nyman's instruction.  Next, he tells me to hit Steph.  I step in saying I don't want to harm my citizens but he is insistent that I must hit her!  Steph moves to the other side of the room.  Meanwhile, Mr. Nyman goes off about how the Bronx is letting me walk all over them and before too long I will be going into their homes, raping their wives, etc.  I was DYING!  He goes up to Campbell and asks if he trusts his president anymore--meanwhile I am all smiles trying to be as innocent as possible!--and he makes some comment about how mean I look.  Mr. Nyman finished up his presentation and needless to saying everyone was quite engaged.  Once the briefing was over, we thanked the man who ushered us to and from security and made our way out of the Mission.  The Kent State program boys were on the same bus as us and we continued our previous conversation.  Let me say, I was upset I haven't memorized my Swiss cell number--they got off a couple stops before us and hopefully will find us on Facebook!  Mags, Steph, and I all had to do our reading for Principles of International Health (PIH) before our 2 o'clock class.  The reading we had, "Maternal and Newborn Health" by Matthews Mathai, was very interesting and made even more fascinating by the fact the author was our guest speaker in class today!  He had an hour and a half presentation that further discussed and supplemented the reading.  We had an open Q&A session that brought up lots of interesting discussion (I posed a question regarding what is being done in countries/regions where HIV/AIDS prevalence is high but the need for blood transfusions is just as high, especially considering the high maternal mortality rate (MMR).  Often times, MM results from bleeding, which would only increase the need for donated blood in these infected regions).  Dr. Mathai is very knowledgable on this subject and had lots to say on all of the questions he was asked.  I am so looking forward to our remaining 12 guest lecturers that compose our remaining 18 classes!!  After class, we made another trip to our new go-to store, Denner, which is a cheap food store just blocks from rue Muzy.  I'm thinking this whole shopping every other day thing is how the semester is going to be.  After some down time, Steph, Mags, Lauren, and I cooked up a meal of pasta (this is also becoming a pattern...and a dangerous one at that) with chicken, mozzarella, tomatoes, peppers, and balsamic!  We felt so sophisticated (especially considering our other meals have been plain pasta and bread and cheese) and are looking forward to omelets in the morning!  I think everyone is planning on going out somewhere tonight--anywhere is "somewhere" at this point and I am perfectly content if the night turns into another one comprised of wandering aimlessly around the city!  First Friday night in Geneva and I'm certain it's going to be a good one:)

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!