It's the Spring market in Nyon on Saturday 28th, with lots going on in the centre of town. Shops are open until 18:00, there are stands in the street from a Morroccan souk selling couscous and mint tea and other specialities, to jazz bands to a second hand bike sale in the place du chateau (see post below). On Sunday there will be a mini Chopin festival of four concerts held in the Conservatoire of Nyon. The first begins at 14:30 and the festival will finish at 19:00 with a performance of Sonata No 2 performed by Jean-Selim Abdelmoula, a former pupil of this renowned music school. See site for details. Also on Sunday it's the monthly fleamarket along the lakeside.

The tents are in place, the bands are beginning to arrive and everything is set for three days of rocking as Longirock begins today. This one off rock festival is taking place up in the beautiful area of Longirod and has attracted some big names of rock from The Scorpions to the Young Gods, Skunk Anansie to Juliette Lewis. There are Swiss bands playing too, so if you want to hear Swiss rock, Longirock is also the place to be. On Saturday, Gogol Bordello are due to play (this band proved extremely popular when they played at previous rock festivals in the area). See this U tube video of them here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMtYzF9b6hA Some nights are for fans of heavy rock, punk and heavy metal, some nights for a slightly "softer" sound, but rock is the focus of all three nights. There are covered tents for the bands and audience so the weather shouldn't stop the music, but it is obviously advisable to dress warmly and wear sensible shoes. Along with the music there will be stands for food, bars, merchandising etc. There has also been an art contest for this festival with big prize money for the winners. Their work will be shown in an open air exhibition on site. The Longirock website is in English to find out more about the festival. Tickets are still available online or at the festival site. This is a one off festival when for three days, the village of Longirod and area of just 400 people will host up to 40,000 so don't miss out! How to get up to Longirod. Free transport has been arranged from Gland and Bassins (see below) By car: From Lausanne: Take the A1 motorway direction Geneva. Take exit Aubonne, direction Aubonne and Gimel. From Gimel follow signs to festival. From Geneva: Take the A1 motorway direction Lausanne. Take exit Gland, direction Begnins / Marchairruz. Pass through Vich, Begnins, Burtigny and Marchissy. From Marchissy follow signs to festival. Car sharing: you can organise car sharing on e-covoiturage.ch. More information in "Car sharing" section. Public transport : A free transfer system will be put in place between the train station of Gland and the festival. The same service will be available from the train station of Bassins along the Nyon St-Cergue train line. More details and the time table can be downloaded as a PDF file from the Longirock site.

An essential information guide book and community resource to this area, "Know it all Passport" has recently launched a brand new website with a new look and it now has an events calendar too! Take look at their recent listings and you will see a huge choice of events from a lecture on ethical sourcing by GWIT (Geneva Women in International Trade), to a talk by Forth Capital on 4th May on UK Tax Efficient Pension schemes, to the production of "Shakers", a play being performed by GEDS on Thursday 29th (more info on this below).There's also information on public transport, and a free classifieds section, and lots of useful links. "Know it All" is the guide for English-speakers in the Geneva, Vaud, and neighbouring France. So if you can't find what you are looking for on Living in Nyon, then check out "Know it all Passport"! Lisa Cirieco first published this guide back in 1999 and it has gone on from strength to strength and each new edition contains more useful information. The latest edition is due for release at the end of August this year and will contain over 650 pages of entries, the book contains maps of where the listings are plotted, practical checklists on relocating to or from Geneva, there are even conversion charts! Lisa has a herculean task putting all this information together in one book for each new edition, but the result is always worth it. You can pre-order the new edition when it comes out, click on the side bar link. Fim in English at Nyon cinema tonight Oscar winning production of "A Single Man" in English at cinema tonight in Nyon."A Single Man" is showing in English every day at 18.30 until tomorrow Tuesday (27 April) at the Capitole cinema in Nyon Director: Tom Ford Cast: Colin Firth (Oscar nominee for this role) and Julianne Moore. Synopsis Set in Los Angeles on November 30, 1962, a month after the Cuban missile crisis, A Single Man is the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), a middle-aged English college professor who has struggled to find meaning in his life since the car accident that killed his longtime partner, Jim (Matthew