Home Alone, Switzerland style

After dropping me off in Yens on Sunday night, my host mom took Helene over to her boyfriend's house to spend the night (at 14, how would you have felt about this mom!?) and then the family ventured back up to Leysin since the kids are out of school this week. That means...I'm home alone this ENTIRE week. In a big giant house thats always dark since the lights are all on motion sensors. To keep me company, 2 of the other Yens students slept over on Wednesday night which was an experience, to say the least (instead of the multitude of blankets my host mother claimed to have in the armoire, all we came across were 2 talblecloths and a hammock). The mom left me a premade dinner on the stove to heat up on monday and organized for me to eat with each of the other host families living in Yens for the 3 other nights. Dinner at Lauren's was pushed to last night because we had the most magical dinner experience at La Croix Verte in Nyon on Tuesday in conjunction with our meeting with our homestay coordinator, Anne-Claude. After telling her that I was relatively happy with my family but the commute was extremely inconvenient (ie, 25 minute walk to the train station, trains that run almost 2 hours apart, sub-zero temps...), poor little Anne-Claude had a revelation and said, in her best efforts of English, "hm, maybe it's not the best idea to put students in those homes in the winter months..." You think this would have been something she figured out a few years ago???

On that note of cold temperatures, yesterday was the coldest day of the winter, with a recorded high of -9 celsius, that's about 16 fahrenheit. And it's been snowing for over half the day everyday. I finally learned to ski...I went skiing down my driveway on my smooth-soled boots in efforts to get to the front door. Luckily the back bumper of the car was there to stop me since I haven't learned the snowplow stop yet. But in all seriousness, I ate dinner with Lauren's family (British dad, German mom, english speaking, adorable children, HILARIOUS), and they are going skiing on Sunday and actually WANT to teach me. They said it's silly to not know how to ski when in Switzerland for 4 months. Guess this means I finally get to find out what 'pizza and french fries' means...for all you skiing gurus.

Tuesday, we went to the palliative care hospital in rural Geneva. It was interesting, but I still haven't quite come to a conclusion as to how one can occupy their entire life with helping people prepare for death... I definitely have a newfound respect for the practice and the practitioners. Wednesday we went to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which I think has been by far the most memorable academic experience on the trip so far. We heard a presentation from one of the delegates, and got a guided tour of the museum. It was pretty amazing to gear first-hand form people that can do so much but work for an organization that is completely independent, neutral, and and impartial. They go to war zones and conflict areas and help (medically, psychologically, supplies, etc.) everyone-regardless of sides, beliefs, governments, anything. The museum was really well done, and even the cafeteria was phenomenal (which, fellow students can attest to, is a BIG deal). Thursday we went to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. I wasn't really looking forward to it, but it actually turned out to be quite interesting. Turns out this was the organization that founded the WWF and coined the term 'sustainable development.' Guess it helps for a place like that to be headquartered in Geneva-they sure do love their water...

Class with Earl this morning was, well, the usual. Filled with round about and uncomfortably worded questions and LOTS of small-group discussions. But we got out at 12:30 and walked around the old city to stumble upon a beautiful Russian Orthodox church and the Museum of the History of Geneva. Tonight is Hiver-Nales...the 'rock and beats festival,' should be quite the experience. Then for tomorrow, what could be better at this time than to be a train stop away from the IOC's headquarters and the Olympic museum in Lausanne?!

Also, as promised-Earl Falsity #67: If you don't wat something, just say so.

The being that is Earl can be quite contradictory at times. The dinner on Tuesday night was paid for by the program, so we were allowed to order anything we wanted. Many of us ordered pizzas (oddly popular in Switzerland) thinking that they'd be about the same size as those at the other restaurants we've been to here. FALSE. They were HUGE! When someone made a comment about being excited for leftovers, Earl quickly reprimanded us all and informed us that is is extremely rude in Swiss culture to a) refuse food and b) not clear your plate. The ENTIRE thing. You are expected to be able to finish what you order...I don't think I've ever been so full in my whole entire life.