The Leaving Geneva Blues.

A good friend called me (or I called her...I can't remember) right before my first flight towards Geneva took off in early September. As I sat in the Detroit airport trying not to have multiple panic attacks at once, this friend assured me that while getting to Geneva and being there for the first few days would be scary, the scariest part would be leaving Geneva. She said I would surely make friends and have the time of my life and all of my worries would wash away, but she warned me to watch out because the end of the trip would come far too soon and that's when the really scary part happens. The part where you don't know if you'll ever be back in Geneva, the part where you don't know when or if you'll ever see your study abroad friends again, and most importantly the part where you KNOW things will never again be like they were for that beautiful three months during the fall of 2009. I knew she was right when she told me that, but I didn't realize just how scary it would be to leave Geneva.

We spent our last week in Geneva working and packing, and promising to not talk about how on Saturday we would all be leaving. On Thursday night we had a family thanksgiving, potluck style, that was honestly one of the best thanksgivings I've ever had, then most of the group headed to our favorite pub, Spring Brothers, that we frequented every Thursday (and sometimes Friday & Saturday) night to say goodbye to the pub that brought many of us together. We bought t-shirts and posed for numerous photos before leaving Spring Brothers and that dreaded hill that we climbed weekly to get to the pub, one last time. Friday brought even more packing, the halls were filled with trash and people trying to shove more things into already full bags. Friday also brought my mom and grandparents to Geneva, I picked up them early on Friday morning and after taking a nap we walked around a bit seeing the UN, where I worked and eventually where I lived. After the grandparents & my mom headed back to the hotel for the evening, the group got ready to go out to a fondue dinner put on by my program. The restaurant was right on the lake and was made even more special by the fact that everyone dressed up for the dinner. As dinner slowly came to an end, the goodbyes started. First to leave was Bryan, the only Ohio Stater to live on our floor and someone who I looked forward to having pop into my room nightly to chat. It was decided the week earlier that the last night in Geneva would be spent celebrating, so after the first initial goodbye, we headed back to Le Cenacle to celebrate our study abroad with an "America" party. Everything had an American theme, from the music to the dress code and the night was spent reliving memories, posing for photos and saying even more goodbyes.

I was never good at goodbyes, I'm always the overly sensitive one who acts irrationally and embarrasses herself by crying, the last night in Geneva was no different. I just couldn't, and still can't, believe that three months went by so quickly. In the past three months I've learned more about myself than I ever thought possible. Part of it was from myself and my experiences, part of it was Geneva but the biggest part of it was because of my beautiful and dysfunctional study abroad family. I'll never forget all of the good times we've had, or the bad ones, and for that I am forever grateful. The past 3 months created a bond between all of us that will last forever. I'm not sure if the people on the trip knew just how much they meant to me, but it has become evident that even if we all lose touch and never see each other again I'll always carry a part of them with me because it was my study abroad family who helped me in realizing who I am and who I want to be.

Just a quick update....

I haven't been able to update my blog because I've been busy traveling with my mom and grandparents, we are currently in Paris and I'm LOVING it. I left Geneva on Saturday, which was really a sad thing to do. Geneva, my last week there and everything I felt when I left really deserve its own blog, so I'll try to do that when I have more time, but needless to say the last few days were filled with celebrations and some tears. I'll ALWAYS have a special place in my heart for Geneva and all the amazing people I met there. Anyways, this is just a quick update to let everyone know that I'm still alive and well....actually I'm more than well, I'm in Paris so I'm freaking fantastic. I'll try to get some time away later this week from drinking espresso, staring at the Eiffel Tower and eating escargots to update. Updates may be even more sporadic than before because of upcoming travel plans but I'll try to keep you all updated. The rest of my time in Europe looks like this:

November 28th-December 4th: Paris

December 4th-December 8th: Rome

December 8th-December 11th: London

December 11th-December 14th: Dublin

December 14th-December 18th: Barcelona

It makes me tired just typing it. I'll be back in the States on December 18th and then in Oregon on the 19th! Can't believe 4 months in Europe is almost over. Anyways, I'll be updating soon, hope all is well with everyone!

Prague, Czech Republic

Jack & I trying Pilsner

The castle

Old town

The Castle

Me on the Charles Bridge

From the boat tour

On the boat tour

Wenceslas Square

If you know me, then you know how much I love to watch travel shows, anything from Anthony Bourdain to Samantha Brown, I love them all. A couple of years ago when I was in high school I was watching an episode of Rick Steve's Europe and he was in Prague, immediately I fell in love with the place (as did Rick during the episode) and knew that the next time I went to Europe that I wanted to go to Prague. After weeks of being in Geneva is looked like the trip wouldn't happen, and then one day my friend Jack and I talked about it and decided that Prague was a must, bought some plane tickets and booked a hostel and before we knew it we were off to Ceske Repbubliky.

