Travels in Foreign Lands

Just for fun and has nothing to do with Switzerland

2007-04-28T16:11:00.000-05:00

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Coming Home

2006-10-24T20:58:00.000-05:00

We got up early yesterday, and headed for the train station, to catch a train back to Geneva. I don't know why I always insist on being early. The trains are always late. We ended up having to switch trains in Paris before ours had even left the station. We didn't leave until about an hour after schedule.

But other than that we made it safely to Geneva. We repacked all of our stuff and tried to get to bed early, for our long day of coming home.

This morning I got up at 3:30 AM, I couldn't sleep, and we had to be ready to go at 5:00 AM. We had breakfast, said goodbye to some of my French Bible Study friends and headed for the airport. Pierre from the Bible Study drove us. If he hadn't taken us, we would have had to take a taxi, because the trams don't go that early.

At the airport, true to form, our flight to London was delayed. It didn't really matter, becaus we had a four hour layover in London anyway.

We eventually got to London. Our flight to Atlanta was, thankfully, on time. The flight was uneventful, just like I like it. We touched down on American soil at 4:30 PM. It is so very good to be home again.

I had an amazing time in Europe, but there is no place like home. Thank you to everyone who kept up with my blog and prayed for me during the difficult times. I really needed it. I can't wait to be able to hear your voices again and speak with you regularly.

Versailles and Church

2006-10-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Versailles and mostly wandered around and looked at the gardens. They were beautiful. Unfortunately, all the fountains were off. Sad day, the fountains are my favorite part. We had planned to rent some bikes and really explore the gardens. But instead we just found a place to sit and read. It was very relaxing.

Today was Sunday, and we went down to the American Church in Paris. I heard a sermon in English for the first time in weeks; it was great.

For lunch we were going to to Dans le Nuit (In the Dark). Dans le Nuit is a restaurant where you eat the entire meal in complete darkness, and your servers are all blind. I had heard of this place before leaving for Europe and found the idea intriguing. But even though the hours on the door said they were open, they were closed. Crazy French people.

So we ended up down in Pompideau Center and bought some sandwhiches for lunch. There was this street performer doing a really good improv act. So we had some cheap entertainment with our lunch.

Then we went back to the American Church in Paris for a free concert. Then back to the hostel for our last evening in Paris.

The Date

2006-10-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

I had told Tim one day that I missed being able to get all dressed up and go on a date with him. So tonight, Tim took me out. We went to a cute little place on Montartre called Poulbot. It had beautiful flowers all around the entrance. And inside they had crammed as many tables as would fit. But it was beautifully decorated. It was like something from the 1930's. So cute.

We both had appetizers of escargot (snails). I have been wanting to try escargot since high school. Even still, I was a bit nervous to put them in my mouth. When I did, I discovered that they were really good. They were served with this amazing pesto butter sauce. The rest of the meal was good as well, but the escargot was the highlight for me.

Then we were going to go to a concert at Notre Dame, but when we got there the sign said free concerts except Friday. We had missed the "except Friday" part before. Oh well.

Instead we watched these guys playing with fire. It was impressive. Then we went for a walk down the Seine. It was very nice.

The Catacombs

2006-10-20T20:16:00.000-05:00

We slept in a little today. We were both so exhausted after all of our non-stop activity. When we did finally get our lazy selves out of the hostel, we wandered down to the Catacombs. At the entrance to the Catacombs "Stop! This is the empire of the dead."

It was the strangest thing. A couple hundred years ago disease was rampant in the city of Paris because of all of the cemeteries in such close proximity to the living quarters. So they ended up digging up about 6,000,000 graves and dumping them into these abandoned mine passageways under the city. The mines had been dug to gather rocks for building, but eventually this had to be stopped because one of the river banks was about to collapse into the mines.

After some time the Parisian leaders decided it would be a good idea to go down into the Catacombs and organize the bones so they could charge people admission to come and see. Thus the Catacombs as we know them today were born.

The walls were covered in stacks and stacks of bones. They were very artfully arranged as well. The skulls were placed in various geometric shapes, even hearts and crosses.

We also came across many plaques with various French sayings referencing death. We also say many Biblical quotes.

We were strongly warned to keep to the marked path, because in the 1850s a Frenchman ignored this advice and ended up a permanent resident of the Catacombs. I wonder if they ever found his body. Needless to say, we stuck to the path.

The passageways underground mimicked the roads above and the rooms underground mimicked the houses above. It was very well thought out. When we finally did get out of the Catacombs, we popped out on some random street a few blocks from where we started. The whole experience was very interesting.

Then we ventured down to the Pantheon. This is the home of Foucalt's Pendulum. That was the coolest science experiement I had ever seen. It tells time by the rotation of the Earth. There is a pendulum suspended above the floor with a dial and hours on the floor. As the pendulum swings and the Earth rotates, it tells time. This works on the same principle as rotating a glass of iced tea. The ice does not rotate in relation to the glass. As the Earth rotates, the "clock" on the floor does not appear to move while the pendulum does. This allows the pendulum to tell time. It is fascinating to me.

There was also this really weird art exhibit inside. That is what is obstructing your view in the picture.

We wanted to have crepes for lunch. We got the ham, cheese and eggs which had been so good our first day in Paris. But the guy didn't know what he was doing and the eggs weren't cooked at all. It was gross.

We went back to the Pantheon to take the tour up to the top. There were a lot of stairs to climb, but the view was great. Afterwards we wandered around the Latin Quarter, then went back to the hostel to get ready for our date.

Views of the City

2006-10-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

We started our day by going up to the Arc de Triumphe. Getting to the Arc looks very difficult, because it is in the middle of an intersection with about 8 roads coming together. I don't understand how the drivers get through there without running into each other. We hiked up to the top and were rewarded by amazing views of the city and down the Champs Elysees.
While we were up there, I marveled as the cars zipped around the traffic circle and didn't run into each other. If I lived here, I would avoid driving there at all costs. Prior to the building of the Arc by Napolean to commemorate his victories in battle, an architect had proposed a giant elephant in the center of the traffic circle. That idea didn't go over very well, thankfully. It wouldn't have been nearly as impressive.

Then we took the Metro the Louvre. The Metro in Paris works so well, I love it. At the museum we saw the Mona Lisa, what is the big draw with her anyway? I don't get it. We saw Winged Victory, which I love.
The way she is displayed it looks like she is going to come flying down the stairs. We found the very elaborately decorated Napolean's Quarters.

For dinner tonight we decided to get some bread, cheese and wine for dinner. But had a lot of difficulty finding a grocery store. We ended up getting everything at different shops, and paying way too much. And of course after we bought our food, we found two grocery stores, figures.

After dinner, we decided to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was very windy, but very beatiful. The city is magnificent at night.

