Sorry...things have been boring

Sorry guys, things have been pretty boring lately. I've been working from 8 to 6:30 and when I get home I'm spent.

Some highlights:

Ronny and I went on a date to a nice restaurant in Old Town, Geneva. I had salmon! Haven't had fish in a long time (for me at least) so it was great!

Went to the "beach" on Sunday. It was packed. We were literally laying on towels on paving because there was no room.

See...pretty boring. If you have questions about stuff here, feel free to ask. I seem to be running low on material. I'll try to fix that.

Sans l'air conditionné la vie n'est pas bonne.

So, I got this email while I was at work yesterday. I had just been wondering if sweating to death while doing physics at the world's most prestigious laboratory had ever actually happened. I took a snapshot of it so that all of you can read. It doesn't really need too much explanation.


They can collide protons at the speed of light with energies reminiscent of the Big Bang. Most of the accelerator operates at almost absolute zero Kelvin (colder than the emptiness of outer space). But they can't seem to cool an office down below 88 degrees, and they have to send out friendly reminders like these to people warning them not to sweat to death. "Don't wait until you're thirsty"? What a joke...

Worst Day in Europe

Yesterday was my worst day in Europe. It was my first day babysitting and I was trying to take one of the girls to horse riding camp. I was driving the family car, and almost immediately I got lost. While trying to turn around in a parking lot, I reversed and accidentally hit a parked car. This was my first accident ever in life. I've never even been pulled over by the police. Tears were popping out of my eyes, but the woman whose car I hit was very nice. She didn't speak English, but someone at her work did. They felt bad for me because I was so upset. First two hours watching these kids and I get in an accident...how could I not feel bad?! The family was very understanding too and not mad at all. The best part was when the nine year old told the woman whose car I hit that this was my first accident. Oh yeah, she told the woman in French! I was completely useless!! So that was my worst day ever.

Oh yeah, I also lost 4 games of Candyland in a row.

Highly Anticipated Pictures of Farmer's Market

The much talked about rotisserie cart.

The crazy cheese guy. He's crazy because he wears funny hats. Sorry it's blurry, I had to take the picture without him knowing I was taking it. I don't want to insult people too much.

Pictures from my Birthday!

Me and Ronny, his eyes are not closed it was sunny.

Me and Joe easing into the water.

The banner Ronny made me...it's still up!

My birthday cake with wobbly candles.

Joyeux Anniversaire à Moi

Thursday was my European birthday! We had a really great day. When I woke up Ronny had a banner made for me and a nice card! We will be shopping for a second time today for a gift. Everything was so expensive that it was hard for me to be okay with the amount spent on me. Anyways, Ronny and Joe took the day off to celebrate my birthday! We went to Lake Geneva and Ryan and Shaleena, our new friends, came too! It's basically a jetty that you have to pay to go on (2 CHF, what else is new?). It's nice but it's really rocky/pebbley. It was a lot of fun! The water was cold and there were giant swans, but I still went in the water! For those of you who really know me...that's a big deal. There was an amazingly large man in a speedo with jelly sandals and a bunch of naked babies. After the "beach" we went to an English bar and then back home for some grilling out. I had an awesome cake. It was strawberry shortcake with a filling that's kind of like Boston Cream Pie filling. Delicious! Ronny took a video of the lake and it's pretty funny...check it out!!

Funny Stories

On Sunday Ronny, Joe, and I decided to get out of the house and go play bacchi. Back home you may know this game as bacchi ball. I've been told here in Europe adding "ball" to "bacchi" is superfluous and a very typical American thing to do. Armed with this knowledge and our 6 euros multi-color plastic bocce set, we drove to a bocce court. Yeah, it's that serious here. When we arrived we immediately felt out of place. The court was full and everyone had fancy metal balls. They were doing much more than rolling balls down the court. There was tactic and special throws that are used to land perfectly on top of an opponents ball. One lady even had a special magnet device so she didn't have to bend over to pick up her ball! It was impressive. And yet here we were with our plastic set that has water in it for weight. After three games, someone got on an intercom and started talking to the various bocce lanes in French. Suddenly, we wondered "Do you have to pay to play bocce here?" We had just walked onto the court. We had enough! The stares, the inferiority complex, and now French! We ended up going to the CERN Rugby field where no one could judge us. I won.

The other funny story happened yesterday. I was trying to figure out what to eat for lunch because I'm not a huge fan of sandwiches. I decided to have some bread with peanut butter on it. Let's not talk about how that isn't really lunch, and how it's sad and pathetic. Anyways, I get the jar of peanut butter out, spread, and eat. It's really good and yet really familiar. It's not familiar as peanut butter though. Because it's not peanut butter. It might look like it, have the same consistency, and even be in the aisle next to the jelly, but this is not peanut butter. It is the "butter" of a cookie (or biscuit). Poor Ronny has been making PBJ sandwiches with it wondering why it doesn't taste quite right. It was an "Ah Ha" moment that was really kind of sad.

