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Image:<\/strong>\u00a0Eva Suarato Adams<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n Author:<\/strong> Marie McMullin<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t know who Eva Suarato Adams is, I wouldn\u2019t blame you. And yet, you should, as she is behind almost every email you receive from the English department and is an invaluable help to all the staff members who get lost in the administrative maze of the UNIL. Here at MUSE, we decided it was time we got to know who was hiding behind secretariat-anglais@unil.ch, and Eva very kindly made time in her busy schedule to answer my questions.<\/p>\n I begin the interview with an essential, if banal, question, and ask her how long she has been in Lausanne and working for the university. I was actually born in Lausanne, <\/em>she tells me, so I have been here for many years, for ever almost! But I left Lausanne in 2000, went to the Dominican Republic, and I spent more than ten years there. We came back, with my husband and the kids, in 2010, quite a long time ago now. I started working here in 2011. <\/em><\/p>\n Impressed and intrigued by the exotic destination she had chosen, I urge her to tell me more. Well, to be very honest with you, when I was here in Lausanne before leaving, I used to study medicine \u2013 which was a fail! <\/em>She laughs, obviously well over the disappointment. I had a brilliant \u201c\u00e9chec d\u00e9finitif\u201d, just like many other people, right? So, I actually went to the Dominican Republic just to, you know, learn Spanish. I was supposed to stay there six months, but then it turned out I stayed there for ten years! And I used to work in tourism there, for a receptive tour operator, so something completely different from what I do now. But it was very interesting. <\/em><\/p>\n As we have brought up the topic of work, my next question asks whether she has always worked for the secretariat of both the English and the Italian departments. My contract since the beginning was really to work for both departments<\/em>, she informs me. I\u2019m very lucky because my father is Italian, so when I was a kid we spoke<\/em> Italian at home. Just like all the young people here, I learned English at school<\/em>. She pulls a face, clearly not impressed with the level she used to have. But then, in the Dominican Republic, I used to work for a Canadian company, which means that I had to speak English every day \u2013 which definitely comes in handy now!<\/em><\/p>\n Eva has mentioned quite a few languages so far, and I wonder how many she speaks. Well, we speak Spanish at home, so with French that\u2019s four. Oh, and German too! <\/em>When I tell her how impressive that is, she modestly responds to the compliment with, Oh, I\u2019ve lost a lot of vocabulary, so I can\u2019t really say that I speak German anymore. <\/em>We both end up laughingly agreeing that in Switzerland, we always let the Swiss Germans practise their French anyway!<\/p>\n I\u00a0 come back to her role as secretary and ask whether she notices any stark differences between the two departments she manages. First of all, I have to say I am very lucky because I work for two very nice and friendly departments. They\u2019re quite different just because they don\u2019t have the same size \u2013 at all. The English department is probably one of the biggest ones in the faculty, whereas the Italian department is way smaller.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018How many students does the Italian department have?\u2019, I ask. Mmm, <\/em>she wonders. Right now, I couldn\u2019t tell but much less than the English department.<\/em>\u00a0It makes a difference, you know? Also, I think one of the big differences is that some of the Italian teachers actually live in Italy. So they travel every week. I don\u2019t get the chance to see them all the time. The teachers in the English department mainly live here. Even if they are not teaching, let\u2019s say on Mondays, they\u2019re still around, so I get a chance to see them. <\/em><\/p>\n We then turn to the more practical aspects of her job, and she tells me that one of her main tasks is to lend a helping hand to the teachers. I ask if she sees herself as the person behind the scene who fixes problems, or if that would be putting it too bluntly. I just try to help, to be honest. I don\u2019t think that I have any magic tricks to fix everything<\/em>, she adds\u00a0 while laughing. I\u2019m just trying to do my best, and really help the teachers in their admin tasks, and make sure that what I can do, is done. <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018What is the strangest request you\u2019ve ever had to deal with, either from a student or a member of staff?