Back Again

Well, here I am back again after a long period away from Ireland. I have rediscovered my blogsite and I hope to return to regular blogging very soon.

I am recuperating following a period of illness. Illness concentrates the mind wonderfully. So I am busy at the moment discerning my priorities and wondering if I will be going back to work. An interesting oasis in the course of life.

Sunday before Christmas

It is the Sunday before Christmas. I hope you like the photograph of our crib here in the apartment. I took the photograph last night. The figurines were purchased by Denis on his last visit to Ireland. They look well. The blue material is blue tensel and the lamp was one I purchased in Manor a few months ago. Our crib is a bit like living in Geneva in that it is on three levels. The Three Kings are on the very topmost layer. Our magazine rack is doing duty as a crib support.

As always, Sundays are very quiet here. And today is no exception. There is very little of the Christmas spirit that one associates with Ireland. No carol singers. Scarcely any lights except for a few corporate buildings like the railway station and a few of the banks. None of the streets have Christmas lights. However, if one goes across the border thirty minutes away to France, there you will find lights and lots of them. Now there is something to ponder there. Does the absence of lights in Geneva suggest, yet again, something of the Calvinist influence. If so, pour Jean Calvin has a lot to answer for.

I went to Mass this morning in the Basilica. As always the singing was good. We had our last of a series of four broadcast Masses on Radio Suisse Romande (Espace 2). The reading from Romans appealed to me. I always enjoy Paul when he waxes eloquent on the love of God outpoured in the world. Always a consolation.

Yesterday, I did my book thing. I escaped up to Gaillard where there is a tolerably good “librairie” just at the frontier tram stop. I intended purchasing the current issue of Le Monde Diplomatique but ended up buying a copy of Bernard Henri-Levy’s latest book. Bernard Henri-Levy (BHL) is one of France’s foremost contemporary philosophers and a personal friend of one Nicolas Sarkozy. It is one of the interesting aspects of French politics that it is almost expected that a French President be not only a politician but an intellectual as well. And maybe there lies the problem! Maybe a dash of Bertie would suit them a lot better.

Anyway I am looking forward to getting stuck into BHL over Christmas. He has lots of interesting things to say about the collapse of the Left in Europe. Compulsory reading for ERI people, I should imagine!

Circus in Town and other stuff

I know some of you thought this Circus Apartment thing is a bit of romantic kitsch! No, it is real. The circus has been in town for the last few weeks and is parked outside my door. This is circus on a grand scale. At least two hundred or more trucks, vans and mobile homes to support the whole venture. They have two performances each day, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I now know all the circus tunes by heart. Thankfully, the show finishes at 9.30pm in the evening.

I have a day off today because of a public holiday unique to Geneva. By rights I should be fasting as the holiday is called Jeûne Genevois (Geneva Fast). It celebrates a famous Protestant victory over the Catholics during the Reformation that was supported by a massive public fast of biblical proportions. Nowadays I guess no one knows why there is a public holiday today. At least no one in the office knew. The information came to light from a Wikipedia search. Anyway I am glad of a day at home.

Michael Murray and John Burke arrive on Saturday. This morning I did more laundry to get ready. I now know that I need to purchase two duvets, can't find where the others have gone. I imagine the students must have taken them away. I have now three complete sets of bed linen which spares me the embarrassment of trying to explain to the guy in the department store why I want single bed sets rather than doubles. Try translating "fitted sheet" into French. If you want to know it's a "drap-housse" or in German, a "Fixleinrtuch". The learning curve is steep here.

Brian Bond has been in touch and we are exchanging emails. I'm full of tips and pieces of advice. But he's on the ball and is looking forward to coming. He will then be the replacement Aussie for Julie Morgan in the office. Incidentally, I have discovered that the Australians have exceeded their national quota for employees at the UN. I discovered that piece of trivia during the week. It puzzled me as I never even knew there was such a thing national quotas. Affirmative action gone haywire. That explains why there are so few Irish. Afraid we might take ove!

