It has been a superb couple of days here. I have had the great fortune of meeting several of my aunt's former students and closest friends - over lunch at a rustic chateau in France, over coffee (topped off with frank discourse on a viable academic direction I'm pondering upon), and over a fabulous dessert rendezvous in her apartment along Lake Geneva. My brief stay has been deeply affecting.
I must express my admiration and esteem for my aunt, Virginia Leary. Geneva is her home, and as a former lawyer, professor, and dedicated humanitarian it seems an appropriate place for her. A lifetime of insight regarding human rights law, academia, and public service is what I have been absorbing in our chats together, and from her good nature and humility. She follows in the footsteps of her venerable father, long-time law school dean and devoted father, and her precedent-setting mother (in the 1920's chaining herself to the White House gates for womens rights!). Quite fascinating, and I am so grateful that I have had the chance to come to know her more significantly.
Today, I took a long stroll around Geveva, walking by the UN with an amalgam of sentiments drifting across my mind, to the US Embassy, a veritable fortress nowadays, to Pugny, a characteristically Swiss locale, and to the Old City, the cobble pathways and medieval architecture indelibly imprinted upon my mind. My feet are tired, though my Swiss safari is far from complete.
Tomorrow, to Lausanne for continued peregrinations, and not forgetting my daily immersion in the refreshing blue of Lake Geneva. Ciao
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