Museum Day

2006-10-18T20:37:00.000-05:00

Since it was rainy today, we decided it would be best to entertain ourselves in-doors. We started out at the Wine Museum. This gave us a peak into the wine making industry throughout the generations in France. These people are serious about wine.

At the end we were supposed to get a free taste of wine. When we asked about it, the atttendant said it didn't come with our tickets. Then she said she was just kidding. Tim was very surprised at finding sarcasm in the service industry. It would be very inappropriate in the States. But I have found it to be normal here. It is just a different culture.

The next stop was the Musee d'Orsay which was built to be a train station. It was a very beautiful building with a lot of art.

We thought about goint to the Louvre, but were too tired and went for naps instead. Apparently, we didn't do a good enough job being bums yesterday.

Bums in Paris

2006-10-17T20:30:00.000-05:00

We have been traveling pretty much non-stop for over two weeks now, and the pace is beginning to get to us. So we decided we needed to try and take a day off. We just wandered around and went into a lot of tourist shops. I don't think Paris has enough of those, maybe I should go open some more, just kidding.

We visited Notre Dame. Tim and I had both seen it before, on previous trips, but it was covered in scaffolding for cleaning. This time the scaffolding was gone. The cathedral was a beautiful white, and we were able to see the elaborate detailing on the statues. It was amazing.

The Rose Window inside the cathedral. It is about 50 feet in diameter.

Another stop we made was at Centre Pompidou, which is this building with all of the internal plumbing, electrical wires, heating ducts and such on the outside and color coded. It was a stark contrast to the ancient architecture surrounding it. Like many monuments in Paris and Europe in general, the natives hate it.

For dinner, we tried to cook at the hostel, but there is only one hot plate for the entire hostel. So that was an interesting experience.

Paris At Last

2006-10-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we arrived in Paris. I love Paris. I have been here once before in high school, but I was with a group and couldn't really go where I wanted. So this will be a new experience.

Last night we mostly relaxed and wandered around. We went up to Montmartre, which is very close to our hostel. There is a beautiful view of the city up there. We could even see the Eiffel Tower. I had to go visit the Tower. So we went. It is beautiful at night. Every hour they make it look like it is sparkling, by flashing lights all over it, for about ten minutes. That was really neat to see.

That evening as we were heading back to the hostel, Tim saw Jackie Chan. They are filming Rush Hour III in Paris. I'll have to watch it when it comes out now.

Pictures

2006-10-16T01:35:00.000-05:00

So, I have this one pair of sandals that I have been wearing pretty much constantly since July. I have probably put a few hundred miles on those shoes. All this walking has really worn out the traction on the bottom. So if the ground I am walking on is the least bit wet, I have to be very careful not to fall on my face. Unfortunately, this has happened a few times. While we were in the Vatican Museums, Tim saw this sign with a little man falling and made me pose in front of it. I think he is making fun of me. :)

Me and the slippery sign

Colluseum

Seeing the Colluseum was so amazing. It is incredible to think how advanced the Roman society was all those thousands of years ago. The colluseum is very similar to "modern" stadiums we use today. The really neat feature that they had, was that they could flood the stage to be able to perform sea battles. I have never been to a modern arena that could do that.

Sistine Chapel

I actually got in trouble for taking this picture. Apparently, you aren't allowed to take any photos in the Chapel. They must want you to buy their ridiculously overpriced posters and postcards. No, thanks.

Pickpockets

2006-10-16T00:40:00.000-05:00

When I first began this journey, everyone warned me of the dangers of pickpockets. Quite honestly, I didn't think much about it, because I have always been warned to be wary of pickpockets, but I have never had a problem in the past. But people said it was really bad in Rome, and they were right.

The problem with Rome, is that people have such a disregard for the laws. Everywhere we go, we see people breaking the law, sometimes directly in front of the police. As we walked down the streets, we saw vendors selling purses, belts, scarves and other little things. Apparently, this is illegal in some way, because one day we saw about 10 vendors all pick up their wares very quickly and cross to the other side of the street. When we stopped to see what all the commotion was, we saw a group of police officers walking towards the vendors. As soon as the officers were gone, the vendors began setting up shop in exactly the same place they had occupied before. The police had to have known that the vendors were doing this, but they did not care. They only needed to turn around and arrest them, but they kept on going.

Then when we went to the Colluseum, we had to go through metal detactors. After we got through we heard the beep, beep, beep from other people setting it off, but the guards didn't do anything. Again we saw the police and guards with a completely uncaring attitude about people obeying the law. So very strange.

All this breeds an atmosphere for thievery and pickpockets. So this brings me to the point. Yesterday, Tim and I were getting on an overly crowded bus, to go to the only park in this whole city. Everywhere is crowded, and there is hardly any green space to just sit down in. I think it is more crowded than Atlanta. So Tim pushes his way on and I am trying to stay behind him, but this group of three girls, probably about 13 or 14, pushes in front of me. When I finally, get on the bus. The girls turn around and get off. How strange. Who shoves their way onto a bus, only to get off before it leaves? As the doors are closing and the bus is pulling away, Tim looks at me and says, "They took my wallet."

"What, how is that possible?" I asked. His wallet was in a zippered pocket of his pants. Sure enough it was gone along with 50 Euros (about $75). Fortunatel, there were no credit cars or passports insied, only cash. We couldn't believe this had happened. We had been so careful to put a lock on the backpack and keep everything closed tightly and zipped up. But they did it. And they were good.

Tim handled the whole situation very well; I thought. A lot of people would have gotten really mad, but he stayed very calm. And wasn't really upset about the money, but the fact that he had been taken advantage of. Its really ironic, because just before that happened, we had been praying that God would help us to be content in any situation that He put us in. And that we could trust in Him no matter what, because we would still have His love. God always answers prayer, just not always in the way we expect it.

Needless to say, Rome is our least favorite city so far. And we are ready to leave.

When in Rome. . .

2006-10-14T01:43:00.000-05:00

So now we have made it to Rome. As we expected, the train to Rome was delayed; every day we have traveled we have encountered some sort of delay. Although this time it was only fifteen minutes, but still. We got here and found the hostel. Before we even walked in the door, I knew this was going to be a party hostel. The sounds of music and people laughing escaped out onto the street. We got checked in and found our rooms and crashed; we were both exhausted after 12 hours on the train.

Our first full day in Rome, we decided to head down to Vatican City, the smallest sovereign state in the world. It was really cool to be in a place that I had seen on television so many times during the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The place was immense.

After much work we finally found the Vatican Museums which lead to the Sistine Chapel. We stood in line for about 90 minutes waiting to get inside. There is so much to see inside that it is overkill on the senses. Just walking around looking at it was exhausting for me. There were probably about 12 museums dedicated to everything from relics to maps to miniature mosaics and religious art.

