A Depart

The fact that I was going to Switzerland was definitely still very surreal, even as Matt was taking me to the airport. I forgot to get a souvenir in DC for my host mom, so we got some stuff in New York. I was about to buy a NYC snow globe, but Matt convinced me to get a Statue of Liberty rubber ducky, just because it was funny, which she laughed at and said her grandson would enjoy. We also got some black and white cookies, which I don’t think you guys have had but they are delicious! They’re these big, probably 4 inch wide cookies that are sort of frosted on top with half chocolate, half white frosting, but it’s not quite like frosting on a cake. The cookie itself is very moist and soft, like a sugar cookie but almost cake-like. Anyway, SIT had us get to the airport to check in at 3:00, and after we checked our luggage and checked in with a representative we had 3 more hours to kill before actually leaving. They put together students from both the public health program (mine) and the social justice program, so there were about 50 of us altogether, taking over an entire seating area of the gate. We flew Air France (Dad – they’re part of Delta, we might be able to get miles, but maybe not since the flight was discounted, but you might want to check), which was cool because they served wine and beer free of charge, not to mention an actual dinner. I was pretty excited flying my first international flight J We arrived in Paris at about 5am European time, I think, then had another 2 hours to kill before our connecting flight left. I got breakfast at a little bakery cart in the airport (it was delicious, of course) and it was the first time being totally surrounded by the French language! We were on a much smaller plane going to Geneva, and we hit turbulence a couple times that actually made me fear for my life a little. Otherwise, nothing much interesting there – when we got in they had a bus for each group that took us to the Auberge (hostel), where we would be staying for the next few days.