Goode), eight months earlier. Jim's family disapproved of his relationship with George and thus refused George permission to attend the funeral. Throughout the single day depicted in the film, and narrated from his point of view, George dwells on his past, shown in flashbacks, and his seemingly empty future Film Reviews of Vision du Réel Due to a family emergency here at Living in Nyon, not all the film reviews by the reviewers at the Vision du Réel film festival were able to be posted on this site during the festival itself, however, the reviews are still due to be posted here over the next few days. Some of these films went on to win prizes at the festival which means there is a good possibilty they will be shown on TV or in Swiss cinemas in the future. Drama production of ShakersGEDS presents “Shakers” a preview of GEDS entry to the forthcoming Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies. April 29th and 30th. Synopsis and details provided by GEDS below Four waitress work at the fanciest cocktail club in town. They work great as a team, their personalities compliment each other. But they are all they're own unique and special character all of which flourish throughout this play. The mixture of fast paced over the top action, mixed with multiple roles, Shakers (re-stirred) is another brilliant play by John Godber co-written with Jane Thornton. Funny, fast and witty – this play was a great success in London’s West End This production has been condensed to one-act with the kind permission of the publishers. Therefore this preview will be presented on Friday and Saturday the 29th and 30th of April; at the Théatre Les Salons, rue Bartholoni, in Geneva (near the Grand Theatre). Performances start at 20:00 . We advise our audience that since this is an abridged version; the actual performance will last just under one hour. Tickets CHF 15 (programme included) from theatreinenglish.ch from April 17th or by phone 022 341 51 90 from April 26th (or at the theatre box office on the night). Numbered seating. www.geds.ch

The "Thank goodness it's Friday" drinks evening tonight will be at the Sixteenth Century Hotel in Nyon in Place du Marche from 18:30 to 20:00. If the weather remains nice we will be in the courtyard of the hotel (chairs are usually out on the cobblestones or under the arches). If it is raining, then inside. Please note because the walls of the hotel are so thick sometimes there can be signal problems when using mobile phones in this area. Click on "plan d'ccess" on the hotel's own website for directions.

The rain held off last night for the first few hours of Longirock when the fans began to arrive for a second night of rocking. If you want to go up to this three day festival, free buses will leave from Gland and Bassins to take you to the venue. Dress warmly, wear your boots, be prepared to get muddy and have fun as these fans did in the photos below. On the programme for Saturday is the band the Scorpions (their only date in Switzerland) Juliette Lewis and more. Check out the other bands playing on the programme. Below: Images of the festival from last night Below: Salome Faure and Vincent Borgeaud from the Valleé de Joux. They are camping at the festival for the whole three days to see all the bands but are big fans of the Scorpions playing tonight Saturday

Living in Nyon is reviewing a selection of films on at the Visions du Réel film festival which is on in Nyon until this Wednesday 21 April. "My Village" had just the one screening, but other films reviwed in previous posts will be shown again. My Village 2007 China by Shao Yuhzen - Film review by Trish Thalman. “Are you filming again”? The question asked by nearly all the people in the rural village of Shaziyun near Beijing had become used to the assertive, kind-hearted, sensitive woman with the video camera who was there to “record my life and my village" and because she wanted to "see the changes”. This delightful, sumptuous, yet simple film about the daily lives of people in a hard-working farm community is eye-catching, humorous, and sensitive and gives us a vital glimpse into the constant modern changes being made at breath-taking speed for the majority of people in rural China. The film captures the activities and changes during the year 2007. The old way of life is passing too quickly. A specific change is measured with the main road that goes by the village. In January, with icy fog and hoar frost on the trees, the road is mostly dirt and partially paved. It supports the cyclists, a few trucks and cars. By late summer heat, there is a four lane, paved, marked and divided road with many more trucks and cars, but few cyclists. The road is too fast and dangerous for them. They have to find alternative routes to travel. The staple crops of the village are healthy looking watermelons, twice the size of footballs, with light green, delicately patterned rinds and ‘Barbie' pink interiors. Weighty sweet potatoes and abundant clusters of peanuts are planted in the early, cool spring and harvested in the hot and humid summer and autumn, The village committee