Rockin' Beats, 12-5ing, a week of classes, and Bern Carnival

Soooo it has been entirely too long so because of this you will get 2 weekend updates and a little taste of the week in between!

So last weekend:

Rockin' Beats Fail and 12-5 in Lausanne

Rockin' Beats Fail
So, since the first night we went out in Nyon, we saw posters for a weekend long bar crawl with different concerts at each one. The entire group had been planning on attending since we saw it, thinking it'd be fun. Now the concert was described to have some rocking beats, but clearly this was a fail on their part. So Friday night comes, and we are all so excited. We planned for some pregaming at the castle (as per usual) and then set out to the first bar, le paranthese (the parentheses). The bar was located in a tunnel-type thing which was cool, but there was a 10 CHF cover, not so cool. So we figured, its the cheapest cover besides the two free ones...so why not. So we go, pay or 10 CHF and get into the bar. It is long and narrow with a bar when you enter and then an open space and a stage. Now, I was expecting to hear some techno and/or swiss music (i even would of been okay with some yodeling), however it was no such thing. It was quite the emo band..singing in french..and this music is good for relaxing and/or trying to fall asleep and/or listening to whenever but not at a bar or a music festival advertised to have rockin' beats. So after this fail, we decieded to try another one and wait until the next band came to parenthese incase they are better and we wouldnt hvae to repay 10 CHF.

So, we went to fisherman's one of our usual places. Free of charge, we get in and it is a little better, with a more hopping musical selection, but it was pretty packed. we stayed for a while, but then went back to le parenthese to be failed yet again. The music had still not improved. Thus, we went to our favorite cactus jacks to end the night. Here we sat around and chatted until our trains home.

Although it was not what we were expecting, it was a good way to all hang out together and experience a fail as a group!

12-5 in Lausanne

Since the first day we arrived in Geneva Earl has been telling us about the 12-5 culture of Switzerland. Well, it finally became time to try it out for ourselves. So a group of 5 (including myself) headed out to meet one of the guy's i was with host brother, who lives in Lausanne. We took a late night train out into Lausanne (about a 20 minute trip) and pregamed on the train..it was pretty classy. Now the events after the train ride are still to be fully put together but here is the general idea:

- arrive at the train station and try to figure out where "Le Great Escape" is. So after teaching Chip how to say "Ou est Le great escape" we watched him ask about 7 people before finally getting to a young couple. They agreed to take us to the bar. Little did we know about the hike we were about to take. We walked uphill for a good 25 min...never hitting flat land. We make it to the end of the hill and the couple tells us to go up a set of stairs next to the giant cathedral and it will be at the top of that hill. Great. so we trek up and finally arrive to bar...panting.
-we stay at great escape. By this point i had little in me to think i was going to stay in Lausanne until the first train out at 4:20 AM. However, things quickly turned for the best. With some bonding and awkward starfishes the night trudged on and we made it through bar one. for what took palce at the bar, well, that is still being discussed
-we leave the bar and are ready to go to a club. Stephan, the host brother decides to take us to Buzz. For the first 30 min we tried to find our way through the smallish club, looking for 1) a bathroom and 2) a spot on the dance floor. After arriving to the dance floor, we mark our spot and finally start to dance. The music was luckily a fun variety of American Top 40 hits, which made it fun for us americans to sing along, actually know the words, and have fun dancing. Towards the end the music switched to some older american hits including: Sweet Dreams, Dancing Queen (best of the night), and These boots are made for walking. Luckily, for each song, we were able to incorporate some fist pumping...i mean, i am from New Jersey. So after dancing on the stage, singing my heart out, and countless fist pumps, i look at my phone and realize it is 4:00am. I was a) thrilled to have made it so far b) was ready to go home and c) so tired i wasn't even tired anymore. So we decided to leave Buzz and head back to the station, this time, conveniently all down hill. Luckily i decided on boots rather than heels, but for Shira..the same thing could not be said. After a long, slow walk home...we made it in time for teh 4:48 train. The train ride home was interesting as well...still be discussed but we did learn that putting ur feet up on a chair gives you a 25 CHF penalty. Luckily, we got away with it this time.

So at 6AM i was finally in bed and sleeping. Needless to say, I woke up at 2 the next day and did nothing. I think it was a well deserved rest though.

A week of classes

This week was pretty legitimate. Nothing too exciting happened until Thursday. (side note: Tuesday, 4 of us celebrated mardi gras at Cactus Jacks. It was filled with many bets being taken by the boys and me and Jenn just laughing at them. However it did allow for me to watch some olympics) Until then i was just attempting to finish our 8 page assignment due for thursday- an observation journal on the red cross museum and old town geneva. I felt like i was in middle school writing it, full of "i" and "we" phrases, and there was no actual topic to the assignment...but that is Earl for you. So whatever, it is over.

