Pat has arrived!

Friday was a big day, my last day at WHO and Pat's arrival in Geneva!

I was able to get my work wrapped up and met with Nicole in time to meet Pat at the airport.  I almost had a disaster on my way to have coffee with Nicole.  I got a bottle of wine for her as a thank you gift, and as we were walking down to the terrace, I slipped and fell on the stairs.  I somehow managed to catch myself and not drop the bag with the bottle of wine in it.  What a way to end my internship that would have been, falling down the stairs and smashing a wine bottle.

It was easy to spot Pat at the airport as the only one wearing a Jays hat.  I made a bet with Pat that he would not see a single other man wearing a ball cap, but I lost about 40 francs just on the way back from the airport.  Pat was pretty jet lagged and sleepy, so he napped at the hotel while I ran some errands, figuring out the reservation for dinner, and storing my big bag in the foyer basement.  

We caught up with the interns group at Scandale, a pizza restaurant nearby.  There were 35 interns RSVP'd for dinner, a lot more than my estimated 20, so we had to go to the basement to eat.  It was kind of a shame on such a beautiful evening, but it was easier to socialize with more people down in the "lounge" area than it would have been sitting at a huge table.

I'm sure it must have been overwhelming for Pat to meet so many people at once, but he did well to be social even on so little sleep.  He even had a little "baby foot" (fooseball) tournament going.

Interns do Thai karaoke 

After dinner, we migrated over to Jame's Thai restaurant and karaoke bar, on recommendation from some other interns. At first, all the songs were in Thai, but slowly, people got braver and started singing.  Eventually, everyone was standing up, shouting and dancing and scaring off other patrons. Nat also met up with us at the karaoke bar.  I think she and Pat had a good time catching up, although I think Nat wondered why we chose that establishment.

Nat & Pat!

It was sad to say bye to some good friends that I've made over the last few months, but I have a feeling that we will meet again sometime.  It's a small world these days, I think. : )

GIA drinks with the office-mates

Thursday was my last spinning class in Geneva.  Even though it was the most beautiful day, I went down into the basement to climb imaginary mountains, "team sprint" and sweat a whole lot.  I have really enjoyed those classes over the last few months.

I am going to miss the mountains!

After a quick dinner, shower and packing up my whole room.  (it's pretty easy when you only have 2 backpacks), I met up with Rachel, Loren and Sandra for some ice cream and drinks.  We went to Movenpick on the river.  The ice cream was pretty delicious, but 5 CHF for one scoop!

We met up with lots of other WHO interns at the GIA drinks night just around the corner.  It was quite a different experience from the first GIA drinks I went to on my first week in Geneva. It's really nice to have gotten to know so many people, but it makes me a bit sad to be leaving all these new friends so soon.  There was dancing at this bar, which was a first for the GIA drinks that I'd been to, so that added a new element of entertainment.  Sandra made her last train back to Lausanne, and I walked home back through Paquis to the Foyer for my last night there.  

Spring on the 8th floor

Wednesday was another beautiful day.  The morning was clear and crisp and made me want to keep walking by work and head back to the lake for the day.  I went to a seminar at lunch on risk communication during crises that was really interesting.  I love when people can just stand up and speak eloquently for a hour about a topic with no notes.

UNAIDS from above.

I took a break in the afternoon to go up to the 8th floor for a little dose of the mountains.  I didn't take a picture of the Jura on the other side, but you can really tell that the snow is melting up there. I am going to miss the mountains when I'm back in flat Ontario.  Although, I will be happy to see Lake Huron again.  I hope it is melted by then!

Hello mountains!

This evening I went for a drink with my friend Julia from my foyer and her intern co-worker at IP watch. It was an interesting group of IP journalist interns and landscape architects, and I got a chance to practice my French.

I also checked out of the foyer tonight, with an inspection by Therese.  I "passed" and got my deposit back. It was a pretty slow and painful process to go through each of the items and fill out all the paperwork. Therese always insists on speaking to me in English, even though I have a much easier time understanding her in French.  The laundry closes every day this week at 7:30 pm, so I may have to wait until Barcelona to do washing...

Last intern hike

My desk continues to get messier and messier and expand beyond the limits of the tiny desk, with books and papers and notes everywhere.  It's a good thing I don't have more space to make messy. 

Getting a bit tired of the intern cave.