We saw the Sistine Chapel. The room is kind of small and completely crowded with people. And when they all start talking it can get pretty loud. So there is this one guard whose only job is to "shhh" people. It made me fell like I was in the 5th grade again. That would be a horrible job to have. The chapel was much smaller than I had expected. It was entirely covered with amazingly beautiful paintings. I felt like I had been there before, because I had seen it all before in books and in art classes I had taken, but it was amazing to see it in person. Then we walked through this immensely long hallway to get out and about every five feet there was some sort of souvenir shop, all selling the same thing, in case you missed it the first 12 times.

Then we decided that we wanted to see some Catacombs. We have seen the original Ghetto in Venice and I wanted to see the Catacombs. I said then we needed to try and see places like Rivendell and Blackwatch. That will only make sense if you went to Covenant. Sorry non-Covenant friends.

We never did get to the Catacombs after all. They were too far. So we decided to skip it for now and see them later in Paris. We went back to Vatican City and visited St. Peter's Basilica. It was beautiful. Its kind of funny how they spent all this money to build a building whose *soul* purpose is to house dead people, kind of a waste, if you ask me.

A day in Aix en Provence

2006-10-11T17:21:00.000-05:00

Today our hostess, Patty, graciously offered to take Tim and me into the town of Aix for the day. She showed us some little shops where we could get soap and lavender, two of the specialities of the area. Then we wandered around to find a few of the 100+ fountains in the city. I have developed a fetish for fountains.

Cours Mirabeau

We walked down Cours Mirabeau where plane trees adorn the streets and create a leafy canopy overhead. The two best fountains are here. Fontaine de la Rotunda, which was built in 1860. It is probably the largest fountain in the city. It personifies Justice, Agriculture and the Fine Arts at the very top. My other favorite is called the Fontaine d'Eau Chaude (Fountain of Hot Water). It is covered in moss and shoots out 34 degree Celsius water. We stuck our hands in, and sure enough it was warm.

Fontaine de la Rotunda

Fontaine d'Eau Chaude

On the way back to the city we made a pitstop at the thumb of Cezanne. He was from the Aix area and they take great pride in that here. I guess that is why they have a statue of his thumb in the middle of one of their roundabouts. I could not resist the urge to get my picture taken in front of his thumb. So Tim and I took pictures of each other, with our thumbs and Cezannne's thumb. I know I am a crazy tourist.

Tim and the thumb
Me and the thumb

Then we headed back to Marsaille to meet one of my friends from Covenant and her husband for an appertif (drinks). We got together after much difficulty trying to figure out where the other person was. It turns out that they were at the church that Keith and Patty go to. And we just missed them on Sunday. Crazy. It was cool to hang out with a friend from Covenant.

Then we headed back to the Moores to have dinner and pack before heading to Rome tomorrow.

Lost in the Colanques

2006-10-10T16:59:00.000-05:00

Colanques (pronounced ka-lonks) are basically inlets of water where little villages have sprouted up in the area. We planned on taking a trail to one with a swimming hole and then swimming for a bit before hiking back. But somehow we got really lost. The trails had blazes on them to help hikers, but we didn't have a map that corresponded to those blazes, so they were pretty useless. We hiked up and down this one trail that was all loose rocks and really quite dangerous. At times we weren't really hiking but sliding downhill. It was kind of fun. Unfortunately, the trail was a dead end to a 200 foot drop. Woops.

Just one of the magnificent views we saw from the colanques area.

So we had to hike back up the hill of loose rocks. I don't know which one was harder up or down. Thankfully, Tim had noticed this group of about 30 hikers (how could he have missed them) coming up from the village that we wanted to get down to. So we got on that trail and were finally able to get down. If God had not sent that group for us to see, I don't know how we would have gotten out of that area.

One of the many paths we took that day.

We bought some water, which we desperately needed at that point and ate some lunch. Then we decided to go for a dip in the Mediterranean Sea, for the second time on our journey. It was cool, but you got used to it. And we were hot after our long, arduous hike.

The colanqes at last.

Then we decided it was time to find a way out of this place. We did not want to go back the same way we had come, so we decided to take the road. We hiked uphill and uphill and uphill some more. After a while this group of about 10 French people caught up with us. So we followed them, thinking they would know where they were going. We were wrong; they were just as lost as we were. But as the saying goes, "Misery loves company".

We finally got to a place that was familiar and parted ways with our new French friends. Evenutally we even made it back to the bus stop that would take us back to Marsaille. I had never been so happy to see a bus before. All in all we probably hiked about 10 miles on less than desirable trails, but the view was magnificent.

Marsaille

2006-10-09T16:17:00.000-05:00

Saturday moring we packed our bags and headed to the train station to go to France. We were worried that we might miss the train, but it ended up being 30 minutes late, so we were fine. Good thing we had an hour and half wait at our next connection.

The last leg of our trip from Nice to Marsaille left on time but arrived at the final destination about 2 hours late. There was some sort of accident on the track, and we sat in the middle of no-where for a while before continuing on. We never did find out exactly what happened, because all of the explanations were in French. But we finally did make it. But I did decide that I like the trains in Switzerland much better. They are exactly where they say they are going to be, when they say they are going to be there.

Keith and Patty Moore met us at the station. They are friends of Tim's from Mission to the World, where he works. They have graciously allowed us to stay with them while we visit the area.

The next day, Sunday, we got up and went to the church that they attend. The service was all in French, but a lot of the songs were the same as ones we sing in the States. It was neat to sing songs in French, that I knew in English.
After church we took a drive to Cassis, a little touristy village by the sea. We had a lunch of moules (mussels) at a sidewalk cafe. They were delicious.

Then we took a beautiful drive up to the cliffs surrounding Cassis. It was magnificent. The cool thing was there weren't any houses or developments of any kind on the mountain. The government has protected this land to maintain the natural beauty. It was amazing. The view of the Mediterranean Sea was spectacular.

Cassis as seen from the cliffs.

Then we drove back down to the city and had an appertif. The French find any reason to eat or drink. Patty introduced me to a Tango which is beer with a shot of grenadine. It was sweet and didn't really taste like beer at all. Which is good, because I don't like beer.

On Monday, Tim and I explored Marsaille. We went up to the Notre Dame de la Garde. It is up on a huge hill and gives you an amazing view of Marsaille. The church was orginally built to be a fortress of some kind. This makes sense in light of the fact that there is a draw brigde at the entrance, which is quite odd for a church.

Notre Dame de la Garde

View of the city from the church.

Then we wandered down to the Jardin de Pharo, where we sat and watched the boats in the port. It was nice and relaxing.

Cinque Terre- Five Villages

2006-10-08T14:33:00.000-05:00

After Venice, we headed to the other side of Italy to visit the Cinque Terre. This is a collection of five villages right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed in Manarola, which is village #4. There is a 12 km (8 mile) trail that connects them all. It is supposed to take about 6 hours to do it all. This seems like a lot of time for this distance, but it is very difficult in places, with steep steps.

