Galway Christmas

This has been a Christmas holiday to spend indoors. Unusually, Galway and Ireland have had a white Christmas. Temperatures have plummetted to below Zero. Something that rarely happens, especially here in Galway where we have the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream to bathe our shores in a warm current. No, instead, we've had polar blasts sweeping across the country. Lots of reports of accidents on the roads. Many roads are impassible. Our own N17, fortunately has been kept free as it is a national route. But the sideroads are very icy and dangerous.

I've been spending the last few days helping my nephews with their French Leaving Certificate preparation. Tough work. For them, especially. French verbs, especially those of the irregular kind, are not exactly fun at this time of the year. We spend every morning working on oral conversation, comprehension, verbs, bits and pieces of grammar with a sprinkling of French idiom thrown in. A poor alternative to the XBox waiting next door.

My reward each evening is some quiet time with a glass of Jameson and soulful music on the CD player. It is a great way to keep warm!

In Galway

I have come by train to Galway this morning (Sunday) to visit my family in Castlegar. The trip was largely uneventful except being the first train since Christmas the crew had not shown up except for the driver. So, there was no train manager (aka controller of tickets etc) and, believe it or not, no refueling crew. We had to stop on the way out of Heuston Station to fuel up. It was like stopping at a Topaz garage off the motorway before heading off. And, also, to my chagrin, there was no food service. Since I had had no breakfast before leaving the house (it being so early in the morning), I was pretty famished by the time I reached Galway at 11.30. Luckily, I had texted my brother, Noel, who made sure that there was some leftover breakfast available for me (a big unhealthy Irish fry-up).

Darragh and Tadhg (and their friend Sean) will be participating in a Leaving Certificate revision programme that we are about to run in house. I shall be responsible for the French component, Gregory for the Maths, and Mum for the Busines Studies/Economics end, as well as chasing up overdue assignments (Geography and Rural Science projects).

Happy Christmas and New Year

If anyone out there is still reading this, I wish you a Happy Christmas. I was perusing some blogs this afternoon and the thought came to me that I was once, in a former life, a fervent blogger. In fact, I introduced quite a few people to the art and pleasures of blogging but then, to my shame, realised that I had not blogged in a long time.

I wasn't altogether sure which platform I had used. Was it LiveJournal or eBlogger? So just on a whim I went over to eBlogger and sure enough my name and password were both intact. So, here I am once again.

On January 4th I start my cardiac rehab programme at James Hospital, Dublin 8. It is not too far away and the walk (or bike ride) there will do me good. The nurse in charge of the programme has told me that the first day will be quite gentle. On January 5th we do a stress test which will really push me to my limits. Hopefully, it will all go well. And it will, with God's help.

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.