We left on Friday afternoon with plenty of time to get to the airport, but like I've said before, and like I'll say forever, it's not traveling if something doesn't go terribly wrong at some point. That being said we hopped on the wrong train (I'll take responsibility for it) and ended up going in the opposite direction of the airport. Thank the lord that we had left in more than enough time and knew the tram and bus systems fairly well in Geneva, after running around the city and basically starting back at square one we finally got to the Geneva airport and were just in time for our flight. The first flight was just to Zurich and was fairly quick and then we caught a connecting flight to Praha and got in around 7pm at night. After taking out some Czech Kourna we found a taxi to the hostel, checked in and got settled before heading to a restaurant down the street (which would quickly become our favorite restaurant in the city) called Spirit Bar. After spending almost 3 months in Geneva where we cannot afford much other than pasta and vegetables, being able to afford eating out and eating good food was a real treat. The dinner was really different than our usual Genevan meals, it was based mostly on meat and of course we tried the Czech beer. After dinner we ended up meeting up with some fellow hostelers in the hostel's bar and then headed out to a 5 story club. One thing that I've learned so far from my travels is that if a country was under dictator control (like Spain) or in the Eastern block (like the Czech Republic) the nightlife tends to be more wild, needless to say after a few hours at the 5 story club we were pretty worn out and headed back to the hostel to catch some sleep.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to try to get tickets to an AC Sparta (Prague's main soccer team), after realizing that maybe we had been mistaken and there wasn't actually a game that day, we headed back to Wenceslas square to go on a 6 hour tour of the entire city. Our tour guide was a little Czech lady who had a, lets say, strange sense of humor, but knew a ton about Prague. We went through old town, Josefov, the castle, on a boat tour and had an included lunch all for about 1200 Koruna, around 70 dollars, more than worth it. Being able to see buildings that had been around for hundreds of years and had so much history with WWI, WWII and the Cold War was amazing. After touring the whole city we went back to Spirit bar for dinner and then headed back to the hostel to change and meet up with some people and ended up going to a Czech bar where we hung out, chatted with other travelers and drank Pilsner.

The next morning was our last day in Prague and we spent it revisiting sites like Josefov and the Charles Bridge, searching for souvenirs and drinking hot chocolate on the top of a hotel that overlooked all of old town square. We caught an early dinner at Spirit bar and then headed back to the airport to go home.

Prague was literally one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, I'd say it's tied with Paris for my favorite place I've ever been. It was filled with amazing people, food, history, beautiful architecture and language. I fell in love with the city instantly and cannot wait to go back one day, and hopefully stay for much longer than a weekend. I am so lucky to be able to go to such an amazing place and experience such a beautiful city. I think I can easily say my trip to Praha was the best trip yet.

Lakes, Alps & the Matterhorn

The group in Annecy

Vin chaud avec orange

The bridge of love

Once again I'm behind on my travel updates, so here it goes...

Last weekend Heidi, Sam, Chris & I decided to take a day trip to Annecy, France. I had been to Annecy once before on my first trip to France in high school and loved it, so I was really excited to go back. Annecy is a smaller town located just an

hour and a half bus ride outside of Geneva at the base of the French Alps. Most of the town is really modern, but a section of it is all cobble stone streets, canals and winding streets, needless to say we stayed on that side. After leaving fairly early in the morning and enjoying the hour and a half scenic bus ride, we were greeted with a street market and were able to walk around and look at all the produce and local goods. After walking through the city for a couple of hours we found a crêperie and proceeded to have an amazing lunch followed by killer dessert crêpes, mine was a carmel (with a homemade carmel sauce) and lemon crêpe, pretty perfect. After lunch we walked up to the huge château that over looked all of Annecy and is now an art museum. We toured through the museum for a bit and took pictures of all of the city. Once we were done looking around it had started raining and we were getting cold so we found a restaurant, bought some hot wine and discussed how perfect the little town really was. Once we were all warmed up again we ventured back out into the rain and cold to walk along the lake and take in the sights. When I was in Annecy in high school I remember there being a really creepy prison museum, and luckily we ran into it in our walks throughout the city. While most of the exhibits were in French, and for the most part lost on us, the creepiness of the prison and opportunities for creepy photos were not. Once we were done touring the prison we found a cute restaurant for dinner, which ended up being the best part of the day. Because we had to catch a bus back at 7pm, we had to eat dinner early (for the French) and luckily found a cute restaurant and were the only ones in it. The owner of the restaurant was so excited to show tourists the traditional food of the French Alps region and throughly explained each dish, but she didn't speak English, and being the most well versed French speaker in our group (which isn't really saying much) she explained to me all the local dishes and what was in everything, while I did my best to explain to the others about the meals. It was good practice for my language skills (or lack there of). After ordering all the traditional dishes, the owner of the restaurant was so excited about it that she offered us free apéritifs, which are always welcome. The delicious dinner was a perfect end to the wonderful day trip that we had.

Train ride there

The Matterhorn

Please come out of the clouds Matterhorn!

For reals.

After a wonderful trip to Annecy, this past week I was able to take Thursday off of work to go on my first trip into Switzerland to a small town in the Alps called Zermatt so I could see the Matterhorn. My friend Jack & I went, and left early in the morning to catch an early train to the town of Visp. The ride there was absolutely beautiful, filled with small towns, chalets and the alps. Once in Visp we had some time to walk around and window shop before catching the matterhorn express train to Zermatt. The second train was much shorter and took us up into the mountains, passing little groups of chalets and fields filled with goats. Once in Zermatt we walked around the town and took a plethora of Matterhorn pictures before finding a cute little pub to get lunch in. On our way back to the station to catch the train back to Geneva we experienced our first snow of the season, I thought it was pretty dreamy that my first snow this fall was in the Alps in Switzerland. It was also fun to be in the German part of Switzerland, I haven't been able to experience the Swiss-German culture (minus the few times I've been in the Zurich airport) and was happy to have that experience.

