The Grass is Always Greener

I left Miami Monday night on a plane to Madrid. The few days leading up, I felt  tugged by a mix of emotions--I was extremely excited to for my trip, but also sad that I'd be leaving people and the comfort of home. In the end, excitement seems to have won.

My red eye to Madrid was perfectly fine and I seemed to have plenty of time for my layover; however, when it was time to board for Geneva, well, we didn't start boarding. Eventually, the flight attendants told us that France was on strike, and hence they needed to get clearance in order to fly through. My flight ended up being 2 hours delayed, but I made it safely to Geneva and then (after a few struggles and missed buses) found my way to my apartment. I am staying in a small French town, St. Genis Pouilly, on the Franco-Swiss boarder--it is a mere 10 min bike ride away from CERN and an absolutely beautiful town. It is exactly what you would picture a small French town to be: abundant flowers in fields, pastisseries, fromageries and charcuteries on every corner, cows roaming on fields, mountains in the background.

Pastry shop in St. Genis

Specialty local cheese shop in St. Genis

So far at work I've really just done preliminary things--I had to go through all the registration&security logistics the first day to get my ID, go through security clearance, etc., and have since been doing background research to be more acquainted with my research. Everyone I am working with is very sweet and helpful, and I know that this is going to be a great summer.

CERN's globe--it's identifying feature from above the ground.

Yesterday after work I went on a bike ride to a nearby mall in Val-Thoiry. Biking through the country towns was gorgeous and the mall itself was really fun to explore. I got some incredible buys there including a bikini top for a euro and a bottle of basil infused olive oil for 2. Still, there was something else that struck me about the mall--all of the t-shirts at various clothing stores were advertising distant places, none said France or Switzerland on them. A couple of the stores, in particular, seemed to be devoted to one city: Miami. Every rack I went to had a t-shirt with picture of Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, Biscayne, or Brickell on it. Walking through town this morning I saw a man wearing a Lebron James jersey (go Heat!). It was incredible, I left Miami 4 days ago extremely excited about Europe, yet I arrive here and signs for Miami are everywhere. It seems the grass really is always greener on the other side. (or Miami actually is the best place ever. That's still possible.)

But as for now, things are looking pretty green to me here.

A trail hugging a creak near my apartment in St. Genis.