Just another beautiful, sunny day in Lausanne

We are probably in the midst of some of the last sunny and warm days here, so Yann and I decided to have a picnic lunch at the lake.

Tonight, we will be attending one of the last IMD bbq's of the year at the home of a few of the students. The outdoor pools have closed, the paths that were closed for the summer are open again and things are feeling much more fall-like. With interviews coming up for the students, along with more and more job applications, in no time we will be getting ready for our next adventure.

Outdoor Photo Exhibit

I have spent the past two days in the beautiful town of Vevey going through their huge outdoor photo exhibit. It is a really cool project that they put on every 2 years throughout the city and in a few of the buildings. Nicholas and I spent Sunday seeing practically every single piece and yesterday I went back with Yann et co. to see the last few exhibits that we had missed. You get a map of the city, below, with the various pieces of art marked on it and then you wander around discovering both the city and the art. So fun!

Some of the highlights and the album

Vevey exhibit 2010-09-06

Photo of prostitute on outside of old jail

underground/homeless exhibit in underground metro station

Timely piece- Recently banned Minaret on outside of building. 

When I saw this electric red/orange wall, I just knew this would be the backdrop to endless amazing photos- and it was! 

My twin

martial arts kick-punch sequence

The three of us

Having the time of my life :) 

Hotmail Fail.

Yesterday, my email account was hacked and a message was sent to my entire address book asking for money. I was walking in beautiful, sunny Vevey with my husband, enjoying the gorgeous outdoor photo exhibit  when I received a call on my Swiss cell phone from my dad. I freaked out as he never calls this number and feared something happened in the family. I soon found out that I was the victim. After mentioning the email, he went on to state his opinions on how this was obviously a scam because the embassy would have been helpful, etc, etc. I became annoyed. Ugh.

This is how clever hackers are nowadays:

The email started off with emotions, which I give the hacker credit, I do like to lead stories with a tug at the heartstrings, but then s/he got it all wrong. Sure, if you know me even a little bit and have been in touch in the past year, you would know that the email did not make sense for a few reasons. Here are my two biggest complaints, although I could go on and on about them all.

1. Horrendous grammar. I mean, I am no English pro, but I hate a poorly worded and spelled email. Lodged? I have never used this word in my life. Correct tense and all, but not a favorite word of mine. I get nauseous every time I read this and see my name signed at the end. 
2. Hotel bill for $1450?? Can you say student budget and ramen noodles for a year? How the heck does one spend $1450 on hotels for a short vacation? If this situation did happen, for future reference, the skype call would have gone something like this: "Hey, I am totally embarrassed, but since we are staying in the "dodgy"part of town at this extremely cheap hostel, we got mugged. Luckily, we only owe $120 for 3 nights at the hostel for 2 people and the muggers got away with our student IDs and 10 CHF. Haha, that won't even work here. Good thing the UK and Switzerland decided not to go Euro ;) Anyways, I don't actually need the cash since the hostel manager is understanding, but just wanted to call to tell you the ridiculous story. We are fine and heading back on our easyjet flight shortly."

I hate anyone that does anything like this. I felt violated for having someone go through my account, change all my details and block me from what is mine. It was like someone went to rob my house, found it empty, but stayed inside, changed the locks, maybe even waited for someone to stop by with some cash. Get out of my place!!! I definitely learned my lesson and my super-techy man has berated me about the need for strong passwords that are routinely changed. 

Thank you to everyone who after reading the clearly bogus email for the concern and the emails, calls, messages. The only thing that actually had me worried was that our family in Colombia that doesn't know my English written "voice."They were worried and they are kind people, almost kind enough to believe that horribly written email, but luckily one cousin replied "LOL, we are Colombian, we know when something is a scam." 

For all of those out there who are still thinking, geesh, I would have liked to send you money. Nicholas is currently accepting donations :) 

Labor Day Weekend

Strange how when you leave the US you forget about some of the dates that were so pinnacle- like Labor Day weekend. Back home, I used to plan ahead to see where we would travel for the weekend or at least what great bbq's we could throw for the "last" weekend of summer. Now that we are here, we have other, new holidays to celebrate and some great ones creep up, almost forgotten.

Happy Labor Day for everyone back in the States! 

Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life

Three things of note today, 9/02/10

1. Dave and Caitlin are here. Loving it, YAY!!!

2. Equally as importantly, the Buckeyes first game is today!!!

3. Today's date: 90210. Nothing like a day to celebrate the Walsh's :)

Back in the Swing of Things

Now that the temperature has dropped to a ridiculously fall-like weather, our French classes have begun, and my running is back in place, things are starting to feel like normal around here.

With only 3 months left, I have vowed to enjoy all that this country has to offer by going to the mountains often, swimming a few more times in the lake and enjoying all the new friends I have made. We have no idea where we will go next, but we are enjoying the moment, before it is gone.