This past weekend I went to Prague with Jack and had an amazing time, that deserves its own blog post, so you'll have to wait for that. I can't believe we only have two weeks left on the trip. The time has literally flown and I think everyone is realizing that we only have a handful of days left together, and its getting kind of sad. I'm glad Heidi will be back in East Lansing with me, but it just doesn't seem fair to us that all the Ohio State kids will be able to see each other, but we won't be able to get together as easily. I guess we'll be making some trips down to Columbus this spring. The next two weeks will be spent enjoying Geneva, exploring parts of the city I have some how seemed to neglect, trying to speak as much French as possible and spending time with all the amazing people I've met here.

Resolutions, Halloween & Sprained Ankles

Annecy, France

Getting ready for the soccer game.
Mouse & Cat <3
The halloween group
Geneva in the Fall

So a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks, and per usual I am terrible at updating my blog, so I'll try to catch you up.

A couple of weekends ago was the NGO forum for the upcoming UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission of Europe) meetings, it was also a forum to prepare for the upcoming Beijing +15 meetings which will update the status of women's rights around the world. My organization was leading a caucus event and so Heidi and I worked the whole weekend at the forum. Our caucus was meant to create a brainstorming session within various NGOs to discuss the role of responsibilities within human rights. While so many groups and meetings are focused on human rights (and justly so) there if very little talk about the responsibilities that go along with those rights, because who really wants to be responsible for things? No one, especially not governments. My boss decided Heidi and I were going to be the special rapporteurs for the session which involved taking notes on who said what and essentially what happened during the meeting, and then drafting those notes after the meeting. Sitting in a room with 20 + women and having to catch all their comments wasn't the easiest thing ever, but Heidi and I made it through and were able to finalize our notes that night. The next day at the forum a group of women from the meeting got together to draft a resolution statement that would be read aloud at the UN, Heidi and I were also involved in the meeting and created the resolution. It was so interesting to sit in on a brainstorming session like this and learn about all the little specifics that have to be just right for something to be read and taken seriously at the UN, every word has to be so precise and they truly use a different language. After the NGO forum, the next Monday and Tuesday were the actual UNECE meetings where our boss read aloud the statement we wrote to all the delegates and the secretariat and such, it was an amazing feeling and definitely something to add to the resume.

After working hard all weekend it was time to celebrate Halloween (or at least try to). A few weeks into our study abroad when we realized that Halloween isn't really celebrated in Switzerland Heidi and I went on a mission to make our own Halloween. While there was no carving of pumpkins (a pumpkin here goes for around 11 us dollars), and no trick or treating, we did find a party to attend. A local group called "glocals", which is basically a group for expats living in Geneva, throw a party every year at a club called Palledum. We dressed up (Heidi was a mouse and I was a cat) and convinced some of the boys (Jack, HCL & Chris) to come along and headed to the biggest halloween party I've ever witnessed. There were about 1,200 people dressed in all sorts of costumes and dancing the night away, it was a perfect way to celebrate. It was actually really fun to notice cultural differences just by costumes, they LOVE dressing up as Napoleon and most guys just dress up in drag. After a long work week dancing to Thriller surrounded by 1,200 people from all over the world dressed up for Halloween was a perfect way to relax.

After Halloween everything has pretty much been the normal, working and waiting for the weekend. On Wednesday a group of us got together to play soccer (or football as they call it here) outside which was a bunch of fun until I hurt myself...a couple of times. Per usual I was the one who got beat up, I'm sure partly because I had no idea what I was doing and am clumsy and partly because I get kind of competitive and throw myself out there, either way at the end of the game I couldn't really walk and was in some pain. On Sunday my ankle was HUGE and blue, all kinds of gross so yesterday I went to the doctor and through his limited English skills learned that I have some deep bruising and a sprained ankle, 100 dollars later I have a cream for my sprain and some gel pads to put on it, Swiss medicine isn't exactly as effective as the states. I was also told to stay off of it for 10 days but seeing as I have some trips coming up, that probably won't be happening, either way I just hope it heals quickly.

Speaking of trips I went on a day trip to Annecy, France on Sunday (which did not help my swollen foot) and had a blast. Heidi, Sam, Chris and I all went and spent the day walking around and eating delicious crepes and drinking hot wine with orange slices, it was rough. I had been to Annecy once before in high school and remembered it to be one of my favorite places, going back only confirmed that. I'll put up a separate blog with photos and more info about Annecy. As for other trips, on Thursday I'll be heading to Zermatt, Switzerland to see the Matterhorn and then on Friday-Sunday I'll be in Prague which I keep hearing will be my favorite place, I really can't wait. Expect lots of pictures and updates soon!

Nice, France & the Principality of Monaco

The fruit & flower market
Some of the group at lunch (Chris, me, HCL, Jack)
The group before swimming
It actually looked like this.
Amazing.

