Gallimaufry 4

No Triple Crown winner in 2010

Kentucky Derby winner, Super Saver, did not win the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the US Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing, held yesterday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.  So the Triple Crown drought will continue for another year.   The winner, Lookin At Lucky, was the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in 2009 and had been the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.  Lookin At Lucky had bad racing luck then, as had been the case for him this year up until the Preakness.  He finished sixth in the Derby.  After the Derby loss, his trainer made a radical change in riders, deciding to use jockey Martin Garcia for the Preakness.  At 25, Garcia was the youngest jockey in the field and had previously only ridden Lookin At Lucky in workouts.  This combination proved to be lucky for Lookin At Lucky,  Above all, it proved to be a winning one.  Video footage of the race can be found here.

This year's attendance at the Preakness was a 23 percent increase over that in 2009.  I, for one am happy to see that because Pimlico has had its share of financial problems, to the extent that there has been concern that the course might be forced to close.  What a shame that would be!  Pimlico is where the famous match race between the legendary Seabiscuit and War Admiral took place in 1938.   HWMBO, then a small boy growing up in Baltimore, remembers hearing the race call on the radio.

"The Wire" used to study sociology, "social science-fiction" 

Continuing with Baltimore, the American TV drama series set in that city, "The Wire," called by many the best series in television history, will be used in the UK by sociology students to study "social science fiction."   Universities in the US that have already been using the series, which ran on the cable network HBO from 2002 to 2008, in similar fashion include Harvard, UC-Berkeley and Middlebury.  The series, a hard-hitting look at urban social issues via themes such as the the illegal drug trade, the port system, the city government and bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media, is known here as "Sur écoute" and is so popular that it's hard to keep up with demand.  Among others, both HWMBO and #1 Son recommended it to me.  It does a better job of making these issues "real" than do hours of documentaries.  I, for one, wish that someone, somewhere actually would have the courage, resources and political will to "follow the money" in real life and let the chips fall where they may.  An impossible dream?

The Guardian also has a book out featuring a collection of comments from its blog about the series.

On a positive note, the series creator, former journalist David Simon, has a new HBO series called "Treme" where "politics, music and heartbreak collide" in post-Katrina New Orleans that began showing last month.

Ash to ash - and so it goes

Airports are being closed again because of more ash from Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano in Iceland that just keeps on erupting.  Discovery channel footage can be seen here.  The five-day outlook doesn't look good.

In the meantime, I'm just hoping to see the sun again.  Someday.  Preferably someday soon.

Fitting in

There is an entire section of today's Geneva Tribune dedicated to how international expatriates are managing - or not, as is more often the case - to become integrated into Swiss culture.  The feature article, entitled "Il n'est pas facile de se faire des amis suisses" ("It isn't easy to make Swiss friends"), follows the so-far unrewarded efforts of Kelly Brownlee, an American woman employed as a fundraiser by the World Council of Churches, headquartered in Geneva.

Ms. Brownlee, who was joined by her husband some five months after her arrival, relocated to Geneva for her employment nearly 18 months ago.  As the article describes, both have made many efforts to participate in Swiss culture: attending French classes, including exchanging classes in English for help with their French; participating in local Genevan festivals such as the Escalade (scaling of the wall), regional festivals such as la désalpe (bringing the cows down from their summer mountain pastures, as described here; for a comprehensive video of events in 2007, see here); local wine festivals, such as that in nearby Russin; vacationing in different Swiss cantons; tasting the local food specialties such as filets de perche (lake perch fillets) and drinking the local wines; learning how to make fondue and raclette; and taking a workshop where she learned how to bake bread over a wood fire.  About the last, she remarks ruefully that she made more bread than friends.  In all her time here, what social contacts she has had outside the workplace have involved other expatriates rather than Swiss citizens.