Thursday night all the host families got together for some raclette (melted cheese and potatoes). Sitting with my host family and another family in the group, Davide, on of the other directors of the trip sat across from me. He asked me how my french was...i said ok..it was improving greatly. Bad idea...i then commenced on a 2 hour long conversation in French with him..about: DC, The Red Cross, Obama, NYC, Bolt Bus, US Politics, Italian Politics, Geneva, and Harm Reduction. After two hours..i was mentally exhausted and had nothing else in me.

Friday was really interesting and will bring me into the next and last section of this post. However, before i talk about my epic friday night...friday morning I visited Quai 9, a harm reduction site that allows drug users to inject at the facilities to reduce the transmission of HIV and Hepatitis. I've only heard of needle exchange programs in the US, but this was NOTHING like it. We walked in and were met by one of the directors of Quai 9. We sat in the waiting room for the drug users (the facility was still closed when we were there, so it was only the 5 american students who went, 3 advisors, and the director) and get information on quai 9 and what it does. Then, we got taken on a tour of the facilities where we saw the snorting section of the room, the inhalation room, and the shoot-up stations. It was really scary to think I was standing a room where people shoot up heroine and cocaine, but it was amazing too to see this (from a public health standpoint). As controversial as harm reduction is needle-injections is a big problem and providing a place with free CLEAN needles and less-harmful environment is better than what is usually done. Anyways, it was really cool and interesting and im looking forward to doing more research in this field in April for my independent study project

now back to the fun stuff...

Bern Carnival...definitely a night for the record books

So though traditionally Carnival was last weekend, Bern celebrated its carnival this past thursday to saturday. So after classes on friday, a group of 8 of us catched a train to Bern, the swiss capital. The two hour, 40 CHF round trip train ride was DEF. worth it. We got off the train and the station was just buzzing with people. Next thing i know i heard some drums. Next thing, a person in an elaborate costume. Then some more. Then some more music. Then some more costumes. Before i knew it, I was watching a band perform even before making it to the hostel.

After checking into our hostel (located in PRIME location, basically a block away from the main street of carnival) we headed to find some face paint and cheap beer for pregaming. Finding both, we had some great asian cuisine..and yes i tried the pad thai, and yes it was amazing. Then it was time to get ready: face painting and drinking and listening to some good american music via iPhone was perfect. At 10:45ish we were ready to hit the streets!

Stop 1: Heineken truck with 5 CHF sangria. We got a commerative cup for 2CHF too and for refills we only had to pay the 5CHF.

Stop 2: Turn the corner to hit the main street. PACKS of people dressed up were there, following the marching band and listening them all. We stopped to listen to one and quickly made some new friends. Roberto and his pirate friend where our first friends. I left said pirate friend and Roberto to find a bathroom and didn't find them ever again. But, they were a riot. Supposedly Roberto was there with his 6th grade kisser, with whom he "kissed on the lips." Oh roberto.

Stop 3. Back from the bathroom- we met everyone else at the same place by one of the stages with a marching band. Here we found our favorite band of the night. Dressed in bright turquoise and lime green carnival costumes they played some magical american tunes for us to sing along to. Here we met creeper of the night. He tried to give steve some laced gum..as well as some other things....we quickly walked away from him and went back to the heineken cart for more sangria.

Stop 4: After getting it we were waiting for some of our friends and up come Marcus and friends. Marcus came up to me, bised me (only twice though) and asked me if i knew what Abercrombie was. I said yes and his friend said he is a model. I was very confused...and starting talking to his friend. He asked me where I was from blah blah blah the usual, next thing i know he is drinking out of my sangria cup...but i let this happen..i think. But we decieded to part them after we found all our friends. They tried to convice us to go a night club called liquid- but with the party on the streets..we kindly said no. But from Marcus' friend i did get bised..this time 4. Apparently they don't bise 3 times in the Swiss German section of Switzerland.
- Note: i don't know if ive explained the bise but it is 3 cheek to cheek kisses, left right left as a greeting or parting.

Stop 4: The other side of the street to listen to more music. By this time it was 2 AM and after seeing countless of waldos, swine flu costumes, and avatars (one of them had no teeth! ah!) we decieded it was time to get some kabob and go to sleep.

Carnival is the greatest thing to ever happen to a country. America...get on it. Mardi Gras/Halloween is not enough. Also Bern>Geneva.