reluctantly welcomes a young, recent graduate from the Beijing Agriculture University who has been sent to live and work in the village. He will “help to improve the way you farm for better income returns”. With the expected increased income, a tantalising concept is promoted: they (the men) will be able to afford Western style T-shirts and suits to wear when they go into town. That way people will be unable to tell they are from a farming village. Modern times. The greatly anticipated Spring Festival involve outdoor rehearsals in winter weather by local women who will perform the songs and dances dressed in village costumes while singing Communist party songs. One of the women in the group is also the village ‘stand-up comedian’ telling her greatly appreciated and applauded, earthy jokes at the festival. A visit to the village’s ‘oldest person’, a spunky, tiny woman of 92, painfully hunched over after her life in the melon, potato and peanut fields using old farming methods, fiercely insists on having a drum to beat while she joyfully performs her song and drum act. Greatly frustrated that she can no longer sing like she used to, she informs the camera that years ago she was better than the singers in the Beijing Opera. It’s voting day in the village to elect a District director and Committee members. Shao Yuzhen and video camera are there to record the men with their ever-present cigarettes, casting their vote in order to receive the 10 Yuan they are paid to vote. They cynically already know who has won the ‘election’. New babies drinking from plastic bottles, old women slowly dying, small children riding fluorescent-coloured tricycles, husbands sleeping on the couch, a woman grieving after the death of her daughter. Men painstakingly folding the plastic covering they will reuse next year to protect the melon seedlings, young educated communist party leaders visiting the village to see who is a registered member. The Down’s Syndrome children helping with the harvest, and Shao Yuhzen confronting the Beijing TV crew who want to rehearse the village people before doing an interview (she refuses!), all feature and contribute to the reality of changing life in small, rural villages of China. Shao Yuhzen is well known to Beijing Radio and TV journalists, as part of the ‘Villager Documentary Project’ which began in 2005. Fools and charlatans beware – she is filming life and truth.

Wow! What a superb way to start a film festival. The avant première film of Visions du Réel that was screened in Nyon last night, not only brought a standing ovation from the audience, but kicked the whole evening off with a great atmosphere as it came with a few surprises too. One of the surprises and certainly the most exciting one, came after the screening of the film "Aisheen -Still Alive in Gaza". Here the audience was treated to a satellite link up to Gaza itself on the night. As we sat in in our shiny new seats in Nyon (another surprise as the seats have now finally been updated), and were waving at our cameras, we were able to see a whole group of people sat in their seats in a club setting in Gaza waving at their cameras. A truly great collaborative affair and and an exchange of bonhomie between nationalities. It didn't matter that there was a considerable time delay in the sound, the idea worked and worked exceedingly well. The film itself is an intimate look on life in Gaza after the war. The film maker Nicolas Wadimoff filmed various families going about their daily life over a relatively short time frame. From the clowns entertaining the children in the schools to cheer them up in hard times, to the frustrations of the zoo keepers who had no food to feed their animals, to the humour of the boys who named one of the monkeys "Sharon" ("he's vicious and he attacks"), these individuals stories were superbly documented. See a U Tube trailer of the film here. Then we saw the patience of the mechanic on the fairground who stoicly kept on repairing bits of machinery in order to get the fairground running. There was a sublime ending to the film at the sight of a solitary happy teenager as he spun around on a finally working fairground attraction. Filming in Gaza obviously comes with risks and we saw and heard these risks as a bomb fell very close by when the cameras were turning. Daily life also meant that the Gaza citzens had to queue for food supplies and the chaos and claustrophobia of people becoming squashed in the queue was palpable. We could see their obvious and painful discomfort from the comfort of our new Nyon seats. Conversations among families were captured, the poignant talk from a grandfather to his grandaughter who had lost her mother in a bombing. He advised her to take heart and look positive and to try to look after her brothers and sisters. There were students who talked about their demotivated teachers, but we also saw teachers trying their best in the face of adversity, encouraging acting and role playing to ease tension and one teacher getting her little pupils to dip their hands in bright coloured paints to create wall hand