Here is the second film review  from Trish Thalman on the film  "No Estoy Muerto Solo Estoy Dormido"  (I’m not dead, only asleep) directed by J.S Lopez Maas. She says "this is an interesting insight into the Afro-Peruvians living in Peru and I encourage people to go and see it. It's delightful with beautiful photography, wonderful people and opens a new perspective on the cultural history of Peru. Ths film will be shown again at the Capitole Cinema at 18:00 on Monday 23rd April .  Full details see Visions du Réel site Donkeys and Afro-Peruvian music, both are the soul and spirit of the multi-faceted elements in the history and culture of Peru. Expansive, sunny vistas of the beige, arid plains of Peru, tame donkeys trailing the rope from their harness in the sands and the pulsing beat of a double base welcomes us to an unexpected story of contrasts. Donkeys, as transportation, beasts of burden, and a member of the family with good teeth. Some donkeys never ‘suffer’ the indignity of being ridden by anyone. They are given food, shelter, a good brushing to remove the ever-present dust from their greige coloured, hairy coat and best of all, they are cared for as if a beloved child. They pull the cart, overloaded with dried cornstalks. No complaints. A cheerful mestizo man tells his delightful story of donkeys, mules and horses that are his life. He was kicked out of military school at age 10. When he returned home, his adoring grandparents gifted him a donkey, even if he had been a bad boy at school. The donkey was his soul mate and friend for eight years. Now he rides an energetic, low-slung donkey through the fields. Two smaller donkeys come running quickly behind the man and his transportation. We are told that if you are good in life, your spirit returns in the soul of a donkey when you die. This is positive news. Does a Peruvian really die?  A young Afro-Peruvian digs up the lower jawbone of a donkey from the desert sands. It becomes a musical instrument with rattling teeth and hollow percussion sounds when tapping and scratching the solid bone. We hear the voiceover of a man telling us of his father’s death accompanied by the same sound of the double bass beat. A funeral altar is carried with love and respect through the streets of El Carmen, a main center for Afro-Peruvians, their music and history. Amador Ballambrusio, an exalted musician and central figure in Afro-Peruvian culture has died. Thousands throng the streets, dancing and singing to the exhilarating music, carrying their candles and offering their homage to the man they loved. Fireworks round off the funeral parade. Amador, along with his 14 children, was the heart and soul of the musical Ballambrusio Family. Their music typifys the unique sound and beat that exquisitely combines pulsating African music that has been passed down since the 1500’s, when Africans were first brought to Peru to work the gold mines, and the indigenous music of Peru mixed with Spanish musical heritage. The son explains that the spirit and soul of his father will not die. He was a good man. His spirit is here. “When father died, my sisters screamed and fainted. Then we had a party, made music and danced”. The family are at the graveside of their father with musical instruments. They are dancing and singing: making music for their father. The donkey’s jawbone is there.  “I will die only when you no longer remember me”. Amador Ballambrusio

Like many new parents, Helen and John are not quite sure what to do with their newborn. What should they name it? What should they do when it cries? How do they deal with a deranged nanny, a baby-snatching house guest, and a slavering German shepherd with a penchant for eating babies? All the usual parenting dilemmas. "Baby with the Bathwater" written by Christopher Durang and directed by Viki Lazar is the next production to be performed by GEDS, the Geneva English Drama Society and will take place from March 11- 15  at the Théâtre de Centre de l'Espérance, 8, rue de la Chapelle, in Geneva.  The play follows Helen, John, and Daisy through the trials and tribulations of Daisy’s first thirty years: school, family disputes, and narcissistic authority figures.  The cast includes: Rachel Benyair, Gary Bird, Annelies Bouissou-Breman, Ciara Goldstein, Minzi Lam Meier, Susan Leather, Masha Neznansky, Charles Slovenski, Sonja Steidle, and Rosie Watley. For more information and tickets click here

