Angry Mob + Fire = Burning Cars

So, today started out really nice and lazy. I woke up nice and slow, read for a little while in bed, then decided to go into town for lunch. After a quick lunch, the plan was to go ride the cable car up the mountain and enjoy a nice vista of the Jura. However, things changed once a dozen, blue police vans whizzed past. The police maintain a very, very low profile in Geneva (and in Switzerland, in general) so the odds of going for weeks without seeing any are high. Needless to say, seeing SWAT vans fly by was a bit unusual. I look down the street and see a protest making its way down Rue de Mont-Blanc, and then I remembered what was going on: there was protest of the WTO Ministerial Meeting. The World Trade Organization is headquartered in Geneva, just like many other major international organizations, though it's easy to forget they're there sometimes.

It's important to point out that most of the protesters opted for peaceful means to demonstrate for their cause, and that it was a select few (few meaning probably around 100-200 out of the supposed 2,000+ people) who caused problems. That being said, the problems were definitely there. The Geneva police force seemed well prepared for it though I, of course, was not.

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

I walked down the street to take a look at the noise and saw what looked to be over a 1,000, later confirmed to have been over 2,000, people marching across the bridge and into the northern part of the city. I saw about 4 tractors pulling floats and effigies of figures I didn't recognize, as well as numerous flags and banners airing grievances against the WTO and the general, global community. After the tractors passed, things got out of hand. I heard a car alarm go off, then began to smell something burning. Black smoke began billowing from behind a large crowd and, by this time, I had positioned myself behind the police barricade that had formed to keep the protest from getting into the square I was eating lunch. Bright red flames began to billow out of a brand new Mercedes-Benz, and three other cars were ignited next to it. Soon, riot police were running towards the location and I was backing away. That was a little much for me, really. Sirens could be heard converging on our location from all over the city. I took a few pictures with my phone (it was all I had on me, because my point and shoot is broken, sorry for the poor photo quality) and then moved on to a safer, less chaotic and smoke filled, place.

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, the public transit was out of whack and police were out in full force. I have never seen anyone in full riot gear before, much less an angry mob burning cars, so it was a spectacle. I can't say I understand either ways of manifesting (the French word for protest is "manifestation," by the way) their frustrations with the WTO, though. The peaceful protesters banners said all sorts of constructive things, ranging from "The WTO is Bad" to "Stop the violence in Darfur!" While I certainly agree that the violence in Darfur is bad, the WTO doesn't have much to do with that. A lot of the things being yelled and protested about weren't related to the WTO at all...it just seems as though some people live for a good protest. The violent protesters are a little easier to criticize. Burning up people's cars and smashing the storefronts of innocent people doesn't seem like the best way to further an agenda of progress, though the "black bloc" activists are supposedly anarchists. So I guess they don't really care.

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

The Swiss were very prompt in their deployment of street sweepers to clean up the mess, though. Once night fell, most of the trash had been picked up. Unfortunately, store owners and four car owners will be beginning the clean up process tomorrow.

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

From Geneva Protests 28 November 2009

Needless to say, all of this was a lot of excitement. I met up with some friends and watched a bit of football (European football) before heading back to the John Knox Center. The transportation was all out of whack, but we made it safe and sound. Thank goodness, because I've been looking forward to cleaning my room.

Classes and the Establishment of Groove

This will, unfortunately, be a picture-free update, because I'm feeling inspired to write one from a café in the Old Town of Geneva. It's a beautiful day here in Switzerland: it's been raining off and on, and now it's a little breezy with some sun. Nice day.

I'm sitting in here, actually:


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(Cool Internet trick of the day)

It's a pretty good place to write a paper, with the exception of the loud Rihanna music playing over the speakers (which I will not be linking here. Sorry).

I will now, for sure, be interning at the World Health Organization and am waiting for my department and work schedule. I'm pretty excited about it, but also intimidated. I don't really know that much about public health, and it's supposed to be a bit of an intense work environment. The pros to this are obvious, such as it being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it will also be a great experience. Granted, it isn't quite what I wanted to do originally (work permit issues) but I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Plus, since I didn't sign up for an internship initially, I can't be super picky.

There isn't much else to report here. I've now been to all my classes twice and enjoy them all, particularly French. The professor is a delightful guy, Gerard Piquet, and a native Swiss. Class consists of us talking about day-to-day things, such as politics and sports, with him stopping to correct my dismally broken French in the process. He also gives me his opinion of Swiss political happenings and about international politics, which is incredibly interesting. I like that class a lot.

This weekend we (a group of friends I met on the trip and myself) may take a ferry to Lausanne and stay a night in a hostel there. Bigger trip plans are being made, with places such as Rome, Paris, Prague, and Amsterdam being the main targets. I'll keep this posted on future and past travels, and will try and put up the pictures I have sitting on the computer soon.

The music just shifted to some cheerful French folk music so, on this note, I will go write my paper for my human rights class and enjoy the environment. Again, if you'd like to be in touch, email me at anwilkins AT davidson.edu.

Santé!

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!