The next morning we walked around Bern and saw the parade with MORE costumes and all the bands. It was so fun to watch them and get confetti and candy thrown at us. The bands varied from Music i couldnt recognize, American music (including single ladies), and even some yodeling. Then we went to the capital building and the bear pits! (to see all my pictures- go onto facebook)

anyways. These past two weekends have been a blast but it has come time to travel.

Prochains Arrets: Paris for some GW loving (though I do get some here in Geneva) and then Brussels for some more reuniting!

Being a Traditional Swiss and Traditional American...in one weekend

I spent this weekend from others in the group traveling to different towns (some planned, some not) around Switzerland. So here is a taste of mon week-end en Suisse!

Saturday:
For some reason my alarm was set for 7:00 AM...(see post below). I woke up pretty confused and unable to wake up. So I gave myself an extra hour to be out of bed by 8:00 AM and to leave for the train station by 8:50 AM. So I rolled out of bed at 8:30 AM but still managed to leave by 8:55- it was pretty impressive if i do say so myself..but it was not pleasant at all. At the train station we bought our tickets to Gruyere. Now if you can't tell by the name, they make cheese there... specifically gruyere cheese (ha). The train ride was kind of unpleasant- having to switch 2 times while waiting for some advil to kick in. However, once we arrived in Gruyere everything was better again. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was just amazing. Snowy mountains and towns on hills surrounded us. We walked into the cheese factory and looked at a lot a lot of gruyere cheese and took some pictures..then we decided to make the trek to the actual town for some food and to visit the chateau...from here many fails ensued.

Fail un: The path to the town. Now, normally this walk would of been fine, just a steep uphill pathway into the cute town. However, this steep hill, with minimal hand bars or things to grab onto was COVERED and i mean COVERED in ice. Getting up to the top of the hill took a century due to the slowing "walking" (more like sliding) up the hill. Amazingly, I didn't fall! And for those of you who know me...i tend to fall on normal roads so icy ones are usually not the best for me..aka ("ROLL ONTO THE GRASS!"...for any of who you know that story..the ice was worse this time). Anyways so we finally made it to the town and by this point we were all starving.

So what better to eat in Gruyere then Gruyere cheese? Here we went for some fondue which was really good but REALLY cheesy...but I am in switzerland so this is what happens. And here is when fail deux occured.

Fail Deux: language barriers. Now, ever since middle school, french teachers have come and gone leaving me with little knowledge of the language. In college it got a little better, but if you look at GW's french department...you aren't looking at the pride and glory of university french departments (few professors aside). Thus attempting to speak french to the waitress for our table..was quite interesting. Turns out we had been saying the exact same thing to each other..just differently for about 5-7 min. She finally said it in English and it was what i was trying to say all along. ha I win. not.

After the filling fondue, it came time to digest it (which it is better to drink tea when having fondue rather than water to avoid the cheese from hardening in your stomach..mm tasty right?). So we headed up the castle to explore. Not everyone went into the castle but I did..and let me tell you the video we saw was work the 8.50 CHF. This video had surround sound, screens in different areas of the room, and a fabulous narrater with great facial expressions/winking eyes..he was quite the creep actually, but we all know i love my creeps. The castle was fun- but what was most fun was one of the people's i was with, Chad's, comments. Chad if you are reading this- go to the China Room and take a time out. Then go fall off a horse. But, I assure you...this is OUR train. (If you don't get it..its probably better).

After the castle we had some creme. It was kinda weird and sweet but on top of merengues it was actually amazing. So we began our trek home. Now if you remember, we had to climb up a hill completely covered in ice...where i was actually fearing my life....

Fail three: if we had walked a little farther up the street, we would of come across stairs to the main town that were NOT covered in Ice and much easier to get up to the town with. So we safely walked down the hill. I'm still bitter about it.

So we get to the bottom of the hill and hang out until our tram comes.

Fail four: Two trams come at the same time. Which one do we get on to? THE WRONG ONE. Let's keep in mind, there was a sign in front of us that we were staring at for prob 10 min...and we still managed to get on the wrong tram. Since these tram's come every hour we had to get off and wait another hour for it to come. So we get off, and we are in this small town (which smell's horribly) where NOTHING is open. So we resort to playing cherades (which was actually quite fun) until we made it onto a tram and onto a train home)

On our way home we stopped in Lausanne to get some Kabobs/Falafelel. delicious.

Then...sleep finally happened.