After work was another intern hike.  It was pouring rain in the morning, but by 5pm, the sun was out and the sky was blue.   I am so happy that the flowers are blooming outside of the WHO offices now.  Apparently they only bloom for 2 weeks, so I am luck to see them!

Not a bad walk home. 

We hike the exact same route as last week, north from WHO along a path following the lake to Versoix.  It was a completely different group this time, so I was the only one re-doing the hike. We took the train back to Geneva again after grabbing some groceries in town.  

Along the trail.

After dinner, I made a big batch of rice and beans and all the vegetables I had left to share with Sarah.  Sarah made some tea and Julia joined us for a nice chat.  I am going to miss my foyer-mates. 

World Health Day

Did you know that April 7th is world health day, and the anniversary of the establishment of WHO?  Me neither, until last week when I volunteered to help out with the world health day celebrations.  I spent most of the morning as a usher for the panel discussion on vector borne diseases.   It was a nice change from sitting in front of my computer all day. 

I feel silly taking pictures at work, but luckily some of my intern friends on facebook do not, so I am borrowing some of their photos and some from the WHO page too.  

Sarah saving Lea from the mosquito...? I didn't quite understand this one

Look at all those people filling all the seats.

Cake!!

The DG, up close and personal.

Boarding passes.

The flowers are starting to bloom at WHO!!

Bike ride Geneva to Annecy

Sunday was another early day, I met my friend Fintan at the bike rental place at 8:00 am to bike from Geneva to Annecy in France. The ride was a long gradual climb, followed by a really fun long downhill.  It was my first time biking in France, so I pretended I was in the Tour, naturally.  A really slow version of the Tour, with two people with no bike shorts, wearing backpacks and periodically chatting along the way.

The route from Geneva to Annecy.

The scenery along the way was really beautiful.  We biked along beside the Saleve for a while and at the top of the climb, there was a gorgeous view of the farms and villages in the valley below.  We crossed a really high bridge with castle-like archways at the ends.  I think it would make a good bungee jumping spot, I got spooked looking over the edge.

A bridge in the middle of the route.

We were chilly when we arrived in Annecy, on account of the breeze on the long down-slope into town. We stopped for a coffee to warm up and then explored the town a bit on foot.  We also ran into another group of interns eating lunch along the river.  They had hired a car for the day to go visit Annecy.  WHO interns are everywhere!

Fintan looking small next to the castle

We ate our picnic lunches by the castle and then biked around the lake a bit to get a better view.  The sun started to come out after lunch, and the streets and parks were really busy.  I love how everyone flocks to the parks and to the lake when the sun comes out.

Awkward Kristin in front of beautiful lake Annecy.

On the way home, we took a bit of a different route, through the town of Annemasse in France before heading to Geneva.  This route took us much closer to the Saleve, and we saw a bunch of paragliders jumping from the top.  By this time the skies were fully blue, and it was quite an awesome sight.  I should have stopped to take a photo, but we were biking too fast on the way back down to Geneva.  I have to say, cars are very courteous to cyclists in France, it was much appreciated, merci!

By the time we returned the bikes at 5:30pm, I was pretty tired and sore.  The weather was so beautiful, that I went down to the park by the lake to relax for a bit before heading home.  Hanging out by the lake in the sun was a great way to end my last weekend in Geneva!

The great Geneva treasure hunt!

Saturday morning I slept in for the first time in a long time, it was nice to not have an early morning commitment on a Saturday.   Sarah made breakfast for Alija and I, a traditional Egyptian bean dish called ful. It was delicious, and so filling!  I think Pat will really like it, since he's not really a fan of most breakfast foods, and this seems more like a lunch food.

Rainbow in the Jet d'Eau

In the afternoon, I put threw together a Geneva scavenger hunt for the interns group.  I borrow the questions from a hunt that was developed by CERN for new staff.  I was really happy with the turnout, 22 people showed up.  Most people seemed to have a good time.  I wish I'd had more time to personalize the instructions a bit more for the WHO group.  Maybe the next activities coordinator can figure it out.

The trees are blooming!

At the end of the treasure hunt, we all met up to give out prizes and try to figure out what the actual answers are (I didn't have an answer key).  Different groups definitely took different approaches to the hunt, but I think overall people had fun.  It would be nice if we had an easy space to meet up for after an event like this.  If I was organizing this in Toronto, I would definitely meet at the back room at the Ferret and Firkin, although I think that place shut down.

One of the groups after the hunt.