paintings. Then we saw what was to become one of the main focusses and highlights of the show, a rap group called the DARG team rehearsing in a small room and on that particular day with no electricity. Improvisation took over and the boom box was created by their voices, the rappers worked on a song along while a toddler in the room accompanied them banging out a beat with her balloon. The rappers were then later interviewed on Gaza radio and had to listen in to a barrage of criticism from listeners who said that their music wasn't representative of the people, the rappers took it all in good grace They have now gone on to record an album and this is where the evening last night really came into its own as they then performed via satellite for the Nyon audience. A collaborative group of rappers from Geneva then came on stage to accompany them. The audience loved it and responded by standing and clapping, some danced and the theatre resounded to the sound of rap. A great inaugaration, a great film. You can catch the film again on Monday 19th at 17:00 in the Salle Communale and Wednesday 21 at 14:00 in the Théatre de Marens. It will also be shown in cinemas in French Romandie from May 19th. Note: Films that are shown in both the Salle Communale and the cinema screening room Capitole 1 will be provided with interpreters giving simultaneous translations if the subtitles are not in English. In the other venues including the Theatre de Marens this is not guaranteed. The full list of programmes is available in the Visions du Réel brochure which can found either in the tourist board or in the Usine a Gaz (central area of the festival) or at the cinema itself in an outside rack on the exit.

La Cuerda Floja – The Tight Rope - An intimate and beautifully filmed story of people with "circus in their blood". Film review by Trish Thalman. This film can be seen again on Sunday night 18 April at 22:00 at the Capitole 2 cinema in Nyon. “What people want to see at a circus is a clown, animals and trapeze artists”. The wise words of the ‘clown/ringmaster’ who is head of the family-run, travelling Aztlan Circus in Mexico. Their show has all of the above. Everyone in the family is dedicated to defined, multi-tasking roles: from animal trainer, to ticket taker, to trapeze artist. We see an intimate and beautifully filmed story of people with ‘circus in their blood’ as they go about their daily lives, moving from town to dusty town in rusted vans and trucks creaking from the weight of the tent poles, miles of ropes, an aging canvas tent, the hair-sprayed ‘pink’ poodle that rides a pony, and a talented goat that rehearses every day and therefore does well at each performance. Practice and more practice for every one of the circus performers is daily routine. The ingrained philosophy is: "ability conquers danger". This keeps the circus disciplined, honourable and energetic. Click here to see trailer: film courtesy Instituto Mexicano de Cine The details devoted to raising the tent, caring for the animals, preparing beans for breakfast in the cramped, converted bus that is the family home, scrambling to find false eyelashes and rhinestones at the last minute for the trapeze artist are reflected in lingering, slow-moving shots as well as the frantic, blurred vision of ‘last minute details’ from the hand-held camera. The variety of colours, warm and luminous, dark and dreary, provide sensitive insight to the realities, passion and energy of the harsh, yet dignified and honest circus life, which is changing.The daughter of the family has married a young man who comes ‘into’ the performing family and is not necessarily talented in the skills of circus acts. He does have modern technology skills, as he happily downloads the musical overture from the classic 1952 film, ‘The Greatest Show on Earth, onto his iPod. The music is used as background for his noisy, voice-over, recorded publicity announcing that ‘the circus is in town’. Life under the big top and on-the-road is not for him. He would like to leave the circus in spite of his love and great respect for his wife and her family, and his improving juggling skills. The filmmaker is given free and unlimited access to the family and their sensitive life events during the critical stages where the young couple discuss leaving the circus to live another life together without the family. The confusing emotions of the daughter’s loyalty to her family and love for the circus that is her life, and practically, the consequences for the family’s existence without her are poignantly and tenderly resolved. Do the young couple have the ability to conquer the dangers that lie ahead for them outside of the circus. Even with the ever-present red ants that bite everyone at the circus ground, there is a cheerful, humorous solution: rub raw garlic on the bite to stop the stinging. This elegantly crafted film can be seen again on Sunday night 18 April at 22:00 at the Capitole 2 Cinema in Nyon. Trish Thalman is an American from California living in Gland, near Nyon and will be reviewing a selection of films throughout the festival.

