Sometimes . . . you get homesick.

I have been really homesick this week.  It comes in waves. Little things about being here start to irritate me more. Swiss-French attitudes start rubbing me the wrong way. My attempts at making food from home failed. I haven't called people at home enough. It all adds up.

We are just three weeks away from our half way point of our stay here. (Can you believe its been that long already?) I feel like I have just finally gotten a routine going and have sufficiently filled up my day with activities.

I have plenty to be happy about here. I have a lot to look forward too. But it doesn't stop me from longing for some California sunshine.

Rob and I have had lengthy discussions on how different the sky looks in different places in the world. I swear the sky has different clouds at different elevations and the colors all seem unique. The sky may be a little more gray in so cal and not quite so blue as clean Switzerland, but its still home and I miss it.

I mentioned the little things annoy me much more then usual. Geneva has a LARGE population of smokers. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 80% of people smoke here. It drove me nuts in the states and drives me even more nuts here. Sure, I can say to myself, "Just chalk it up to cultural differences and move on." But right now, I can't move past it. I was complaining to Rob about it at the bus stop last night, almost to the point of tears, and a man walks by us and picks up a used flat cigarette butt off the ground. He probably picked it up because somebody half smoked it waiting for the buss earlier. Rob couldn't help but laugh, I didn't find it that amusing. My biggest complaint - I can't even walk across the street to the gym without passing at least 3 people smoking. I am talking less then 100 yards here. I know I can't change things here, but I was sensitive already, I am even more sensitive now. Every whisp of smoke reminds me that I'm not at home.

The food making from home has been disastrous. I tried making baked Char Siu Bao (being inspired by Natalie) and read for multiple hours about it. It came out terribly. Something I miss so much, that cannot be shipped (don't even think about it Dad) I simply don't have the skill to make on my own. I spent 20 CHF trying to make it for something I can buy at home for $3. I almost cried when I tried it. 3 days of work (seriously - the recipe took 3 days of waiting for marinating and congealing) turned out to be fruitless.

To cheer me up - Rob made me think of a list of things that are upcoming to look forward to our life here. Hopefully this will help. To be honest, he came up with this list and I just nodded.

1. We are going to the Ferney market in the morning. This place always makes me happy. The bread guy likes to chat it up and we get great deals of fresh produce.

2. Sunday night we are going over to dinner at Rob's boss's house and I get to make an appetizer.

3. Easter weekend we are heading to the Cinque Terra. Going to eat a lot of focaccia bread and pesto. Also going to drink lots of white wine.

4. Next week I am going to get back on track with the gym. I was still recovering from my cold I had in Budapest and only made it twice instead of 5 times this week. Lack of exercise probably has sent my mood into this downward spiral even more.


Alright - that's the end of my vent. Writing this post has made me feel a little better. I miss and love everyone back home. I wish I could give you a big hug right now. Knowing that I simply physically can't right now hurts more then usual this week.