Place de Nations!

So here we are...finally at the UN...

Right off the bat, I have to say that the security checkpoint where we have to go get our UN passes was not at all what I had envisioned. Okay, lemme just start with this: Do you watch the Simpsons? If yes, do you ever remember what the Springfield Police Department was like? And how their police officers were pretty much just a bunch of hooligans? Well, welcome to the UN security pass building! Seriously, these guys were just as relaxed and easy going. The one guard who gave me my pass, rubber-ink stamped his boss's eye-glasses! Who does that?!? And they're all making jokes and laughing and cracking jokes to all the people coming in to validate their passes.

Anyway, moving along...

Okay, to be honest, there's nothing really that HUGE going on at the UN currently. As far as I understand the Social Forum for Right to Development just took place last week, and currently it's the Sub-Commission for Human Rights that's taking place for the next 2 weeks. But we only got to attend the Social Forum. It wasn't a very glamourous room, so I hope that you won't be disappointed with the pictures.

Anyway, here they are...



And the panoramics...



Yeah if you wondering why I'm not smiling in any of my pictures, it's because it was hot as hell, I'm wearing a very heat-absorbent black wool suit, the sun is literally blinding, and I feel disgusting. And on top of that, we're at the UN! WE MUST BE SERIOUS!

Getting REALLY REALLY lazy with the blog...

I don't even know where to begin...I haven't posted anything like 3 weeks, and there's so much that I've already done. In fact the following post is of stuff I did 3 weeks ago, and I wrote it up 2 weeks ago! As you will tell when you get to the bottom...cuz I'm too lazy to bother changing it. So here goes...

Friday, July 16th: the Farewell Interns Get-Together

Not a bad day considering that I had to put together the newsbrief for this month all by myself with noone by my side to refer to for advice. That doesn't really help things when everyone has a different opinion on which news article is more important to be published. Anyway, despite that inconvenience, I had been looking online all day for a dish to prepare for the potluck dinner. I really didn't want to take the easy 'Rue de Pasta" direction, and so I searched and searched and finally found a recipe for a hot German potato salad! Amazing. Keep in mind that I was about to commit a cardinal sin in the ritual of potluck dinners. In that I was to try out a new dish that I have never made for guests, undeserving of stomach pains.

Anyway, the dinner was at 7:30pm, we get out of work at 6pm, all stores close by 7pm, and it takes around 20-30 minutes to get home. Needless to say, there wasn't alot of time to spare. So as soon as I got home I beelined for the nearest grocery store to grab all the ingredients the recipe called for. I bought everything that I could find, not to mention, what I could remember as I didn't bother to write a list down, and made tracks for the apartment. As most thing usually go wrong when unplanned, when I got home, what I had assumed was bacon (and only because I REALLY REALLY (and really I mean this) couldn't find anything else that resembled bacon) was actually proscuitto. Big problem here, because the recipe actually requires the bacon fat to be used for the sauce.

Long story short, I ended up going with the pasta. With a pot of half-cooked potatoes, and with only 20 minutes to spare, I whipped up some pasta with time left to spare to pack it and wrap it. I don't think I'll ever switch back to an electric stove. There just isn't a substitute for gas.

So got to the potluck, too bad everyone had already started eating and the main course of salmon and rice had already been served, everyone was too full to eat anything else. So once again the "Rue de Pasta" gets thrown off to the beaten path again.

So here are the pics...




The notable pics...


Here is the "Monica-doesn't-want-her-picture-taken" picture


The Drunken-Duckett.


JQ: The Boss.


Simply Stampfli.


A rarity among pictures. Me in a picture.

Anyway, dinner was still filling, and after all the "grown-ups" had called it a night, the real party began. Allow me to introduce you to the game of "Flip Cup". I'm sure that most of you experienced drinkers are all familiar with some version of this drinking game. But for those of you who are still under the legal limit, keep your eyes on the screen. Basic rules: 2 teams of 5 (least for this night), each person has a shot of beer in their plastic cup. As soon as the "ref" drops his cup, the first player on each team downs the shot of beer, and then proceeds to flip their cup from right-side up to upside-down, by placing the cup half-way off the table and flipping it with their finger or whichever appendage suits them best.

By far the most amusing were the cups. As you get to personalize your cup, the fun-o-metre just kept getting higher and higher. As you can tell by my cup...lol




Saturday, July 17th: Full Recovery Time

Did pretty much nothing the day after. Beer helps you fall into sleep, but it doesn't actually allow you to reach REM sleep. I woke up, felt like crap, and all I could think of was going home, taking a shower, and crawling back into my comfortable bed. Don't get me wrong I had a great time, and Yaron was a great bed-buddy (don't worry Leslie, I kept my hands to myself, lol), but really I felt disgusting and just needed more sleep (as usual). So that's what I did.