A couple of weekends ago Jack, Chris S. (from here on known as HCL), Stephen, Chris C. and I went to Nice, France for the weekend (per usual it was Cait & the boys). It was Jack's birthday weekend and we decided that the best way to celebrate was to head to the Mediterranean to soak up the sun and swim. We left after they got out of their class on Friday afternoon, and after stopping to get some lunch, candy and necessary supplies for the 6 hour train ride, we arrived at the train station and loaded on to the TGV (French speed train). The train ride started smoothly, as we left Switzerland and were venturing into France we passed the time by playing M.A.S.H. and telling stories. All was well until about 4 hours into our trip when the train broke down. We stopped in the middle of the tracks and after finding a conductor who spoke English, were explained that someone had messed with the track's electrical system and that all trains were down. Eventually we were up and running and then it broke down again, what we didn't know is that this would happen various times throughout the rest of the ride. We ended up passing the time in the food and drink car of the train easing our pain with sandwiches and a couple of well needed beers, and after sitting on the tracks for 6 hours, we were back on our way. What was supposed to be a 6 hour ride arriving at 7 pm turned into a 12 hour epic journey, and we got into Nice at 1 AM on Saturday morning. Luckily our hostel (which was a ways away) was still picking people up and taking them back to the hostel, so we got a ride and settled in for the night.

In true hostel style, once we got settled and were ready to go to bed we were awoken by the most intense snoring I have ever heard (it even beat you dad). This was not normal snoring, there honestly had to be something wrong with the guy, needless to say it kept us up all night and a couple of times throughout the night caused people to yell out in anger. Besides the bad roomie, the hostel we were staying in was awesome, it was this old villa and the original owner was the author of Le Petit Prince (if you've taken 3 or more years of French, I can assure you that you've read this book, its hugely famous in Francophone countries). Everything had Petit Prince decor and the hostel had its own gardens, lots of rooms and a really awesome bar. It was a ways from downtown but the hostel was nice enough to pick people up and drop them off at the closest tram stop. If anyone ever goes to Nice, Villa Saint Exupery is the place to stay.

Anyways, on Saturday morning we got up bright and early, got some breakfast and headed into town. Our first stop was the fruit and flower market in the center of town where Stephen and I bought some of the best fruit we have ever had, and then we all grabbed lunch at a local cafe where we had a 3 course meal of seafood for 16 Euro each. After eating, and stopping at a local tourist shop to get bathing suits (HCL and Chris were brave and opted for the euro suit), we took our first dip in the Mediterranean. The sea was a perfect blend of green and blue -just what I had remembered from being there 5 years earlier-, I tried to take a ton of pictures of it, but no matter how many I took it couldn't capture the beauty of it all. After a couple of hours of swimming and laying on the pebble beach we headed back to the hostel to get ready for a night of luxury and gambling at the world famous Monte Carlo Casino in the principality of Monaco.

We showered and got ultra dressed up and then headed to the train station to catch a train to Monaco. The ride there was amazing, the sun was setting and we passed through multiple cliff filled coves with beautiful villas up in the hills, the French Riveria really is perfect. Once we got to Monaco is started raining, but even through the bad weather you could tell that this city (or country?) was one of the nicest places I've ever been to. The streets were beautiful and lined with amazing shops and restaurants and it all was up on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. It was truly filled with luxury and beauty. We found our way to the Monte Carlo and after hearing and reading about the strict dress code (and then dressing up in suits and a cute dress) found that it was a little more relaxed than we had anticipated. Either way we had a great time. The building (which doesn't allow photos) was amazing, everything is gold plated and decorated like I imagine the royal palace was. We gambled for a bit, Chris C. even won 100 Euros on the slot machine, I won 10 cents and decided to keep the slip for a scrap book rather than cashing in. Once we got our fill of gambling we headed back to Nice and hung out at the hostel bar for the rest of the night. Thanks to some collective creativity, we came up with a story for why we were all so dressed up and told people that is was HCL's bachelor party and we were the wedding party, and I was the best man....for some reason everyone believed this, and we spent the rest of the night cheers-ing to the wedding and trying to keep our stories straight.

Sunday we woke up early again got some breakfast (tried to avoid people we had been lying to the whole night before) and headed back to our usual beach to go swimming one last time before it was time to head back to Geneva. After swimming for a while and then drying off in the Provencal sun we got another amazing meal of fish, mussels... and all the things we would NEVER be able to afford in Switzerland, and headed back to the train station to hop a train to Geneva. This time the train ride was only 6 hours long (thank god, another 12 hour train ride could have been the end of us) and we arrived back in Geneva at around 11 pm. What was a random weekend trip, ended up being a jaunt to one of the most beautiful places any of us have ever been and a great bonding experience. I don't know when I'll be able to get back to Nice, but I do know it needs to happen sometime soon.

Studying abroad....forever.

(Some of the Genève family...read on for details)

I have yet to update my blog about my trip to Nice, France & Monaco but I promise, it is coming!