Our first full day in the Cinque Terre we relaxed and took it easy. We did one small hike, but mostly hung around the hostel and played board games. I needed that day to rest.

The next day we decided to hike the trail through the villages. We started in Manarola and headed to Monterosso. It was a long, hard, exhausting trail. But well worth the effort. It was beautiful. We explored each village as we passed though and really tried to take in the beautiful scenery.

For dinner on a couple of occassions we went to the grocery store and picked up some wine, cheese, meat and bread and ate it overlooking the ocean.

This was the view we got to admire while we ate our dinner.

Our last day in the villages we took the train to Monterosso, which has a "beach". I use quotes because it is not your typical sandy beach. There were smooth rocks on the beach and in the water, which made walking difficult. That didn't stop us from taking a dip in the Mediterranean. It was my first time in this body of water. The water was cool, but bearable.

Next stop: France.

Layover in Milan

2006-10-07T15:32:00.000-05:00

The cathedral
On the way from Venice to Cinque Terre we had a few hours in Milan. So we decided to go out and explore the city. I am glad we did. It was a beautiful city. They have an absolutely amazing cathedral that seats 40,000 people. The place was enormous. And words can not describe its beatuy. The outside is decorated with all of these sculptures of different people, about 1,000 all together. . . No I did not count; I read it in a book.

While we were outside admiring how magnificent the cathedral was, this guy walks up and starts putting one of those friendship type bracelets on my wrist. You know the kind you make in fifth grade. Then he proceeds to put one on Tim's wrist. The whole time he is making small talk, being all friendly. But then he asks us for a donation to I don't even know what. And we were just like, "Woah, there buddy we didn't even want your silly bracelet to begin with." Finally we just walked away. They try really hard around here to get your money.

Inside the crypt

There was a crypt that you could go and visit, with a glass coffin, which I suppose holds somebody important. It was the most elaborately decorated crypt I had ever seen.

The glass coffin in the crypt.

The city of canals

2006-10-03T14:18:00.000-05:00

Venice was absolutely beatiful. My favorite part is their public transportation. I know that sounds ridiculous, but everybody rides these boats called, vaporetto. They are incridibly crowded, but very cool nontheless. The whole city was crowded, with tourists, which can be quite annoying at times. There was evidence of the fact that we irritated the locals. One morning when we went to buy fruit at one of the little fruit stands. The vendor had a sign that read "No Tourists" quite odd in a city of tourists.

One day we went down to Piazza San Marco. This huge square in front of the Basilica di San Marco. Which is a huge church that was built to house the remains of what they believe is the apostle Mark. How they acquired these remains is quite interesting. In 828 AD two Venetian merchants pursuaded the guardians of Mark's tomb in Alexandria to let them take him. So the loaded his body and took him to Venice. Why? You might ask. Well the patron saint Venice already had was not famous enough for them. Go figure.

An evening view of the Piazza

The Piazza was really quite beautiful if you can overlook the tourists and the pigeons running around everywhere. We went back in the evening and happily, found the place quite deserted of both.

Venice is a city of islands. Some are only a bridge away and others require a boat ride to get to. One of these islands is Murano, the glass blowing island. Tim really wanted to see it, so we hopped on a boat and went over there. They have furnaces set up where you can go and watch the artisans at work. We found one of these furnaces and sat down to watch. The workers were very entertaining. It was amazing to watch them turn glass rods into works of art. They take glass blowing very seriously, to the extent that if someone learned the trade of glass blowing on the island, it was considered treason for them to move away. Serious stuff.

And of course who can go to Venice and not take a gondola ride. We found a guy who was willing to do it for a reasonable rate and went. It was so great. Our driver's name was Diego and he was quite entertaining. He sang and pointed out all the interesting landmarks. It was wonderful.

Work is finished

2006-09-30T11:55:00.000-05:00

Wow. I can't believe my internship is over. Maybe that means I am finished with school, at least for now. It has been a fun experience and I am so thankful for the opportunity I was given.

I mentioned on a previous post that they toast to everthing, at my work. It is great. So yesterday my last day we had a toast. I said goodye to everyone, collected a few email addresses, did the whole three kisses on the cheek, which I never did get used to, and left Wolfisberg Laboratory for the last time. This is such a bittersweet time, It was so strange.

Then last night Tim and I packed my bags and cleaned my room. This reminded me so much of moving out of the dorms at Covenant.

We went to the French Bible study I have been going to. That group has been such a blessing to me even if I can only understand about 30% of what they are saying. Some people in the group speak English. And that is where I made my first friend when I got to Geneva.

Then I spent my last night at Chez Wolfisberg. I didn't get much sleep. I guess I was so exited about the upcoming trip And my body has been programmed to get up at 4:00 AM. So I got up and finished packing and went to meet Tim.

So then this morning Tim and I said goodbye to Madame Junod, the leader of the French Bible Study who graciously allowed Tim to stay with her, and headed to the train station to go to Venice. I still don't believe this is real. If I am dreaming I don't want to wake up. Venice here we come.

Chateau Chillon and prior

2006-09-28T17:53:00.000-05:00

When Tim finally arrived on Tuesday, I was able to surprise him at the airport. I thought I would have to work, but I ended up being able to get off and meet him. It was so good to see him after being apart for 12 weeks. I gave him a tour of the city which I had grown to love. We went to the old city which is my favorite part and the the Parc de Bastions, where the Reformation Monument is. It was just good to be in the same country again.

Then on Wednesday we set off for the Chateau Chillon outside of Montreax, on the other side of the lake. The Chateau was beautiful. It just went on and on for forever. I couln't believe how big it was. And they had pretty much everything open to the public. Which was really cool.

A view of he chateau as we were walking up to it.

View from the Chateau windows.

Then we went to Nyon to catch a boat back to Geneva. As we were exploring the city. I remembered that this is where I had been the day I forgot to bring Tim's phone number so I could call him at our appointed time. And I spent about an hour frantically emailing him. It was ironic that I was able to show the city to him in the end. We went to the beatuiful white chateaux and had lunch looking out over the lake.
The Chateau Blanc at Nyon

Then we caught the boat back to Geneva. It was a beautiful ride.

Life is good

2006-09-26T02:45:00.000-05:00

Let me first apologize for being such a terrible blogger. I realize it has been a long time since I made a post, and I am sorry, but I haven't felt like I have done that much exciting stuff. I have been pretty lazy these last couple of weeks. I guess I am resting up for the exciting times to be had in Italy and Frace that begin next week. Hooray.

