Ruth’s Diary

We had a very nice breakfast at the hostel – porridge, bread, & coffee with hot milk. I left immediately after breakfast with my bike & pack as I had an appointment with the hairdresser. The man who was to do my hair didn’t speak English, but in spite of my very broken French he understood what I wanted. It was most embarrassing as my head was so frightfully dirty. He had it all washed & when he began to scrutinize the back, I was afraid for a moment there might even be animals present – but not so – he only had to give it a second wash as one was not sufficient. I had him wave it as he wished & he did an excellent job – cost 4 francs (not quite $1.00). The girls had taken my bike to the station so I walked up to see what the news was – neither Frank & the boys had arrived & what time we were to leave. Frank was having difficulty getting us & our bikes out of Geneva without giving 5 days notice so Helen & Dot went to buy lunch while we stayed with the bikes. We ate our regular kind of lunch – a loaf of bread, bologna, tomato, pastry & a plum by the fountain in front of the railroad station. After lunch Dot, Helen & I went shopping – I bot a watch, a cigarette case. We spent the whole afternoon poking around the stores. We ate supper in a little restaurant on a side street. It was very tasty – minute steak, french fried potatoes, & salad for 4 francs (1.50), but I am like the boys now, I can’t seem to get enough to eat. After supper I took one last look at Geneva & the lake by walking way out on a jetty by myself – & then back to the station. We left on the 9:25 train for Paris. We tried to save enough seats in 3 compartments so that we could stretch out, but no luck as the car was crowded. We had to even put extras in There was a strange mixture of peoples in the compartments. In the comp. in which I stayed until 1:00 A.M. there was a man from Australia, & a Doctor (?) Sh. from Bombay, India, a French woman & her son who was an imbecile apparently. The man from India was very eager to talk. We talked of everything from European politics to social problems & what percent of Am. Girls had premarital relations. He was strongly anti-British – would not grant that Eng. had done anything for India in any way. He said that the caste system, the different religions & the petty princes are no hindrance to Indian unity & that without Eng. India would not necessarily be in a turmoil. He had been in Czechoslovakia recently & had been very much impressed. His statement was “I admire Germany. I love the Czechs, and I like the Swiss”. He also felt that Hitler had done much for Germany, not that he agreed with their methods. As for Hitler’s foreign policy – he felt that Eng. had always used the same means to gain its ends as Germany now was – in India, Palestine & So. Africa. About 1/2 o’clock I found a corner & napped off & on until 5 o’clock A.M.