Things have been great in Switzerland and the time has been flying by, I can't believe my internship is 2/3rds of the way over and that my time is Europe is already half over, it isn't a good feeling. I'm sure I'll be happy to see family and friends and get back to school, but I have this nagging suspicion that I'll be wishing I was in Genève the whole time. I realized how sad I'm going to be to have this trip end this weekend, most of the interns went out of town (off to Zermatt or Zurich for the weekend) so I was left with the usual group (or family as we like to call ourselves), and I wouldn't have had it any other way. The weekend was filled with all things ordinary: watching movies and tv shows in Jack's room, walking the streets of Genève, markets in France and going to the Natural History Museum, and it was perfect. As we were enjoying our lazy weekend, Heidi and I realized that we had just a little over a month left of our study abroad, after discussing this at some length we then realized that not only will we be leaving Europe, but we will be leaving all of our new Ohio State and U. of Washington friends as well. While I may have only known this group of people for 5 weeks, I feel like they've always been apart of my life...I think there's something about study abroad that makes you connect with people faster than in any other situation. Heidi and I began questioning what our lives will be like when we won't have someone around to refer to as Zambo, or Jack to make us laugh or Chris to look like he just walked out of a GQ ad, and we decided that it won't be good. So the question for now is, how to study abroad forever...if anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Besides thinking way too much about the end of the trip, I've been making more travel plans and am so excited for the upcoming weeks! Jack and I bought tickets to go to Prague, which is the one place I REALLY wanted to see, and I cannot wait, and a group of us will be heading to Zermatt, Switzerland to see the Matterhorn and tromp around the Alps, I can't wait. Things are also in the process of being planned for my family's trip out to Europe, we have the hotels in Genève and Paris picked out and are starting to look for a place in Rome. Daniel and I have been discussing our travel plans as well and have been looking up islands off the coast of France and Spain to go to. Part of me doesn't want the internship to end and part of me wants it to speed up just so I can go to all of these wonderful places. I can't wait!

Work has been good, Heidi and I are both building new websites for our organization and are prepping for the UNECE (UN Economic Commission of Europe) meeting this weekend and early next week. Our organization is having a side event at the meetings where Heidi and I will be special rapporteurs and will have to write a report that will be presented to the office of the UNECE, it is all very exciting, slightly stressful and extremely terrifying. It is nice that things are picking up again at the office, time goes way faster when you have things to do that don't revolve around facebook, checking your email every five minutes, or....updating your blog. Alright back to work.

Madrid, Spain

I've been a blogging failure the past couple of weeks, sorry for going so long without an update. The past 3 weeks or so has been a blast, I'm still enjoying my internship (although there is significantly less to do since the UNHRC came to an end) and am having fun hanging out with the other interns from Ohio State and U. of Washington. We've been continually exploring Genève and all it has to offer, while continually becoming poorer and poorer - things are expensive in Switzerland.

Two weekends ago I went on my first trip out of Switzerland (besides some day trips to France) and went to Madrid, Spain to meet up with my friend Daniel from high school who is currently studying abroad in Santander, Spain. It was an AMAZING and hectic trip.

I worked a half day on Thursday and left from work with my massive backpack and headed to the Genève airport where I caught my direct flight to Madrid. Everything was going smoothly until I landed in Madrid and my phone ran out of minutes, luckily I had just talked to Daniel and we had made plans to meet right outside of customs. Once I got my things and headed out of customs Daniel was no where to be found. I spent the next hour and a half roaming the airport and cursing my phone which at this point had died and was completely useless. I finally found a pay phone and after some issues with the Spanish directions figured out how to call Daniel, five or so calls (adding up to 100 US dollars) and another hour later (2 1/2 hours in total) Daniel and I figured out that we were at different terminals. Daniel being the smart cookie that he is figured out how to get to my terminal and we were finally off to our hostel, just a little later than anticipated.

Once at our hostel (Las Musas) we checked into our room and immediately headed to the nearest Plaza for some food and much needed Sangria. After eating we ended up meeting up with our friend Tia who had just moved to Madrid for a couple of months to be an Au Pair and spent the rest of the evening catching up on things in front of the royal palace and then walking around the Plaza Mayor.

The next morning Daniel & I woke up bright and early to grab some breakfast and then head to the Reina Sofìa museum. At the museum we got to see some amazing Spanish art, including Picasso's Guernica, which brought both of us to tears. After the museum we got lunch, and in true Spanish fashion it was the biggest lunch I have ever had, and then went back to the hostel to take a siesta. --Siestas by the way are the most brilliant things ever and I'm seriously considering lobbying for them in the USA when I get back.-- After we had finished our naps we headed back out on the town to see the main cathedral and walk through the palace gardens, both of which were absolutely beautiful. And once again in true Spanish fashion at 9 pm we then met up with Tia and went out for a dinner filled with sangria and tapas. After dinner we went into another part of Madrid to watch a Flamenco dance. I had never had the chance to experience Flamenco before and was AMAZED by the dancing. There was a band of around 6 men who were singing and playing Spanish music as three women performed the most amazing, intense and passionate dances I have ever seen. Needless to say after leaving the show I was convinced that I needed to take up Flamenco lessons. Once again, staying true to Spanish form after the show we proceeded to stay out in Madrid until 5 AM roaming the streets, drinking sangria and getting a feel for Madrid.

