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...