Sunday, July 18th: Trip to Lyon

A late start to the day. But it's a Sunday. Our crew of 5 had been reduced to a party of 3, but seeing as how we didn't have anything better to do, we decided to go anyway. So Deb, Farhad, and I made our way to Lyon. We did however, stop into the train station to change our Francs into Euros, and it just so happens that they were selling U2 tickets for the Monday, July 18th show in Zurich right there at the station! As much as I was tempted, there was no way I was gonna get tickets.

a) The tickets were 180 CHF
b) The show is in Zurich (which is 3-4 hours away)
c) I get off work at 6pm, the show starts at 8pm.
d) There's a dinner with the Executive Director that I have to attend on the same evening

How's that for reasons not to go?

So off we went to Lyon. And lemme tell ya, Lyon is beautiful. Too bad we opted to visit on a Sunday, and as it is Europe, all shops and establishments are closed on Sunday. Only the touristy restaurants are open. Not exactly what we had in mind, but we played with what we were dealt, and the trip turned out pretty nicely. As I can't really get into details because I just don't feel like writing more, and everything was pretty much closed, here are some things that happened:

1. Steak Tartare means a raw steak. It was delish, but unexpected.
2. Mint and Pear ice cream don't taste good together.
3. It was hot as hell.
4. Found out that Lyon is the 3rd largest city in France.
5. Once again, Lyon is beautiful.



And here are the panoramics (did you really think I could go a single post without posting at least 1 landscape panoramic?)



Would've like to have seen more, but didn't really have the time, nor daylight in which to see things properly.

Anyway, it was another fun weekend. And Monday was another fun-filled work day. As will every day this week will be. Tomorrow especially. A couple of friends from Mac (Winkie & Bernice) will be heading into town tomorrow. So I gotta haul my butt over to the airport during lunch to meet with them and show them the apartment. Oh man, how I long for the week that I'll actually get a full one all to myself.

Until the next post...

100% Netteté!

That's right! 100% Netteté!

Can anyone tell me what that means? Give up? It says, "100% Clean"! Well actually the direct translation is "100% Cleanness", but you get the idea!

Man OH man. And trust me, I mean "MAN". This has been a long time coming. And to think, that the first actually big "clean" finally takes place 1 month after I've been here, and 2 weeks after Farhad gets here.

After having 5 people living in this 2 bedroom apartment, things get abso-freakin'-lutely disgusting. So this was well overdue. I swear, if the apartment could talk, it was screaming to just have a quick once over with just a duster. But Farhad and I, gave the apartment the once-over and then some. We went to town on the place, with J-Cloths, sponges, a vacuum, and a mop & bucket. The apartment has never been happier. And neither have I since I got here!

Anyway, on top of that glorious cleaning, I finally got my care-package from home! And what a care-package! It was crammed with everything! From electric hair clippers, to 'After-bite', to my Puma sneakers, to even a package of 'Shake 'n Bake'! And I think there's enough cleaning supplies to even get the next pair of interns started here too! How's that for hospitality from home!

Finally, by pure chance, I ran into an old Costco buddy from back home (online of course), who's now living in Belgium for the summer! So if the stars are ever properly aligned, I might be heading into Paris even sooner than I thought! Sharifah, you had better be reading this, cuz now I've set the stage for my next big trip! So you had better not disappoint! lol.

So yeah, it was a pretty amazing day! Not only that, but we're on track for this month's publications, and things are SOOOOOOOOO close to being perfect! All we need is a wireless router in the apartment, so if anyone's in a really really really giving mood, there's 2 Geneva interns that could really use one right about now! Sharing DSL blows! I miss my Torrents!

And okay, so no pictures again. 2 posts in a row, and no pictures to show for it. Don't worry, there's a big Geneva Intern Farewell Party on Friday, I'll be sure to post ALOT of pictures from that. Starting with the big hellos, to naked flip-cup! Yaron, I'm countin' on you to not disappoint!...and same to you Chris! Hairy chests here we come!

30 days and 30 nights in Geneva

Well, it's finally happened...

I've finally reached the 1 month mark here in Geneva. And to celebrate, I gave myself a haircut. Yup, all by myself. And then after I post this, I'm gonna cook myself some ravioli. Woohoo, I can't wait until I reach the 2nd month anniversary!

Anyway, yesterday, Deb, Albert, Jessie (his girlfriend), Ventura (his sister), and I all went across the border into France to visit a cute little touristy town called, Annesy. Hands down, this visit to France was the closest I've been to the mountains since I got here. Seriously, by the water's edge of the bay, we must've been only 5-6 kilometers away from the edge of the mountain. It was quite an amazing sight.

But really not much to say about Annesy. It's simply beautiful there.

We took a tour through the Old Town, but after seeing 3 "Old Towns" in the last 2 weeks, you kinda get the idea. Pretty much it's just old and new coming together to make something that's different, but essentially still commercial. But nonetheless it was still a nice place to go to.

In any case, before we left, we stopped by the border to pick up groceries. Specifically for me, I bought meat. And lots of it. The problem was getting across the border without getting the car checked. What happened, was Deb pulled up to the border check, and the guard there waved and said "Bon Soir!" with a smile, and so Deb thought he was waving us through. Only problem was that he was calling out for us to stop as Deb kept driving along. So we stopped, and the more and more Deb continued to talk with the guard in French the more and more he looked as though he was gonna ask us to open the trunk. But Deb basically said, that we were just visiting Annesy for the afternoon and that "we didn't buy anything". So we got waved through.