Thanks to all of you who came along to the launch of the book " Slow Train to Switzerland" by Diccon Bewes at the Ferme du Manoir last night. Over 80 people listened to Diccon (author, travel writer and great raconteur!) tell the story of the first Thomas Cook escorted tour to Switzerland over 150 years ago, through the journals of  Miss Jemima Morell  from Selby in Yorkshire - one of  the passengers on this first tour. We heard how Jemima and the other ladies on the tour clambered over glaciers in their crinoline dresses, endured difficult travelling conditions, ate copious courses in some of the hotels and we learned about the hotel industry in Switzerland at that time.  Diccon also told us how Switzerland quickly realised its tourist potential with the arrival of  British tourists and how the country began to build many train lines to accommodate them all and take them up its mountains. We also heard about the contrast between Switzerland and Britain, then and now. We heard about Thomas Cook himself -  how he negotiated discounted rates with the hotels and how he came up with the idea of a  "traveller's cheque".    Diccon recounted how he followed in the footsteps  of Jemima Morell by recreating her journey and the interesting coincidence he discovered about the author after he had finished the tour and began writing the book. The evening was a run away success! For those of you that enquired about the Yorkshire cheese served that night, (to link the Yorkshire theme!)  this was Wensleydale Cheese served both plain, and with cranberries. The white wine was from a local farm and vineyard in Signy near Nyon called Le Panier Gourmand .  This is a lovely farm shop that has lots of local sourced produce and wine for sale. The red wine was a Pinot Noir rom the Valais called   Hurlevent

Vision Nyon 2030 What will Nyon look like in 2030, when it comes to housing, living together and work opportunities? If these questions interest you, the City council in partnership with the economic magasine Bilan and Uni Global Union are hosting a big debate tomorrow morning Friday 19th of September, from 8:30 to  12:15 at UNI Global Union headquarters . Bringing together the major players in the area, from politicians to demographics specialists, this morning of debate will tackle issues such as the aging of the population, work opportunities, what it means to live in Nyon and more. Among the people taing part in the debate will be president of the Grand-Conseil Pierre-Yves Maillard and Tibère Adler, head of Avenir Suisse for Romandie. La Côte Church Autumn Fair in Founex La Côte Church will be hosting its Autumn fair on Saturday the 27th of September. There will be a number of stalls including a book stall, a chutney and pickle stall and more. Live music, dancing and food for the adults, while the kids can have fun in the children's corner. The fair is on from 10:00 to 17:00 in Founex

Brillantmont International School in Lausanne is getting bigger! If you are driving near the park "Mon Repos" in the centre of Lausanne, you will probably come face to face with a construction site. This is the new project of Brillantmont International School in Lausanne (see previous post about this school), which is building a multi-purpose hall in the middle of its campus. The huge hall will have markings for various sports – basketball, football, hockey, badminton and others, along with a stage and performance area. Currently, Brillantmont welcomes 100 boarders and 50 day students, but the new sports hall will also provide new classroom space, thus Brillantmont is increasing its day school capacity to 60 students . What’s more, the school has added on two new grades and now accepts students from aged 11 into its British (IGCSE, A Level) or American programme. Check out the webcam of the school's building project on the site here

The small village of Eysins just next to Nyon will jamming to the sound of reggae on Saturday 8th May as The Jamaica Association in Switzerland will be having its 6th annual party from 20:00 to 02.00 a.m in the Salle Communale in Eysins. Jamaican music, Jamaican food rice and peas, fried chicken, DJ William (reggae calypso, ragga, dancehall) For more information : 079 308 93 42 ou 076 575 11 09 More details on Nyon tourist board site

Cruise along the lake listening to writers talk about their work Photo above: Le livre sur les quais 2012 From Victoria Hislop to Douglas Kennedy to John Boyne, there will be over 20 English speaking authors and almost 300 writers in total at "Le livre sur les quais" this weekend the 6th to 8th September. This book fair and literary event takes place in Morges and last year's fair attracted more than 40,000 visitors.  Tents are situated along the lakeside with authors all on hand to sell their books and to talk to members of the public. Literary events are held around the festival area  including literary cruises. These cruises are a great opportunity to relax on one of the belle epoque CGN ferry boats while listening to debates among authors and to hear about their work. There will be dedicated events in English, including a discussion and screening of the film of  The Boy in Striped Pyjamas  in the presence of the author, John Boyne.  Photo above: Douglas Kennedy in conversation on board a CGN ferry at the fair 2012 Entry is free of charge.   Easy access to Morges by train from Geneva and Lausanne, by car by autoroute A1 or by a festival boat from Geneva. The Geneva Writers' Group will be hosting a cruise on the Henri Dunant Boat which will leave Geneva on Sunday 8 September at 09:45, it will stop in Nyon at 10:50 and return again to Geneva at 10:55. For the  full programme of the festival see here    For a list of the English authors see here   For the literary cruises see here .