Having first arrived here in 1994, both HWMBO and I can well attest to similar experiences.  Never one to be daunted, even by the fact that his spoken French was not among his many strong points, HWMBO made a heroic effort to learn about all things Swiss.  In a role reversal where he was the support spouse here, he did amazingly well, although he never felt quite as at home here as I have.  As a result of his efforts and based on his experiences, he assembled an orientation and advice packet that we used - unofficially - in my first international organization workplace here when recruiting new international staff.  Many found it very helpful. I was literally too busy in the workplace other than to skim and skitter over routine and daily life information so I learned a lot from his work myself.

Being a French speaker, I never had quite the same linguistic barriers he faced, nor those that Ms. Brownlee still faces, no matter how hard she tries, until her French becomes fluent.  While it is true that many Swiss, especially younger ones, speak excellent English, among other languages, not everyone does.  That can make frustrating ordeals out of routine daily transactions that one takes for granted in one's own country.  From what I understand, however, it is more difficult for those who do not speak French in la Suisse romande (French-speaking Switzerland) than it is for those who do not speak German in German-speaking Switzerland.  I am not quite sure why.  It may be that English is the preferred second language in the German-speaking cantons, while Italian and German are more often preferred second languages in the French-speaking cantons, so if one doesn't speak one of the three, one is more clearly left out.  It is also true in my experience that most Swiss people, while always courteous, polite and correct in their behavior, are not as immediately warm and informal in their welcomes as those of us who come from the Other Side of The Pond are generally used to.  In part, I believe that it may also be because we expatriates from Western countries, especially in this area of the country, are quite numerous, not at all unique or exotic.  In fact, in Geneva alone, there are around 180 different nationalities that account for 40 percent of the population.  That is a large minority group, even though it is also subdivided into many smaller minorities.

One Swiss friend confided that, in part, it may also be because so many expatriates are more likely to be transient.  Without having Swiss nationality, marrying a Swiss citizen, or being retired after legally working in the country for the requisite number of years and fulfilling other requirements for residence, one can only stay here so long as one has a work permit.  So, if one's employment ceases, one's right to stay ceases with it.  The Swiss prefer long-term friendships, not short-term or easily discarded ones.

Still, the situation has improved enormously since 1994.  Swiss authorities, especially in Geneva and the western district of Vaud, where I live, have made heroic efforts to address the concerns.  Now, for expatriates who are international civil servants, working with the UN or other international organizations (IOs) based  here, employees of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), diplomats working with permanent missions to the UN and IOs, and those involved with international sports federations, for example, there is the Centre d'Accueil de la Genève Internationale (CAGI).  CAGI was first created in 1996 and Ms. Brownlee has indeed found its services very helpful.  For those who work in the private sector, the Geneva Chamber of Commerce created GEinfo in February 2009.  GEinfo provides a welcome kit (kit de survie) on demand, geared especially towards multinational corporations that are relocating operations to the area.  The kit is so highly regarded as helpful by the multinationals that GEinfo is often out of stock.  Large multinationals such as Procter & Gamble and Cargill also provide their own in-house orientation programs.

Quite recently, the Immigration Office in Geneva has begun informational meetings, in partnership with the Université Ouvrière de Genève (Workers' University of Geneva) to inform expatriates about Swiss and Genevan institutions, the Swiss school system, health, employment, lodging, culture, practices and customs, and local habits and traditions.  All participants are invited and no one is required to attend.  The meetings take place in eight languages (French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Albanian, Turkish, Arabic and Chinese).  The very first series of meetings in Chinese took place during the past week.  One official involved with these encouraged everyone to learn French as soon as possible.  He also encouraged them to have children.  While this may take some aback, there is a lot to what he says, at least for younger expatriates.  Having lived in foreign environments both with and without young children, my own experience has been that children, especially when they are at least well-behaved in public(!), are not only wonderful ice-breakers but force one to go outside one's own boundaries of comfort in order to create relatively normal social lives for them.  That social interaction often turns into a two-way street.  Having to participate in school activities may be a mixed blessing in some ways, but it's a great way to extend one's own social contacts and make friends.

