"It won't be long/ I belong /somewhere past the setting sun/ finally free / finally strong/
somewhere back where I belong"

Geneva from atop Saleve... see the Jet D'eau??

So I have been totally losing track of blogging... I'm really in shock that it's April already and that in a couple of weeks time I will be in Ireland for spring break... In general, I am planning on doing most of my traveling this summer, but I've been on some interesting day trips...

I guess recently, I have been feeling like even if I had the money to go on a trip every weekend, I wouldn't want to. I am starting to fall in love with Geneva in a way I honestly didn't think I would my first couple of months here. It might be the sudden appearance of summer (we seem to have skipped spring here... Or at least I believe that. I jumped in the lake one day and people looked at me like I was a psychopath).

I've been on two hiking trips since the good weather hit - one trip with a new friend, Verena, and a group of other Erasmus students, biking to Saleve and hiking up... and one to the Alps with my flatmate Laurena, Dagny, and a hiking group from IHEID (the graduate institute). I think hiking with people is one of my favorite things here, partly because it's just so breathtakingly beautiful, and because it's nice to be able to chat and to fall into silence and feel natural.

Cafe near the top of Saleve, view of the alps

hi that's definitely me parasailing right now.

our group resting after a long days biking and hiking!

Saleve! the mountain I can see from my window

SO those pics were all from Saleve, which is basically in walking distance.

Here are some from the daytrip I took to Les Diablerets, in the alps:

Dagny, in shock at the beauty?

mountain silhouette from the train station

not skiiing...there was just that much snow on the trail, but it was warm enough for t-shirts!


I also had tons of fun the Berne weekend, both hanging out at the Cite, and with Kayla and her awesome friend Jordon who was visiting from Grenada... we spent a lot of time at the park and took the little boat from the park to the "Baby Plage":





I sadly forgot my camera for the actual trip to Berne, but Kayla tends to be a better blogger than I am and when she updates it, you may find that and other interesting entries about Geneva here: http://kcarpenzano.blogspot.com/

advice to future Geneva students: always take advantage of the free Smith trips! The tour of Parliament wasn't my favorite part, except for the fact that our swiss german tour guide had the most enchanting accent, pronouncing "village" as "willage" and country as "country" which if combined into one phrase, results in the almost-too-charming-to-handle "countwy willage."

It's often a struggle for me to want to correct my friends' or student's english mistakes whether of usage or accent when they're just so endearing/ enchanting. Like when the little girl I tutor wrote a paragraph about her cousin and used the phrase "she is naughty with me" or when another friend said "we have to go upstairs" to indicate having to continue up a mountain path. I think trying to improve in french, keep up a tiny bit with italian, and hearing various kinds of english accents etc is actually resulting in my losing some sense of what is actually correct in my native tongue! Or actually, I am finding that I really WISH some french words had an english equivalent and its too bad we can't just import them. even just using a phrase as simple as "Il faut que"... One night I actually had to keep turning it around in my brain trying and trying to think of a satisfying english phrase that could substitute in the sentence in my head "It's necessary that I..." sounds awkward and "I have to" doesn't get at quite the same sense... also I really love the word "incroyable" and even though it's a direct translation of "unbelievable" it sounds way more expressive. I still feel like I'm lacking enough opportunities to speak french with people, but maybe I will try and initiate french conversation more with my flatmates and friends rather than reverting to english.

So anyways, yeah right now my life consists of french class and a class on international orgs at the Smith center, a class called "water as a literary element" at UNIGE (university of Geneva, which is in the Park de Bastions, which is just a short walk form my residence), an internship with International Bridges to Justice and independent research project related to it, university chorus, giving guitar lessons to two awesome people at the Cite, and tutoring a really sweet middle-schooler once a week... and then whatever little routines develop around that - reading at the park, writing, sketching, painting, occasionally trying out different churches when I'm not traveling... and trying to plan my summer and future while trying to live in the moment and just connect with people and have experiences.

Of which I will try to write soon....

Speaking Corramente

While in Geneva, I have found myself immersed surprisingly in none of the four national languages, nor in English, so much as a 5^th language that may be familiar to some of you: Franglais.

Franglais is a little like “Esperanto” – a language Dagny did a lovely presentation on in Jaci’s class yesterday, so it is fresh on my mind. Esperanto was an attempt to create a language that would be easy to learn so that members of the UN would be able to communicate without linguistic barriers, miscommunications, or hierarchies/ divisions caused by language.

Franglais is more of an organic Creole, serving many purposes. As well as building bridges between speakers of different languages like Esperanto, Franglais has many stylistic purposes that place it a cut above what I will refer to here as “Traditional English” though that may be a PARAPLUIE term.

Adding a hint of a romance language into the POTAGE of your daily speech really brings out the zest or intensity in phrases that have dramatic implications such as « That’s what YOU pense” or “que’est-ce que c’est happened?” The element of surprise is like an implicit exclamation point.

Alternativelty, franglais can, in certain contexts, give an edge of superiority or sophistication. It says "I am not only pretending/ attempting to be bilingual. I have the confidence to ride the wave that is the erosion of two languages into one and dit ce que I darn well Veut" Speakers of franglais are pioneer of the future, not natives anywhere but nomads everywhere.

Some common uses of Franglais:

“Are we prêt?”

« She didn’t succeed in getting the avocat» (**note: use with caution. This creates some fantastique ambiguity regarding whether “she” failed to obtain a lawyer or an avocado)

« Il me faut un nap »

« This ascensure is a piece of zoot »

“Quelle sour-puss” (and its uncensored variations)

“That is just pas juste!”

And perhaps the most common and beloved: “quoiever”

Franglais is used not only among my circle of acquaintances, but in Geneva itself… I saw a gym called “EXERSUISSE” and a beach called “BABY PLAGE”

Similar, but not to be confused with franglais is the construction of French phrases in the English language such as:

“I am following a class about 2 times a week” (as in learning in a classroom, not creepily stalking a group of students on a bi-weekly basis)

“I am in the bus” (in traditional English this would communicate and image of being digested by a bus with personality like the magic school bus or the catbus in Totoro)

“I have 20 years” (you've lived 20 years or you have 20 years to live?!)

“I take myself a shower” (in T.E. (Traditional English, this has a sort of a southern feel “I’mna take me self a shower”)

“The words escape language” (like one of those phrases that foreigners say that make you forget what is actually correct because the new version sounds so charming)

“We have to continue upstairs” (for continuing uphill on a mountain path… for relation to TE, see above comment)

Or, some very fascinating results can come of literally translating French idioms and importing them into the English language, as in “she laughs like a whale.”

These phrases tend to build a sense of incroyable intercultural unity and faith in language’s ability to transform and grandir… nothing is really set in pierre. tout peut change.

It's a good idea to expose your children to franglais at an early age in order to build their confidence in linguistic improvisation and understanding of other cultures. Take them to a Baby plage near you and let them mix with other young pioneers. Sometimes audio tracks are available at progressive local libraries. Don't perd a moment!