watson petting zoo part 04: moutons (france)
Posted by christolles | Filed under France, Petting Zoo
Two weeks ago, Tory and I had the pleasure of lunch at the Lallys’ house, a British family who moved to France a few years ago. They live in Prévessin (I think), just 10 minutes into France, and enjoy a stunningly serene backyard within walking distance of the Jura mountains. With Duncan and Heather (the parents, age unknown), Lois (11 years old), Johnathan (9), Amy (7), and Lizzy (4, we think), we went for an amazing walk after a gut-stretching meal of tartiflette, which is most simply explained as potatoes au gratin with more cheese and pork. Awesome. Also joining us for the walk were our dearest new friends Paula and Yannick, who graciously gave us a place to stay when we got scammed out of $2000 and were homeless in Geneva (more on that in a later post maybe).
Just down the block from the house is a small pasture with sheep, whom by the time I arrived were already being hand-fed grass by the younger Lallys. Though their pen was quite spacious (certainly larger than any apartment I’ve ever lived in), they had eaten the yard down to nothing over the summer, and were glad to finally get some of that wonderful long lush grass that had been taunting them from the other side of the fence. The kids say they used to be cuter.
And by glad, I mean they just about decapitated themselves trying to get to the beyond-fence grass once we stopped feeding them. How did it fit its enormous furry head through that tiny hole?!
There was also a shy, silent calf in the barn next door. That’s Lizzy, the youngest, coaxing it more successfully than the rest of us.
The whole crew (sans photographer) posed for a photo post-walk, and I assured them it would bring them quickly to disrepute on our blog - hopefully none of them are international felons whose cover I’ve just blown. Lallys on the left, then Paula (from St. Lucia) and ol’ one-eyed Yannick (from Belgium, where they ride comically small bicycles).
yesterday i ran by all 23 human chromosomes
Posted by torytolles | Filed under Switzerland
Le Jardin Botanique is my favorite place in Geneva and they just opened an exhibit on the human genome, complete with 20 ft inflatable chromosomes. Amazing. Le Jardin is the same place where Chris and I recently invented a yet-untitled version of tag: (Chris+bike) x (Tory+running shoes) / (gravel paths+winding brooks+innocent bystanders) = |hilarity|.
And now for the rest of the comprehensive update.
My dear friend, Paula, procured an invitation from a UN official so that I might join her for a luncheon feast at the United Nations. To enter the United Nations domain, one needs an official invitation, and the ever-so-flattering staff(?!) badge pictured above. Following the feast, Paula escorted me on a private tour of the building and grounds. Standing in the Assembly Hall (the room televised during important negotiations and announcements), I felt the reverence usually reserved for grand cathedrals; the walls emit a portion of the grandeur absorbed during high profile negotiations.
Two weekends ago, Heather and Lois, other friends from Crossroads Church, invited me to join them in un natation (a formal swim) in Lake Geneva. For fifteen francs, I was given a swim cap, UNICEF baseball cap, t-shirt, the pleasure of swimming 1km in sixty degree (fahrenheit) water, and a parasite infestation. About twenty hours post-swim, I started to itch. I woke Chris. ”I think I got duck lice.” ”Yuck! Are they crawling around our bed?” That was not the reassuring response I had hoped for. Instead, WebMD explained that the mosquito-bite-esque red bumps then covering my body result from tiny worms burrowing into my skin and dying there because they cannot survive with humans for hosts. Thank goodness I am not a duck. On the whole, the experience was totally worth it - and might be repeated (minus the parasite) next weekend in a sprint triathlon.
While training for the aforementioned natation, I got an internship! One night Chris played ultimate frisbee with some other interns by the lake - and I met Johanna. She is an environmental policy lawyer who swims 1k each day with her two golden retrievers. I’ve ben swimming and working with her for two weeks now. I’ve been editing papers of her for the Earth Charter Initiative. It has been super fun and super interesting and I really enjoy feeling like a productive member of society once more, even if it means I’ve slacked on keeping you all updated.
