Last week we had Thursday and Friday off of school so I took off for the weekend and went to Geneva, Switzerland to stay with some cousins I have there and see some sites. I haven´t seen these cousins in probably about 10 years so it was really good to catch up. On Friday, Aunt Annette took me to the international side of Geneva. She showed me some of the big buildings and explained what they´re used for, and we got to go on a tour of the United Nations building which was really interesting because I didn´t know very much about what they do and are used for. Friday night was a going away party for my cousin, Elise. She´s going to be studying for six months in Alaska. I don´t speak a word of French so her friends had a nice time practicing their English. It was really weird to be in a place where something besides Spanish is the language being spoken because I kept hearing a foreign language and that made me want to be speaking in Spanish. I´m glad to be back where I can semi-communicate with the people, but French is a really pretty language to listen to.
On Saturday, cousin Alexzandra got there with a friend. Olivier showed us around the old part of Geneva. This weekend was the Escalade which is a festival that commemorates the last attack on Geneva which was in 1602 and everyone wears Medieval clothes and we say cannons fired and sword fights and all that fun stuff. It´s the only festival they have all year and it seems to me a slightly strange thing to celebrate, but it was fun. We got to celebrate Alexzandra´s birthday so we went out to a restaurant and had fondue. It was a cute place with guys playing traditional music and wearing costumes and playing instruments like cowbells and a really really long horn. 
On Sunday, Aunt Annette and Uncle Pierre took Alexzandra, her friend and I to the mountains for a little excursion. We went to the mountains right on the border between France and Switzerland. There was a little train that we took to the top of the mountain, and it brought us to one of the most beautiful views I´ve ever seen. It was also refreshing to see some snow up there, but it was also good to be able to escape the snow just by going back down the mountain. We then went to the Chateau Chillon which is a little castle right on the lake. They had a medieval village set up inside so it was really fun to look around and imagine how much it would stink living there without modern conveniences. This castle is where Mary Shelley got her inspiration to write Frankenstein. It was really beautiful and a little creepy when we went down to the prison area. There was a door about 10 or 15ft off the ground and the tour guide told us that was the entrance where they literally ´threw people into prison.´ Ouch. On the way home, we saw the most beautiful sunset I´ve ever seen in my life. My pictures don´t do it justice, but seeing the mountains and the colors painted across the sky just made me really think about how awesome God is that he would give us something so beautiful. It´s so true how His creation cries out with His majesty. 
I had a really awesome weekend, and my cousins were so hospitable! It´s amazing to be blessed with such great family and people who will take care of you. I´m a little bit sick now. I think I caught a cold on the airplane or something so I´m going to be spending this week resting up as much as possible because my Christmas trip is just around the corner and I´ll need to be in tip top shape. I miss everyone, and if you think of it, shoot me and email or facebook message about what´s going on in your life because I´m pretty cut off from everyone at home. Talk to you soon!
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