It's Springing!

It constantly amazes me how efficiently destructive kids can be. I mean I will have picked up after them after breakfast, go do the dishes for maybe 10 minutes and come back to what looks like an explosion of toys. Ugh. And they always want to play tickle monster or run around the house. I wish there was some sort of giant hamster wheel that they can just run on for a while. Imagine the alternative energy possibilities! I mean all that untapped energy...

Today is the 5th and last day that I will have the kids to myself. As far as kids go, these two are pretty easy to take care of, but man, I am not ready for all this domestic stuff. Sometimes I just want to do things on the internet or read, but I can't because they want to do puzzles or play talent show (I'll explain some other time) or whatever else. The look Kellen gives me when he wants me to do something and I say no or say I'll be there in a second is really great. He tilts his head and scrunches up his face and says, "That's not a good choice." They can be such little nuts sometimes.

Luckily for me the weather has been brilliant and we've been able to play outside a lot. Saturday I took them to a frisbee tournament. They didn't really watch any frisbee, but they liked dancing to the music being played over the speakers and running around in the grass. I enjoyed it too because I did get to watch a little frisbee (even though it was very low level) and walking on the little beach next to the lake.

A bit more about Switzerland: I've sucumbed to the iced tea pressure. The Swiss have a strange relationship to iced tea and other alternative sweet drinks, which can be deduced by the walls and walls of them at the grocery store. They have this one drink called Rivella which is made from milk byproducts (i.e. lactose). It sounds disgusting, but is surprisingly refreshing. Also, I went away last weekend to Annecy and came back to spring! Everything is starting to bloom and blossom and it makes my little heart really happy. Though it didn't do much for allergies ;o( I returned my skis last week and am ready for a bit warmer weather! This week Dave's parents are coming and next week my good friend Amanda is coming. There is a lot of good stuff on the horizon and I'm looking forward to it.

More about speeding tickets and upcoming travels later...

More Plans...

So I got my instructions for Italy! I have to be at the train station in Verona at 5:30 on the 18th. The organization is called CADIP (Canadian Alliance for Development Initiatives and Projects). The Description of the actual project is below...

"During the work camp, volunteers, will build solar oven, using recycled materials to be used by Legambiente for its future national work camps. Furthermore, olunteers will participate in a project related to can recycle and reuse and will work with disabled local volunteers. Specific and professional experience is not required, but volunteers must be strongly motivated to work with other people and be willing to meet new cultures. Volunteers will also attend evironmental education work shop about eco washing powder making or waste recycling, in order to improve environmental education and to learn values compatible with a sustainable way of living."

As for happenings in Geneva, the weather sucks. I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to warm weather. I stopped taking French classes because the term was over and I can't afford to pay for more. I enjoyed it a lot and miss the people and my instructor, though I did meet up with her a couple times for coffee outside of the course. This weekend I may go to Annecy to couchsurf with some guys that I met here or I may take the car and just check out more of Switzerland. I dunno. I have to work all next weekend because Dave and Kimberly are going to Portugal for 4 days. Yup, I'll have the little ones all to myself. I'm not worried though, I think we'll have a good time. I'm still in the midst of planning my after Italy adventures, but I talked to a guy whom I went to school with at OSU (who is Spanish and lives 30km outside of Madrid). He said he'll be there in June, so that'll probably be my next stop. That's it for now...

Parapente

Just wanted to post some picts of last weekend. A while ago when I was skiing at Chamonix I saw these people with parachutes just run off the side of the mountain and land at a spot just below. I thought it looked so cool and felt the need deep within me to experience that. So, I looked around the internet for places who do it and found one at Villars in the Suisse Alps who do it all the time. I convinced my friend Andrea to come with me (though she ended up bailing at the last minute) and went for it last Sunday. The experience was soooo cool! You really can't get any closer to flying. There was one time where the instructor did a swooping turn and stopped just for a second in mid air before the chute caught the up draft again. Such a cool feeling. I have to admit I did feel a bit queezy at times, but that could have been from not sleeping much the night before (another birthday party). As for upcoming plans, I am still waiting my instructions for Italy, but I don't have to be there until the 17th of May and my last day here will probably be the 8th. In between that just dunno yet, which is exactly how I like it ;)

Zurich

I spent this past weekend Couchsurfing in Zurich. I wanted to see the city, but mostly because Iwanted to see a woman I met while here in Geneva that lives there and was throwing a birthday party for herself. I felt obligated to help celebrate.

