Sailboats as far as the eye could see

This weekend, I had some time alone in the city of Genevea. I like to travel this way, because you can do things at your own pace. If something is interesting, take more time, if not, move on!

On Saturday, I strolled through the park, enjoying the sunny day, crossed the historic bridge, and saw the famous Geneva Jet D’Eau, up close. I followed this up by a relaxing sail across Lake Geneva on an open air boat.

Sunday was a day of music at Geneva’s yearly celebration, Fête de la Musique. The city converts its parks and roadways into stages for all types of music-rap, punk, hip hop, jazz- you name the genre, it’s there! First, I saw a children’s choir outside of the cathedral. They performed fun, funky songs. Next, I went to a historic theatre for a piano recital. The pianist had his baby sitting on his lap, adding to the music. A bit different, but interesting. He then invited the audience to participate. After much pestering, one brave sole went forward. She was phenomenal! It was amazing to see how he added to her talents and complimented her piece with his own music. Next, I heard Latin Jazz on stage in the park and saw the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley himself, dancing in the street. (Although, he was a pretty skinny Elvis.) I ended the day by going to my first opera. It was simply amazing. By no means was this a traditional opera, it was much more modern. There were four main characters that became two couples. It was all in French so some parts were difficult to understand, but fascinating and beautiful.

Finally, I met the other sisters in our family here for a Sunday meal. Emilie is a student at HEI, the international school. We had a great conversation about world relations and how our studies differed. Being in America is very different than studying policy in Europe. I would argue that the Europeans have a much stronger understanding of the world. They know what is happening in many neighboring countries and can name most world Presidents. I still have trouble with the geography and locating all the countries! The discussion made me reflect on my own studies in grade school, college and at the Humphrey Institute. I some regards I think that the U.S. is very isolated in what is taught, which ultimately is reflected in our foreign policies. We don’t necessary think about other world countries (unless there was or is a conflict with them) in our studies. I don't remember getting much current news about our geographical-neighbors, Canada and Mexico, either. In many regards, I think land-locked isolation hinders us. I don’t think we can even compare to the world knowledge that many students learn in grade school here. The U.S. is also very behind in teaching languages. (Litchfield offered 2 choices-German and Spanish, whereas, Virginie, 15, here is learning German, Latin and English. Of course, she also has classes in French and writing.) I definitely wish I had more training in other languages and would give anything to have had schooling at an immersion school. (Cinnamin and Mom-maybe you can start teaching them in preschool at ECFE!)