Bossey Beginnings + Birthday — LIFE ILLUMINATED TRAVEL

First published September 19, 2010

Bonjour! Greetings from Switzerland, finally! It has been a week now, though it feels like a month! I have already seen beaucoup (many) sites, met so many amazing people from around the world, and had quite a thorough orientation. Thankfully, our daily 10-12 hour sessions were broken up by three meals, two chapel services, and two coffee breaks. That sounds like a lot of stopping and going, but as fascinating as the orientation sessions were, the breaks never seemed long enough. Thankfully, I found ways to get my own personal “breather” time in during the week. From Bossey I went toward the nearby village of Founex on exploratory walks and adventurous bike rides through rolling vineyards, past luscious apple orchards and almost “as-high-as-an-elephant’s-eye” corn fields. Simply spectacular.

Another exciting event occurred on Thursday—I celebrated my 25th year of life!! It was a full day of celebrating! First of all, it was glorious weather. It has been a mix since I arrived, so this was such a gift. Then, we had an absolutely fantastic sunset!! Many of you know how I am about clouds… I was quite satisfied.

Newton (Jamaica) to my left, Sadaf (Pakistan) on the floor, Bekah (USA) at the wall, Xin Xin (China) singing and Ashraf (Palestine) bearing the cake.

Now, rewind to the morning. My newly made friends managed to surprise me multiple times throughout the day! My friend Adel from Egypt called my room saying he need to speak with me before we walked over for breakfast and when I opened the door everyone was standing outside!! They all sang to me and presented me with a beautiful card with VanGough’s Irises on the front and everyone’s signatures and kind words inside.

Ashraf (Palestine), Sr. Rosemary (Colombia), Newton (Jamaica), Zongpu (China), Xin Xin (China), Denys (Ukraine), Pehr Albin (Sweden), Bekah (USA), Ilya (Russia), Sr. Rimelda (Guatemala), Megi (Georgia), Dixon (Jamaica), Hailu (Ethiopia), Sr. Niculina, Sr. Harissa, Verena (Nigeria), Beril (Indonesia).

Then, in the evening they attempted to surprise me yet again, but I knew something was up this time because Petit Bossey (the house we all live in) was eerily quiet and empty. I had also seen Sister Rosemary (a Catholic nun from Columbia) dash into the room when I first came into the house. Nonetheless, I played along because it was great fun and I love surprises (nice ones, that is). So, JoAnne (my friend from China/Canada) tried to casually walk with me down to the living room and when I opened the door everyone popped out from their hiding places and sang to me again! This time, however, I received songs in English, Spanish (Sr. Rosemary from Colombia and Sr. Rimelda from Guatemala), Urdu (from Razia and Sadaf my Pakistani friends), Arabic (from Ashraf and Adel), Ukranian (from Sergey and Denys), and Georgian (from Megi). They had even bought quite a bit of wine, soda, and iced tea for us all to enjoy. So, that was not a total surprise, but what followed was. After 15 or more minutes, the lights went out and I looked to the door to see Ashraf, my friend from Palestine, carrying in a cake! Everyone sang to me, yet again, while I made a wish and blew out my candles. Then my two classmates, Romanian sisters (nuns) Niculina and Harissa sang me the most beautiful and slightly haunting birthday song and presented me with a black knotted bracelet with two pearls and a sliver cross in the middle. What kindness! And where did this come from? The night proceeded with delicious wine and joyful dancing. What a gift of a day!

I will have to give more details in another post so this doesn’t get too long. I have yet to share about some of the class sessions, my visit to the quaint hill town Russin for their harvest festival and the Reformation museum and the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Genève. More to come! Classes start tomorrow (History of Ecumenism and Ecumenical theology…my other class, Ecu. Biblical Hermeneutics is Tuesday)…or today because it’s 12:15 so, I’m off to bed!