So, I left Friday afternoon on the train from Geneva to Neuchatel to meet up with two other couchsurfers who were driving to Zurich for the CS meeting that night. Tookie (who is from Madagascar and I have no idea what his real name is) is one of the Neuchatel couchsurfers and is one of those people who knows everyone. He is an extremely engergetic person. I first met him in Paris actually because he organized the bicycle treasure hunt. I keep meeting up with him at events in Switzerland and of course again for this meeting. Anyway, so we all drove to Zurich Friday night and I went to Tanja’s house first and met up with them later on at the bar for the couchsurfing meeting. What exactly is a couchsurfing meeting you ask? Well, they are usually held at a meeting space like a bar or restaurant and people from the area as well as people visiting the town or who live just outside come to meet other people. Why do they do it? I dunno actually. I do it because I like to meet different types of people and drink beer. I have to say, it’s tough to meet people at bars and I have decided not to participate in those types of things any more unless I know more of the people. I get really tired of telling my story and find that I don’t really care what other people are doing either. Also some people who come are very insincere and I don’t enjoy that. I do enjoy connecting with people about different topics, whether it’s traveling, eating/cooking, books, philosophic concepts about the universe…whatever. I find people are in different moods at bars and I just have a really hard time connecting (though drinking a few helps with that).

Saturday night was different thought. It was Tanja’s birthday party and we mostly just stayed at her apartment drinking beer, listening to music and hanging out. There were probably about 25 people and I had a really great time. In fact, I didn’t go to sleep until 7am! This was partly because I was sleeping in the living room and people didn’t leave til really late, but also because it’s easy for me to stay up. In fact it’s easier now than when I was in college. However…it is much harder for me to recover the next day and actually takes quite a while for me to really feel like myself again.

I have to say I really dug Tanja’s apartment because it was right in the middle of the city, though I definitely didn’t care for the church or it’s f!@#ing bells every hour and especially at 7am. Also 15 minutes before the hour just to make sure you are ready for the hour. Oh and Saturday night they play for 15 minutes beginning at 7pm in order to welcome in the Sunday at a decibel level so loud you can’t have a conversation if your window is open (or if you’re walking by the church). Absurd really especially in a land where people propose and vote on laws every couple of weeks (really, I’m not kidding). Anyway, it was a good time and I hope to see both Tanja and Zurich again.

Le Guinness

I found this in a book I read recently and thought it appropriate:

we shall not cease from exploration
and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time
-T.S. Elliot

I understand now why Ireland is associated with the color green. The whole country is covered in soft, damp layers of moss and clover! I didn't stay long and only ventured into a couple cities, but overall I enjoyed my time there and found the people to be really friendly. And yes, it is also true that the Guiness really does taste better there. I tried a bit of Beamish Irish Stout as well, but not as good as the Guiness. I forgot to have an Irish coffee, so I suppose I'm just going to have to go back sometime.

Traveling was pretty easy, but took a looooong time. What I mean is: all my connections and details worked out well, but every form of transport I took was late. For example: my trains to Basel (Switzerland) from Geneva worked perfectly into my schedule as did finding a place to stay in Basel, getting to the airport, etc. though my flight was an hour late. Not such a problem and when I got to Dublin all the information I needed was readily available, but then the bus took 5 hours to get to Cork instead of 4 and I missed the last bus to Castlemartyr. Hmm, so I went in search of a place to stay in Cork, which turned out to be a bit of a hassle because everyone was booked for St. Patty's Day. I ended up getting the last bed in a cool little (and cheap) hostel called Shiela’s about 5 minutes walk from the bus station. Next morning I took the bus to Castlemartyr and immediately found a ride to Mogeely (town where the farm is). A woman who was headed there to sing in the Sunday morning church service gave me a ride and even invited me to come sing as well, but I politely declined. Anyway, I finally arrived at the farm and was greeted with hot coffee, some gritty bread (I still don't know what she made it out of but was polite and didn’t ask), cheese, and good conversation.

