no. 7

Well, this weekend was absolute, pure insanity. I have done so much in the past 48 hours it's ridiculous. Let me tell you about it. (my pokemans, let me show you them.)
It all started Saturday during lunch with Michèle and Maurice. We were eating outside and Maurice mentioned something about how he saw a good American soul singer at the Montreux Jazz Festival a few days ago. Michèle said that I should go and forced 50 CHF in my hands. About a half an hour later, I'm on a train to Montreux, Switzerland. For those who don't know, Montreux is a part of what they call the "Swiss Riviera" and the Montreux Jazz Festival is one of the biggest musical festivals in the world. Deep Purple's song "Smoke on the Water" is about a fire in Montreux. Speaking of, Deep Purple played at the festival Saturday night.
So anyway, I get to Montreux and I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of it. I can honestly say it is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world. Do a Google Images search. Anyway, I'm there and it's gorgeous. I took a long walk through the outdoor shopping part of the festival which is quite literally on the shores of Lake Geneva. The lake isn't like any lake in the states. Meaning, it's like crystal clear water. It's like a sea or something. It's gorgeous. I eventually went to the actual festival and immediately got sucked into all it's glory. I didn't think I was going to stay for more than just the afternoon but as soon as I saw the program and walked through everything, I made the decision to stay up until 5 am to catch the train back to Sierre. I hung out at the outdoor stage and watched a big brass band from Maryland play and watched a Swiss hip hop group perform as well. I eventually went inside to the Montreux Jazz Club and got a beer and was sitting down relaxing my legs and feet when a guy from England with a Clash T-shirt came up and asked if I wanted to sit with him. He turned out to be really cool and we talked about punk and the school systems in the United States and in the UK. He was going to go see Deep Purple and he told me that he met a guy who was selling tickets if I wanted to go. We went to go find the guy, who was a security guard at the MJC, and it turns out he was just going to give him a free bracelet. So, I got the free bracelet. We went to go to Deep Purple and while on my way in they said the bracelet was for the hip hop show in the smaller auditorium, Miles Davis Hall. So I just went and it turns out that it was EPMD, Just Blaze, and Saigon. I got there in time to see the latter portion of Saigon's act and it was intense. I got a beer and just was hanging out and during Just Blaze's performance (which was absolutely amazing and provided more dance fun than any iQ night ever) I met two guys. One, Kyle, was from Chicago and works in Geneva, and the other, Keis, lives in Copenhagen and was on vacation with his mom. Turns out that they just met that night and were hanging out buying beers for each other. I joined their group and we dubbed ourselves a tripod. Those two are ridiculous and a lot of fun. So after the show, we went to the Montreux Jazz Club to drink more and be awesome. While we were there, we met a guy named Gabriel who lives in Montreux but is from somewhere in France. Keis was talking to him while Kyle asked me if he could wear my glasses so he could look more smart. We turned to Gabriel and asked him if Kyle looked any smarter and he stared at him and was like, "Um... nope. Not at all." From then on we became a big group of about 8 people. I met Gabriel's girlfriend and she was from Germany or from the northern part of Switzerland so she spoke German or something like that, but she was really cool too. So we're all hanging out, having a good time, being drunk, whatever. Eventually Kyle and I were just hanging out talking and making jokes and what not when all of a sudden we just couldn't breathe and our eyes started to water and we were coughing. Keis came up and was like, "Yeah I think we should get out of here, now. There was a huge fight just next to you guys and security used tear gas." What the hell? Hahah. I'm still wondering why I didn't see the fight. Then again, it was really crowded and loud, and I had a few beers in me.
After that, Keis went back to his hotel and Kyle and I caught the 5 am train to Geneva. We didn't get back to his apartment until almost 7 am. Quite literally, the sun was shining. We only got a few hours of sleep, but oh well. It was totally worth it. We got lunch / breakfast / brunch at a cute café by his apartment and then went on a walk to the park/lake. I saw the infamous fountain! Eventually Keis called us and we went to meet him and his mom at the Starbucks by the train station. We went on a long walk around all of Geneva. We saw generally everything we needed to see. Keis's mom is really cool and fun to talk to. We were talking about politics and differences and similarities between the USA and Denmark. They're really hoping that Obama becomes president because they feel like there will be hope for Denmark. I guess everything that America does, Denmark copies. Trends, government, movies, etc.
Basically, the whole weekend was fantastic. I'm so glad that I went to Montreux.