Work has been amazingly good. I feel like my co workers and I are beginning to be friends. I occasionally understand what they are saying which is so encouraging. Just yesterday I was able to make a relevant comment, in French, in the midst of their conversation. This has been my goal since Day One and I was so happy to finally achieve it. I even think I will be sad to leave, something I felt impossible even a few weeks ago.

I am really having fun speaking the little bit of French that I know. I feel like it is a secret code that I am beginning to crack. It is so exciting. I am beginning to seriously consider taking French classes when I get back home. I know it is a little backwards, but better late than never. Right?

Tim arives today. Needless to say, I am so excited about that. It will be wonderful to have a friend to share this with, and a friend I can easily communicate with. I have missed that so much during these 12 weeks.

Bottom 10

2006-09-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

As I said before I have also been thinking about the things in Geneva I will not miss. So I guess these would be the "Bottom 10". Sorry this list might be kind of depressing.

10. Not being able to get something as simple as a library card. Because I do not have an official document with my address. I do not want to steal your silly book; I just want to read it. Swiss people are so picky.

9. Paying to use the public restroom. Its 1 Franc for men and 2 Francs for women, what in the world is up with that. I actually did not pay, because of that simple fact, but I was super close.

8. Feeling like I have "Stupid American" tatooed on my forehead fo all the world to see. Although I will obviously still be an American when I go home, it will not make me the one that is different.

7. European men. They are so forward. Can I please walk down the street in peace?

6. 500 Degree weather with no air conditioning. I don understand how the rest of the world does it. I am such a spoiled American.

5. Not being able to understand what people are saying. Although, it is incredibly rewarding when I finally do understand what the heck they are saying. Unfortunately, it is rare.

4. Doing everything by myself. Traveling, eating, sometimes even talking. I miss my friends.

3. Missing church every Sunday. Although I finally got to go yesterday, and it was so good.

2. Getting up at 4:15 AM. I do not need to say anymore about that one.

And what I will definetely not miss about this place. Not being able to pick up the phone and call friends whenever I want. I miss you all so much.

Top 10 (Approximately)

2006-09-12T10:34:00.000-05:00

As my time in Geneva begins to wind down, I have less than three weeks of work left at this point, I can't belive it; I have been thinking about what I will miss, And what I can not wait to leave behind. Let me begin with the finer point of Geneva.

11. Hearing French people speak the three English words they know to each other. They sound like little kids with their accent; I wonder if I sound like a little kid to them.

10. Rain that relieves me from the heat. It is hot again here. Although not as hot as July was. It rained almost every day in August which really helped cool things off. Actually I guess I won't miss the rain, because we have it in Atlanta, but you get the idea.

9. French Bible stuby. I literally stumbled onto this group my second day in the city. They have been such a blessing and an encouagement to me.

8. The parks where I can go to just sit and read. It is good to relax.

7. Getting mail and pachages with English books (Thanks Annie). It is so good to hear from friends in the states, but it will be even better to see them in a few weeks.

6. Smelling lilies sent from special people back home Thanks Tim). Need I say more.

5. YAGs. This stands for Young Adult Group. It is part of Evangelical Baptist Church of Geneva. This group has been such a blessing to me. It is so awesome to be with people literally from all over the world, who want to serve God. I will definitely miss them.

4. The Alps. Growing up in Chattanooga, I have a love for the mountains, and being able to visit the Alps only cemented that feeling for me.

3. Being able to take of for places like Germany and France. Situated in what seems to me the heart of Europe is amazing, because on a whim it is so easy to visit exotic places.

2. Public transportation. It is so graeat. I love not needing a car. When will Americans wise up and use this great resource? They also have sidewalks absolutely everywhere, in case you don't want to take the bus or tram.

And now my number one favorite thing about Geneva that I will most definitely miss. The lake and Jet d'Eau. This is the most beautiful spot in the city. I could sit in front of the lake for hours. When I have had a rough day I can go there and sit and I feel better. It is so beautiful.

Its Fun to Stay at The YMCA

2006-08-30T14:05:00.000-05:00

"They have everything for you here to enjoy. You can hang out with all the boys. Its fun to stay at the YMCA" OK I do have a purpose in quoting song lyrics here. I was walking back to my hostel in Basel, Switzerland today, and I started singing that song. I am staying at the YMCA Hostel, so it is appropriate. And it really is fun to stay here. The rooms are really nice. And they have free internet for me to use. HOORAY. And they give you a ticket that is good for the public transportation in the city. I like that. My feet are getting tired.

I had two days off in a row for a change, so I decided to go for a trip a little farther from home. Basel is right on the border of France, Germany and Switzerland. Being this close to Germany, I could not pass up the opportunity to go. I have never been to Germany. So I went to the train station and asked what the closest German town was. The lady said Erwachsene. I said ok I will go there. The ticket was only 3.80 Francs. I thought that was pretty cool.

So I got on the train that I thought was supposed to take me to this town, but I did something wrong somewhere. So I just got off at a random stop. It turned out to be Efringen-Kirchen. This is a tiny little town; that I saw in its entirety in about 10 minutes. I also found a place to have dinner. It was called the Nostalgia. The name definetely fit. It was such a cute little place with old time coffee grinders decorating the walls. I felt like I was walking into my Grandmother's home, which I guess was the point. I had Schnitzel with french fries and a salad. It was so good. The two times I have eaten out since I have been in Switzerland were German places and they were both amazing. I think I love German food. Maybe I should have done my internship in Germany.

Tomorrow I plan to spend the day exploring Basel before heading back to Geneva. Pray I don't run into any strange Italian men. Ha-ha.

A Day in My Life

2006-08-18T03:16:00.000-05:00

I probably should have made this entry a lot sooner, but better late than never. I just want to give you an idea of what a typical day is like for me.

4:20 AM Alarm rings and I think, "No, I don't want to get up." But I do.
5:30 AM Work begins. First we make the sandwhiches for the shop. We make salami sandwhiches, ham sandwhiches, chicken salad sandwhiches, goat cheese, tapanade, and tomato sandwhiches. Those are good, and I hate tapanade. For those of my non-culinary friends tapanade is basically a black olive spread.
6:30 AM We finish off the desserts to be sold that day. This generally includes adding fillings to eclairs, making strawberry tarts and rasberry tarts and adding garnishes to lemon tarts and burning the créme brulée.
7:30 AM Breakfast- This is not your typical breakfast. We have croissants (read butter), pain au chocolate (read sugar and butter), brioche (read carbs). It is all really good. Maybe a little too good.
8:30 AM Back to finishing desserts.
9:30 or 10:00 AM Production begins. I generally weigh out ingrediants for the pastries. Sometimes I get to make ice cream. This is not as glamourous as it sounds. It involves standing over a pot of cream, sugar, milk, eggs, and butter stirring until it reaches 85 degrees celsius. This cooks the eggs and makes it safe to eat the ice cream.
12:00 Lunch. Whatever I can find in the fridge at work.
1:00 PM Back to production. Its different every day.
2:30 PM Begin cleaning. Having a big kitchen is great until it is time to clean the thing.
3:00 PM Work is finished, time to go home.

