Getting into a Rhythm

Okay, so it's been another week. I'm feeling more and more comfortable in my life here. When I take Bus 8 in the mornings (it goes straight from my house to work--no need to change lines!), I have a good sense of how long I can read before I need to start paying attention to where we are. I can also tell by looking out the window which stop we're at, most of the time. I'm not a huge fan of how long it takes me to get to work and home every day (30-50 minutes depending on traffic), but I really do savor the reading/podcast listening time.

Last week I had Shabbat dinner on Friday night with family. I really enjoyed being with them, dinner was delicious, and they are always wonderfully gracious hosts. It's funny to me, though, just how different their dinner habits are (not in a bad way at all); I sort of feel like I get culture shock just watching people come and go from the table, play musical instruments randomly during the meal, tell off-color (hysterical) jokes, etc. It's delightful, and very different from what I'm used to.

I met up with my mom's coworker (and now my friend) Ann on Saturday morning for tea and cake at a very cool patisserie hidden away near the Old Town. She's traveled a ton and has lived in Geneva a long time, so her perspective on life here is great and entertaining. She gave me a bunch of book recommendations (but I'll always take more!) and suggested that I start watching Downton Abbey, which I have done. :)

I was struck by homesickness/loneliness/blues on Saturday afternoon/evening. Part of that was due to the fact that most people around me will be traveling for Easter weekend, when I have a long weekend off work, and I do not yet have plans (though I have some promising options). Also, Jeff was going to visit me during his spring break, but instead will have the honor of serving jury duty, foiling our plans and extending our separation. While I was feeling crappy, I called my mom and she suggested that I just cry and then go be social. So, I cried for about 30 seconds, then got tired of that, and went out to a birthday party with a bunch of ILO interns.

The party was so much fun! I got to know quite a few people that I had seen around but hadn't had the chance to talk to before. I came home at a reasonable hour, which I like to do, feeling much better about life.

Unfortunately, I woke up at 4 am with a migraine, and a lot of my Sunday was consumed with feeling pretty awful. But somewhere in there, I ended the many-weeks-long saga of trying to get a working phone in the best way possible: my US cell phone is now unlocked (legally, for free) and works with the cheapest possible pay-as-you-go data plan available here.

Then, on Monday...

CIRCUS!!

It took me about an hour to get from work to circus (the bad news), but class was two hours and had both a tumbling component (which I could really use) and a "free choice" skill component (so I chose aerial silk, of course). The instructors were great, and the skills they had us do in aerials were largely new and different for me, and they were very happy to explain the purposes of exercises when they weren't obvious to me. I can see that I will quickly develop a lot of new skills through taking classes there. And they complimented me, saying that I clearly had a lot of experience, so that was nice.

Things that are making me happy:

• Cheese! I'm eating a lot of brie lately
• Sunshine
• Dogs on public transit
• Adults on scooters 

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