Slumdog Millionaire

So I went to see Slumdog Millionaire yesterday (BTW, when you see a movie in original language here in Geneva, it is subtitled both in french and german).

I have mixed feelings about it. Mainly because I read the book first. And I think the book has much more substance. So I highly recommend it. First of all, in the book Jamal and Salim are not brothers, but friends and do lead rather separate lives. In the movie, Jamal is portrayed as a good guy that doesn't really know how to survive. In the book, Salim is the dreamer, the actor wanna be who is a big fan of the movie star. Jamal's character is so much more interesting in the book. He is the survivor.

To me, it seems that Danny Boyle has decided to go the "love story" avenue to satisfy a blockbuster audience. It is a little sad, knowing that Trainspotting and 28 Days are so unique. Don't get me wrong, I think the direction, the photography, the music are pretty good. I just wish that Danny Boyle had followed the Jamal's character a little closer to the one portrayed in the book.

My two cents! I do not know what the criterias are to be chosen as "Best Film" at the Oscars, and I have only seen two of the other contestants, but I do not think it deserved it. I would not have given it to Benjamin Button either. Milk could have been a good choice (how about giving Milk the best movie, and best actor to Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler?) . As for The Reader and Frost/Nixon, not sure if they were best movies material.

Anyway, the above just reinforce my idea that the Oscars have become a "politically correct" event.

Bottom line: read the book, see the movie, and make up your own mind!

Today monday was delivery day!

Since a few of you expressed the wish to see how I furnish my apartment (but honest you should just come and visit so you can better appreciate the sofa! - yes it does fold out into a bed!)

And please let me introduce you to Chloe.

So I met my niece Chloe (she is 2 weeks old) for the first time. My parents said that she looks like me, and so did my sister-in-law's parents - apparently I looked exactly the same when I was this small. Personally I don't really see it, but if it is true, she is gonna be really cute and good looking when she grows up (wink wink). She is like any other baby: she cries, she sleeps, she eats. But sometimes she does smile in her sleep.

Have you ever met my nephew Martin?

So I went to spend the week-end in Paris, at my brother's house. It was really nice to be around familiar faces. I got to hang out with my nephew Martin, who is 2 1/2 years old. He talks a lot and loves to play. He has his moments for sure (you know they call it the "terrible two") but he does not throw tantrums. I think he just needs a little attention - the arrival of his sister, Chloe, was a big change for him but he is SO proud of her.

Wanna see what I see from my office window?

Too bad they are building offices! Bye bye cewl view!

Corporate Induction.

So this week, I have to attend the "corporate induction". I think it is quite interesting they call it "corporate" because we are a Swiss Foundation, and therefore do not fall under the "corporate" name. Anyway the purpose of such things, is to introduce the new comers to what the Fund does, the mission, the vision, how we do it, what departments in the company, etc...So we get 45mns presentation from each department. Feels like a little of being brain-washed because they all sing the same song: "we are doing great work, we are using the world's money to save lives". My favorite is from this lady from my team that said: "I think the new mission statement for the Global Fund should be: using the world's money to put funeral homes out of business". Because since The Global Fund has been investing in country programs, the mortality has decreased and therefore funeral homes are getting less business.

A figure struck me today though, without the efforts for the Global Fund (who has been around only for 7 years), 3.5 millions people would have died. Also, I have found out that we do not have any overheads (they are paid be the interest gained on the money given to the Fund from governments, so basically a dollar given to the Fund is used to support programs of treatment and prevention. Pretty cewl hey!

We had an HIV/AIDS training today, led by a 56 year old HIV positive man, who was diagnosed about 24 years ago - and surprisingly enough, amongst the 12 new comers in the room, I was probably the only one who had even met an HIV+ person, or was even aware of the HIV/AIDS story. And I kept wondering: "why did you guys decide to come and work here?". I was surprised on how little knowledge people had, but then I had to remind myself that if I had not moved to San Francisco, I would probably have been as ignorant as them. I felt privileged. Once again.

I am looking for the next two days session about TB and Malaria - it is gonna be new grounds for me and a learning experience. Hopefully I will have time to update this blog before I leave for Paris for the week end.

Remember, together we can make miracles happen.