Trish Thalman reviews "Ivan and Ivana" and says; " this was a really interesting film with no romantic illusions about how a couple escaped from Kosovo in 1999, then moved to the U.S and wound up living the American Dream". The film directed by Jeff Silva was shown on Friday and Saturday at the film festival. “The American Dream is where you can ‘get-it-all’, very fast”. But, “I’m not sure it’s worth it”, declares Ivan while walking along the Southern California beach in 2006. “We are slaves to buying things, paying loans, working seven days a week, and we are $1.5million in debt”.   Ah, the days of ‘easy money’ for Ivan and Ivana, a young, enthusiastic, “in-love-forever” couple from Serbia, who immigrated to the US in 2000. The new millennium had just begun. Everything is possible in the US. Rather than stay in bombed-out Belgrade, they chose the warmest place with the best beaches in the US. California, here we come!  It’s all working a charm, for the most part. They own a house in an older, well-kept, middle class suburb of San Diego, have other mortgages on rental properties (based on ‘free’ mortgages!), a Porsche, a classic MG convertible, and a 3 rd ‘practical’ car. The kitchen is new, fancy and top-quality. Ivana is working as a real estate agent and Ivan works as a mechanic, when he can find jobs, even if his real dream is to be a blues guitarist. They cannot believe their ‘luck’….regarding all the material things.  On the social side, Ivan behaves in a rather ‘crazy manner’ (“that’s how I am”), so people are afraid of him, and they don’t have any friends. They are ‘chain-smokers’.  With Ivan’s creeping disillusion about ‘ the American dream’, he dreams of selling everything and packing off to South America “where we can be free and nobody tells you how to live your life”. Otherwise, things are good right now.  Now it is 2008, and the US property crash and credit crunch is a full-blown disaster for real estate agents and people with $1.5million in debt.  Ivan and Ivana have separated. Ivana moves out of the house, Ivan stays. The rental properties are gone.  Ivan is doing drugs and  “plans to survive, make lots of money”, but doesn’t have any specifics about how that will happen.  Ivana has a new American boyfriend, also in real estate, who drives a Mercedes.  The following year 2009, Ivan has returned to Belgrade and is living off US unemployment, but intends to make a lot of money ‘very fast’. He plays blues guitar in a band, is doing lines of cocaine and dealing drugs.  Divorced Ivana, closes a few house sales as business starts to ‘pick up’, and becomes a US citizen. She celebrates the occasion with new friends who insist that she not make a toast in Serbian, “because you are an American now”.  2010 – it is ten years since filmmaker Jeff Silva first met Ivan in Kosovo.  Ivan played blues guitar at that initial meeting. Ivan’s comment was “the Balkans are a sick place. It’s time to find a better life”. He’s still in Belgrade dealing drugs.   Ivana is on the beach in Stoj, Montenegro with her American boyfriend, visiting family and friends. They take great delight watching the orange, red sun set on the Adriatic Sea while holding smoking cigarettes in their hands.  Jeff Silva presents an extraordinary, delicious and colourful, bittersweet tale that covers 10 years in the life of two European immigrants who truly believed they were going to live “The American Dream” - easy and fast,  whatever it is. The film presents, with "in-your-face" clarity, the truth and false illusions about the former ‘Eastern Europe’ and the myth of ‘California Dreamin’.   Trish Thalman is an American originally from California who lives in Gland.