Food continues to be a problem. There is a mystery here that I am trying to solve. Why, I ask, is it cheaper to eat at McDonald's than to cook for oneself. I just don't get it. You can have a full Mega-Burger plus Chips meal in McDs for about 12 CHF but it costs at least one and half times that to purchase and cook the stuff yourself. Someone please explain.

Weather still cold. That wind from the north is still slicing across the Plainpalais. The vineyards up in Nyon and along the lakeshore will be worried.

Jim Donovan called on the house phone. I was delighted to hear his voice. He was lucky he caught me at home, though. Normally, I would be in the office.

Greetings to all of you out there in N17man land! And special greetings to MC in Lusaka!

Brian Bond and other Matters

Yesterday I received the news that the third person joining the Geneva team is Brian Bond. I am delighted. Brian is from Australia and is a Christian Brother of the current St. Patrick's Province in Melbourne. I stayed with Brian and Sean in their place in Sunshine in 2006 and have very happy memories of my visit with them. In fact Sunshine as a suburb of Melbourne is not unlike our proposed location in Gaillard, France, on the edge of an industrial area with a mix of long-established residents and incomers. Brian has been working in the social justice field for a long time and has been responsible for some interesting initiatives. He hopes to arrive here towards the end of October. I am gradually getting used to the people in the office here. It is so international. So many languages. Everyone uses English, of course, but it is nice to be able to converse with people in their own language. Sr. Madeleine who is a French-speaking Franciscan Sister keeps on reminding us that we are after all in French-speaking Switzerland. I have enormous sympathy for her point of view. It is always a challenge for international organisations not to get caught in the trap of the Anglophone culture. Diversity is all. The weather has turned much colder. The wind has definitely veered towards the North so something is coming down over Germany from Russia towards us. It is amazing what a difference this makes. Until last night I slept with the windows wide open to catch the fresh breezes. Now I am closing the windows. Soon it will be time for the famous "La Bise", the Alpine winds that seek to sever the legs from the body. But that's another story. I am in a listening and learning mood here. "So listen to wise people and be willing to accept every wise counsel", the Book of Tobit advises. I agree. When starting in a new venture it is essential to keep the head down and to spend a lot of time listening. There are so many nuances of culture and personality to come to terms with in such a short time. I was speaking of windows. I am in the process of getting simple curtains, ready-made, from the department store across the street. Not a simple matter. First, there is the issue of the size of the windows. That requires measurements. Which in turn spawns the purchase of a tape measure. Fine. So now we have curtains. But now they have to be hung. New problem. I can't reach the poles. So this requires a small set of steps. This is how my purchasing cycle goes. Need, assessment and purchase. And always keeping in mind the question will this purchase transfer to the new house when we get there. As if life were not complicated enough. Now some people would find all this fun. Not if you are trying to fit in housekeeping around the work and commute to the office.

Thunderstorm II

It is 9.00pm in the evening here in Geneva. The rain is pouring steadily down, a prelude to another night of rolling thunder and lightning rending the skies. For my own sake, I hope it is not so. I don't want another sleepless night.

I went to work this morning over at the Franciscans. The place is slowly getting back to work after the holidays. It has that beginning of term feeling. There are meetings of a planning sort going on. As the new boy I am not participating in any these just yet. I expect I will once John and the main players come back next week. We had our Wednesday prayer today. MPK would be pleased. It was straight up. Mike O'Neill who led the prayer is an environmentalist so he was saving on paper. We just had one set of sheets which was passed around. The theme was Harvest Blessings. A plate of Autumn fruits was set in front of each person. At various points during the prayer we sampled the fruits. Now there's an idea for Synge Street.

I tried to do two things this afternoon. Get a Swisscom SIM card and purchase a monthly travel pass. Failed in both. The travel pass requires one to have a passport photograph. There are three in the railway station. About a million teenagers on back-to-school business were also on a similar quest. Against that lot I lost out. When I finally got to a machine, I found it only accepted coins and I had just notes in my pocket. Arrgh! As for the SIM card. I have yet to see a phone shop. Where is Camden Street when you need it!