Sabine

and when it is snowing.

this was taken Thursday of this week. at about 8am. It snowed pretty constantly that morning from 7am til about noon and the sun came out!

But here is the view from my kitchen window

when it is kind of sunny at 8am in the morning

View from Lounge Window

Ok, not so great - but remember i live in the city...but the playground is on the 3rd floor of the building across from me. I wonder if kids actually play on the swings in the summer!

View of the bathroom

You did ask for it....

The rug story.

So I have been looking for a rug to put in my new apartment. I saw this rug store that was going out of business. So I went in earlier this week and totally flashed on this beautiful blue rug, from Nepal, hand-made (see photo with the beautiful flowers sent to me by Damon, with the fire place in the background).

Anyway, many of you know that I am not the materialistic type and therefore hardly ever buy something like furniture and so forth. But this rug totally called my name (but the price tag didn't for sure). The reason for the shop to go out of business is the owner is retiring after being in the business for 55 years - he is now 70. So he gave me a good price. (So I though, what the heck....for once, I will ship something with me when I move! Plus I need a nice fluffy rug). And he tells me that he will deliver it the following day with this guy that comes and help out in the afternoon. I obviously warn him that I live on the 4th floor and no elevator.

So Friday arrives, and the shop owner shows up with his friend (who also happen to be 70) - so can you just imagine my face when those two guys show up to deliver my heavy rug, carrying it up 4th floor - I was praying that neither of them suffered a heart attack on the way to my apartment.

Once the rug delivered, they decided to check out my apartment, opening doors, checking my kitchen closets (and noticed all the bio food that I bought)! I felt like saying: "are you planning on moving in?. You got to love older people sometimes.

Anyway, the rug dealer was over the moon because such a nice lady (i.e yours truly) had given such a nice home to such a great rug!.

Life in Geneva

So I am slowly getting accustomed to a few things here: shops do close at 7pm on week-days, although Thursday is late nite shopping til 9pm. On Saturday shops close at 6pm and everything is closed on Sundays. Even many restaurants are closed on Sundays, and a few on Saturdays. So it is always a bit of a challenge to get things done. It takes forever to have furniture and appliances delivered (yes I am still waiting for my fridge and my stove - Reilly: I have a new appreciation for microwave food, so I can now totally related to you past experience!). And about 10 days to get your internet connection (I am still piggy-backing somebody'else, pretty slow, hence lack of blog update!)

The weather has been unpredictable for sure - one day it snows, one day it is sunny, or you might just get lucky and get both in the same day! However it does stay pretty cold.

Some of you have expressed the desire to see photos, so I will do so in subsequent posting with little anecdotes here and then. BTW - today I have finally put up curtains and curtain rods in my bedroom (my dad will be so proud!).

People go to Milan for one day just for a shopping trip, you can borrow bikes for free for a CHF 50 deposit, museums are free!. Begging is not allowed: they see it as a way for you to make money because they are a lot of services you can use so you should not beg, if you are caught begging, the police takes the money you "earned" and fines you...mmmm, interesting.

You need to pay for a bicycle licence (CHF 5/year) so that you park your bike in the bike parking zones, you need to pay for a dog licence (CHF 5/year) which pays for the "poo" bags available on the streets (although people don't seem to want to clean after their animals), they are pretty behind in terms of recycling (which drives me crazy!). But hey it is a new culture, with its good things and bad so let's ride it..

Where has Sabine been?

Really, nowhere....The work week has been mainly dealing with Carla Bruni-Sarkosy's visit to Burkina Faso. And no I have not met her. The Global is a fairly complex institution so I am still learning the ropes. They do invest a lot in their staff and they are plenty of opportunities for learning, which is great. They do encourage their staff to take one foreign language class. Obviously the class is outside working hours but it is paid for by the Fund. So I don't really have anything truely exciting on the work front at this point.

Elizabeth of Bavaria - photo 2 (read previous post first)

I like this picture a lot - the contrast of the snowing day with the colorful rose is just beautiful. And she was so pretty.

Elizabeth of Bavaria - photo 1

So while on my walk today along the lake, I came across this statue. It is a statue of Elizabeth of Bavaria, aka Sissi. If you have some time to kill, you should read about her (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_of_Bavaria#Assassination).