Even after such a late night Daniel, Tia and I were troopers and woke up early the next morning to head to another museum, this time it was the Prado where we got to see some more amazing Spanish art like Goya, El Greco & Velazquez. We walked around for a couple of hours before getting lunch at a small restaurant and sampling a traditional Spanish fare of paella (a mixture of rice and seafood). After lunch Daniel and I headed to the royal palace to see a military band show that was playing for the weekend, while at first the music and bands were interesting, because of our late night the night before, Daniel and I had trouble staying awake and decided it was time for another siesta. We got up an hour later, refreshed and decided to go to our usual cafe in the nearest plaza to get some tapas and sangria. We stayed out late talking and soaking up the sights and sounds of Madrid. Early the next morning I flew out and after missing my flight and being stuck at the airport for 6 hours I was finally back in Genève (it wouldn't be traveling unless something went wrong right?).

The trip to Madrid was amazing. Thanks to Daniel I learned a ton about Spanish history and culture and was really able to appreciate my trip. It was really great to get out of Genève and experience a culture that is so polar opposite (remember the Swiss are reserved, everything closes at early and they love following rules). As strange as it seems, even though I couldn't communicate with anyone there (my spanish is no bueno if you will), I felt so connected with Madrid and the people there. It is a place so filled with life, passion, art and history and was a great thing to experience. I cannot wait to go back to Spain at the end of my trip and get to experience and learn more about Spanish culture. It was a place that I had never really had the urge to visit (not that I would have turned it down) but now that I've been I have a feeling it will always have a special place in my heart.

Culture, ice cream & the jet d'eau

After 3 weeks in Genève I've come to notice a lot of culture differences. Some of them are just because I'm in Western Europe (people ignoring hygiene, being way more fashionable...) and some are just purely Swiss, either way I thought it would make for an interesting blog....

1) I think all of Europe runs on a different "lifestyle" (for a lack of a better word) clock. The first few weeks of being here I have found myself doing things at my "normal" American speed and having my boss and those around me wonder why I'm rushing so much. Even in a big city like Genève, things are at a slower pace. My job is the perfect example, every morning instead of getting to work right at 9, we make coffee or tea and meet in my boss's office to chat about the day ahead, this often takes up to an hour and a half of our morning. Lunch is another difference, while we get the usual hour at work, at the UN they have two hour lunch breaks and Heidi and I often find ourselves done after 40 minutes at the most and waiting to get on with our days, as everyone else is relaxing and taking their time. The Swiss also consider their family time very important, which means on Sundays and everyday after 7pm most everything in the city is closed. Once I get home and make dinner it's well past seven and I find myself trying to figure out ways to occupy myself for the next 4 hours before I go to bed. I came to the conclusion today that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do..." so I'm going to make an effort to enjoy the European lifestyle, take my time when doing things, enjoy moments (and meals) and maybe learn to actually relax, something I think most Americans don't know how to do.

2)I think the thing that I've realized the most about myself since being here is how paranoid I am. I know I'm a little more neurotic than the average American, but I really never noticed how we live lives of constant worry, and why? I can't tell you the amount of times I've seen kids flying around on their scooters (which are still popular here, by the way) without helmets, I'm talking FLYING down huge hills on busy streets with nothing to protect them, and their parents, not worried in the least. Maybe that's not the best example, but it's the first that comes to mind. I think it's very "European" to not worry about things, and deal with situations as they come, and that is just exemplified by the Swiss's sense of trust. Never have I been in a country that trusts people the way the Swiss do, for God's sake, their bus system is all on the HONOR CODE. I think in the US we're so flooded with mass media hysteria, warnings and horror stories that we live in a society of fear. I remember first flying into the Zurich Airport, the woman next to me put her carry on in a seat near the gate and left for about 30 minutes to walk around the airport, trusting her belongings to everyone around. I immediately start thinking there might be a bomb in the bag.... sure enough, no bomb, just a lady who needed to take a walk and a bag that was simply too heavy to bring along. One would think because of all this trust floating around that people would take advantage of the Swiss all the time, but I think just the opposite happens, I have found myself not wanting to scam the bus lines but being more than willing to pay the 45 Franc a month fee for a bus pass, even if no one will ever check it. It really is strange how trust works.

3) The Swiss are some of the most reserved people I've ever encountered. They aren't outgoing, they don't spill their life stories when they meet you and they tend to sit back and take things in, this my friends is the COMPLETE opposite of me. Never have I noticed how aggressive American culture and people are. Walking down the streets everything is very calm and collected until you get a bunch of US/Canadian/where ever tourists who are yelling to each other and tromping around. It's even apparent in the UN meetings, when countries like Egypt, China and the US are spouting their opinions at every chance (and rightfully so) the Swiss will speak very rarely and will often not say things that stir the fondue pot if you will. Everything is always so calm and collective, as an outsider it kind of makes you feel like you're constantly a mess. I guess this is another thing to learn from the Swiss, how to rationally deal with situations.

Overall I think while culturally there aren't HUGE differences between the US and Switzerland, I am really hoping to come home more relaxed and less overwhelmed with things, and I have already been finding myself taking time out of my day to take in a deep breath and enjoy things as they are.

