New bike!

This has been a pretty productive weekend--I successfully did a load of laundry, swam in the lake, rediscovered my dislike of clubbing, got a used bike, biked around the countryside, and, most importantly, found a fabulous new apartment!

I have decided to stay put in my current apartment until the end of June, when I will move into a really nice studio in Eaux-Vives until I leave. Hopefully the next month here will be ok. Now that I know not to put anything in the dryer (Did you know that there is no such thing as a dryer that can dry a towel? It just doesn't exist!), things should go much more smoothly.

Saturday morning I woke up early to go to the used bike sale in a square near my apartment. I was able to get this lovely bike for only 100CHF (believe me, this is incredibly cheap). Take that Switzerland! I bought something reasonably priced in you!

After buying the bike, I developed an intense craving for mexican food, and was surprised to find out (via googlemaps) that Geneva does indeed have a Mexican restaurant. Nacho and I tried to go at 2pm, but I had forgotten that in Geneva, restaurants are only open when you're not hungry. So, after settling for non-Mexican food, I took my new bike for a spin around town. I passed by the Geneve-plage and remembered that the big Olympic sized pool there was to open that day. So I rode home, grabbed my bathing suit, and took a boat back across the lake to discover that the pool was still under renovation that was meant to have been completed. But---the lake portion of the plage was open for swimming, despite being 15 degrees and under overcast skies. But, since I had made the effort to come, I felt I must swim, so in I went, bikini and all. The lifeguards thought I was crazy. It was pretty cold, but I got used to it.

Saturday evening, my wise bike shopping was completely canceled out by a night out on the town. I was convinced to go out to a club with my Nigerian friends and several of their friends who seem to know all about this clubbing scene. Part of said scene consists of people hovering around the entrance of the club hoping to get in so that they can be seen there. The bouncers wave some in and turn others away depending on who you know and how cool you look (sunglasses = cool). Apparently someone we were with knew people there, but our group of 11 was too large to allowed in under any circumstances. So, we moved to the appropriately named B-club. I think I much prefer the waiting outside part of clubbing to the being in the club part. It was basically a smoke filled den full of 18 year old dancing and really loud music. (Am I old? It sounds like I might be old.) Anyways, I left before finding out how much the large bottle of vodka ordered by the table cost. My guess--800CHF. I'm not exaggerating. I'll ask my friend next time I see him.

This morning after a very difficult internal debate about getting out of bed, I managed to make it to the Sunday cycling group. In my half-awake state, I accidentally ordered a tartine of what is apparently the Swiss equivalent of vegemite. EW. The ride was really nice, along the Arve and then through the countryside and vineyards. Beautiful!

After the ride, I went to see the new studio in Eaux-Vives, which is on the other side of the lake and a really nice part of town. The studio is great--really big, great location, and best of all, my landlady doesn't live there. Now I just need to find my replacement for here, but it should be easier since I have a few weeks.

Now the weekend has once again come to an end, and I am realizing that I didn't get to sleep as much as I would have liked. Perhaps next weekend...