Biweekly Update From Ira's Intercontinental March on Generosity #11

Yo yo and happy Chanukah mfs, In the last two weeks I paid for a hostel exactly once and was welcomed into several homes, fed, resupplied with winter gear, shown local dishes, shown around, shown how it's done, and shown that the world is a generous place if you are willing to let it be one. The two most generous people from the last two weeks were: <ol> <li>Disco Steff - I met Steff in Crete at the sensational Youth Hostel Plakias (10/10 recommend) and before the end of the week he invited me to stay with him when I got to Geneva. Thanks to his hospitality I was able to stay in Geneva for a week which is about three or four days longer than I otherwise would have and about five or six days longer than I'd be able to afford otherwise. He showed me raclette and then we took two days to digest before delving into fondue (and agreed that my new Swiss name is Pierre Fondue which I really can't stop telling people), we examined the nuance of how the 90k which the interview guy was dangling in front of me for that data engineering position compared to all the prerequisites that he was asking for which would make me want to off myself, and we analyzed how when the beautiful women of Geneva say "bon soir" to you on the street and then start talking to you in French the correct response is never to panic and say "no merci" while walking away. It was a blast hitting the gas mask with whatever all-natural Swiss flora you added to help with the cat allergies and I'll miss all the wisecracking and Toblerone food comas alike, thanks for the good time brotha.</li> <li>Mary de Lautrec - Now I'm Workingaway in Lautrec which is in the south of France with the one and only Mary Lugan; she's a retired teacher and unretired poet, musician, and warrior for love. She invited me to stay with her and help with some very unlikely projects given that I'm not fluent in French - talking with people at the old age home, teaching the high schoolers about haikus, and shooting a film with the middle school kids, but they were all smashing successes, as appear to be the case with everything she takes on. We have different systems for washing the dishes, leaving word before going on walks which I'm not accustomed to these last 10 years, and how to hang the laundry, but I know she busts my chops because she cares and hopefully by the end of the stay she'll understand that it's not that I don't know that the wet laundry dries slower when it's touching, it's just that I don't really care how long the laundry takes to dry. We have a French lesson everyday which makes the full central nervous system collapse which I feel every time someone starts to talk to me in French a little less pronounced each day and when we play Scrabble she kicks my ass (something else I'm not accustomed to). Finally, there's no heat in the house so we sleep with these dope plastic sacks of boiling water which is groovy and my love affair with European bidets continues as my bathroom has its very own, alons-y!!!</li> </ol> Notable mentions for generosity to Simon last night who set up his computer in the back to watch the rest of the game when it went into overtime and the people who I was watching with started packing up the projector to begin a concert slated to start at a hard 6pm. It's always better to groove with locals and though it isn't always easy to do so on the move, these last two weeks have been full of it and I'm a lucky traveler for it. It makes me want to be generous with my time and home once I reenter civilian life. The <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ffdjUQXwFY4x7EWUWGcXKPIYhuUvG2zI?usp=drive_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">photos</a> situation is an odd assortment of Steff sniping me at the piano and me sniping him back while he was a nervous wreck during the French soccer games (we didn't get one together which is just one small testament to the outrageously lazy week we spent together), me bumbling around Geneva, and a shot from the concert last night. Stand by for more photos from France where you'll find me until the end of the month, then it's off to Barcelona for New Yearz and whatever else the intercontinental march has in store. A le prochain fois, Ira