Au revoir Paris! Bonjour Geneva!

Yes, I said bonjour Geneva! The official language in Geneva is actually French, which is something I did not know until my host explained it to me. I thought I was finished having to try and pronounce French words, but alas, I am not. Geneva is completely surrounded by France, and the lake. I had not realized exactly how close it was to the French border! Part of Switzerland speaks Italian, part German, and part French.

I made it to the train with time to spare, and ended up in a car with only a few other people. I was able to kick back and relax!

As my train got further from Paris, the scenery changed drastically. All of a sudden, the train was up in the hills and mountains, with breathtaking views around every corner. I love being somewhere where God's creation is just so magnificent, that it makes you wonder how people deny his existence.

My host, Mauro, had called me the night before to make sure I had his number. I was to get off the train, take a bus to a specific stop, and then call him. Well... I got to this bus stop, pulled my phone out, checked the call log and realized... His phone call showed up as "no number." I was completely unable to get in touch with him! He knew what time my train was to arrive, so after a short while past what he expected, he came to the bus stop and found me. After I got settled in with all of my stuff, we cooked lunch. Mauro is Italian so I got another Italian meal! I'm going to get fat if this keeps up. He had some work to do, so while I waited, I ended up falling asleep on the couch. A few hours later, I woke up and we took the bike and roller blades into the city center. It has been way too long since I've ridden a bike, but I managed quite well. We circled around part of the lake (the whole thing would be over 100 miles) until it got dark. Mauro got a text about a free concert so we went back to his apartment to get the car. His girlfriend, Isabelle, met us at the apartment with cheesecake, which was delicious! After eating too much, we headed into the city again to meet up with another one of their friends.

A lot of people work in Geneva but live in France where things are cheaper. This creates a problem for Geneva nightlife because after 7pm, the city becomes still, without much activity. Everyone has gone home for the evening! Upon arriving at the bar where the concert was, Mauro realized that there was a couch surfer meeting a few blocks away. We ended up going there instead, and I was able to meet surfers from all over! There was one girl from Norway who was born in Texas. We talked a lot about dog sledding, and showed each other pictures of our huskies. Yes people, I'm halfway around the world and still showing off my dog!

Geneva is a nice city, and is not near as busy as London or Paris. The odd thing is that everyone who lives here has come from somewhere else. Mauro explained that 1 person out of 5 might claim to be Swiss, even they were all born here. He says there is not much sense of pride and togetherness in the country, whereas America is all about being united.

There are not many specific things that are "must see" so the agenda is really to just enjoy a few calm, relaxing, sleep too much days before continuing on to other places.