Where we swam on Wednesday afternoon, October 15, in Bonifacio, Corsica.
Educational Field Trip = CORSICA!Our educational field trip for this semester was to Corsica from October 13-17. Early Monday morning (3:50!) we left La Croisee (the name of our building) and went to the Geneva airport from which we flew to Nice and then to our destination, Ajaccio, Corsica. Corsica, if you do not already know, is part of France and is an island just south of France. It is very close to Sardinia, which is part Italy. In fact, when we were in Bonifacio, we were close enough to see it on the horizon. It is also, probably most famous for, being the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. And yes, I did see the house where he was born. The Corsican's say that he didn't do much for them though, so he was not my main focus this trip. My main job was to relax and have a blast, and that is what I did!
After arriving at the hotel, where we weren't allowed to check in for a while, we dropped our luggage off and wandered around the city. Some friends and I found a boulangerie (sandwich shop) and got a very cheap lunch there. We also stumbled on more of our friends at a great gelato/panini/crepe/waffle place where I endulged in citron sorbet/gelato, my favorite. From there I went to the hotel, checked into my room early and took a quick nap before heading to beach with Kate, Zach and Andrew. The water was somewhat cold, but so clear and just beautiful. It was so nice to get to a beach - I really do miss that. Living in Malibu I got spoiled and loved to go to the beach as much as possible.
Tuesday we went to the place in the picture above, the site of a one of the many guard towers on the coast of Corsica. It was a really neat experience because in order to get there, we all took a double decker bus with no top, of course. 
(Above: Kate, Kristen, Kelsey, Afton, Rebecca, Caroline, Jenny, Zach - Yes, We have a lot of women in the house.)It was cool to see the area around there - there are more pictures from this trip on my facebook. We normally have Tuesday night worship back in Lausanne, and even though we were in Lausanne, I didn't want this to stop; therefore, we had Tuesday night worship on the beach. Something that I really love about our group is that we have a lot of spiritual life activities available. Through word of mouth, we had 40 people, out of 52 show up to the beach after dinner for a great time of singing praises and prayer.
(Above: Just part of the crowd during Tuesday night worship on the beach)It was a beautiful setting and nice to see people up above stop as they were walking on the sidewalk and listen to us. Even if they couldn't understand us, I hope they were moved in some way.
Wednesday I did one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. Swimming in the coolest location ever, in Bonifacio. It took us a 4.5 hour bus ride to get there, which was horrible, but the payoff was well worth it. Rob, Ashley, Kendra and I finally found the beach (not a typical one, but a small flat area right below sharp cliffs). Below is a picture of where we swam.
There are pictures of this place on my facebook and here on the blog. Pictures and even words do not do it justice, it is something that everyone must experience first-hand. Later that day, after getting back to Ajaccio late, we immediately went to dinner most of us just hung around the hotel that night after going out for a little while, we wanted to save our energy for Thursday night. (Below: Andrew, Me, Josh and Alec on our way back to the Hotel)
Thursday during the day was somewhat boring. We drove 2.5 hours there and 2.5 hours back for a peasant lunch. It was a lunch, for 10 euros, composed of pork and lima beans and some bread and then water. It was a true peasant lunch and that is what we felt like, peasants. It was a waste of money to drive that far for just that, but on the way we stopped and saw some cool things such as old churches and really cool rock formations.
(Above: Kelsey, Zach, Kristen, myself, Jenny with a cool church in the background)Thursday night was the big occasion, when we went out for Caitlin's birthday and also everyone came out on the town. We first went to a bar near the beach and then on to the discotheque where we all danced for hours; it was a blast!
(Below: Emily, Kristen, Afton, Caitlin, Me (lucky, I know), Kelly, Marlee, Kendra, Annie, Sandy)
I would guess that at least 35 of us went to the club, we pretty much take over any place we go to, and that was the case with this discotheque, as you can see from the picture below.
After tons of dancing and frolicking on the beach and even getting wet, while fully dressed, in the Mediterranean, most of us headed back to the hotel by 2:30am.The next morning we got all packed up and most of us went back to the beach. The sun was out and it was great to just soak it up; the water was perfect as usual.
(Below: Zach, Me, Kelly, and Marlee "frolicking" in the Mediterranean)
It was great to spend time with everyone at the beach (Plage St. Francois) in Ajaccio before leaving Corsica. I even had the opportunity to get another Nutella crepe and more gelato before leaving. We took another propeler plane back to Nice and then flew to Geneva before getting home that Friday night just after midnight. All-in-all, our trip to CORSICA was simply amazing!I hope you all are doing well. I have been here in Lausanne this weekend (October 24-26) and I was also here last weekend. My only big trip this semester will be to Barcelona, Spain, via a flight from Milan, Italy and that will be over our Fall Break which is from November 5-9. I will definitely inform you all about how that trip at a later date. I will also write about future day trips and other things that happen here in Lausanne.
Wade
P.S. Don't forget to check out the photos:
We're going to CORSICA! We're going to CORSICA!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001064&l=bf63d&id=1534470084
Corsica - Guard Tower and Beach Worship
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001065&l=f7902&id=1534470084Bonifacio! and more of Corsica!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001068&l=708d8&id=1534470084
Bus Stops in Corsica - 5 hour ride for a peasant lunch?
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001069&l=4c70f&id=1534470084
Night on the Town + Beach Day vol. I
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001070&l=0d308&id=1534470084
Beach Day Vol. II + Au Revoir CORSICA
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001071&l=94489&id=1534470084