Of course, for some of us, the time is long past for having children.  And thankfully so.  But there are also local interest groups, communities, activities and associations where we can carve out our own niches.  These may require at least a modest knowledge of French at the beginning, but once people feel comfortable with someone new, the barriers seem to melt away, albeit never swiftly.  Long-term and sustained efforts are never easy, but once the breakthroughs are made, one realizes that one has indeed found a home away from home.

Intrepid Woman

Today I was delighted to see that Amazon and at least one other bookseller are now taking pre-orders for "Intrepid Woman: Betty Lussier's Secret War, 1942-45."   The book is a memoir authored by Betty Lussier, a long-time family friend and for me, a kindred Sagittarian.  Betty and I first met when we were part of a team working in the early 1980s with a bilateral US-Morocco project specifically aimed at assisting rural women to form cooperatives, among other things, in order to empower themselves financially.  Betty is simply the most amazing woman I have ever had the honor to know firsthand.

Betty's life story in many ways falls into the "life is stranger than fiction" category.  She had an extraordinary ability to have been in the right place at the right time so that she was on the spot for many seminal events of WWII and the years immediately following, including years under the Franco regime in Spain.  Not only was Betty on the spot, she took an active part in historically significant activities.  Even in the most challenging of circumstances, she rose to the challenge.  She is literally legendary.  Even better, she is still with us, as indomitable as she is intrepid.

Betty came from a family of strong and beautiful women.  Like me, she was one of four sisters.  Her equally strong Canadian-plains-born mother held things together on the family farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore while her husband and three of her daughters (the youngest was too young) were all in foreign lands contributing to the Allied cause.  Betty's father, Emile, raised his daughters in the same way that he would have raised the sons he never had.   Emile Lussier had been an ace pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during WWI, flying a Sopwith Camel.  In WWII, he served with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

At 16, Betty followed in her father's footsteps by learning to fly.  She did so using a neighbor's Piper Cub.  The last I heard, she still has her pilot's license, although she doesn't fly solo any more.  Betty herself was born in Canada and, as a result, was entitled to a British passport.  In 1942, she travelled to Great Britain and was assigned to the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), where she is listed today.  

Betty resigned from the ATA after it was decided that women pilots would not be allowed to fly into combat zones on the European continent once the invasion had taken place.  As it happened, however, the newly-formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was looking for women to work in counter-intelligence at about the same time.  Thus, Betty was assigned to an X-2 unit, the first to be trained in Britain.  She describes how that happened here (note: you may have to scroll down to find the article "Remembering 109 - The Recollections of OSSers" because the link leads to a .pdf file and the first part is dedicated to the late Julia Child, another former OSSer).  Some of her OSS experiences are described in "Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS" by Elizabeth McIntosh.  Many more details will undoubtedly be provided in her own memoir.

During her OSS service, she met the Spanish-born man whom she later married.  After the war, she moved to Spain where they raised four sons together, before finally divorcing when their sons were of college age.  They remained good friends, however, until his death.  His extraordinary life also provides fodder for the "life is stranger than fiction" category, but I never knew him personally.  For an excellent piece that provides a fairly comprehensive description of Betty's life and experiences, see here.   

As I mentioned earlier, Betty and I met in Morocco in 1980.  Now she laughingly recalls how, when I met HWMBO in 1981, she advised me not to remarry at all.  She was afraid that I would regret it.  Of course, that was before she had met him.  When she did, the two of them became and are still great friends.  He also provided logistic assistance and moral support for her memoir and has been one of her most fervent champions.

We both know most family members and can report from firsthand knowledge that there are many strong and beautiful women among her grandchildren.  There are also some strong and handsome great-grandsons around the ages of my own Princess Butterfly and Prince Tyger.

Yes, I am absolutely delighted to see that this extremely modest and humble, albeit intrepid, woman will have her life work acknowledged by a wider audience.  I am very much looking forward to reading her memoir.

Spring trinkets

Flowers are not the only welcome things of color that are bursting onto the gray scene these days.   As reminders that Spring is an invitation to the outdoor life and that flowers do not provide the only means for brightening the outdoor scene, here is a sampling from a few booths at last weekend's flower show.  In these, gardens, plants and flowers merely served to provide points of departure for the imagination.

