So what can I say, last night I went to a violin concert, I now drink beer whenever I go out, my finger nails are actually painted, I just returned from a friend where we spent the evening listening to a variety of music, discussing art and travels and to top it all off, my background to my computer is currently covered in Jamon (pronounced Chamon, a pork delicacy of Spain) not to mention I just received an e-mail containing a slide show of the various different ways of displaying ham, bacon and of course Jamon (my supervisor at work is a bit of a loose cannon with a mild fettish for forbidden meats.( I am currently lying on my bed in hysterics at the Jamon worried someone may come knock on the door to see what’s wrong.) One thing is for sure life is certainly not dull. Definitely a big step since a few weeks ago when I sat at home deciding on whether I should go to the Baron or see a movie on a Saturday night…. What is worrying me though is that with so much changing in two weeks by the end of next month will I be covered in tattoos and body piercing. (I’m beginning to think anything’s possible.)

The last week has been great, gone out with various friends for drinks a few times, there was a party at my res last Saturday night and this past weekend I went to a spring party for the many different expats living in Geneva. (These themselves are a diverse bunch consisting of idealists working for the UN or NGOs on the one hand and capitalistic bankers or finance people on the other.) Last night I went with a German guy from my Res to a violin concert. I’m so clueless on these things but actually really enjoyed, its so old school in a beautiful old building with all the gold adornments. The music was actually beautiful and really moving. Sunday I went with Dutch and Portuguese friends from my res up Saleve, a mountain in France (which I can see out my window). It was really beautiful and a lot of fun.

Shabbas was great, Saturday afternoon I went for a walk through the old city and eventually found myself in a park at a place called Place Navou (cant spell) where they have giant Chess boards. It was fascinating watching all the people, around one board there were about 25 old men intensely watching a game of chess between two long haired hippies. On Friday night I did the rachmonis thing and called Chabad to organise me somewhere for dinner. Actually landed up at the most fascinating couple. They were a Dutch couple that had lived in various places in the world including Zimbabwe. The Husband works for the International Labour organisation (ILO), a branch of the UN and deals with issues such as child labour and human trafficking, while the wife besides for bringing up five children is a lawyer and archaeologist by profession but now does IT for a Jewish Philanthropic organisation. I would happily have taken a job working for either of them and spent the evening talking about Africa, Structural adjustments, Europe, Israel and a host of other topics.

The problem with all that though was that I got home convinced I should be studying development and once again unsure I want to be doing Israeli politics for two years. I am now in the process of applying for the one year masters in conflict resolution at IDC! Feel like going in circles-will eventually decide. But one of the guys Im friends with said a wise thing the other night which has stuck with me. I asked him if he regretted coming to Geneva, as I discovered he was a bit of a ‘minor celebrity’ in the UK and his response was ‘no and even if [he] did regret it he would not regret it as what would the point of that be?’ It was such a simple answer but so true-no point in regrets… My problem unfortunately is just making my mind up in the first place.

Anyway that’s all for now, I leave for Belgium for Pesach, was meant to stay with family but because they don’t live near a shul have decided going to try find somewhere else- three days of solitude with people you have never met is a long time! Will see where that takes me…