Poor Germany

The Euro 2008 wrapped up and I'm sad to say Germany lost. Condolences to my German friends. This photo was clearly taken with them before the game. I hear there were tears after...

Geneva was host to some of the games so the streets of Geneva have been filled with men, women and children wearing flags as capes and honking horns for the last 2 weeks. I can tell you that the Portuguese are the loudest honkers ;) Or maybe it's just that we have a huge Portuguese community in Geneva (~10% I'm told).

Anyway, the "fanzone" is where all the games were shown on the jumbo screen, so that's where I was for the grand finale. Last night was packed with surprisingly lots of Spanish fans, not as many German fans. And as you all know, I'm not the biggest sports fan, so really all that I can say beyond this is that there was beer, German and Spanish cheering and lots of people watching some men chase a silver ball (a special ball evidently for the final game). Personally, I really enjoyed the bizarro waltz inspired, symbolic opening ceremony and the Super Bowl inspired half time show with Enrique Iglesias tyring to make a come back (thankfully with no Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunctions).

In other news, we had a little international picnic before the game. Lots of great food made by the crew. I'm hoping to get the recipes for some yummy Indian and Thai curries and Korean pancakes. Next on the list of Swiss fun: The Chocolate Train. Yes, I'm sure it will be as good as it sounds because just when you thought it couldn't get better, you find out that Gruyere is involved too.

What's next?

The Italian roommate headed out yesterday so we had our first sad goodbye. But what an exciting time for everyone. He is headed to Laos and everyone else will be spread all over the world working for different UN organizations, NGOs, private-public partnerships and some private firms. There are several headed to Nairobi, some to Rome, some in Geneva, Sydney and India, and others who are still figuring it all out.

So I'm sure you are all wondering what I have figured out and where I will land next...First, the next 6 months: I still have my thesis and a couple of classes to take at Georgetown, so while I'm done with the MBA, I have the fall to finish the MPP. I'm spending July in Texas to see family and friends. And I'll be working on my thesis as well as a feasibility study for a social enterprise that I'm very excited about. I'll officially be done in December and have plans to stay in DC. Which brings me to what I think I want to do...Broadly speaking, I'm looking at public affairs, CSR and strategic consulting jobs. And I'll just leave it at that for now for the purposes of the blog-ola, and promise to fill you all in more over a nice cold one in the hot TX sun or swampy DC!

10 days left...Wow

It's hard to believe, but I only have 10 short days left in Geneva. I've been working away, but also enjoying the last moments here and reflecting a bit on the last year. I'm going to make it a point to write more in the coming days on all of that to fill in some of the gaps from the year that I just didn't get around to blogging about...Technically, I'm a bit sleep deprived and swamped right now with exams, projects and papers and should not be blogging about, but oh well. You all deserve some good content after a year of few updates! And let's be honest, I like to procrastinate.

So the latest: I spent last weekend in the South of France with a friend from school who is from Aix-en Provence. It was a fantastic last trip! I enjoyed Aix, known for all of its gorgeous fountains and art (home to Cezanne, in fact). I also made it to Lourmarin, a party in the beautiful country side and enjoyed some time on the coast sailing between Cassis and Marseille. All in all, not too shabby.
And while I have certainly developed a love/hate relationship with good ol' Genevieve, she has charm as well. We were treated to a cruise on the lake last week, and I captured a great pic of Geneva with a little Euro 2008 flare. Evidently, that ball cost the city a fortune and hassle, but it's great for a photo :) And yes, the Euro is all about Geneva. As I'm not the biggest sports fan, I have yet to make it to the fan zone to watch a game but plan to for the finale on Sunday, so stay tuned...