Despite the recent rainy and cool weather there are still plenty of signs that Spring has arrived here in Nyon. The council workers were planting up new flowerbeds around the town on Monday and down by the lake many people were uncovering their boats and taking them out on the water. There are lots of events scheduled for around the area over the next few weeks so here is a small selection for you. A full list of events is published in the monthly agenda which you can pick up in Nyon tourist office or check out the back pages of La Côte newspaper. Don't forget there is another long holiday weekend coming up (Pentecost) so the shops will be closed on Monday 24 May. Date for your diary- next Tuesday it's Neighbours day in Nyon and Prangins, it's a great opportunity to get to know your neighbours, see if an event is being organised in your building or area. If not, why not organise an event yourself? Look out for the posters or signs around your neighbourhood, check it out on the Nyon site. Wine tastingthis weekend The first event on the list this weekend is the "Caves Ouvertes" on 21 and 22 May. This is chance to taste the Vaudois wine produced in La Côte region as winemakers will open their cellars up for members of the public. In addition, each region has organised public transport from various pick up points so you can taste the wine and not have to worry about driving! There are some stunning villages along La Côte route and if you have not visited them, this is a great opportunity to see them and find out more about the wine and purchase some to take home. Here is the timetable of buses for Saturday 22 from various pick up points Walks The association of Suisse des Guides - Interprets du Patrimoine organise various walks throughout the year and this Sunday 23 May at 09:15 to 11:45 they are organising a walk along the Toblerone routes from Bassins to Begnins. This walk has nothing to do with the chocolate with the same name! The Toblerones are triangular stones which were used in the second world war as military fortifications. They stretch from near the lake side to the foot of the Jura mountains. More on the Toblerones on Living in Nyon later this week. The cost for this organised walk is 20 CHF and 10 CHF for children 6-16 years old. Register with Estelle Divorne on 022 364 40671 estelle.divorne@asgip.ch See the flyer Geneva Entrepeneur Network On Tuesday night 18th May at 20:00 in Geneva at the Pickwick pub there will be a Dragons Lair event based on the popular BBC TV Series Dragons Den. Organised by Geneva Entrepeneur Network. Networking from 19:00 Theatre 17-18-19 June Othello will be performed in the courtyard at the Chateau de Prangins between Nyon and Gland. Private terrace apéro and canapés. See Howard Productions Further afield in Geneva 1-5 June in Carouge Geneva English Drama Society will produce The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold. Written in the 1950s this play was recently revived in the West End od London to great acclaim. It is a modern parable about growing up and growing old and combines humour, drama poetry and passion. See Geds site for full details.

This year, Living in Nyon has a team of reviewers at the Visions du Réel film festival. Last night Emma Johnson went along to see eight short films by Tracey Emin. Another selection of Tracey Emin’s films are featured as the focus of tonight’s Grand Debate at the World-Dreams Capitole 1 cinema at 19:30 and there is also another Tracey Emin session screening on Monday at 16:00 in the Salle de la Colombière. Inspiring reaction, good and bad Tracey Emin, one of Britain’s most well known contemporary artists, has a string of words associated with herself and her work: provocative, daring, shocking and unflinchingly honest. Last night in Nyon, a small crowd gathered at the Salle de la Colombière to find out if she had something to say. While they were not all there at the end of the screening, those who remained certainly had something to think about. Tracey’s collection of documentary films is part of the Vision du Réel’s "Reprocessing Reality" category. True to form, her work pushes the blurred borders between art and documentary making. Indeed, the woman who introduced the session warned the audience that the films could be quite challenging. The screening began with "The Crystal Ship", a 4-minute home video clip where Tracey dances in her kitchen to the famous Door’s song of the same name. The camera follows Tracey swirling around in an ecstatic trance, almost Sufi-like. Some members of the audience were already shifting in their seats – nothing else seemed to be happening. Yet what seemed to be a case of someone just picking up the camera and filming was in fact a carefully crafted moment. What was Tracey trying to do? Tracey Emin - Photo courtesy Visions du Réel The next couple of short films, "Finding Gold" and "Niagra", continued with the feel of home videos and were more autobiographical in nature. Both are personal, coming-of-age episodes in her life. With its super-8 footage