Sitting at a table in “Café de Paris”, in Geneva, I notice that the waitress is Spanish. At the table next to mine, there is certainly an English couple. Ahead of us there is a bigger and noisier group that seems American.
 
I am sitting at my favourite place: next to the window. While I wait for my entrecôte, I watch a group of young Arabs, who are outside in the esplanade playing with each other and laughing. Behind them are the Swiss, going up and down Rue du Mont Blanc, calmly, without running or causing disturbance.
 
I like Geneva a lot. It is a calm city where everything seems well-organized. People seem to respect each other; they fulfil their duties and their schedules naturally. These people, often called cold and monochordic by Latins, apparently feel they don’t have to shout to be heard.
 
Around six million people live in an area of forty thousand square metres (less than half of Portugal), of which seventy-five per cent are mountains, which are covered by snow more than half of the year.
It’s a small country, with few natural resources (I only know the beauty of its scenery and a lot of water), whose people are divided by their four languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.
 
However, these people were able to develop agriculture, using every corner available, and cattle raising, that led to the use of milk, to make the well-known gruyère and emmenthal cheeses, as well as their famous chocolate. They also developed a various industries of quality products, such as clock-making and scientific gadgets of precision, optics, etc.. They developed as well chemical and textile industry and also the food production, already referred to. Tourism, thanks to a wise organization of hotel services and others, is a great source of wealth. Finally, the Swiss knew how to build one of the greatest banking centres of the world.
 
Nowadays, these people have one of the highest standards of living on the whole planet. They say they are independent and neutral. They live in the middle of Europe, so they were never able to leave by sea to look for better conditions, but they have never waited for others to send them support and subsidies to help in their development.
 
They have their own way. They say they are independent and neutral and (let’s say it again) fulfil their duties and their schedule naturally. They are a good example for many people, including the Portuguese.
 
I’m almost finishing my meal, tasting a poire belle-Helène. I wish that the Portuguese can also find their own way, independent, assuming their own dimension, without complexes and complaints. Also without snow and cold, but with a lot of sun and all our human heat.
 
 

 about the Book |  know the Author  |  Index