Photo above: The Big "Luna" Tent in St Prex  - now moving to Nyon -  all photos below courtesy "Luna Classics" "Luna Classics", the festival of music, dance and theatre is moving to Nyon!  This festival which began in the small village of St Prex has grown in size and in reputation will now take place under a big "Luna" tent in the Place du Chateau  of  Nyon from the 19th to the 31st August.  The festival will include a series of  "Grandes Rencontres".  This is when prestigious artists and musicians from different artistic genres pair up with each other. Photo above - Dee Dee Bridgewater This year some of the "big encounters" will be between Jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater & Opera baritone Ruggero Raimondi –  with a programme entitled "Broadway meets Italia"   See more here   Another encounter will be  between violinist Nigel Kennedy and Jean Luc Ponty  read more about this event here . Photo above - Nigel Kennedy performing at a previous "St Prex Classics" (as the festival was previously known) On Monday the 25th and Tuesday 26th August, three young artists, all under 30 and internationally renowned – dancer Steven McRae, a principal with the Royal Ballet of London, pianist Yuja Wang and percussionist Martin Grubinger will join up to perform at the festival in a "percussion encounter".    Prix de Lausanne winner Steven McRae is not only a classical dancer, he is also a tap dancer. The Guardian has called him the "modern-day Fred Astaire".  Every year the festival dedicates an evening entitled "100% Jazz". This evening will be on the 24th August with  Gary Burton and the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience. Details here VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! There are lots more concerts planned under the big tent, in the Temple of Nyon and there will be free "off festival" concerts in the old town of Nyon. There will be local food stalls and side events as well. Tickets are now on sale for all concerts.   See site here Note: The festival is looking for volunteer s to help during the festival period. If you are interested in helping as a driver to escort the musicians around, to help as an usher or help possibly backstage, then contact Désirée at  operations@luna-classics.com

Fund raising event on 24th March in Nyon for reconstruction of schools in Haiti Fund raising "Raclette Evening"  at 18:30 with wine, a live band (jazz and rock), good food and a tombola.  The event is being held  in Nyon on the 24th March at the Uni Global building on avenue Reverdil 8-10 (very near Nyon railway station).  Entry is CHF 50 to  include an apéritif, raclette, à volonté and a dessert buffet. For those who just want to go for a drink  there will be a bar open until midnght. All the benefits are going to the charitable group called Save It . The group of students from Nyon gymnase who are behind this event ( in photo above) have been organising  T-shirt sales, cake sales and other events for the last two years since the earthquake in Haiti. To find out more about the group click here (info is in English)  . To reserve for the raclette evening  click here  or call Anabel Suter on 078 930 5906  (she speaks fluent English).    Poetry Reading on Friday 30th March with Carol Ann Duffy (details below).  Event: 19.30 Tickets: CHF 30 Bookings: info@theglas.org    Geneva Literary Aid Society click here for site .  Info below taken from GLAS site. Carol Ann Duffy is Britain's greatest living poet and certainly one of the most popular and entertaining. Her work is studied at schools and universities throughout the English-speaking world. She has been producing poems from the age of 11. When one of her English teachers died, she wrote: "You sat on your desk,/ swinging your legs, reading a poem by Yeats/ to the bored girls, except my heart stumbled and blushed/ as it fell in love with the words and I saw the tree/ in the scratched old desk under my hands, heard the bird in the oak outside scribble itself on the air." In May 2009, she became the first woman and the first Scot to be appointed poet laureate in the UK. In her first poem as poet laureate, Duffy tackled the scandal over British MPs expenses in the format of a sonnet. Her second, "Last Post", was commissioned by the BBC to mark the deaths of Henry Allingham and Harry Patch, the last two British soldiers to fight in World War I. In March 2010, she wrote "Achilles (for David Beckham)" about the Achilles tendon injury that left England Footballer David Beckham out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup; the poem was published in The Daily Mirror and treats modern celebrity culture as a kind of mythicisation. Duffy wrote a 46 line poem Rings for the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. The poem celebrates the rings found in nature and does not specifically mention the couple's names. In a Stylist magazine, Duffy said of becoming poet laureate "There’s no requirement. I do get asked to do things and so far I’ve been happy to do them." Her poems are studied in British schools at GCSE, A-level, and Higher levels. The Aula, College des Coudriers, 15a Avenue Joli Mont, (Opposite Balexert on Avenue Louis Casai.) Parking available in Balexert or in the school grounds or in College des Coudriers. Doors open: 18.30 for ticket collection and refreshments Date: All proceeds channeled to the Furaha Orphanage through the Geneva- based Solidarité Pour les Enfants du Kenya.