The farm was great. Everything they built on the farm i.e. greenhouses, housing, woofer huts, the teepee, the yurt was made from recycled materials. Astrid is the woman who owns the place and Darius is a guy (American from Seattle actually) who lives there as well. He worked at the local junk yard (skip) and scrounged all the building materials (as well as other finds like music, thermarests, camelbacks and whateverelse). They do produce some garbage of course from things like packaged vegetables and food containers, but for the most part they use everything.

My jobs were mostly helping out in the garden. I sewed seeds and got both the indoor and outdoor garden beds ready. They had a three pile compost system. One for fresh stuff and two others that were “resting”. They also had a huge compost toilet (earth toilet) that they dumped in the compost as well. Some say its not safe to use human waste in the same compost that you use for the garden, but really by the time you use it all the stuff has been broken down enough. They also grow everything organically and use worms and frogs to control pests. To control weeds they put down sawdust which also controls the snails and slugs. Apparently it messes with their slime. Again, I loved being outdoors all the time even though it was wicked cold sometimes. There was no heat anywhere and a couple times my feet felt like they turned into ice chunks, but a few more blankets at night solved that problem. Astrid was a great cook and we ate by the campfire a couple of nights.

Ok, the main reason for going was I had a few days off and wanted to work on a farm again. Why a farm in Ireland you ask? Well...I am in Europe for St. Patty's Day, I got an airline ticket for 9 swiss francs there and 30 euros back. I had the opportunity and everything seemed to just work out. The parade was cool, but I ended up only spending the afternoon in the city. One, because I had an hour to get there and an hour back and two, I just liked being on the farm better, and three I was by myself so it was a bit boring. There weren't the parties that you would think for the celebration. I heard it was a bigger event in Dublin, but honestly I think it's all the English who come over to Ireland to party.

After the farm I flew back on another wicked cheap flight, but into Grenoble instead of Geneva. That’s the thing with cheap flights sometimes. Good deals, but you have to trek to get there. I couch searched one night with a couple who was from there. Took a lazy, snowy Sunday with them walking around the town and playing with their two month old puppy (and getting several holes in my clothes and hands…). I have to say, my travel experiences in France have completely countered the ones in Suisse concerning the hassel factor. I bought a ticket from Grenoble to Geneva, but ended up getting on the wrong train (it said Geneva, but really didn't go all the way and just stopped in Annecy). I thought that the train to Annemass, the French town on the outskirts of Geneva was my best bet home, so I took that one. While I did get much closer to my ultimate destination, I was still a ways away. All I had to do was get to Moillesulaz to take the tram into the city, but of course the buses and trains stopped running then. I was about to take a taxi when I guy saw me reading the bus times and offered me a ride! I was so tired at that point and wasn’t going far, so I took it. He was very nice though he didn’t speak English and after a bit of a hassel at the boarder because the guards were bored, I finally made it back to Geneva. All in all it was a good trip.

Oh, and just a note, I found it very strange to pass through towns with no English on the signs. I didn't expect so much gailic, but there are places that don't speak English still. Some places in Ireland are still really rural!

About the picts above: heads up about the traffic situation in Castlemartyr, the St. Patty's Parade in Cork, one of the two horses on the farm, one of the green houses (made with all used materials), and the wwoofer huts which I stayed in (and the mud I slopped around in the whole week).