During my free afternoons I do any number of things, from wandering the streets of Geneva, to riding the Mouettes (boats on Lake Geneva), visiting the Jet d'Eau, checking email, writing in my journal, all kinds of stuff.

6:00 PM Dinner Whatever is leftover from service that day in the shop.
7:00 PM Shower and get ready for bed
8:00 PM Bed and then do it all again the next day.

So that is a day in my life. All times are Swiss which is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Geneva vs. Atlanta

2006-08-16T05:20:00.000-05:00

When I first got here I noticed that Geneva is a lot like Mid-town Atlanta. The similarity that I noticed was that everyone here has a dog, just like mid-town. They have big dogs, little dogs, hairy dogs, ugly dogs. And they LOVE their dogs. It is quite humorous to me. Maybe because I am not so much a dog-person.

Geneva is also home to many people just passing through. I have met very few people who are actually from Geneva or Switzerland for that matter. I think the same is true of Atlanta. People move to Atlanta to go to school or for a job, but rarely were they born and raised there. Of course there are exceptions. But for the most part, people in Geneva are only here for a short time, a few months like me, or maybe a few years. I have come across some people who have been here for 10 or 12 years, but most move on to other places.

Something that is dissimilar between the two cities is the public transportation system. Geneva has an amazing public transport system. It is absolutely faboulous. Nobody really needs their car here, but many people do continue to use them. I love public transportaion system. Although as a typical American who values my individualism, I am looking forward to having my car again when I get back to the states . . . and my cell phone. But public transportation really is great when it works well. I do wish Atlanta had a better system.

Geneva is also much, much smaller than Atlanta. And I like this. Atlanta seems so big and impersonal to me. Geneva seems much friendlier. I like that. It is so easy to just walk to so many places. Which I have tried to take advantage of. I like to just wander around the city and see what new places I can find. There is so much to see in such a small space.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of the city I live in. It has been fun being here.

I love Europe

2006-08-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

The other day I was supposed to go home with the other girl that lives at my house, but it feel through at the last minute. So I started looking in my guidebook for a place to go. I came across Zürich. So I decided to go there. I think it is so cool that I can decide to go to Zürich on a whim and just get on a train and go. Europe is pretty cool.

So Zürich

"Drama" characterizes my day in Zürich perfectly. It is a beautiful city and I had a wonderful morning visiting St. Peter's church with a 13th century tower and the largest clock face in Europe. 8.7 Meters. Wow.

Then I visited the Fraumünster which they say has beautiful stained glass windows. But it was closed for renovation and stained glass never looks as good on the outside as the inside. This picture is the best view of the windows I got, and its not that great.

I visited the Grossmünster. A cathedral where you can pay 2 Francs and climb the tower. I figured it was worth it, but all I had was a 100 Franc bill. The lady did not have change. I said it was all I had. She told me to just go on up. That was pretty cool. The view of the city was faboulous.

From here I began the first in a series of many walks along the lake. The walk was really nice, but at the end I wanted to take a boat back up the river, but I could not figure out how to buy a ticket. I don't speak German, much less read it. So I just walked back, thinking I would go find a place to have some good bratwurst. I don't like bratwurst, but it is a German specialty, so I figured I would try it.

This is the beginning of the drama. When I had almost walked the mile back this Italian man named Luko asked me for the time, I replied in French, then English. He got all excited for the opportunity to practice English. So we chatted. He asked me where I was headed. I said to get some bratwurst. He said he knew a good place on the other side of the lake. So we began the mile walk back to the boat. He showed me that you buy tickets on the boat, and let me use his pass, because he had another discount card. So we go to this place and have some amazing bratwurst. It was soooooo goood.

Then he wanted to take me to get some gelato (ice cream). So we go next door and get ice cream. Then we go and sit on the dock. He walks off to throw away the trash, when he comes back he grabs my face and tries to kiss me. Umm NO I don't think so buddy. So I decided I need to leave, this is getting a little uncomfortable. I told him I had to go. He said he would stay and pointed in the direction we had come from and said it was 20 km back to the city. I walked off and then realized 20 km is TWELVE MILES. I can't walk TWELVE MILES in flip flops and jeans. I don't know if he really said 20 km or if I heard him wrong. Itwas definitely not that far on the way there.

I started to freak out, but then I just realized, wait I'll just go back the way we came. So I got on the boat, now I knew how to get a ticket, and I had a discount card too, so it was cheap. I got off on the other side and started to walk down the river for the 4th time that day. I realized later that that same boat would have taken me back up the river, but I wasn't thinking straight after the ordeal with Luko.

The rest of the day was much less eventful, thank goodness. I called Tim, we had a good talk. He thought "my date" with the little Italian man was absolutely hilarious. Then I just wandered around a bit. I do that a lot. Then I got on the train and came home. Even though it was a beautiful city, I don't think I will be visiting Zürich again anytime soon.

Amazing Grace

2006-08-14T10:32:00.000-05:00

I have been reading Philip Yancy's book What's So Amazing About Grace. I highly recommend it. Grace is a gift we don't deserve and could never begin to earn. It comes completely free to the recipient and cost the world to the giver. The greatest example is God's gift of His Son to us.

I have seen so much of God's grace in my life lately, that it amazes me. No pun intended. God has taken care of me in so many ways. The other day I was buying a train ticket at a machine and it rejected my card. I was really upset and worried. I called the bank, and they said my card was fine and that it was probably the machine. So I went back and tried to buy a ticket from a person in the office. It turns out that since I was only going to be gone one day the ticket was about $20 cheaper. This was not an option with the machine. So God was taking care of me by having the machine reject my card. It was so cool.

Then later that same day, I was trying to find an English Bible study I had heard about. So I went to the guy's house and you had to have a code to get into the building. I did not know what I would do. So while I was standing there trying to come up with a plan, this guy walks up and looks in the mailbox of the person I was trying to go to see. So I said, "Darrell?" He looked at me like, "How does this strange girl know my name." I introduced myself and said I was trying to get to the Bible Study. He gave me the code so I could come back later. I was a little early. How amazing is it that the exact person I was looking for walked up and looked in his box so I would know who he was. He could have just walked right into the building, and I probably would not have said anything to him. It was awesome.

And as I have the opportunity to see so much of this beautiful country, Switzerland, I am reminded that everything in nature is a gift from God. We do not need all of these beautiful lakes and mountains, but God in His goodness gave them to us anyway.

God is amazing.

Travels in a Different Foriegn Land

2006-08-14T10:05:00.000-05:00

The other day I was talking to my good friend Annie. Hi Annie. And she suggested that I tell this story. So here goes. When I was at Covenant, one Spring Break, I went on a missions trip to Northern Ireland. Keep in mind that during Spring Break in Belfast it is cold like winter, not warming up for spring.