Sunday:

Sunday we went to Montreux, another petit ville, to see another castle. Though this train ride was more pleasant and required no transfers, so it was quite nice. The train took us around the lake- providing for even more amazing views of the lake, alps, and France. Once we got to Montreux, we began our 2.5 mile walk along the lake to the castle. On our walk we passed: a Freddie Mercury (singer in Queen) statue, about 5-6 "Madagascar"- the movie animals...(yea we don't know why they were there either), and a casino. After exploring the castle, we decieded it was time to eat and had heard about a mexican place in Montreux. Now, we were all CRAVING mexican, talking about some quac, tacos, burritos...the works..we were SO EXCITED. We got the address and began POWER WALKING those 2.5 miles back to the main town. We made it there in probably half the time..to find that it was CLOSED for renovations. The look of sadness on some people's faces was great..though I'll admit i was one of them. So we resorted to a pizzeria to eat some pizza! Woo! Then we took the train back home!

Now by this time, I was pretty set on NOT watching the Superbowl. I was pretty exhuasted, not rooting for any team in particular (I wanted the Colts to lose more than I wanted the Saints to win), and just had not reason to stay up til 5 am to watch the game. But, the people on this trip have learned how easily/quickly I can be persuaded...so before I knew it it, i was looking at an all nighter. However, i was UNABLE to nap because my host family had some friends over for souper (dinner). So after being exhausted, I had to speak french to complete strangers for 3 hours, leave the soiree early, to catch a train into Nyon for the game.

So we waltz into the bar around 12:00 AM. We walked in and got some strange looks..but kinda just ignored it- we figured we just looked like American's so whatever. So we find a spot to sit and watch the game and see a sign that says "Soiree Prive"- Private Party...ummmmmm huh? So we go to bar to order a pitcher and ask if we are allowed to be there- the bartender said yes as long as we got something..so okay totes fine. So the four of us who were there got a pitcher and waited for the two others to come. They came shortly after kickoff, but the door was locked. Someone let them in but began questioning them...however one of the girls I was with..quickly went to grab the guys and they were easily allowed in. But the night does not end with watching the game...no. After buying a few things ourselves, we resorted to this private party. The word "pardon" got us in really quickly- getting us some chips, party mix, and beer. Fine with this..we continued to watch the gam. As the end of the 3rd quarter rolls around....the bartenders start giving us all this FREE food- hot croissants with cheese and ham, pretzels, brownies, popcorn, peace iced tea, cake...so much. It was pretty bomb...not to mention, Peyton's ass got kicked so that was another plus of the night.

As the game neared towards an end at 4:00 AM, I was A) surprised it ended so early and B) surprised I stayed awake.

I was in bed by 4:30 AM and had to be up at ready by 9:00 AM.

on how i felt monday and tuesday and what happened the rest of the beginning of the week...check back soon.

Au Revoir mes Amis!

Week Recap: Chocolate Chaud and Sweet Babies

So because I was unable to post until today, you all will not only get a RECAP of this baller week but you'll get a second post about today's adventure (maybe- or you'll get a weekend recap tomorrow and ill make sure to keep up this week!)!

So MONDAY:

We started the morning off in Genève, for our first class/discussion thing. Amazingly, this went by pretty quickly allowing us to run to Nyon to get some lunch then get ready for our first french class. Now, three hours of french after lunch does NOT go as quickly as morning classes do. However, class could be A LOT worse. There are 5 others in my level, with RITA our teacher. Rita's cool and italian, so I can deal. Luckily we get breaks so we can get our 1 CHF chocolate chaud that comes one of this crazy machine and even gives you a stirrer. I'll try to remember to take a picture of this contraption.

I can't really remember monday night- but I don't think it was that interesting. Although, luckily i can get GW VPN to work so i can access hulu and watch american tv..thank goodness.

TUESDAY TRADITIONS:

Tuesday started off a little rough. I got up pretty early to catch a train into Geneva so we could get to the Med School on time for a lecture. So a group of us got there early enough and went to go wait by the cylinder drum. After waiting for 20 min...we realized no one else was there and it was the time to meet. We were actually CERTAIN we were in the right place and even did a lap around the area we were in...but no sign of anyone. So we finally call Earl- yea we were in the wrong spot. oops. Anywho, then we went to a lecture on aging and swiss health care. Luckily we got another break for some more chocolate chaud and this time i put the mix into coffee- which was perfect to wake me up!

