What is the Coldest Shower You Have Ever Taken?

How do I possibly describe the events of the past...what 4 or 5 days? I'll do it with lot's of sarcasm and minimal profanity. On Wednesday night we realized that the radiators were not working. Ronny, who has been "so hot" in our room was pleased that the temperature was what he considers comfortable for sleeping. At my request, he e-mailed the landlord. That e-mail went promptly to his spam mail, but that's a minor detail. Upon waking up, we discovered that not only was the heat not working, but we did not have hot water. Unfortunately, I am one of those people that has to wash their hair everyday...thanks Mom. So I hung my head over the shower and washed my hair faster than I've ever washed it before. We finally got in touch with the landlord, who came over to try to fix it. He did a temporary fix, which fixed absolutely nothing! So, we slept bundled up with warm clothes and a beanie. Super.
Friday morning...I'm feeling not so fresh as a daisy. These Europeans might be cool with occasional showers, but there is no way in hell I'm going two days without a shower. Ronny and I were the guinea pigs. Ronny put our towels in the dryer so they would be nice and toasty, and while he "showered" I aimed the blow-dryer at him. No, we did not think about getting electrocuted. I have never laughed so hard! Ronny couldn't breathe the water was so cold! I learned from his mistake and decided not to go fully into the water. I also turned the water off while I wasn't using it. Despite my learning curve, it was the coldest shower I have ever taken in my life. Unfortunately, I've taken a very very cold shower before while I was in Nantucket...so I know what I'm f-ing talking about. Our roommate Joe learned from both Ronny and I, he boiled water to shower. Now, you may be asking "Why not boil water for a bath?" Easy, we don't have a tub here in Switzerfrance! It's only a shower and it's tiny, so moving on! Friday it also started snowing. We got quite a bit of snow and it's going to snow off and on all weekend. Someone did come to fix the problem, but it didn't stick because Saturday we still have no heat and no hot water. My boiled water hair wash and wipe down was better than the shower, but not by much. Yeah, we'll look back at this and laugh, but right now I'm pretty damn cold!

I'm from Florida...I'm cold

Today while I was waiting for the tram (which was really late) it started to snow. I am never prepared for the random snow showers. I am never wearing the right jacket. I'm always bundled, but I want to be wearing my water resistant jacket not my "I'm so cute in Europe" jacket. It was really cold today. I wore tights under my jeans, ear muffs, a hat, scarf, and gloves. Want to know what is absolutely awesome? Our radiators (which had been hot even when in the 'off' position) are not working. They are cold. Want to know what else is fabulous? We don't have hot water! I'm really cold. Tomorrow morning is going to be rough if the hot water problem isn't solved...and it probably won't be because we have no idea how to solve it ourselves. Just thought you should know.

First Week of French Class

Last week was my first week of French class. Here's a nice Europe story. On the way to my first class I was on the number 13 tram. A man with a guitar case strapped to his back got on the tram. Once he found his spot, he opened his guitar and started playing. Now picture if you will, me sitting by a window in a tram looking out at Geneva while some random Swiss guys plays the soundtrack to my own personal movie. It was a very cliche, only happens in the movies, moment.
So how is French class? French class is a little difficult. There are at least two ways to form questions, and there are inherit rules that you learn only by making a mistake. The whole thing is taught in French...no English at all. I am the only American in the class and the only person who has never had a formal French class. (No, I am not counting the brief stint in 6th or 7th grade.) That is challenging. The other students have vocabulary words in their arsenal that I don't have. It just means that I study harder. I went to CERN everyday last week and studied until lunch time. It was really nice sitting in Ronny's office doing my "work". I really enjoy going into the city everyday. Today I am meeting some girls from my class to practice talking French and asking questions.

French Class Starts Monday

This afternoon I went to the Ifage school in Geneva to take a free test to see what level of French I should be in. Big surprise I'm a beginner, but I'm a beginner plus! I start my French classes on Monday. They will be everyday for five weeks. I'm really excited! I was able to complete the first "test" no problem so they gave me a harder one to try. Yeah, it was hard. Then I had to answer some questions from a teacher, like where am I from, where do I live here, am I married, etc. I'm really excited to have something to do every day in the city. I have to look into the price of a bus/tram pass, but I'll do that this weekend. I'll be writing these blogs in French soon enough!

It's Snowing and Raining!!

It snowed overnight! Ronny was very concerned that I would be driving in snow, but those fears were laid to rest when we realized the car was covered in snow and probably not going to be able to get out of the parking lot. When you have to shovel a path for your car that's when I say take the bus. So I will be taking the bus to Geneva later today. Not really looking forward to that because the bus makes me really car sick. I guess it's warmed up a little because the snow has turned to rain, which is not nearly as neat. Here's a video of our first day in snow in Thoiry.

Welcome Back!

Well blogger fans, we're back! Just got into Thoiry today. Not going to lie, I'm a little jet-lagged and I'm having a really hard time adjusting to the changing pressure. My head feels like it's going to explode. However, tomorrow I plan to be in tip-top condition and in Geneva. I am going to go to an orientation for a French language course to see what level I would be in. Hopefully I will be able to start on the 18th.
Anyways, we took the bus from the airport all the way home, a new change to the bus routes. I almost got car sick on the bus, super. With all the roundabouts and meandering roads it's not hard to get queasy, quickly. Our apartment was in good condition and our back log of mail was mostly junk. Ronny went to the store while I took a power nap, bless his heart. Now I'm just waiting for ten o'clock so I can sleep for real.
I will post pictures soon, but my goodness! The snow is incredible. I have already used my snow boots (best purchase ever) and my feet have not left my amazingly warm slippers. Also donned my 180s earmuffs. All in all, I'm as prepared as I'll ever be. There is about 4 inches of snow on the ground, and boy is snow bright. I had no idea. Now my very white living room is super-duper white.

A pedestrian's guide to the LHC

Since the collider (LHC) is back in business, and our experiment (CMS) is up and running successfully, I figure it would be a good idea to share this CERN FAQ with our blog audience. It gives a pretty good overview and explanation of the science that goes on at CERN. You can download the Pdf file from this link: http://tier2.ihepa.ufl.edu/~remington/CERN-Brochure-2009-003-Eng.pdf

Back to France!

Well, it was a nice break. It was great to be back and see our families. It went by so fast, as it always does. We fly out tomorrow at 12:15 from Orlando. We'll be meeting up with our roommate, Joe at the airport, and all three of us will be crossing the pond together. We have lots of things on the agenda for the next few months, so we'll keep our loyal blog audience updated. Jeannette plans to start French courses soon after we get back. We have tentative plans to spend a few days in London. We have tickets to come back to the States on May 30th. Weather or not that will be a visit or a permanent move depends on how the next few months go. We'll see!