I Got Stopped by Border Patrol

Yesterday on my way back from CERN, I got stopped by border patrol. This is actually a much bigger deal than one might think. The border patrol have rarely (never on the French side) been there when I've driven through. I had no frame of reference on what to do. I thought that I was supposed to drive by slowly and keep going. That's what I had been doing when no one was there! Apparently, that is not the proper procedure. There were no cars in front of me to mimic, so I did the wrong thing and drove by without the nod of approval. As soon as I realized my mistake I stopped. A fairly nice (I mean I was in trouble) patrol officer told me that I was to stop at the border. ( I have never seen anyone stop.) Then his co-worker, a woman in aviators, came up and scowled at me through her sunglasses the whole time. I was so frazzled I forgot that yes, I had something to declare, which he quickly noticed in the back seat of my car. Thankfully, I just got a stern talking-to. But for those of you who know me, that was enough to ruin my day and make me feel like I was bad. I've never been pulled over in the States before, so I take these things hard. When I do something wrong I feel bad. Needless to say, you should stop or at least go super-duper slow at all border crossing.

Funny thing though, when I returned to the border about 3 hours later to pick up Ronny there was no one on the French side. I got a stern look from the Swiss side, just for effect, and that was it. I came to no stop. Ridiculous!

Everything Costs Money!

So, today I went to a pool in Geneva. I didn't go in the pool. I was sunbathing in the grass with a towel that I brought. Just to get into the "pool" area I had to pay 4 CHF. That reminded me that everything here costs money. Perfect example. When we went to Bern I really had to go to the bathroom. We were still driving and I thought there would be a rest stop, but alas, none to be found. By the time we arrived things were bad. We parked at the train station and I anxiously looked for signs for a bathroom. We finally found one inside the station. To use the bathroom I had to pay 2 CHF. I felt like I was being taken advantage of. This is a bodily function not a frivolous want! Alright, so it was the nicest bathroom experience ever. The stall smelled like a rose, the seat was clean, and everything was a pristine white. That's besides the point! Just think about that the next time you use a public restroom in a mall or train station...

Swiss National Day

Yesterday Ronny and I, along with some friends, went into Geneva to celebrate Swiss National Day at the Fete de Geneve. We had quite an experience, so this blog may be wordy. The festival website highlighted two things for yesterday: water sports (rowing and water skiing jumpers) and a 500 kilogram fondue. We hung out around Lake Geneve to try to catch the water sports. The entire circumference of the lake is filled with carnival rides, street food vendors, etc. We had Kebabs and then later found another tent that served drinks. It was a really nice tent with a disco ball. For some unknown reason we left that awesome tent and made our way back to the water. (Oh, I remember the reason, we wanted to get some fondue.)

We noticed that the water ski guy was finally jumping so we gathered along with the rest of Geneva it seemed to watch this guy. What a disappointment! Perhaps our American standards were too high since we are used to extreme sports and people water skiing in a pyramid or through a flaming hoop. Regardless, we proceeded to make fun of the water ski guy. All he did was jump off a ramp. No tricks, nothing. A couple times he didn't even land. Apparently, not everyone appreciated our heckling. After a little while, some woman yelled at us "I'd like to see you do it." Now she said it from a safe distance on her way out of the crowd of onlookers so as not to really be confrontational. For me, this was a great lesson. Just because I don't understand when people speak in French does not mean they don't understand us when we speak English. We were definitely heckling about how in our country the water skier would defy death...American performers are just better.

Now, for the major disappointment...500 kilograms of fondue. I don't even have a good picture of it because there were so many professional photographers crowded around the large fondue pot. How many pictures of cheese do you need?! Anyways, it took us forever to find it, and it ended up being right on the Pont du Mont Blanc bridge. Online they did not mention that the fondue would be 10 CHF, so that was a bummer. It was also really hot. No one wants fondue when it's hot and sticky. It also didn't help that large sweaty men were stirring the fondue. We decided not to indulge in the fondue. On our way home we walked by hundreds of people eatingg the fondue and some still in line two hours later. The website advertised a "new and innovative way to eat fondue"...BOLOGNA! Essentially, the fondue was served in a hollowed out baguette end. In America, at all Panera Bread's, we call that a bread bowl. New and innovative my foot!

Despite my grumblings here, we did have a good time. The Fete continues for the entire week and culminates with a giant fireworks display next weekend set to orchestra music. That should be really entertaining.