First, for pampering the feet.  Planting and working in the garden don't have to be excuses to wear tattered old shoes.

Nor does mucking about in soil necessarily require black "wellies" or dull gloves.

This garden art is clever and full of movement.  It also provides a way to recycle damaged bicycle wheel rims.

These little ceramic pigs look right at home, fat and sassy among the plants.

And these ceramic pots, with their flower motif, provide a hint of cosy worthy of a tea set.

For those who love the idea of birds among their flowers, here are some that will kindly sit and stay wherever one places them.

Spring can be a most glorious time to be able to sit outdoors - in greater or lesser style. 

I am so glad that I was able to snatch these fleeting moments of sun from last weekend before these days of rain returned.

Combats de reines

If there is one animal in Switzerland that is venerated above all others, it has to be the cow.  Cows in this country have to be among the best tended cattle anywhere in the world, and there is good reason for that.  It is, after all, milk from cows that is used in making the very pungent and well-known Swiss cheeses such as Emmental and Gruyère, each named after the region where it is produced.  In fact, Switzerland is home to about 450 varieties of cheese.   Charles de Gaulle once famously asked, "How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheeses?"  But that was some time ago.  De Gaulle's number was paltry in comparison to Switzerland's and has even been superseded for France, which now proudly boasts more than 1,000 varieties of cheese.

In Switzerland, more than 99 percent of the cheeses are made from cows' milk.  Goats' milk and sheeps' milk account for the tiny one percent remaining.  So yes, the cow is the Queen of beasts here.  Also, each herd of cows has a Queen Cow, who makes it quite clear to the rest that she is in charge.  Generally, this is done without too much fuss because most cows are fairly placid, live-and-let-live sorts.  In the Swiss canton of Valais, however, things are different.  In the Valais, there is a distinctive breed of dark brown or black cattle known as the Herens, named for the Val d'Hérens region.  These cows are slightly more aggressive and, although small, are robustly muscular.  Thus, some uniquely Swiss sporting events that can be found in the Valais each year are les combats de reines (Cow fights).   They have become major tourist draws as well.

Cow-fighting is an ancient tradition in Switzerland, although the first organized fight was not held until 1923.   The fights are hardly bloody events.  The cows may paw their feet, bellow and move towards their opponents in a threatening manner, but all that happens if the challenge is met is that they lock horns, push and shove each other until one gives way.  Injuries are rare and often a cow will decide simply not to participate.  In that case, she is allowed to leave the ring.  There are five classes of competition, based on age and weight.  The cows begin with the organized combats at age three and are retired at 11.  There is no special feeding or training regimen.  In the summer, they graze in Alpine pastures and produce milk.  In winter, they are kept in barns like all other breeds.  They are also non-threatening to humans.

This year, the winner of the cantonal final in Aproz was "Altesse" (Her Highness).  According to this report, her final with "Manathan," the defending Queen, was an epic battle.  Altesse was not expected to win because she was not one of the seasoned veterans, being under five years of age and only having given birth to one calf.  After more than half-an-hour, both owners actually began walking toward their animals to separate them, but were roundly hissed and booed by the crowd.  So the humans backed off and let the animals do their thing.  Neither was injured, but both were battle-weary at the end.

Having one's cow crowned "Queen" is a feather in her breeder's cap.  Not only does he receive a prize cowbell suspended on a hand-worked leather collar, but also can receive a CHF 5,000 premium for each future calf.   She gets to wear the new bell and, as the triumphant leader of the herds when the cows head up to their summer pastures, wears a floral crown and wreath.

Les Saints de glace

First, I have some unfinished business from yesterday's post.  The winner of the Prix du Jury for garden design in the competition featuring designs by young landscape gardeners at our recent village garden festival was this one:

I caveat that I am no landscape professional in any sense of the word.  While I personally enjoyed every one of the designs, and each in a different way, the one that received my vote for the Prix du Public was this design:

I haven't yet been able to find a source that reports the final result of the public voting, so I don't yet know which design was finally awarded the Prix du Public.  I don't envy the members of the official Jury.  At all.