One night a group of about ten of us had ventured out into Belfast to look around. We ended up in front of the city hall. We were just standing there being loud obnoxious Americans. Well this guy walks by and takes my hat right off of my head and starts to walk off. Most of the group did not even notice. I was shocked and did not know what to do. I was thinking that I should chase after him but I would never be able to catch him, but I really like the hat, and what could I do? So I stand there making this strange high pitched whimper. I could not even speak. And no one in the group seems to be noticing my distress. I found out later that Lydia Fullolove (that is here real name, cool huh?) saw the whole thing. She thought the whole thing was absolutely hysterical.

So I am standing there making this strange noise. And the guy is walking off with MY HAT tucked under his arm, smoking his little cigarette. Then, he turns around and says what sounds like "Call me." Finally he walks back toward me, hands me my hat and walks off. Crazy huh?

The Laboratory

2006-08-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

The shop we work in is called "the laboratory". It sounds like we conduct all kinds of strange experiments inside, but really we just bake bread and make pastries. This is a picture of the entrance to the Lab. All the vans are decorated in the same way.

The people I work with are great. I have come to the conclusion that in order to be male and work in pastry you must be mentally insane. Keep in mind that I mean this in the nicest way possible. I believe this because every pastry man I have worked with was crazy. Yes, Russull, you are definitley included in this. It is fun when they are crazy, because it makes work that much more fun, which is always a plus.

This is one of the crazy guys I work with, Oliviér, holding one of his creations. Its a birthday cake with the Swiss flag on it. He wouldn't care that I called him crazy. I do it every day at work. He knows he is crazy. And you can kind of see how big the kitchen is in this picture. It is absolutely massive.

These are some of the chocolate mousse cakes we make. I got to make the chocolate decoration around the sides of the cake one day. You can't tell in the picture but "Wolfisberg" is written on the chocolate. It looks really cool.

Another interesting thing about my job is that we all, the boss included, drink on the clock. Let me explain. Three times in the six weeks I have been here we have all stopped work and had a glass of champagne. This is generally to celebrate a birthday or wish somebody good luck who is leaving. Maybe we will have champagne when I leave.

The first time this happened I was so surprised. I am still surprised when it happens. Never in an American kitchen would we all stop work and have a drink. Ocassionally after work at PieBar the chef would give us a beer, but that was always off the clock. I love Europe.

A Glimpse Inside My Head

2006-08-03T11:11:00.000-05:00

Reader Beware: This might be scary.

So I have a lot of time to think while I am here, mainly because I don't interact with that many people that I can easily talk to. It is just easier to think while I work than to talk. A vast majority of my thoughts center around language, mainly because I hear so many different languages on a daily basis: French, Spanish, German. Language is a very interesting thing. It plays a large role in how we see the world. Take for example the Eskimos, they have I don't know how many words for "snow". Because snow is such a large part of their lives. Growing up in Tennessee snow was a small part of my life, so the one sufficed just fine.

I see different languages as a direct result of our sin. Back in Genesis, man disobeyed God's command to fill the earth. Instead the people wanted to build a city and make a name for themselves, when our purpose is to glorify God's name not our own. If man hadn't tried to attain the level of God we would probably all be speaking Hebrew or some other ancient tongue. This would make communication much easier.

But now with all the languages that exist it does make for some interesting experiences while traveling. I have learned that words are not the only form of communication. In fact sometimes they are quite dull. My co-workers and I have begun playing a type of charades as a form of communication. And this is much more fun than mere conversation.

Facial expressions also say a lot. Everyone understands the meaning of a smile, no matter what language they translate it into. It is also reall easy to convey that you don't understand with your face. I use that expression A LOT, much more than I would like to.

I have also come to love the English language. It represent home and everything that is familar to me. It reminds me of friends and family that I don't get to talk to enough. I miss y'all. Most times when I hear someone speaking English I will go up to them and ask them where they are from. Usually they are a bit surprised by my question, I guess they thought no one could understand them. Then they warm up and we chit chat for a bit. I have met people from Washington state and D.C. , Texas, Australia and a couple of others that I can't remember. It is nice to converse with someone from the states, who has a similar accent so I don't have to strain to understand them.

I am also continuously surprised when I hear children speaking French. In reality, this should be, and is, totally normal. But the kids here look and act just like any kid in the States and I always find myself expecting them to speak the same.

Those are a few of my thoughts on the subject of language. I hope it wasn't too scary and maybe next time I will have a new city to talk about.

Lausanne

2006-07-31T10:28:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, I had the day off so I decided to take the train into Lausanne for a visit. Lausanne is Switzerland's fifth largest city with a population of 116,300. It is the third most visited after Geneva and Zurich. It is the home of the International Olympic Committee. Situated on Lake Geneva amidst a myriad of hills, this city is breathtakingly beautiful.

I began the day by visiting the Olympic Museeum. It was very educational with information about the games and how the modern games began. There was also a ton of memorabilia from previous games. The torches were all on display, of particular interest to me was the one from the Atlanta games.

My favorite part of Lausanne was when I visited the church of St. Francois. When I got there I walked all around the building looking for the entrance. I finally found a small sign, in French, that said to visit the church enter through the bronze door. So I see this immense bronze door to my left and think, "I can't open that". But I walk up to it and it swings open, seemingly on its own. And then I hear this organ start to play. So I walk in and think this is kind of creepy. So I wander around this beautiful building built in the 13th century as a monastary. The entire time the organ was playing. It was a very neat experience. I never saw a soul the whole time I was there, people are missing out. When I was ready to go the door "magically" opend on its own.

I also visited the Tour de L'Ale, which was built in 1340 as part of the medieval defensive walls of Lausanne. "That we can admire the tower at all is due to those townspeople who opposed demoilition plans in 1903. " Quote from Lonely Planet guide to Switzerland. Imagine wanting to demiloish something that had stood for 600 years.

I spent a large part of the day walking up and down the many hilly streets of Lausanne. I definitly got my exercise that day. I also visited other museums and enjoyed the scenery. I would put pictures, but I am having issues with the computer. Sorry, maybe later.

The Swiss Alps and the Matterhorn

2006-07-20T12:05:00.000-05:00

So today I hiked in the Swiss Alps, and words cannot describe the sight. Even in the middle of July there is snow in the mountains. Being from the Southern part of the USA, I rarely see snow in December much less in July, so that was pretty exciting.

I had two days off in a row from work, so I decided to head down to the little town of Zermatt in the central southern portion of Switzerland. This town's claim to faim is the infamous Matterhorn. It has claimed many lives over the years. Below is a picture of a cemetery completly devoted to people who have lost their lives while attempting to climb. I did not make the attempt. There was the small matter of mountain climbing experience, a week of training, 1500 Francs. And oh yeah, I don't like heights.

