Stuff's been happening. For example, I became co-president of the ILO Intern Board, which is the organized group of interns at the ILO. We organize social events (board meetings Mondays, coffee and cake breaks Wednesday afternoons, and either wine and cheese Thursday nights or apero [drinks] Fridays), negotiate for issues of interest to interns, and other fun things.
I have also become very active in the AcroYoga community here; this last week, I went to acro jams on Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, and then again Sunday, for a grand total of 12 hours of AcroYoga. I'm a huge fan of the people in the group--not only are they great at acro, but they're incredibly friendly, funny, welcoming people.
On Sunday morning, I hiked up the Salève with a fantastic group of intern friends. The Salève is a mountain right near Geneva, but it's actually right over the border in France. It takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to hike to the top via the shortest route (out of about 8 possible routes), and it's straight up the whole way. There's a group called "Friends of the Salève" that meets up every Sunday morning at 10 AM to hike a different route up the mountain. I think I might go again next week with an acro friend! Hiking made me realize that my cardio fitness is not at its best right now; gotta work on that! I ended up walking 7 miles Sunday, including the hike, so hopefully that helps.
In less fun news...
My rent here is about $1200/month, which is a lot. When I was househunting from the U.S., it was the best I could find, especially on short notice, but I didn't know whether I would end up staying here long-term, and I didn't have to sign a contract or anything. My landlady did say that my deposit would be used as my last month's rent, so I would be expected to give a month's notice before leaving if I decided to move before the end of my internship.
My living situation wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was hoping for, exactly. I didn't feel like I could use the common spaces because my landlady is always lying on the couch (she's unemployed, so when I say "always", I actually mean about 85% of the day), often FaceTiming with family (very loudly) or watching YouTube videos on her phone (very loudly) or watching TV/movies (very loudly). None of these are social activities, and they are usually conducted in Hebrew, so it's not like I could really just be more social and engage with her. So the whole common living space, which I technically had access to, in practice is not comfortable for me.
Then, she started to criticize me for not following house policies. Some of these things I should have done better from the start--my standard for housecleaning is somewhat less strict than hers, so by the time I would think to do things like take the trash out, it would already have been done. She is always home, while I am only home from about 7 or later at night until 8 in the morning, mostly in my room. In general, though, the things I "did wrong" were things that were not obvious, like opening or closing doors at the wrong time (I still don't understand when which doors are supposed to be propped open versus shut, and I think it's really silly) or not washing a cup that she left in the sink once.
In any case, I felt less and less comfortable in the apartment, and decided that rather than paying April's rent, I would call April my last month and find a new place to live before May 1. I told her this, but apparently I did that wrong too (I was too casual, I guess) so there's been even more tension in the house since then and several conversations where she has told me, "I've been thinking..." and explained what is wrong with me as a person (mainly, I think I'm better than everyone else).
So instead of just looking to get out by May 1, I'm really looking to move out as soon as I can. I visited an apartment last night that really suited my wishlist and my needs-list and the guy I would be living with is a nice person and doesn't own a TV! BUT there are other people also interested in the apartment, of course, so he may not choose me over them, and I'm really stressed because I haven't found anywhere else that looks nearly as promising to me.
Hopefully I'll know in the next 24-48 hours whether I get to move this weekend.
Okay, ending on a happy note...
Things that are making me happy:
- Exercising a ton
- So much AcroYoga
- Eating chocolate
- Spring flowers blooming
I am behind reading your blog hopefully the living situation has been resolved, and that stress is gone!
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