For those of you used to Cayman, you’ll
understand that Geneva even with only 200,000 people is a big city – for those
of you in London, Hong Kong, Paris, New York or Miami (or almost anywhere
else), you’ll think I’m talking nonsense….so I’m talking to those of you in
Cayman!!
I
shocked myself today when I got on a tram going home for lunch and almost on
auto pilot I purposefully didn’t make eye contact with anyone and clutched my
handbag tightly under my arm. It didn’t
even occur to me what I’d done until I got home and thought about it and
mentioned it to Tony. As sensible as
this behavior is in any city, it saddens me somewhat given I’ve been used to
Cayman and of course more recently rural France where I’ve been told off in a
supermarket for asking where a product is before saying ‘bonjour madame’!
I think this new behavior will serve me well
but I do miss making eye contact and saying ‘bonjour’ to everyone you meet
accompanied by a handshake or a kiss (depending on whether you’ve met them
before – a handshake if you haven’t, a kiss if you have….or 4 kisses if you
live in our area of France and 3 if you live in Geneva!)
We’ve now completed our first week in Geneva
which we’ve thoroughly enjoyed although I think Tony is very much looking
forward to not only getting stuck in to the renovations but harvesting what’s
left of the garden – we’ve been tracking the weather and depending on what our
neighbours have had (we did ask them to help themselves in our absence) I have
a feeling Tony will still have nearly 100 sweetcorns, 40 pumpkins, a ton of
aubergines, green peppers, cucumbers, leeks, celery, beets and still to come
cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower & brussel sprouts – he’ll be busy!
On Sunday, I scouted out a local church and
asked Tony to come with me to check it out, it was an evangelical Baptist
church and I really enjoyed it – all very casual (not just in Geneva standards,
for example I was over dressed in jeans!!) and there was a sermon by a
missionary who’s been serving in Senegal – digging wells all over the region
and dodging the ebola virus – absolutely fascinating listening to people who
really dedicate their lives to making others’ lives better and of course
spreading the gospel. I sat next to a
lovely lady and when we got chatting I discovered she was from Jamaica having
moved here from Miami 5 years ago and works for the United Nations – this is
such a fascinating place and like Cayman in the melting pot aspect but just 4
times the amount of people in the pot!
So it’s my second week of work and we’re
celebrating ‘Jeune Genevoise’ with a bank holiday on Thursday – I’m still not
sure what that is but I shall be happy to celebrate it! I’ve also been asked if Tony and I would like
to sign up for the annual company skiing weekend in January – I had to think
about that for all of about 5 seconds on my first day before deciding we should
really show willing and join everyone on the mountain – Tony and I are as good
at skiing as we are at ‘apres skiing’ so I think we shall have fun.
I’ve found an apartment which has views of
the mountains and despite being on the 4th floor, there is no
elevator in the building so I guess I’ll get to keep both warm and fit! That said, there’s obviously room for anyone
that wishes to come and visit….
On that note, I shall leave you with a couple
of photos of the water shoot that can be found on Lac Leman (apparently only
called ‘Lake Geneva’ by expats and foreigners!!)
With much love from us here while it’s still
warm in Europe – I’m not sure I can keep the positive vibes going as winter
sets in…….only time will tell!
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