The statue is in commemoration of her 100th anniversary of her death - she was stabbed by a fanatic in 1898, while she walking along the lake. She loved traveling and Geneva was one of her favorite spot.

For me, it reminded me of the triology of "Sissi". The actress who played her was Romy Schneider, a german-austrian actress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romy_Schneider) who died at the age of 43. The "Sissi" triology is one of my favorite childhood movies.

Fancy a sauna/hot tubs in the lake?

So last year, the city renovated the "Bains des Paquis", which are saunas and hamams on the lake, and also a swimming pool. Ok, it is not as luxurious as the Sutro baths but I think it is pretty cewl. I was there last sunday when it was sunny, and the place was packed. You need to make reservations on the week end. Although the weather was not that great, I still think it would be pretty cewl to be in a hot tub, with water coming from the lake (btw the lake is so clean it is unbelievable) and still "enjoying" the fact it is snowing (and cold).

Geneva lake - Sausalito marina under the snow?

Can you imagine the Sausalito marina under the snow?

The person that lives here must be from SF

I had to take this photo - reminded me of SF.

Geneva - Left Bank another photo.

Difference angle...It was snowing when I took the photos. But what did they do to the top of the Xmas trees?

Geneva - the left bank from the right bank of the lake

So here is a photo of the left bank (where all the rich people live I guess) - from the right bank (where I live - this square in only 5mns walk from my apartment). And this is the weather at 3:30pm. When it is sunny, you can see the mountains - but not today.

Biking in the snow.

Geneva is a biking (and a scooter) city, full of biking lanes. The city is pretty flat (no SF hills to conquer!). Even the winter does not seem to stop people. They still bike even when it is snowing. It looks like bikes are left outside, with locks and you do not see any without any missing seats, wheels, baskets...So I guess one can say that people are civilized and respect other people's property? But don't they look pretty covered in snow?

I found a place to live - woohoo

Here is the building I will be living in. My apartement is on the 4th floor (btw, ground floor is called ground floor and not 1st floor) and no elevator (no big deal, my butt needs the steps exercise). Third window from the balcony is my lounge, the last one is my bedroom's. The kitchen is on the other side of the building.

Yes - after visiting about 10 to 15 apartments, and applying for each and everyone of them - even if I was not too keen on them...(that's what you got to do in Geneva since the market is saturated). I finally found an apartment and should sign the lease on monday, and hopefully move in on Wednesday. It is in an old building, big one bedroom apartment with fire place in the lounge, hallway and big kitchen and decent closets.

Riots in Geneva, really?

So on Satuday afternoon, a demonstration organized by the extremist left of Switzerland decided to take up the streets. Purpose: to demonstrate about The World Economic Forum. The group is mainly composed of 18-25 years that want to change the world (and don't we all?) - we've all had our moments of being fed-up with what's going on in the world and thought that taking up the streets and creating chaos was a good idea. What do they want? Well, equality for all, no social classes, jobs for everybody...blah, blah, sounds like communism or extreme socialism to me.

Well, since the demonstration was not authorized by the police, it was no surprise that there were some police-demonstrators clashes.

One thing to acknowledge though - Swiss police is organised for sure. The route was announced, so the police decided to cordon off the start point, dressed up in their riot gear - honestly, they looked more like ice-hockey players with a big "police" written on their back.

I read an article in the paper this morning, and the organizers didn't want to show their faces because they didn't want to be seen as leaders and highjack the purpose of the demonstration. To them, as say: "assume and be accountable".

Also, I got to think that, all those 18-25 years, are probalby Swiss citizens, enjoying the Swiss capitalism and social services...I wonder if any of them has ever experienced lining up outside of a grocery store for a few hours, hoping to buy even an ounce of butter - as my grand-parents and other family did in Poland before the fall of communism. Also, did they hear the news about China laying people off? Everybody is affected.

Oh, well we all need to be 18 to 25, and express our idealism. For my part, I now do I have a swiss bank account, have the privilege to work for an international organisation that helps people that need the developing countries'help - so I guess we all need to find what makes us tick...and find what we can truly believe in. I do have my ideals but I won't tempt the odds to clash with the police.

By the way, I did try to pretend I was a photo-journalist, but my camera battery died. So maybe next time you will get some photos of the action.