Cols des Mosses, The Palais des Nations and Other Adventures

Since leaving Lully, the wonderful comfort of Annia's home and saying goodbye to paddling the shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), my time with the Kent State program has been great so far. I arrived at the John Knox Center, the location of our dorm, classrooms, and cafeteria, the night before the rest of the students. I had time to move in to my tiny little room and get settled, stay up late on Skype, and then get some sleep.

The group arrived a little late on Monday thanks to air travel, and had just enough time to drop their stuff off before we all hopped on a bus to head to Cols des Mosses, which is a good distance east of the Lake. Upon arrival, we stayed at a little chateau hotel in a quiet village and were helped to sleep by the sounds of cow bells echoing through the mountains and a gentle Alpine breeze disrupting the curtains of our opened windows. The next morning, we woke up and hiked to a fromagerie, or a cheese farm, and watched a friendly Swiss man named Blaise make Gruyère cheese and listened to him tell us about how he lives his daily life. Being a farmer, regardless of what country or continent you live on or the trade of your farm, is difficult. Every day he milks the cows, processes the cheese by building a fire then pressing it, recycling the leftover whey, and checking on the aging wheels at least five times a day. He was, though, incredibly nice and happy to show us his livelihood.

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After a sampling of what is probably the best Gruyère cheese of my life, we hiked up to Lac Lioson, a secluded, spring-fed, Alpine lake. The water was perfectly clear and sapphire in color. We filled up our bottles straight from the shore before enjoying ice cream at a café next to the lake, then hiking back down to the chateau. That afternoon we took a cable car up to the top of Mont Moléson and enjoyed a spectacular view of the Alps. We then visited the town of Gruyère itself, which is an old, medieval town, and then went back to the hotel. That night, after a talk with Dr. Patrick Low, a professor at the program and Chief Economist at the WTO, we wandered into town to a restaurant. As we got close, we heard the Star Spangled Banner being hummed by a group of British travelers we had met the night before! Our best allies have a warm (yet sometimes biting) sense of humor. We talked with them about the Matterhorn, their travels around the world, and listened to an argument about Scottish beer before going to bed ourselves.

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Wednesday morning came quick and early and, after a light breakfast of toast, jam, and muslï, we went to the Collier chocolate factory for a quick tour and, more importantly, ravaging of the free sampling room. We then went to visit the Chateau Chillon, which just celebrated its 1004th birthday and has great walls and battlements for climbing on, and then ate outside Lausanne before returning to the John Knox Center where we cleaned up before either bedding down or going to explore Geneva at night. There isn't really much to do downtown at night other than look at all the restaurants and bars and hope that you don't miss the last bus home, neither of which proved to be too stressful. After another late night on Skype, jockeying for good Internet (it's pretty terrible in the John Knox Center), myself and the group went to bed.

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This catches you, the curious and attentive reader, up to the most recent events. We all woke up early to eat breakfast and then leave the Center at 9:30 for our tour of the Palais des Nations, the seat of the United Nations in Geneva. This was a dream come true for me and, I'm comfortable saying it, most of the group as well. We went in to three seperate meeting rooms including the largest, which hosts the biggest of meetings and conventions. The art and architecture around the campus of the Palais des Nations were breathtaking, all gathered from donors around the world and representative of an international mission of peace. I know there are times where I am skeptical of the effectiveness of certain UN departments, but to see everything together and the enthusiasm of the staff and representatives for what they do was just amazing. We ate lunch in the UN cafeteria, which was great, and then walked to the United States Mission in Geneva. There we were briefed by the Chargé d'Affaires, who is currently directing the mission, as well as several US delegates to UN organizations. This, too, was like a nerd-child's dream come true. At the days end, I was in possession of many pictures, a UN access card to the library and facilities, and a renewed enthusiasm for and interest in international relations, particularly security.

From The Great Swiss Adventure

From The Great Swiss Adventure

From The Great Swiss Adventure

From The Great Swiss Adventure

Most people have now gone to bed, since tomorrow morning we will be waking up for a meeting on life in the John Knox Center and a guided tour of the old city in Geneva. I'm usually not one to enjoy guided tours, but a wonderful person reminded me that you can learn in just about any situation provided you want to. Thanks to her for that. I'm sure I'll enjoy things tomorrow, which is also the last day of our orientation week before classes begin on Monday.

Enjoy the pictures! Santé!