Speaking of enjoying things, tonight Heidi, Alex and I decided to venture out to get dessert, as I said before, everything closes at 7 so we ended up going down to the lac leman (lake leman) and getting an ice cream cone. As the sun was setting Heidi and Alex decided to walk out to the jet d'eau (a GIGANTIC jet of water that comes out of the lake) and see how close they could get, opting to not get wet, I stood on the dock and soaked in something else besides water. The skyline was amazing against the clouds and pink sun setting, and up in old town, looming over the whole city, St. Peter's Basilica's bells were ringing, I couldn't help but thinking of how lucky I was to be where I was at that exact moment. I really think Geneva is a gem of Europe that is looked over so often, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't know if it was the chocolate ice cream, the sailboats coming in from the lake, the swans floating in the water or the church bells ringing (grossly perfect right?) but everything seemed, right, and I swear to god, as disgusting as it seems, there was a little Swiss tear in my eye.

UNHRC

Well today was the second day of the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Counsel, and was supposed to be the day that we would be hearing meetings on children in armed conflict and on child pornography, sale and prostitution, but a lesson to all of you, even the UN has time management issues.

It all started yesterday, Heidi and I got to the UN gates nice and early around 8:30 AM to get our badges and get through security and we were ready and waiting inside the UN compound at 9:20ish. The doors to the room where the council was taking place opened at 9:3o, so we went inside and took our seats expecting the meeting to start at 10 AM, oh how we were mistaken. After waiting 3 hours (the time the meeting was supposed to last for) and staring aimlessly at the breathtaking ceiling (literally, its a magnificent work of art donated by Spain) we were informed by another NGO sitting next to us that the meeting was delayed all because of Honduras. There was a coup in Honduras this past June and some how the UN accredited both groups (the former and current governments) to attend the meeting, needless to say they didn't see eye to eye on who actually would be able to go, and on top of that the rest of Latin and South America had their own opinions so we had to wait until it was 6 AM east coast time so the UN in Geneva could call the UN in NYC to get legal advice. Not exactly the start we were anticipating. Because of the lack of time we got to hear an advisor from Sri Lanka, the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations and Affairs from the US speak and then the princess of Thailand. A 3 hour wait for a total of 40 minutes of speeches. Once the first part of the meeting was done we ate lunch in the UN Cafeteria and went back to the office to spend the rest of the day and report back to our boss.

Because things were so pushed back the first day, today's agenda was completely changed. The first meeting of the day (which was supposed to be children in armed conflict) ended up being the high commissioner's statements (which you can find online and are really great) and then about 30 countries who had signed up got to speak for up to 3 minutes about their country's views and place in human rights. Essentially this turned into every country from Nigeria, Norway, USA, France, Russia to Qatar assuring the Human Rights Council that they indeed like and practice human rights within their perspective nations. These soon all blended together (besides France bringing up gay & transgender rights) until it was China's turn to speak. Well the High Commissioner of the HRC had mentioned the ethnic strife going on in China so the Chinese got mad, instead of talking about how they love human rights like the rest of the delegates these delegates accused the commissioner of alternative motives, working with groups who are against China and blamed the recent outbursts on people who are trying to take down the country....this is when I realized for once and for all, that China is a little loony.

After the statements we had a two hour break for lunch which was spent eating at the cafeteria (but because we're American we finish about an hour and a half before any of the Europeans) and then roaming the UN with our badges proudly displayed. We went back to the room for the second meeting of the day and it was delayed, this we have come to expect. We stayed in the meeting for around an hour before heading downstairs to a side event, the UN meeting on Trade and Development was hosting a lecture from Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs. I have been a HUGE fan a Sachs since seeing him in a video in one of my political science classes my freshman year of college. Let me paint the scene for you: He grew up in Detroit, Michigan went to Harvard where he got his undergrad, grad and ph.d degrees, became the youngest Harvard professor with tenure ever and then went on to help plan the economies of Bolivia, Poland..... and so on. He also is in his mid-fifties but resembles a 12 year old boy and giggles about politics and the economy, needless to say I'm in love.

Before we entered the room the woman at the front door said to sit "where ever you please" Heidi and I took this as an invitation to play "which country do you want to be", since the country signs are in French and Heidi wanted to be America (en Français etats-unis) we sat in the "E" section with her in the US's spot and I was in Ethiopia's. A couple of minutes after sitting down two men come up behind me and ask me "If I'm going to be representing them today", yes they were the delegates from Ethiopia. So of course I apologize and they laugh and tell me to stay put and sit behind me, but also warn me that if they're asked questions I'll have to speak for them. After some further joking I gave them back their seat and slumped back to the back of the room forever shamed as the intern who actually thought she could sit in Ethiopia's chair, I'm just happy that they were so friendly, I have a feeling that other states like....Russia or Algeria would not have been as happy to find a random intern in their spot.

Back to Sachs's speech, it was about the global economy's relationship to environmental change. He discussed the need for sustainable development and how fragile the Earth is. The man is so brilliant that his lecture terrified and inspired me beyond explanation. His basic point was that if we don't profoundly change how we interact with technology and attempt to stabilize the world's population, we will destroy the Earth beyond repair which is currently happening. Obviously when he discussed this it was much more articulate and filled with crazy facts but it's honestly too emotionally draining to read and type them out. Something big needs to happen and we need to change our attitude towards the economy and development or by 2050 we will be in big, BIG, irreversible trouble. (Note to self: Change world).

