My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.


Man, I am such a sucker. Whenever someone techy and geeky tells me 'this site is soooo cool..you gotta check it out!', I do it. Well, I thought this was actually kinda cool. For all of those people who swore up and down that my look-a-like was Julia Roberts....she is not even in the top 8! And Kim....isn't this the same Kristen Bell that went to our school and was a soap opera star? That's weird!
Alright...I'm done being goofy. For now, at least...until another dork recommends one of these sites to me.

"An Eagle has landed!"

Well, maybe not a real eagle, but rather an Abilene Eagle....as in Abilene H.S., rival of MY high school:) Okaaayyyy...now that no one knows what the heck I'm talking about, I'll continue. So, my friend, Heather, just moved to Rome a couple of weeks ago to be with her fiance. They didn't stamp her passport, which is imperative for a permit, so she had to leave the country and go back in. And, of course, she chose her super, ultra cool friend in Geneva to visit while doing this:) (ME!)

So, she flew in for a few hours on Tuesday to have lunch with me and then flew back....how cool is it to say,"My friend is flying in from Rome to have lunch with me." !! I was so excited to see her and to know that she is living, permanently, on this side of the ocean:) Welcome back, Heather!

What else? Oh yeah...we solved the tree mystery. I know...you were all losing so much sleep over that! So, it's a Cherry Blossom tree and NOT a Magnolia. Good to know. Thanks to all who wrote to clarify that for me:)

Well, besides the crazy weather here (it goes through all 4 seasons in one day....NO LIE! Sun, snow, warm, cold....make up your mind!!!!), all is good and right in the world. I'm looking forward to my 4 day weekend in 1 1/2 weeks when Easter arrives. Til then, I'm sure I'll be working hard;)

Oh, one more thing. Thanks to a big bully at work, I now have a Facebook site. So you guys (the ones who have Facebook) better invite me as your friend! I am really starting to get into this:)

Ta ta for now!

Spring is in the Air

Howdy everyone! Well, I don't have a ton to say (I know what you're thinking..."I've heard that before!"), but I wanted to check in nevertheless. Things here in Switz are good. Spring is around the corner, as you can tell from this picture I took on the way to work. I think it's a cherry blossom tree, no? Anyone have an idea on this? Or maybe a Magnolia, but I don't know if I would recognize one of those. Anywho, who's to say how long this nice weather will last. Apparently they're forecasting snow for tomorrow and Tuesday! If there's one thing I love about this country, it's Spring! So many flowers blooming, and the weather is just awesome....I'm sure I will have a hard time concentrating on work when it's 25 degrees(Celsius) outside and the sun is shining. The days of spending whole afternoons at the park with the baby are long gone now!

I had a major scare last week with my graduation date. I called the school to check up on my diploma, since I was supposed to have received it awhile ago. And just before I hung up, I thought I'd better double check on the graduation date (since Kim and Lee are flying all the way from the U.S., I wanted to be sure!). The registrar says, "Oh yeah, they changed it to May 13th because the speaker couldn't come on June 3rd." What?!! How do they make a decision like that 3 months before when every student at that school is from some other continent! I'm sure that the students are more organized than the administration and have told their friends and family of the date so that they can book their tickets. So I was really upset and told her that my friends already bought their tickets and couldn't ask for different days off from work. All she could say was that she was sorry. I realize that it's not her fault, but I was still a bit mad. So I told Kim and Lee that the date changed, but that it was alright...blah, blah, blah. Then 3 days later I get an email from the registrar telling me that they decided to keep the same date since it was better for everyone. Uh...ya think?! Anyway, I was really happy and relieved to know that everyone I invited would be able to come. Except, of course, for my dad who, to my surprise, started looking at ticket prices to come over for the May 13th graduation so that I would have at least one person there to watch me walk(awww, so sweet!). But I didn't find that out until I had sent him the news that it had changed back...Faja, you are most welcome to be there on June 3rd! It's not too late, and I can book an extra ticket for Rome:)

I spent yesterday at the Festival du Chocolat (Chocolate Festival....wow, that was a hard translation!) in Versoix, where my friend Sandra lives. It was really nice and the smell of chocolate all around was, well, sweet:) My favorite part, though, were the little cups of fresh cut fruit with chocolate poured over it....for only 1 chf! 1 franc!! You can't even pee in restrooms for one franc! I was so excited about that:) I invited a guy I have started to see, Alejandro, and we hung out with Sandra and her family, plus another family that is friends with Sandra. Half the people there were Spanish speakers so I actually had the opportunity to learn a lot. Muy fun! (Note to self...that's the second time you've said that. Find out the word for 'fun') Sandra always gets a kick out of me speaking Spanish...she's describes it as 'cute'. Don't know how to take that, but I'll try to see it as a compliment;)

Well, like I said up top, I don't really have a lot to say;) Hey...you guys complain about how much I talk, but you know you love it and would be lost without my stories;) Til next time, boys and girls!

Hola, Salut, Ciao, Hello!

So, it's been awhile since my last substantial post:) I'm still surviving at the U.N., and I really like what I'm doing (which is always good!). I did have my boss tell me that my writing is too 'American' for the U.N., so I've now been practicing how to write in U.N. language. Random, I know, but apparently I am too 'to-the-point' and need to be more diplomatic or something. I'm going to try to write my next paragraph as if it was an exercise, ok? Just for fun, and to annoy you all:)

U.N. version:
As more exercise needs to be incorporated into daily life, it is my wish to seek out available activities in order to achieve this. I recently discovered that a Director here is offering karate classes during the lunch hours, and quickly took advantage of this opportunity. There has been much progression in the past four meetings, and I am hopeful that this will continue. Perhaps the most difficult obstacle to overcome is the stretches. For example, as my legs are being pushed further and further apart, there is some concern that certain muscles will become severed.

Melissa a.k.a American version:
One of my main goals now is to be more fit, so I've been looking into all kinds of sports. A Director at the ITC is a black belt in karate and asked if I wanted to start classes (for free!), so I thought it would be cool to learn something different. I'm the only 'student', which is nice because we can go at my pace. The only thing is that I feel as if my muscles are being ripped apart because he insists on pushing my legs as far apart as they will go, and then pulls me forward to 'stretch'. Actually, the stretching is the hardest part of the whole thing!

I don't know if you all could see the difference, but it took me 10 minutes to write the first one, and 2 to write the second version. It's not as easy as it sounds!

I'm going to Rome with Kim and Lee at the end of May, and I'm sooooo excited! I've been there once, but didn't get to see anything (insert story about dysfunctional ex). So, this time around, I will definitely have a great time. And the cost of the ticket was unbelievable! Even for here, with all of the low cost carriers, the price was amazing. We paid $90 each, round trip from Geneva to Rome. If any of you have been there and know of some good hostels/hotels, I'm all ears:)

Well, that's pretty much all I have for now...I hope that everyone is doing well, and I await your updates!