from home videos, "Finding Gold" is thick with nostalgia for the end of summer and for another, lost time that Tracey recounts in a voice-over. Niagra, documents another period in Tracey’s life when she and a group of friends visit the falls in the middle of winter. "Riding for a Fall" is a 3-minute film that shows Tracey on horseback on the beach as the sun sets. In a role reversal, the cowboy is female this time and the shots used in it are a little reminiscent of those often seen in video clips. But just what is going on here? Then Love is a Strange Thing provided light relief from the artist’s demanding films – it is a fun parody of desire, and of taboos, as a drooling dog tries to pick Tracey up in a park. "Emin & Emin Cyprus 1996" shows clips of both Tracey and her dad swimming in the sea. Once again a sad nostalgia is created with the use of home videos in this surprisingly touching affirmation of love. "Conversation with My Mum", on the other hand, was perhaps the most accessible of the films shown. It documents Tracey and her mother discussing the subject of having children, abortion and childlessness. A personal conversation is made public and its content challenges certain ideas about women and their having children. Watching "Hard Love", a seven-minute film of Tracey attacking and pruning her garden in preparation for spring, part of the audience impatiently moved around in their seats again. With not much happening in the film, it seemed really self-indulgent. Yet across her films, there is a fearless self-exposure and self-exploration that perhaps invites the audience to look at themselves. The apparent carefree approach to making these films is one thing – they make you ask what is a documentary? Why is this considered as good art? Why does this matter? It is important to remember that a specific frame has been chosen – a particular part of the truth, of the real, has been selected to be shown. We never get the full story. Both the content of and the way the films are made are challenging. Tracey Emin’s work inspires reactions, whether good or bad. And it certainly makes you think. Emma Johnson is a writer from New Zealand and is currently based in Geneva.

In addition to running this site, the editor also presents a programme on World Radio Switzerland called "The Connectors". Each week, she and a team of other expatriates discuss various issues from "Trailing Spouses" to " How we keep up with our own traditions and celebrations while living in Switzerland, to the "Ins and outs of Swiss Etiquette". It's a fun show and there is an opportunity for listeners to call in or leave comments on the WRS website. The Connectors also introduce phrases, idioms and words in French, German and Italian, so it's a useful programme to listen to whether you are newly arrived or have been here for a while. On the last programme (17 June), the team (inevitably) talked a little bit about last week's great result when Switzerland's national football team played Spain in the World Cup, but the rest of the programme is a discussion about all the technology there is out there for keeping in touch with family and friends back home. If you go to World Radio Switzerland, click on "Programmes" and then "listen" you can listen to them all again or down load them on podcast. If you click on the photos in th section "Meet us" you can find out more about the team too.

Swimming in the lake – The lake is looking particularly gorgeous at the moment and many people are taking advantage of the hot weather and taking a dip in the water to cool off. If you are one of those you might like to know that that there is a small publication called “Carte des Plages du Léman” produced by CIPEL (International Commission for the protection of Leman Waters) which has a map of all the beaches and places you can swim around the entire lake. It also lists the water quality around all of these beaches and you will be pleased to know that many of these fall into “good quality water” category, a few fall into the “average quality” mark and only one beach (on the French side) out of a total of 116 around the entire lake falls into “bad quality” and where you cannot swim. However if you do decide to go for a swim you do need to be aware of the problem of duck fleas. Below is an approximate translation from the publication as to what these are and if you catch them what to do about it. Living in Nyon is delighted that Dr Michelle Wright has helped with this translation and added some other advice of her own. Dr Wright is an English speaking doctor, a General Practitioner, who works part-time for one of the United Nations Organisations in Geneva. She also works as a medical writer and has a weekly programme on WRS called "Health Matters". As well as this, Dr Wright provides First Aid and Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation courses in English through HealthFirst (website under construction). She can be contacted on the email drmichellewright@gmail.com Here is the translation from the leaflet from CIPEL “The beaches around Lac Leman are practically all favourable for swimming. 