Geneva, 24th September 2007
Rotterdam, 6th October 2007
Sines, 16th October 2007
When I first saw this during the Fêtes de Genève, I thought it was another Swiss identity crisis. Only after I realised that Swiss humour goes a long way: a fairground attraction with several cars with the EU flag (27?), bumping into each other, is a wonderful way of showing your opinion about your neighbours and the will you have to be in such a mess. A politic statement full of wit, I'd say.
Monday, the day for supervision meetings. Today I presented a draft with the outline of the proposed research. It was no fancy at all, just a scheme to help me thinking the path ahead. My supervisor gave me his comments and input and I proceed with my readings.
PS: It's nice walking by the lake, in the park, after work.
This weekend was the first prove I tasted of Swiss efficiency and conservatism. It rained the whole weekend (today I haven't even went out), except for the period the traditional Lake Parade party was crossing the streets of Geneva. Inspired in Berlin's Love Parade, the Lake Parade shows that Swiss are very fond of keeping their reputation of discretion and conservatism.
Life is going on, even if I don't know in what direction. Unfortunately, these first days don't allow me to be very positive about the city. First impressions were very bad: I arrived here without accommodation and only with three nights at a very expensive hotel (for my standards; for Geneva ones, it's nothing more than mid-range), the only one I found available in the whole internet. With never-ending high-level conferences and summits happening in the city, there were no rooms at all, call it hotels, hostels, university residences, anything. To help with all this, the weather was (is?) miserable, with constant rain (heavy, annoying rain that prevents you from going out, not Rotterdam-style rain), grey skies, thunderstorms, and not that warm temperatures (now, in this precise moment, is hot like hell, but tomorrow I may need to wear a pullover...). Last but not the least: the prices - they are outrageous. I was told that everything would be around 30% more expensive than in Rotterdam, but that's way too low. As an example, let me tell you that, for 2 kebabs and 2 bottles of water bought in a Turkish corner shop, I paid 32 francs, which means 19,5 euros. And all the rest is the same thing. The place I've found to live (and quite luckily) is costing me twice what I'm paying in Rotterdam.
Adding to all this, I don't find the city that nice and beautiful and full of quality of living. The centre is indeed nice, as well as the lake and the mountains. But that's for shops and tourists - and guys with green-coloured Ferraris with arab license plates -, not for living. And all the other areas I've seen so far cannot even be compared to Rotterdam in terms of liveability and cleanliness. At least to the ones I know in Rotterdam.
UN-wise, things are a bit different and I must say that is quite thrilling working here, being "one of them" and thinking that I'm doing something really important. It's an illusion, of course, but it gives me a good feeling: the premises that we see on TV, people from all other the world, etc, etc, etc. My reception in UNCTAD was very positive and people really put an effort to introduce you to everyone in the department and to make sure that you're alright.
And that's all.
I arrived. The weather is bad, I only have three nights at the hotel and from Wednesday on I don't have any place to stay.
Welcome to Geneva.
