One Week Down

I have officially been in Geneva for a week. And what an interesting adjustment it’s been already. Yet good. (Ha! Starting two sentence fragments in a row with conjunctions!)

I have been fairly busy. Work is good. I think there will be a lot of creative freedom. I have spent most of my time thus far designing the interior of a guide to disarmament that will be distributed to the UN and to Franciscan brothers and sisters. The interior layout will then carry over to other guides on women’s rights and forced labor. I also spent some time xeroxing my hands for the cover (following a cool design system Nicki has in place).

The other interns here are a nice group and it is good to have people to do things with already. On Wednesday we had a potluck dinner where we all brought a dish (Farhad and I made a greek pasta salad) and wine, which was nice. On Thursday morning I got lost on my run and 3 miles turned into about 8. All the people I tried to ask for help didn’t speak English and didn’t seem to know where Rue de Carouge was. Eventually, I found my way back and got to work about 45 minutes late. Then I found out that some unauthorized purchases had been made from my check card so I had to get that sorted out. Stupid identity theft... I think everything will be okay though, even though I had to cancel my current card.

Yesterday (Friday) after work a group of us went to dinner and a movie. We had planned to go to an Ethiopian place but it had apparently closed down, so we ended up doing Mediterranean. It was quite good (and I had a beef moussaka which reminded me of Skyline), yet a bit pricey.

[ I should take this opportunity to explain the monetary situation here. Please don’t take this as complaining, because I did not come here hoping to get rich. I am interning and doing work for what I believe to be the greater good. Money is unimportant. When I say the city is expensive, it is because my monthly stipend is about 750 CHF (Swiss Francs). The minimum wage here is 22 CHF per hour. Basically, most people will make more in a week than I do in a month, and the stores, restaurants, et. al. are priced accordingly. However, I also have housing provided which is worth a considerable amount of coin, I’m sure.
Anyway, that’s why I may often remark about things being “expensive.” Because they are, relatively speaking. ]

After dinner we headed to the city’s major movie theater, the Pathé Balexart, to see Michel Gondry’s new film, The Science of Sleep, which was released here this week. For those unfamiliar, Gondry is the brilliant French director behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of my favorite movies of all time. While that was written by Charlie Kaufman, Gondry wrote this one so it was a little more of a personal story. It is much quirkier than Eternal Sunshine (if you can believe it) but just as affecting. I’m sure different people will take away different things and many will not like it at all. However, I think his creativity is unparalleled. This movie, like his other work, uses practical effects (all done in camera via stop motion, bluescreening, projection, and others instead of CGI). It is a bit crude like some of his music videos but also quite beautiful. It is sad and lovely at the same time. I highly recommend you see it when it releases in the states.

Today the intern posse went to a farmer’s market across the river in an area called Carouge (where I got lost on Thursday during my run) and I was able to buy fresh produce so I can make some Chipotle-style guacamole (hooray for cilantro!).
{Photo: Farhad, Nicki, and Caroline check out some wine at the market}

[ Some food notes:
•Mexican is rare here (and apparently pretty expensive). Expect any returns home to include lots of Mazatlan, La Fogata, Chipotle, Taco Bell, and any and all other Mexican facimiles available).

•However good of an idea Oretega brand canned guacamole may seem, please ignore your impulses. You will only be disappointed (and left wondering if the product contains anything close to an avocado).

•There is a lot of Italian food available here and pizzerias on just about every corner, so at least I won’t go hungry (Italian being maybe my second favorite after Mexican).

•Vanilla Coke still exists in Europe. I am enjoying it while I can (and hoping they keep “Black Cherry and Vanilla Coca-Cola” far away).

•Everything here is available with chocolate. Two of my favorites:
Chocolate Clusters cereal—like Honey Nut Clusters in America, except with Chocolate flakes and some flakes actually coated in real chocolate. This can’t be all that healthy, but the box seems to say that it provides Energy for biking (at least that’s what I interpret from the French I can’t read and the box graphics).
Coco-Cocoa Yogurt—Coconut-flavored yogurt with chocolate shavings in it. So delicious… ]

We then went to a bakery, a coffee shop, and a café where we had a delicious vegetable soup. We finished with some grocery shopping.
{top: a dragon from a fountain near the market, bottom: one of the typically picturesque and almost stereotypically European streets of Carouge}

Tonight Farhad is making pasta with fresh pesto sauce for everyone, so it should be good. Tomorrow I think I’m going to go to the English-speaking Lutheran church. I might also try out the Anglican one and a Baptist one (which I’ve been told have good communities). There is also supposed to be an interdenomenational young adult group that meets weekly but is off for the summer until September. This sounds promising, though.

So that’s the update. More will come. I hope to explore a bit tomorrow afternoon (and maybe see a Le Corbusier exhibit at one of the museums—if it’s open…)