So I came home to the apartment and set to work putting it to rights. I hauled some funiture around to create the beginning of a community room. There is a TV but the cable is dead, frayed and looks like it was chewed by a dog. There is a small Hi-FI system that has nothing attached. Dead. And in addition there are two bunk beds that are pretty immovable. Moy Hitchen will have to sleep there when he comes. But I did succeed in setting up lights, moving a set of shelves. Another week, a few lights, candles and some pictures and it won't be too bad. Who said Geneva has to be drab!

Supper this evening consisted of the second half of my steak. Meat is expensive here, I'm finding out. I also had rosti, sort of hash browns. Very popular in Switzerland and easy to cook. Spuds just don't seem to exist in their native form. Maybe they take too much energy to cook.

I'm going to ask Colm Griffey to provide Michael Murray with a few small Edmund Rice items. I need to have a connection with the congregational spirit.

There is a church nearby. German-speaking Dominican parish. I tried to get in the church this morning. It appeared to be locked. Will try again over the week-end. Parish of St. Boniface. Across the Circus Square is another parish, the Latin American Spanish parish of St. Gabriel. Choices, choices, choices.

Thunderstorm

I am at work today in the Franciscan International/Edmund Rice International offices at 37-39 rue de Vermont.

Hardly any sleep last night. An Alpine thunderstorm welcomed me to Geneva. I have never experienced anything like it. For about three hours it crashed, rolled and flashed overhead. The lightning strikes lit up the night sky and some, I'm convinced, landed in the yard behind the apartment. It was a hot, muggy night so I wasn't sleeping well anyway. The storm really put paid to any chance of sleeping until about four in the morning.

I am shocked to hear that MPK is moving to Wexford. Synge Street is emptying out. Does this mean Dan is coming back?

Finally, just to update you on the Circus. I saw the horses being exercised this morning. How boring for them. They just trotted in a circle all morning. Do they really enjoy this? Where are the animal rights people when one needs them.

Geneva Arrival

Well, it has finally happened! I am now in Geneva - definitively. No longer the prospect of going home after a few days. No more the luxury of the Franciscan friary or the Mon Repos Hotel. I am now ensconced in 19 avenue de Maine, in the Plainpalais district. Did I mention that the apartment is called the Circus Apartment? No, well, that is what it is called. Number 19 is in between the hairdressers and the key-cutting shop in the Plainpalais district. And, right on cue, the Circus has arrived in town right opposite my apartment. It is the KNIE circus. With luck I hope to avoid it. Although I do see some of the animals parading around the enclosure.

Mike Hasenmueller met me at the airport. We got a taxi into town. It cost 50 CHF, about 34 EUR. Steep, but, hey, this is Geneva. And that included the tip. We had some difficulty getting in to the apartment because Mike did not know the code. He had to call on the phone. After he left I surveyed my surroundings. It is pretty basic. Not one single comfortable chair for napping in. There is a set of plastic garden chairs like the ones you see all over Africa, India and Latin America. This is the Justice apartment after all.

Not for long. I went out to make my first purchases: one expresso coffee machine, two cushions in red imitation velour, some gruyere cheese, organge juice, a piece of steak, potatoes and some muesli. These items have begun to fill up the empty space in the food larder. Yes, I also got some milke, the UHT type. My local "tabac" did not have the real thing.

The apartment has Internet and it is quite fast. So Skype should work just fine. If anyone feels inclined to Skype me.

I cooked my steak this evening, halving it so that I have a piece for tomorrow. The spuds took an age. And were still not "done". The Swiss don't eat potatoes. They prefer chocolate, cheese and fondues. Heidi food!

I did listen to Radio Suisse Romande, a lecture on the nature of happiness according to Spinoza and Kant. I need to listen to a lot of this high-brow French if I am to get by. I strayed into a bookstore earlier in the evening and was eyed up and down by a suspicious bookseller. It was my canary yellow Hermanos Cristianos polo shirt that did not fit. It looks out of place here. The Swiss prefer drab.

So this is how the new EUP community begins! A preference for drab.