Parfums de Beyrouth

It's Friday, which means interns dinner out.  This week we went to Parfums de Beyrouth, a Lebanese restauraunt, that some claim has better food than in Lebanon.  Having never been to Lebanon, I can't confirm this, but the falafel was pretty amazing.  Plus, it was only 7 francs, an amazing deal... for Geneva.  "...for Geneva" is something I'm getting used to hearing after anyone mentioning that something is a good price.

Some of the group at dinner.

Today was a great day at work, I was able to meet with my supervisor to go over the work that I've done so far.  I think I'm making pretty good progress, but it is still going to be a lot to get done before I leave.  The time is flying, only 9 more weeks left to go! 

I'm off to Paris early tomorrow morning, so I am going to try to get to bed soon.  If anyone knows how I can stream cbc from Switzerland, please let me know.  I need to watch some Olympics coverage, but it all seems to be blocked here.  Go Canada Go!

Happy new year.... again

So, I have now celebrated the lunar new year 3 times! Tonight we had a lovely dinner in the foyer to celebrate one more time.  There were spring rolls, fried rice, wontons, yum! Therese, the secretary at the foyer made all the food, and Olga decorated, it was very cute!  It really felt like a family dinner, which is especially nice when all of us are away from home.

What a beautiful morning!

I skipped swimming this morning, and was treated to a beautiful sunny walk to work.  Instead, I went to spin class after work in the basement.  I'm really enjoying the spinning classes, and the instructor works us really hard.  Maybe I'll be a better cyclist this summer!  The instructors for the intern classes volunteer their time, so I really appreciate it.

Some of the girls in the common room, sharing dinner.

I have been checking out results from OUAs happening this weekend at Brock, it is really hard to believe that it has been 5 years since I last swam at OUAs!  The times are getting so fast! I'll be cheering from a distance, go Blues!!

French class day 2

I started today off on the wrong foot, with a bit of rec swim rage at lane swim this morning.  It may be my French, but I though that "nage sportive" meant at least moving forwards, *deep breath*.  Maybe tomorrow, I'll just roll with it and do feet first sculling for an entire workout.

Tonight was day 2 of my GIA French classes.  We moved on from winter holidays to food and cooking scenarios. It is pretty awkward to have to play out the scenarios in front of the class, I've never been a good actress.

I'm going to get to bed early tonight to rest up for my trip to Paris this weekend!

Français!

Today, I started my French classes!  It really felt like being back in elementary school, since we started with the question, "how did you spend your winter vacation?".  It was a good way to start and get comfortable.  By the end of the class we were talking about the referendum on payment for abortions and on immigration that is happening this weekend in Switzerland, so I think our conversations did progress.  It's a small group, only 6 of us and our instructor.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the classes.

The classes are on the other side of the river, and it is a really beautiful walk along the river at night.  I didn't bring my camera, so I stole this picture from the Internet to share.

Geneva skyline at night.

At work, I am nearing the end of my list of 872 abstracts to review, and it looks like I'll have around 200 papers to review in full text.  Nicole and I are going to split those, so it should be more manageable.  It's actually really nice to only have one project to focus on.  I thought it would be really boring to spend 8 hours a day working on the same thing, but I find I am able to focus better and get more done, as compared to my job at the HCHU where I am always working on a bunch of projects at once.  It may also be that this is a topic that I know little about, so I am learning a lot as I go.

Regular Monday

I'm not really sure what to write about today, it was a pretty normal Monday.  I went swimming, went to work, went to spinning class and came home.  I'll try to do something more exciting tomorrow to write about!

Almost went to Callier chocolate factory.

Today, I woke up early for a Skype chat with Patrick, then headed to the airport to meet up with some friends for a road-trip to Gruyere and Montreux.  Unfortunately, there was a mistake in the reservation, and it was accidentally made for February 23, not February 2.  We could have booked a car today, but they were going to charge us 300 CHF, plus gas and insurance, so we declined.  We're going to try again for the trip in 3 weeks on the 23rd. 

View of the Cathedral from the museum.

Instead, we went to the old city to the Museum of the Reformation.  It was in a cool old building, and made me realize how very little I know about European history. There was a special exhibit on about the carictures and satire of the church from the 16th to 18th centuries.  We were able to get a museum passport that gets us into 7 museums in Geneva for only 20 francs.

Afterwards, we went for lunch at a nice Vietnamese restauraunt.  It was tough to pay 17 francs for something that would have cost less than a dollar in Vietnam, but the food was tasty and the conversation was interesting.  Laura Armstrong would love it here, so many public health nerds to chat with!

Courtyard at the Museum of the Reformation

Back at the foyer, Olga, the lady who takes care of the building had made crepes for all the residents.  It was nice to have a chance to meet some of the other women who live here and share some tea and crepes (with Nutella, yum!).  I had a chance to practice my French, and also to translate a bit for my friend Sarah from Mississauga who doesn't speak much French.

February

This morning, I got up and went for a run with the Geneva run club.  I was half way between the fast group and the slow group and ended up getting a bit lost, but I eventually found my way back.  The lake is a great landmark to orient yourself.  The rest of the day I spent finishing up a paper for school and doing regular housework things. I made fajitas for dinner tonight, Pat's specialty!

Path along Lac Leman at sunset.

It's hard to believe that I have already been away for 3 weeks.  The time has been going by much more quickly since I have started working. My weekends are already starting to fill up for the next two months.  I booked my tickets to Paris and London today!  I miss Pat a lot, but I think the next 10 weeks will fly by, until we can start our European adventure together.

Flowers in February!? This is not winter.