You wanna hear my theory? Well basically, the scene was this, Deb driving a car, with 4 Chinese passengers and cameras on their laps. Does this remind you of anything? Well if it doesn't allow me to educate you. As Deb is the only non-Chinese person in the car, and is speaking French to the guard, Albert's in the passenger seat talkin on the phone in English, and me, Venture, and Jessie are in the back all staring at the guard like we have no idea what he's saying and we all have digital cameras in our laps. In evaluating this situation, it pretty much looks like Deb is a tour guide taking 4 Chinese tourists around the countryside (or something to that extent). There's no meat in the car at all! lol.

Anyway, we got waved through, and all is well. I took some pictures, but the clouds and the ever changing overcast weather was wreaking havoc with the exposure settings on the camera. Not sure if I got any worth while pics but I'll post them up later tonight. Gotta go clean the house on my 1 month anniversary here in Geneva!

Red Alert! All soldiers on deck!

As I'm sure you've all already heard, London was victim to 3 terrorist bombings on Thursday. And I'm sure that you haven't heard is that our office just so happens to be on the first floor of the building that also houses the British Mission.

Now usually, there's always a couple of guards out by the rear entrance each day just keeping an eye on things here and there. But since Thursday, they've stepped up security substantially. Now there armed military guards on a 6-man rotation guarding the main entrance of the building complex. If you're crazy like me and are curious as to what they are armed with, you need not worry, I happened to take a quick glance and saw that they sporting some pretty substantial hardware:

SIG 551


Anyway, I really only put this picture up because the soldiers wouldn't let me take a picture of them just standing guard and watching the road. Don't get me wrong, if the situation hadn't been so serious, I wouldn't have asked them. I just didn't want to snap a shot from across the street and then have half a clip of ammo emptied into my upper torso. But yeah, it's pretty serious stuff. They've even stepped it up on the bomb checking detail too. It used to be like once or twice a week, I'd see a guard with a mirror checking under the cars in the parking lot for bombs, but now it's like they're checking every time a car pulls into the lot.

Actually, we thought perhaps Farhad could wrap a cloth around his head or face and run out and snap a quick picture. But we also thought that might be a bit on the risky or fatal side.

So, we expect this sort of business to continue on into the next week. We'll just have to wait and see if we get any action around here. lol.

Happy 9th of July!

It's been a busy few of days, and so basically this post is about what happened nearly a freakin' week ago. Yeah, I'm getting lazy. In fact I'll have 2 more post by tomorrow. That's if I can will myself to do so.

Well, in a nutshell, since Deb is the only current remaining American at FI, we decided to join in the celebration of her nation!

Outside of the nutshell, we all went to "4th of July 05" at 'Centre sportif du Bout-du-Monde'. Even with a beer in hand, it was still quite a walk from the Circus, but we made it nonetheless. Some interesting facts to note: Geneva has the largest population of Americans outside of the US; and Geneva has the largest 4th of July celebration outside of the US.

Despite those facts, we were actually hard pressed to find many of these so-called Americans! It was very much a 4th of July party for the Swiss. I don't believe that there was any hamburgers and hotdogs, nor was there any American beer. To be honest, I was actually kinda disappointed at that!

As for the entertainment...well...why don't I just list off what we saw.

1. Marching Band w/cheerleaders



2. Harley Davidson



Really this was what they were called. And all it was, was a bunch of Swiss guys on motorcycles doing laps around the 400m outdoor track.

3. Kentucky Dancers



Okay the first part of the routine was...I can only assume to be, like Kentucky Dancing. Girls in big "Southern Belle" type dresses and guys in cowboy hats. After that, it just got weird. The girls just ripped off the dresses to reveal tight skirts and began performing latin dances. Then guys had their turn at that, and after a quick change the girls came out doing a 1920s charleston-esque dance, and from there, the Harley Davidson crew made another appearance by lining up behind the "Kentucky Dancers" as they performed some swing dance moves in black leather and spandex. One guy even "played" his dance partner like a guitar, and many of the girls were tossed and twirled in the air.

Anyway, moving along...as we continued to explore the festival, we stopped by the beer tent, and lo and behold we saw some Americans. They weren't outright decked out in "Americana" but it was agreed that the one sentence we heard from them pretty much made our night:



Girl 1: How much is a beer here?
Girl 2: Lemme see, it's like 5 francs.
Guy 1: That's not bad, it's cheaper than a baseball game!

Anyway, to cap off the night, a country-western band played, as the line-dancers put on a bit of a show.



Even Deb got in on that action! And poor Monica just couldn't keep up!



And the fireworks were amazing! Best damned fireworks that I've seen in a long while!




Especially for such a small festival! And the best thing about it, was that people could walk up so close to the fireworks that when you craned your neck up when the fireworks launched, you actually begin to look backwards! Not to mention all the cordite smoke that was billowing out around the area! Most of the time you don't even get to catch a whiff of that stuff!



Well...in any case, if this was any indication of the kind of time we had, you can bet your Harley-Davidson that we'll be coming back here next year!

Best 4th of July ever! Cheers!