While I was wondering around the city, I stumbled across three men playing their Alp horns. Elizabeth, I thought of you. The music was beautiful. One of the songs they played was Amazing Grace. I enjoyed it so much that when the moved to play on another street, I followed them so that I could listen some more. It was great free entertainment, Tim.

In order to hike around the Matterhorn and in the Alps, I had to take a cable car up to one of the peaks. The view from the car was absolutely breathtaking.

Some sheep I saw while hiking.

The Matterhorn at sunrise as seen from my hotel room. WOW.

Me in front of the Matterhorn.

Some of the houses that look down on the village of Zermatt. As we approached the town by train, I realized that this is what I expected Switzerland to look like. Zermatt has a strong German influence, and that is how I pictured Switzerland. The houses are built right into the side of the hills and there is so much green around the houses. It is very picturesqe. I love it. Oh and one more really cool thing about this town, cars are illegal. If the residents have cars they must park them outside the city limit. So the whole village is pedestrian friendly; it is great.

This is a close up shot of one of the houses.
Those large stone discs are supposed to keep rodents out.
I wonder if they really work.

So all in all I had a great mini-vacation in Zermatt. All that hiking I did in the hot sun gave a little sunburn, but oh well, a small price to pay for getting to see this most amazing sight.

Beucoups (Lots of) Pictures

2006-07-13T08:28:00.000-05:00

English Speakers call it Lake Geneva. The Swiss call it Lac Léman.

Jet d'Eau dans Lac léman. Jet of Water on Lake Geneva. They turn it off when the wind is too strong, for obvious reasons.

Charles Luneburg, born in Brunswick on October 30, 1804, died in Geneva on August 18, 1873, appointed Geneva as his residuary legatee, being agreed that the city would erect a mausoleum on the model of the Scaliger tomb in Verona. Designed chiefly by Jean Franel, architect, this monument was finished in 1879. Originally there was a statue of Luneburg on a horse on the top of this monument, but it had to be taken down for safety reasons.

Monument de la Réformation (Reformation Monument) The man 2nd from the left is John Calvin.

La Rue de Jean Calvin (John Calvin Rd.)

What I think this says is: Lived Here and Year of Death. (I will let someone else figure out the years.) The House that he lived in was demolished in 1706 and replaced by this one, that resembles the original.

Eau Potable (Drinking Water). One of the very cool water fountains I saw during my walking tour of Geneva. I can't get the other one to load right now. And I did drink from the fountain and it hasn't had any adverse side effects yet.

This sign tells where the parking lots are and even tells you how many spots are available in each lot. Why don't we do that in the States?

God is so Good

2006-07-13T08:12:00.000-05:00

So the other day I was incredibly frustrated by the language barrier. I was feeling like a stupid American and thinking that I would never be able to communicate with the people here. But God in His providence took care of me as He always does. As I was leaving the internet café, after making my last post. The attendant stopped me and was telling me about all the great features he has to offer, like incredibly cheap international phone calls. At first I was thinking, "Why are you trying I do not understand you." But to my surprise I did understand him, sort of. And when I responded he understood me. It was the most encouraging thing that could have happened to me. I was beaming when I left. I started to feel like maybe I could do this after all. Of course I have not forgotten that it will still be a lot of hard work to understand. But with God helping me I will survive. Praise God for small blessings.

I love Lucy

2006-07-11T09:27:00.000-05:00

So is it bad when a large portion of your life relates to an episode of I love Lucy. When I worked at the Aquarium and we played with chocolate, I was reminded of the episode where Lucy and Ethel work in the candy factory. They get shuffled around from department to department because they are so inept at the job. And they end up making a mess with the chocolate.

Now that I am in a foreign country and don't speak the language, I am reminded of the episode where Lucy is in Italy and she is stomping grapes to "Soak up local color". And she can't understand what her boss is telling her to do and she just follows him around. That is what I feel like. I spend a lot of my time following people around and watching them trying to figure out what they want me to do.

This became really frustrating today when I was trying to do a simple thing like order lunch. I got really sick of not knowing what anyone is saying, and being confused a large portion of the time. I am surprised at how people keep trying to talk to me even when they know I can't understand them.

I guess this is just another opportunity to trust God more with everything that is going on in this country. Because I truly can't do it on my own. I figure things can only get better, they couldn't get much worse. Right?

Tomorrow I have the day off, so that will be a good chance to get some much needed rest.

My first day of work.

2006-07-10T07:38:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day that I worked in the laboratory as they call it. The day began at 3 o`clock in the morning. Good thing I went to bed at 7 pm. I had to be at work at 4 am. We began with the bread. I did a lot of watching because I can not communicate with the people. Its amazing how unnecessary words are most of the time.

Once the pastry chef got there, I went and helped him. He speaksabout as much English as I speak French. So we had a fun time trying to communicate. He was very patient showing me how to do things since he could not just tell me.

As I have been sitting in this internet cafe, its pretty cool how many English songs they play. When I first got here they were playing Back Street Boys. It was pretty funny. Sometimes I almost forget that I am in Switzerland, with so much English around. But then I look at all the French signs and am reminded of how far away from home I really am.

I am not as scared as I was at first, because I have seen God provide for me on this trip. And I know it will continue. It gives me such peace about being here. I really think that I am going to love it.

I made it Switzerland

2006-07-10T07:27:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers upon my departure. Everything went fine even though I worried entirely too much. I made it to London with out any problems. I was supposed to have an 8 hour layover in London. I thought that I would use this time to wonder around the city, but I was going to have to take all my luggage with me. So I asked to be put on an earlier flight and they did, for a fee. So I arrived in Switzerland about 6 hours early.

The part I was concerned about was how to get from the airport to where I was staying. I called the only number I had. A Swiss woman answered to I was forced to speak my broken French with here. I was relieved when Chef Wolfisberg got on the phone and spoke excellent English. He said someone would be right there to get me, that was such a blessing.

Here is my room that I will call home for the next three months.

So today I was able to have a tour of Geneva and see Lake Geneva. It is absolutely breathtaking. The city is so picturesque. I am going to love it here.

Can I just say that I hate Swiss keyboards? Some of the letters are switched and it makes typing very difficult. I am going to have to learn how to do this all over again. I guess that comes with the territory of traveling.
Communicating is definitely going to be a challenge. The family I am staying with speaks English, and Spanish, and Itlaian, and German and French of course. I am so amazed. I feel like an idiot for only being able to speak English and that is not even great all the time.

But the people I will be working with speak mostly French. So I better learn it really fast or just figure out how to communicate other ways. Oh well, its an adventure right?
Thanks again for your prayers. I miss you all already.
Jennifer