50 metres from the edge, the water is of good quality to swim in, however it is not safe to drink. Even on an extremely clean beach, there may be a risk of ‘swimmers dermatitis’ or ‘duck fleas’, especially in shallow waters which are rich in vegetation and where the temperature is over 20 degrees centigrade. This is a natural phenomenon and bears no relation to pollution. This dermatological problem is caused by the larvae of a duck parasite that penetrate human skin and cause intense itching. Fortunately it is not dangerous. To avoid ‘swimmers dermatitis’, it is recommended to take a shower immediately after swimming and to dry yourself off vigorously with a towel afterwards. It is also advisable to avoid swimming close to the plants and vegetation near to the water’s edge. If you do get a rash, you should avoid scratching it in order to prevent secondary bacterial infection. The rash should disappear without any traces within 10-20 days.” Dr Michelle Wright also adds What are ‘duck fleas’? ‘Duck fleas’ (‘puces de canard’ in French) are actually a relatively common problem that can result from swimming in Lac Leman. They can lead to an itchy skin rash known as ‘swimmers itch’ or ‘swimmers dermatitis’. Swimmer’s itch is not caused by fleas exactly but by a worm-like parasite whose usual host is the ducks that live in the lake. Whilst you are swimming in the lake, immature forms of the parasite larvae can penetrate ‘mistakenly’ through your skin rather than finding their usual host, a duck. So, humans are infected ‘accidentally’. The parasite actually dies when it enters your skin. However, your body develops an allergic reaction to the parasite and it is this that causes the rash. What are the symptoms? On your first exposure to the parasite, you may not have any reaction or develop any symptoms. However, you can still become ‘sensitized’ to the parasite and the next time that you are exposed to it, symptoms can develop. If symptoms do develop, at first you may notice tiny red spots at the points at which the larvae have penetrated your skin. The spots can be tingly or itchy. After a few hours, the spots tend to become bigger and more ‘pimple-like’ or bumpy. Intense itching is usual at this stage. Occasionally, blistering can occur over the next few days. The rash will develop on areas of the skin exposed to the water. So, skin under a swimsuit can be protected and therefore spared from the rash. If you have developed swimmer’s itch before, you may develop a more severe rash the next time you are exposed to the parasite. What treatment do I need if I get ‘duck fleas’? The rash will eventually go away of its own accord but it may take between 10-20 days to disappear completely. If you have just a few itchy patches, you may not need any treatment. However, most of the time, itching is quite intense. It is important to control itching because scratching can damage your skin further and sometimes lead to a secondary bacterial infection which may need treatment with antibiotics. Calamine lotion or an antihistamine may help to treat itching. Antihistamine liquid is available for children. However, do take care when using antihistamines as some can make you drowsy and so you should not drive whilst taking them. Always read the packet leaflet carefully and get advice from your local pharmacist to make sure that they are safe for you to use. For example, antihistamines may not be safe in certain medical conditions or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. A mild corticosteroid cream such as 1% hydrocortisone can also sometimes be helpful. Again, get advice from a pharmacist before using this. Rarely, in very severe cases, steroids taken by mouth may be needed. How can I avoid ‘duck fleas’? As suggested by CIPEL (International Commission for the protection of Leman Waters): Take a shower as soon as you get out of the water. Most of the beaches around the lake have showers available on the lakeside. Dry yourself off with a towel after your shower. The brisk rubbing motion with a towel can help to stop the larvae from penetrating your skin. Avoid swimming close to the plants and vegetation at the water’s edge as these can be a particular habitat for the parasite Also some general points about safety around water: Always take care whilst swimming in the lake or anywhere else. Many drowning incidents could have been prevented. Never leave children unattended. If you are watching children playing in or near water, take care not to become distracted by e.g. talking on your phone, reading etc. Learn to swim. Teach children to swim. Don’t swim alone; swim with a buddy. Don’t swim whilst under the influence of alcohol. Know the water where you are swimming. Remember that lakes and rivers can have strong currents. Don’t dive or jump into unfamiliar or shallow water. Everyone on board should wear a life jacket when in a boat. At home: use fencing with locked gates around pools. Use pool alarms/pool covers.