Then it was time for french class again- nothing interesting. However, a couple of us made plans to go back into Nyon after dinner at our homes. Now, we've been hearing about Cactus Jack's from various sources, telling us we should go there. So a group of 6 of us headed to the bar. We found the best deal was to get a thing of 10 shots for 40 CHF (sad that thats the best deal.) So after looking through the options and eliminating things with tequila and/or tabasco sauce..we went for Sweet Baby..basically vodka, citron, and a lemon dipped in sugar for after. This was actually the sweetest tasting thing I have had in this country so far...far to sweet but has turned out to be the best out of three so far. So we went for another hat to try another shooter. Now, I don't think i can even tell you what was in it...but I was wishing I could go back to the sweet babies. It tasted like Good and Plenty's or whatever that gross candy is called. Licorice is not my thing..however the "revolution" has made it second onto the list...but hopefully it'll move down a little more. For the worst shot, I am going to make you wait for thursday's recap.



We grabbed one of the last trains back to Gland and luckily I had some chocolate waiting for me when i got home. Buying that was a GREAT move..and I wish i had it for thursday (see below).

WEDNESDAY- "I have a UN security badge...nbd":
So Wed, morning was made a little more pleasant because we had our first trip to the United Nations. The grounds are really nice and the campus is pretty huge. It is in a great area and most of the other organizations surround the UN palais. When we got there we had to go through security and stand in line to get our passes for the next three months- these grant us access to the certain parts of the grounds and the library- which we can use whenever. We're pretty official..its no big deal (nbd).

After the United Nations and a tour of their library and shiz (which btw....the stacks are pretty LEGIT and you can't access them- books are brought to you), we split into groups and went to different libraries. Each group then had to present their findings of resources and shiz to the group at the end of the week. My group went to the Graduate Institute of Geneva for International Affairs & Development. They had some awesome resources which will DEFINITELY come in handy. Since our group finished relatively early, we headed back into a main part of Geneva to try and find the jet de l'eau. Once we got there, most of us decieded it was too far and our business casual shoes were not working out too well so we just walked around and went home. But, here are some shots of the lake and the jet!



Thursdayyy:

Thursday was the day I've kinda been waiting for: we went to the OMS! (WHO in english, world health organization). Though, I haven't met my future boss yet...i'm gonna be going back so hopefully we'll meet :). But yea we just listened to a mental health lecture- and everyone was just exhausted and not feeling it..but it was cool. We got another badge- not as official, but still pretty legit. Then it was time for more french class. The class is getting to be a too much- it is just too long..but whatever..could be worse!

After class, we headed to Denners- a grocery store. On our way though, we came across the America Mart. Everything there was sadly the processed foods we americans eat, but it was great to see it all haha. especially BEN AND JERRYS- however the lack of ochunk was actually depressing (to the tribe- this made me so sad :( ) Anyways, at denner we stooped to a new low, a wine for 1.65 CHF. It was actually surprisingly not bad. We pre-gamed at the castle in Nyon- with a beautiful view of the lake and city. Getting to Nyon from Gland was interesting...as a double decker train pulled up. We were not sure if we were allowed to take it- so i tried to speak french (fail) to ask as Jenn got crushed by the door. But eventually we made it to the castle. Then we headed over to cactus jacks for more bad decisions. THIS is were the worst shooter comes into play: picture tequila, some other gross alcohal, and TABASCO sauce. not so pleasant. I mean it could have been worse- but it was pretty bad. Bah okay i cant even talk about it- but trust me..dont do it. The bartender actually recommended it- it was prettty RUDE of her. Then we we ventured off into nyon for a little & caught the last train home. We were craving chocolate so badly but had NONE. worst life decision ever. Then came friday.

Fridayyyyy!

Yesterday, friday, was legit. Earl was in a weird mood though, which was quite depressing..whatever. I got my "demi-tarrif" card that gives me 1/2 off of all train travel within switzerland- which is GREAT and has already been useful (look for this weekend's post). After a shortened french class (normally we don't even have french on fridays) we headed back to denners to pick up our 1.65 CHF wine + some pretzels and chocolate- since we endured a night with no chocolate the night before. We decided it was time to go out in Geneva. So after dinner- we headed back to the castle for our pre-gaming festivities. We were surrounded by 13/15 year olds..so it was quite amusing haha. Then we took the train into Geneva to meet up with Steve's other friends from cornell. There we pregamed some more then went to a bar Les Brasseurs. Now I don't know WHY we decided to do this, but 8 of us split 5 L of beer..when most of us did not need it. Pictures of this contraption will come soon- I'll upload them tonight. But needless to say, we had quite the eventful train ride home- concluding with la bise and the devouring of pretzels and chocolate. However, it proved to be a great success...until I had to wake up at 8 this morning to go to gruyere!

more on this to come... including my epic morning trying to recover.

Anyways- look for another posting later or tomorrow night after we go to Montreux for more castles and swiss landscapes (i think?) Hopefully I'll have it up before our epic quest to find the superbowl on TV begins!


ciao ciao!