Masts blown up in Prangins The photos on this page were taken yesterday near the village of Prangins.  The two radio masts (each weighing 70 tonnes!),  have been a landmark in the area for many years and were blown up on Thursday by a special explosives team.  You can read all about the masts' history here .  Alistair Scott, a professional photographer living in Gland was there to capture all the action. Alistair is the author of ' The Greatest Guide to Photography ' and runs photography courses in English for beginner/intermediate photographers. Further details click here September is a busy time of year in the Nyon, Vaud and Geneva region and there is lots going on this month with events  for expatriates and locals alike. Here are a small selection of some of these - more to follow. Firstly, this weekend it's the Morges Book Fair which takes place along  (and on!) Morges lake side. There will be English authors present, readings, and more, see below, details here Job hunting?  If you are job hunting or your partner is job hunting, then the International Career Fair, taking place on Tuesday 11th September in Lausanne will be a good place to start. This Career Fair is for everyone, but it is particularly aimed at the spouses and partners of relocated employees here in Switzerland.  It's an opportunity to take along a CV, meet potential employers and learn about the local business environment. Entry is free however registration is required.   Click here for more information . You can also hear more about the fair and its aims in a radio interview with Laetitia Tierny, head of International Link (the organisation organising the fair)  on World Radio Switzerland.   Click here Independent Schools Fair There will be an Independent Schools Fair in Geneva on the 13th and 14th September. See below

For those of us who are lucky enough to live in this area we know how beautiful Lac Léman can be. Throughout the seasons it remains a source of inspiration to writers, photographers and artists.Not only is Lac Léman the deepest lake in Switzerland but Nyon even has a museum dedicated to it. For walkers there are many paths along its shores or above it to enjoy its beauty. Erik Chrispeels is a local author who loves Lac Léman with a passion and has written and compiled various books about it, one of them a book for walkers and another a collection of paintings by local artists. His book "Regards sur le Léman -75 promenades pour toute la famille" (Views over the lake - 75 walks for all  the family) is a handy pocket sized book which features circular walks of various lengths and difficulties, but all with one thing in common: a view of the lake. Erik originally from Belgium, has been living in  Switzerland for 40 years, he worked for the UN as a legal counsel and now lives in Prangins . Living in Nyon met Erik down by the lake (where else?) to talk about his various publications and to ask him what inspired him to write and compile them. "When I first starting walking in this area I followed other hiking books but I often became disappointed as not all of them had a view of the lake. Where it did, there were often electricity pylons spoiling the view, the walk wasn't interesting or it led you to an area at a ski station which out of season, looked a bit forlorn. I also wanted a circular walk that did not involve complicated logistics in getting back to the start point. So I decided to write my own book which not only had good walks but included interesting perspectives. I tried out each walk on average at least four times, it took me around three years to get to the stage where I felt I knew them well enough to recommend them. Once the book was published, 30 of the walks were then reproduced in La Côte newspaper and they seemed to be very popular. Ed's note: Even if you are not fluent in French, this book it easy to understand, and if you translate a few words before you set off walking, you should not have any problems. The maps are clearly laid out and there are practical tips such as where to park, the length and difficulty of the walk, which maps cover the particular walk, and suggested places to eat along the way. All the walks are circular. Erik continued, "Although the title of the book means "views of the lake" it can also means "perspective" of the lake, and the book is essentially my perspective of it". "Through this book of walks I then became interested in other peoples' perspectives of the lake: in this case, those of local artists. I come from Belgium where the landscape is basically flat, whereas here the topography is so varied and the different landscapes around the lake can produce many emotions. I was keen too see how others felt and interpreted it through their art. So that is how the next project came about. I visited artists in the Léman area and I asked fifteen of them to each submit five paintings for a book on art of the lake. One of the criteria in choosing the artists was that they must  have been living here for at least twenty years, so they must really know the area. What resulted was "Le Léman - Regards de peintres contemporains", a collection of panitings from watercolours to oils, all painted by very different artists with their unique style. Some of them were happy to talk about their work and explain how they had  interperated the lake, others were reticent to talk, believing the art spoke for itself.  Some of the artists have been painting all their life. One of them, Walter Mafli is now in his 90s. Some artists are famous and their work sells for a considerable sum - others maybe not as well known but what they all have achieved is bringing the lake to life in a lovely art collection. Ed's note: This book would make an ideal Christmas present. Erik Chrispeel's books sell in the Libraire du Château in Rolle, in La Combe shopping centre in Nyon, in La Librairie in rue des Fossés in Morges.  See Erik's own website, for details of his publications and names of all the artists in the book.