Widdle Waddew

Pictures: Tram at Chamonix when I went skiing two weekends ago (amazing view from the top!), snowshoeing with Glocals group: my friend Poli from Bulgaria with her dog Neo, Andrea from Germany and Christophe (also German), Devan the 2 almost 3 year old, and me eating a chocolate eclaire at the festival (just after eating a molten chocolate brownie ;))

So, life with the Larys is pretty good. Devan (see pic) cannot be seen without his pucho (pacifier) and can't pronounce his R's or L's (so he calls me wowen). He also recently developed a "I can't wear sleeves" disorder. They are both really loving kids and I enjoy playing with them (most of the time). They are relentless question askers though, Geesh! Sometimes ignoring works, but only persistent ignoring...and then only sometimes...It will be interesting to see how they grow I think.
So, a lot has been going on, but not a lot at the same time. What I mean is: I've been having fun playing in an all night frisbee tournament, going snowshoeing/skiing on the weekends, checking out the chocolate festival in Versoix (my town just outside Geneve), going to French class, etc. But during the week, I don't do much and it's starting to get to me a bit. Yeah I go to class Tuesday and Thursday morning. Of course I babysit but...
I love my teacher and I've met some great people in that class as well. In fact, this girl Andy from Germany and I have been hanging out quite a bit. She's really a solid person and loves being outdoors as much as me. The last two weeks I was in a bit of a funk not wanting to go out really or play with the kids. Just a basic lac of energy. The sun is back and the weather is turning to spring though now and I'm shaking the funk. I think going for a couple runs helped as well.

So, I'm heading to Ireland tomorrow for the week. I'll be working on an organic farm again, but of course one of my goals for the trip is to drink a guinness for St. Patty's Day. I think I'll manage, but will write about my adventures after. It's also been decided that I'll be in Geneva til the beginning of May and then I'm off to Italy to volunteer for a Canadian non profit. It's just a couple weeks, but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm starting to get the itch to move on again, and I hope this trip to Ireland will passify the itch just for a couple more months.

Vive le suburbs

Some picts of skiing/snowshoeing and the little monster in my ski boots is Kellen (4years old this month)

I thought Paris was international, but Geneva is REALLY international. Chances are someone will be speaking with a perfect French accent, then turn around and speak to me in a perfect American or British accent. I met a teacher from Belgium at the playground the other day whose students spoke both fluent French and English. And I think I’m getting better at this nannying thing or maybe I’m just in a better situation. Probably a bit of both. Anyway, I made shadow puppets the other night and found that I wouldn’t want to spend my evening any other way. Sometimes I like to play with them, but sometimes I just would prefer the kids just watch TV, so that I don't have to expend any energy.

Other things I am pleased about: I can find cottege cheese here, I’m starting French lessons again, I got a library card, I am meeting tons of new people my age who like to go out and or be outdoors through Couchsurfing, another site called glocals, and through my class, I can be outdoors and in the mountains very quickly, The Larys are letting me use their car, the ski boots I rented for the winter are really comfortable, I now have a kitchen I can cook properly in, I can have clean and or hot water whenever I want, getting around is pretty easy, I am living in a 6 bedroom/4 bathroom house in the middle of Europe...

Things I'm not too pleased about: Everything is REALLY expensive, it is going to be difficult to find another job like I had hoped to do, feeling lonely sometimes and questioning my reasons for being here, really wanting to get experience doing other things, and constantly learning and re learning to be patient and not expect things to be just one way or the other...

I’m starting to realize that there are several layers to Geneva. When I first came, I just saw the side with lots of money and I thought there wasn’t much depth, but I’m finding that there are lots of young people here going to school, working for the UN, working for a bank, but who also love to do outdoor things and go to bars at night.

I realize that I’ve just been here for almost a month now (wow, the time has been going by really fast), but the more I stay, the more I feel pretty comfortable here. The Lary family has been really great also. The kids are pretty easy going care of compared to the last few places I’ve been. I’m having a great time just playing with them, though they definitely have more energy than I have and keep wanting to play long after I do.

I also realize about myself that I really need/unconsciously try to be in the middle of things whenever I go somewhere new because I really want to feel what those other people are going through. I also really want to just be apart of the place that I travel to. Anyway, a la prochaine fois...