Needless to say after the lecture and questions following it up, we were pretty drained and emotional, remember since we're interns, like idiots, we still have feelings, so we decided to stop at a pub on the way home and discuss the day over a pint. I'm honestly not sure how people do this everyday, in ways it's so compelling and in other ways its the most draining thing I've ever been through. I can only hope that tomorrow I'll be a little tougher and will be able to get through the meetings without getting all caught up in the atrocities and problems of the world. I guess it'll be easier because I won't have a brilliant professor lecturing me on the end of society, perils of the developing world and how if we really cared, we could save it all.

Bank holidays, parks and lots of reading.

Well the first week of work is done and was extra short thanks to a Genevan bank holiday (I really think banking holidays need to be added to the US's calendar). Work was awesome, I knew I would get some hands on experience but didn't expect to get thrown into NGO working groups so quickly. I have already learned so much about how the UN and NGOs interact and what a balancing act everything is. It is so complicated and takes SO long for these NGOs to get the UN's attention on important issues and then it takes even longer for the UN to act (if they ever do). No wonder people think the UN doesn't do anything. It's amazing to me how all of these NGOs stay motivated when most of the people in the working groups we attended had been working for NGOs for their whole lives, one woman was even retired (after 44 years at the red cross) but came back to work for a different organization. It seems that these people have an endless amount of passion and it is really inspiring.

At work this week we learned that not only will we be attending multiple sessions of the UNHRC meetings for the next three weeks, but we will also be going to the UNECE meeting at the end of October and will have a very active role in that conference (I can't give away details as of yet). There is also a lecture series that the UN supports that our boss is trying to get us passes to go to and at this particular lecture Gorvachev will be discussing nuclear armament, needless to say I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to attend the lecture. Our boss is the perfect intern boss, she lets us be hands on but also wants us so badly to learn about the UN and various processes people go through to pass declarations, conventions and such. I really couldn't ask for more out of this internship.

As for Geneva, it's honestly getting better every day (I don't know how that's possible). Now that I know how to get around and can just enjoy the sights instead of being worried about finding my way home, it has made things much more enjoyable. Today I went for a run and ended up lake side watching dozens of sailboats floating by and people swimming, in the background of all of this were mountains and villas all along the hillside. I also went venturing through a park that used to be a huge estate that was given to the city after the owner passed away, it overlooks all of the lake and dozens more people were laying the grass, playing soccer and reading. I honestly think I may have found a city I like more than Portland, and I didn't think that was possible.

French is still a struggle, I'm definitely picking up a lot and starting to understand more but at times I can feel really over my head, luckily I have my handy french-english dictionary on me at all times and just try to push through it. I've taken some advice from David Sedaris and decided to just say yes to anything that I didn't understand, so far it's gotten me some weird looks, but everything has worked out.

En Route

I left on Tuesday for Switzerland, and this time my journey to Europe started in Detroit. After getting to the airport nice and early (thanks to the grandparents) I boarded a plane to Toronto for my first leg of the trip. Seeing as Detroit and Toronto are close together I expected a smaller flight, but not like this one. Only 12 people were on the plane, one per row and there were only 3 windows spread down each of the sides of the plane. Instead of a flight attendant one of the pilots climbed through the opening of the cockpit (which was kept open the entire flight) to give us the regular security talk and then assure us that if we needed anything or had any questions we could just come up to the cockpit and tap one of them on the shoulder. Needless to say I thought my trip was going to end before it even began.

Once in Toronto I did the usual customs, security, gate check routine and eventually got on my flight to Zurich. All 7 1/2 hours of it went by seemingly quick and without a problem.

After arriving in Zurich I realized what my study abroad advisors had meant when they said the Swiss took pride in how they looked. I got off the plane and was greeted with marble floors and various stores (Gucci, Hugo Boss, Prada, BCBG...) and was being passed by women and men who had been primping for anywhere between 3-4 hours that morning. I was a hot mess in a sweatshirt and jeans who hadn't had sleep in 17 hours, also known as the OBVIOUS American. After finding the gate I went to look for a bathroom and found a ladies room quickly. Once there I pulled on the door to open it and it was locked, so I waited for 10 maybe 15 minutes before a man walked up to the men's restroom near me, and pushed the door in and was immediately let in. Hanging my head in shame I tried pushing in the bathroom door and realized that the next time I travel in countries where I don't know the native tongue I will at the very least look up the translations of the words "push & pull".

Once in Zurich I also had to ask an airline employee for my boarding pass for the flight for to Geneva. I only knew of 3 German phases to say : goodbye, I love you and do you speak english? Luckily the third was the charm and I got my boarding pass, but overall it didn't go as expected, I didn't recieve the pat on the back or approval through an eye glance or arm caressing, HELLO dreamy Swiss-German male airline worker, I am the ONLY american who tried to use German with you and you're not even going to thank me?! Maybe I love you would have worked better after all.