A day of finding the "Smith" in Geneva and the child inside of me

After posting this entry, I'm going to go to bed in order to get a proper night's sleep before my first day of real university classes here in Geneva. I'm so scared, but at the same time still completely in denial (so I'm able to cope for the moment). I'm going to spend this whole week going to many literature and music classes and then choosing at the end of the week which ones I will actually sign up for and verifying which ones will actually count for Smith credit (and which ones I can actually understand that are taught in French). If anyone reads this, think good thoughts for me tomorrow (or dream good thoughts, since most people in the US will still be sleeping when I'm in class).

Today Anne, Marie, Rachel, Melissa and I decided to get together and try to create a "Smith brunch"-- our favorite meal that only served on the weekends at Smith. A mon avis, I think that we did a fantastic job combining our resources. We made eggs with peppers, mushrooms, and cheese, chocolate chip muffins, sweet potatoes, bacon, and fruit salad. It was beautiful. Having brunch in honor of Smith helped us all to feel at home and ready for the big changes that begin tomorrow. It also made me feel very independent, since we've learned so much just about cooking for ourselves since we've been here!

In the afternoon Rachel and I finished watching the movie we started watching yesterday, a movie I absolutely adore called "The Martian Child" about an adopted boy who thinks he is an alien. Every time I watch this movie I just want to adopt so maaaany children.

I also skyped with my parents and got to see my fish Walden!

Before dinner, Rachel and I went for a walk in the park near my dorm, because I haven't had a chance to explore it yet. It was so wonderful hearing children play (speaking in French!), seeing all the families and dogs walking around the park together, and feeling so far away from the city even though we only 

walked five minutes to get there.

Yes, that is a slide in the shape of an elephant.

A man started to talk to us in French about this crane, saying something like it's "incroyable" that he never stops eating!

After finding our way back to my dorm, Rachel and I made dinner and ran into a few people from my hallway also cooking in the kitchen. One of my neighbors named Jean is from Rwanda, and he is so genuine and very kind. He asked us about our days in French and it was almost like we were in a friendly French lesson. Another girl from Germany who also just arrived in Geneva is very sweet, and she and Jean might take guitar lessons from Rachel! It feels much better to actually know the people behind the doors in my hallway, although there still are a handful that I have not yet met.

A little later, Rachel, Anne, and I all went to where Rachel lives to meet up with some other in the program and have a "tea" in honor of Smith tea. We had some nice conversation, and then Anne and I headed back to our dorm. 

I hope everything goes well tomorrow and the rest of this week and that I end up in the classes I need to be in and that I understand the music classes that will be taught in French! On verra...