Bonjour mes amis! It is hard to believe I have been here three weeks already. I am starting to feel more like I live here and less like I am just visiting which is a really cool feeling. Sometimes I forget where I am, I feel like I am just walking around at home or in Chicago at school, until I hear the people around me speak or look out at the beautiful mountains. (Side note on the scenery: I think it is imperative everyone who visits Europe makes a stop in Switzerland. This country is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen...and I haven't even seen what the Swiss consider to be the most beautiful areas! Come to Switzerland. It's good for the soul.)

It is amazing the number of languages I hear everyday. I thought I heard a lot in Chicago--nothing compared to Switzerland, especially Geneva. I hear mostly French, but coming home on the train I will hear German, Swiss German (which are actually very different from each other. A Swiss German and a "Germany German" would be unable to hold a conversation), Italian, French, and English. I find myself rarely putting in my head phones like I would taking the train at school. I love listening to all the different languages and trying to pick up on how conversational, less formal French is used. I can already tell my accent and confidence in French has improved just by listening to the people around me. It is pretty amazing how just listening to my host family at dinner has helped with my listening comprehension so far. During French class, I find myself knowing the answers to things I didn't even know I knew....if that makes sense. I still need to work on speaking more. I think so much of learning a foreign language is having the confidence in yourself to keep speaking, despite knowing you will make mistakes.

This past weekend was really nice. Saturday some friends and I were walking around Nyon and we decided to take a boat over to France for lunch. I realize how ridiculous this sounds, and I am still amazed that France is just a 20 min. boat ride away. (And only 10 francs!)

                                                                  Au revoir Switzerland!

                                                                        Bonjour France!

The town we went to is called Yvoire and is on the list of the top most beautiful villages in France. It is a medieval town that is about 700 years old. Walking through the village I felt I was in a section of Disney Land--once again saying, "People actually live here?" Almost all the homes, restaurants, and shops were covered in ivy and flowers.

Yes, this is a home.

One of the small streets with shops. I think this home on the right is amazing--almost completely covered in ivy. The whole time I was there I was thinking of my grandma and wishing she were there too, not only because I know she would love it, but also to tell me the names of all the different flowers! It was very apparent that the people there take a lot of pride in the beauty of their town.

Even their spiders have beautiful homes!

After walking around a bit we sat and enjoyed some amazing, and very filling, pizza at a small pizzeria. But, not too long after, we decided we were hungry again. We stopped at a creperie where I got an amazing waffle-like treat, called une gaufre en francais, made fresh with homemade raspberry jam on top--Yum! Dad, you would have loved this. Kind of a French version of a funnel cake.

You always think you are full until you find a creperie. My friends and I have decided that the Swiss have two stomachs--one for your meal and one for dessert.

Next we wanted to go visit the town's chateau that we saw as we came in on the boat. Walking up to the chateau, I happened to read the small sign that described the building only to discover that this was a private residence and no visitors were allowed!

The chateau has remained within the same family since 1655, and members of the family still live there today. Amazing.

After walking through the entire village we decided it was probably time to head back home to Switzerland. The ride back was beautiful as the sun was setting.

As for school, everything is going really well. I am really enjoying my French class. It is very conversational based which is really nice, and I always have people around me I can practice with so learning is non-stop.

As for my public health classes, this week is "water week". We have presentations from people from Green Cross International, the Geneva Institute on Water and Health, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which is the largest conservation organization in the world.

Some quick, and astonishing, facts I have learned so far about water and health.

-Illnesses caused by unsanitary water use claim the lives of 1.8 million children under the age of five per year, which is about 4,900 a day. This is 5 times more than deaths caused by HIV/AIDS.

-Now, about 1/3 of the world's population does not have proper access to water. And, by 2025, that number will increase to 2/3 due to desertification.

-If the number of people without access to sanitary water were halved, the economic global gain would be about 700 million dollars due to people's ability to attend school and thrive instead of spending time and money trying to find water.

I'm really excited for this week to learn more about this issue and how these international organizations are working to find solutions for this global health crisis.

Tomorrow afternoon some friends and I are going to the UN library to start working on our research projects. I think I have decided to look into the nurse-patient relationship with the refugee population living in Geneva. They have a specific group of primary care nurses that make house calls to the refugee families. I am really interested in the cross-cultural barriers they face as they try to provide adequate health care. I'll keep you updated on what I find :) 

Love and miss you all.

A bientot!