Wolfish's World Adventures: Settling In

Just hanging out on the Right Bank of Lake Geneva

Now that I've had a few days to unpack and get settled in I figured it was probably time for me to write up another post so I don't lose my dedicated readers. It really is too early for me to say how I have been adjusting on the whole; I slept in until 1 PM on Monday, which while not great, was fine since I don't begin my internship until Wednesday. However, for the most part, I feel like I'll be able to get into a pretty good routine in Geneva.

The John Knox Centre, where I am living while in Geneva, is very conveniently located. It was a short bus ride from the airport to the nearest bus stop and then just a 15 minute schlep uphill with my bags to the Centre. For those of you that have been able to view my pictures on Facebook, you know that my room is not very spacious at all and it has taken a little getting used to but thankfully I packed well (wonder where I learned that?) and there has been enough closet and shelving space for all my things. I also have a desk but I haven't used it much; it's more comfortable for me to use my computer in bed. The Centre is located in the village of Pregny, which is roughly a 20-30 minute walk from the Place des Nations a.k.a. the UN headquarters. The Centre is also just 750 meters from where I'll be working which is great. Public transportation in Geneva has been pretty accessible as well and there are bus stops located nearby. I actually just went on my first grocery run at the local COOP supermarche. Next to the Centre there is also a great trail that serves as the perimeter to a vast area of fields and there is a great view of the mountain range surrounding Geneva and Lake Geneva. I look forward to going on many nice runs/walks along this trail.

Now to the really fun stuff...On Sunday I met up with two of the other students who are from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University who are participating on the same program as me but are working for different organizations. One of the students had been here for a week already and the other student arrived just a few hours before I did last Saturday so we all decided that we should go exploring and get to know a part of the city that wasn't Pregny. We ventured out towards Lake Geneva heading down to the Right Bank. Geneva is similar to Paris where there is a Left Bank and a Right Bank, but instead of being divided by a river like the Seine, Geneva is split up by the lake. Anyways, after taking in the scenery along the lakeshore, we hopped aboard a water taxi and went across the lake, past the famous Jet d'Eau to the Left Bank, where the Vieille Ville (Old Town) of Geneva is located. This is definitely the more historical part of Geneva and it was interesting to walk along the cobblestone roads and stumble upon Catholic cathedrals that were converted after the Reformation into Calvinist churches along with many other landmarks. We even found ourselves in a park with human-sized chess boards and checker boards and we were able to play (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f5BTOaGoJ8), even if we were the only tourists there; it was a popular place for the older gentlemen of Geneva.

View of Lake Geneva and the Jet d'Eau

I've spent most of my time since filling out various forms that are necessary for my organization to have before I can begin my internship position. However, yesterday evening we met with a man named Werner who is a close acquaintance of one of the Maxwell School faculty who helped to arrange this internship program. Werner was very nice and took us around and then out to dinner at a nice cafe where I had steak du boeuf avec une sauce aux poivre vert which was delicious. Afterwards he drove us to Pregny's neighboring village, Chambesy, where we had a great view of Lake Geneva at dusk and then from there we headed to a remote location down on the lakefront for a great view of Geneva at night. All in all it was quite a nice welcome to Geneva! That's all for now, I'll try and get another post up by the end of the weekend.