The European Dream

For centuries, Europeans (and other people around the world in search of a better life) have talked of the American Dream. Well, now us Americans can talk of the European Dream, among whose benefits include guaranteed healthcare, a massive social safety net, and most importantly, good coffee. I am not a particularly superficial guy, but I must admit that my first action always upon disembarking from a voyage to Europe is to get a good cup of coffee. I mean, you can hide the fact that the coffee isn´t very good in the US by going to good local coffee shops regularly - which I do, but once you have that good European coffee going through your system, it makes even the best American coffee shop look like... well, I'll keep my first post on this relaunching of my blog G rated.

Usually when I travel I have some good story about meeting someone interesting or having my luggage lost (or almost lost) or being delayed for hours in a dreadful spot. Although I did meet a mildly interesting American-Italian, the highlight of my travels came about 30 minutes after leaving Pittsburgh (which made for a very long rest of the journey) when I saw Dickinson from the air. It was a perfectly clear day, and I was able to follow I 76 all the way from Pittsburgh. About halfway to Philadelphia, I looked down and saw a mid-sized town, then some warehouses to the west, then the track, and then, the thing that made me absolutely certain was the Kline. The guy next to me at the point muttered some question wondering where we were, and I was able to tell him with 100% certainty that we were over Carlisle, PA. The perfect way to say au revoir to the life I could have been living this year. I'll miss those of you at Dickinson (and abroad) a lot this year, but I can't help but be excited for the adventures to come, so what better way to say goodbye than from the very beginning of said adventures.

After arriving yesterday, I simply did everything in my power just to stay awake. My 7 year old cousin of course obliged in helping keep me awake with a full range of energy draining activities, most of which involved me running around trying to catch her. So I managed to stay awake until about 9:30. I then slept for 14 hours straight.... Today is a pretty miserable day in Geneva with much rain in fits and spurts, so it didn't seem to be a great day for walking around. My aunt was very gracious, however, in inviting me to lunch with several of her colleagues from the ILO. It was a delightful lunch at an authentic Galician (from northeastern Spain) restaurant to wet my tongue for Spanish cuisine.

The hope is that tomorrow the weather is better and that I may be able to stretch the legs a bit and get to know my new camera - either around Geneva or some other place nearby. If I can figure out how to post photos, you will see the good ones when I have them. For now, take care wherever you are, and expect another post upon my arrival in Spain.