The day Rachel and I found nature!

I think the theme of today was definitely "here comes the sun, it's alright."

Today was the first non-foggy day since we got here, so I woke up this morning to the sunrise and could actually see the mountains (that are in France!) outside my window. It's amazing how much more beautiful Geneva becomes with the sun, and how much happier I become.

I worked on some of my homework for orientation (I have to give a presentation in my Swiss history class about the history of music in Geneva and write a short paper for my Rousseau lit class on Tuesday), didn't get nearly enough done because the air coming in my window smelled so spring-like, and headed out on the bus toward the Smith Center to meet up with Rachel and Marie. We went and purchased our monthly bus pass (because my dorm is farther away from the center of the city, I have to use the bus a lot lot lot, but buses come every 5-10 minutes here and it's about a 20 minute ride to the Smith Center and then a 5 minute walk). Then we did some more shopping on the main strip, and we ran into a street band and it made me so happy to hear music and listen to it with all the people walking around on Saturday morning!

I bought a comprehensive map of Geneva which made me unreasonably happy (the public maps they gave us are absolutely impossible to understaaand) and also a bigger purse since my Carole King tote bag isn't really stylish here. We also did some grocery shopping and I cried inside at checkout since greek yogurts are 2.30 francs a piece, a box of pasta is 5 francs, a bag of mueesli is 6 francs, and strawberries are 3 francs. Although eating out here is even more expensive; restaurants advertise their deals of pizza for 30 francs.

Rachel and I headed back to her apartment which is in the center city and I temporarily stored my groceries there, and even though the sun would go down in an hour, we decided that we needed to find nature. We took a tram to a park by the lake, and I was so refreshed to see grass and all kinds of trees, swing sets, and even something that sort of resembles an ocean (but doesn't smell like it!).

Rachel finds native ducks!

We explored only a tiny bit of the park, and then took the tram back before it became too dark (leaving lots to be explored next time!). Rachel shared the carrot soup she made with me for dinner, and then we went to see a performance at the music hall here "Victoria Hall" of Brahms' "Ein deutches Requim" by the Arte Musica Thônex & orchestra, with Men Chorus from Goumoens-la-ville and Harmonie des campagnes. It was a good performance, and the German was sung very well as would be expected! It felt really nice to hear a chorus and to watch the conductor's shadow in the mirrors around the beautiful hall. Even though I've only been here a couple weeks and classes haven't really started, I miss the tight-knit Smith music community at home!

Here are some pictures from our tour through the old city from yesterday:

The last one is of the "Mur des Reformateurs" or "Wall of Reformers" (religous reformers). I was so happy because one of the smaller statues on the wall, that you can't see in this picture, is of Roger Williams, rhode islander! I'm going to go visit him whenever I miss Rhode Island.