*****

Today, tomorrow and Thursday, 11, 12 and 13 May are the former feast days of St. Mamertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatius (in some regions or countries, replaced by St. Boniface), all known as the "Saints de glace" ("Ice Saints") in, among others, French and Swiss folklore.  They were given this collective nickname because, under the Julian Calendar, the period from 12-15 May was often susceptible to cooler weather in Europe.  Under the Gregorian Calendar, which is most commonly used today, the period of cooler weather actually falls around 19-22 May.  But the Ice Saints still didn't lose their nickname.  Indeed, their names continue to form the basis for several weather-related sayings in French.  Although the rhyme of the originals is lost in my translations so that the sayings don't have quite the same zing, I have posted a few below.  Saint Servatius (Saint-Servais) seems to feature in more sayings.  It does not appear that it is because he is more popular.  It's just easier to find rhymes in French that go with the sound of his name.

« Saints Pancrace, Servais et Boniface apportent souvent la glace. »  ("Saints Pancras, Servatius and Boniface often bring ice.")

« Saint Servais, saint Pancrace et saint Mamert font à trois un petit hiver. »  ("Saint Servatius, Saint Pancras and Saint Mamertus all three make a little winter.")

« Avant Saint-Servais : point d'été, après Saint-Servais : plus de gelée. »  ("Before Saint Servatius day, there's no summer, after Saint Servatius day, there's no freezing weather.")

« Quand il pleut à la Saint-Servais, pour le blé, signe mauvais. »  ("When it rains on Saint Servatius day, it's a bad sign for the wheat crop.")

Although these saints have a strong hold on the imaginations of farmers and those who cultivate the grapes even today, they were "demoted" by the Vatican in the 1960s.  Their traditional feast days were summarily taken away from them.  The three were "replaced" respectively by Saints Estelle, Achille (Achilles) and Rolande.  The latter three were apparently more religiously acceptable because they were not associated with a tradition that, according to the Church, had its origins in pagan traditions and beliefs.  Fittingly, however, it is the tradition that lives on today.

  

Champagne inspirations

Among other things that have brightened up our otherwise gloomy Spring so far, my village's recent flower show featured a contest for young landscape designers.  The contest was sponsored by Laurent-Perrier, the Champagne House founded in 1812 and the main company of the Groupe Laurent-Perrier.

There were seven designs featured in the competition.  The official judges had already awarded the official prize (le Prix du jury) to one of the designs.  But members of the public in attendance at the show were invited to participate in the competition to award the public prize (le Prix du public).  As an incentive, we who cast a ballot were also invited to partake in sipping some of the eponymous champagne.  It was hardly an onerous task to begin with, so drinking the champagne was icing on the cake, so to speak.

It was apparent that all seven designers were strongly influenced by Oriental designs and concepts, as explained in the panels describing their motivations, themes and objectives, and as evidenced in the layout of their gardens.  Some designs, like this Coin du manger (eating corner), demonstrated practicality.  The designer and his friends sat at the table to have their lunch and presumably, tea later in the afternoon.

Somewhat similar in theme, this one featured a longer table.  Viewers were seizing the opportunity to sip their champagne there.

This one was interesting, but a bit stark for my taste.

This was one of the most original designs, featuring the creation of one's own "Zen" space.  It was difficult to distinguish much from the exterior.

One had to look inside the shelter to appreciate more fully the atmosphere that it created.  One found oneself within one's own tropical forest.

With its striking lines and splash of red, this one was quite dramatic.

The tiny furniture here made this garden design a quaint spot for young ones.  The flagstone effect is also fun.

This one displayed another fairly stark setting with borders and a natural feel.

If anyone reading this would like to guess which of the above won the Prix du jury and which of the above got my vote for the Prix du public, please have at it.  All will be revealed in tomorrow's post.