merci francois

so francois wrote me back from the confederation de switz this morning

i am not on a refugee/asylum card. phew!

i am freely able to go wherever the hell i want god dammit, i'm an american!

from my pal francois:

There seems to be a confusion regarding "visas". You are talking about "F" stay-permits (stay permits are the equivalent of a US Green card). These stay-permits are indeed intended for refugees and asylum seeker and are issued buy the Interior Ministry (= homeland security in the US). This is not what you have.

You were issued with an "F" Legitimation card of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is different. This card allows you to stay and work in Switzerland as long as you are employed by international civil servants. It also allows you to travel freely in "Schengen" states without a visa (if you would need one - depending on your nationality). Most of the western European States are part of the Schengen agreement - including all the States bordering Switzerland - but Great-Britain, for example isn't. Anyway, I doubt that you need a visa to enter GB as a US citizen, but I'm not sure (if you plan on going there, check with their Consulate).

schengen travel

http://tinyurl.com/che376

also on the swiss confederation website it states this:

The Agreement became officially operational on 12 December 2008. In practice this means that identity checks at the internal Schengen borders have been lifted. Identity checks at airports will be lifted as from 29 March 2009 following the next change to flight schedules...

i am thinking this means i am free to travel at will. i have a work permit to be here and i have a US passport.

i shall not worry and if i get popped then well, i will just start crying about how i am a refugee!

swine flue....pandemic or mass alarm for no reason?

paging dr henn!

i can agree that a flu that is easily spread between humans could be cause for concern, sure but seriously....can it spread this quickly?

what if it gets completely out of hand....the EU, asia and russia are already talking about quarantines of incoming travelers.

i believe lufthansa has suspended flights headed to mexico....

what if i can't get into america in october??

i will be very sad.

some pictures

this is just the sky not the fire smoke.

things i miss

i am not really home sick but i was thinking about what i missed the most from home and it's not really all material things!

1- sunday morning television
2- my bike!
3- wandering around DC
4- henry and cat and malcom and leo!
5- hearing about artomatic makes me sad to miss this years exhibit and i wish good luck to those that are entered this year!
6- jimmy t's
7- doing laundry whenever i want!

for now this is it. i was just missing some people and things today. nothing major.

i can't believe it's already 630!!

i had a great weekend, meeting up with some expats i think next week sometime for a 'curry' night and tomorrow will be getting my ticket to milan and figuring out how i am going to get from milan to rome...most likely flying but training through italy sounds pretty nice eh?

i talked to my mom and grandmother today via phone and my grandmother said 'well it sounds like you're just next door!' she also told me that all her arteries are clean and clear from her physical. she's 75 years old, still works full time, drives a car and so on. very cool lady and i miss her dearly. she's like my mom....my mom i also spoke with today. this week marks six years for her being off heroin. i am happy for her but sometimes think she should have tried doing that when i was younger! at least she's good now and this i think is important. i am glad we can talk...she's still a little slow in the brain area...i had to tell her four times where i was going in june with who and why.

i have a house phone now which is relatively cheap to use on weekends.

my number is 061 631 26 80 country code for switz is 41.
i have no answering machine and during the week i am not home usually until around six or seven pm...

i also have skype so this is free. if you are on skype feel free to email me to find out how to find me there!

i deleted a shit load of photos on my camera because i am an idiot...sadly the photos from the grave of james joyce were on there!

my sunday walk

today i opted for the city walking and walked over the giant two level bridge that connects my part of town, klein basel, to gross basel near the novartis campus.

i saw again the crazy building they are erecting for the pharm company but no one can get close enough to take a good photo so i will wait a bit.

can't be sure one will ever get that close but we'll see.

took me about 40 minutes to walk from my house to city center, marktplatz.

i walked ways i never have before using the smokestacks of pharm companies and this tall building as my landmarks. can't get too lost in a city this small.

happened upon a cool old tunnel thing as well as some new parks to sit in on the banks of the rhine.

ended up back over on my side of the river, read a while and then headed home.

on the way home i was seeing giant plumes of smoke in the air over my hood. i was freaked out that it was my building but it was on the other side of the road.

rare to hear so many sirens especially on 'quiet sundays'

my laundry day falls on the fucking may first holiday (meaning no one can do any work that day including laundry) so i have asked tamara if i can pay her to use her washer and dryer for two loads of laundry. here's hoping she agrees otherwise my next laundry day is on may 22nd or some shit.

reading my news, working on art, drinking coffee...enjoying the day.

happy sunday!

finally working on art...

...the title says it all.

i feel more motivated to do it now that i have a chair!

that's not really the reason. i am not sure why i wasn't doing art in previous weeks. i just felt the urge last night and i should roll with it.

now to find artists in basel!