\u2019, I wonder. Oh gosh, <\/em>she laughs, that\u2019s hard to say. We have pretty reasonable people working and studying here<\/em>. Honestly, let me think about it. <\/em>She ponders for a bit. Nothing comes to mind really\u2026 you know, it\u2019s probably because when I used to work for that tour operator back in the Dominican Republic, there,<\/em> she \u00a0insists, I had so many weird requests from tourists that probably, now, something that would sound weird to you doesn\u2019t sound weird to me at all.<\/em> I naturally ask for an example. Well, I\u2019ve had clients complaining about the water of the sea being too salty. That type of thing. They couldn\u2019t understand that in the 21st<\/sup> century we still hadn\u2019t found a way to \u2018desalt\u2019 the sea. <\/em><\/p>\n Moving on from the ridiculousness of some people, I ask Eva to pick three books she would want at her side if she ended up stranded on a desert island Oh, that\u2019s a tough question. <\/em>She takes the time to consider her possible choices. I\u2019m thinking about the books that I\u2019ve read recently\u2026what was the last one\u2026A book that I really liked was <\/em>La v\u00e9rit\u00e9 sur l\u2019affaire Harry Qu\u00e9bert, there is a show on TV going on about it right now. It\u2019s one of those books that <\/em>\u00a0you can\u2019t stop reading once you\u2019ve started \u2013 a real page-turner. I also like Dan Brown as an author\u2026 Oh, yes, another book I\u2019ve read quite recently was from [Le\u00efla<\/em>]<\/em> Slimani, a <\/em>Chanson douce, a book which<\/em> won the Prix Goncourt I think, in 2017 probably. <\/em>A quick internet search reveals that the novel did indeed win the Prix Goncourt, but in 2016. That was an excellent book. A little dark, but very good. Of course, I work for a literary department and I enjoy books by more \u201cserious\u201d authors, but I haven\u2019t got as much time as I would like to read. So, when I really have the chance, let\u2019s say when I\u2019m on holiday, I just want to read something light, entertaining, that allows me to escape. <\/em>As she says this, I can\u2019t help but\u00a0 think about how long it has been since I\u2019ve read a book without having to take notes at the same time. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly agree with her wish for a bit of escapism.<\/p>\n My next question is about authors, and she once more has to make a choice: if she could have dinner with any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? She immediately groans. That\u2019s a tough question too! Mmm, either it would be a very, very old author, like Caesar. <\/em>Seeing my surprise, she explains further: I used to study Latin, and the texts were very interesting. Plus, he is someone who had the chance to live and see many things. So that would be my pick if I had to go way back in time. And otherwise, well, many of them really, from Shakespeare to more contemporary authors like the three I mentioned before. Jo\u00ebl Dicker especially. He is a young author, and it would be interesting to know how he came to that career, what makes him tick as a writer. <\/em><\/p>\n When\u00a0 I had stepped into her office earlier, Eva had mentioned that she was currently quite busy. I ask her whether this is a particularly intense time of the academic year for her. Yes, it is, because we have to work on the budget, and then we are already working on the January exam session too. And it\u2019s also that time of the year when we have a lot of pleasant and extremely nice events. <\/em>We both start giggling at this point as from her tone it is obvious there is a big \u201cbut\u201d coming. But sometimes there are too many things happening at the same time. It\u2019s not only because of the job. I have two kids, and there\u2019s the school party, and the kindergarten party\u2026 it never stops!<\/em><\/p>\n Promising that I have two more questions and that I would then leave her in peace, I ask her if she is someone who sticks to traditions at Christmas, or if she likes to try new things at this time of the year. This immediately makes her laugh. I definitely stick to traditions! I\u2019ve spent so many years in the Caribbean having Christmas under the palm trees! Honestly, that was probably the only time of the<\/em>\u00a0 year when I really missed being home. Christmas is a time when you want to be surrounded by your family, in a cold place, possibly with snow. And again, my father is Italian, so I come from a rather traditional family. Yes, I definitely stick to traditions at Christmas!<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018Last question\u2019, I say, having thoroughly enjoyed myself and half wishing we could carry on talking. \u2018Have you made any particular wishes or resolutions for the New Year? Or have you not had the time to think about them yet?\u2019 Gosh, well, honestly\u2026 my biggest wish, and that may sound weird, is to just keep on being happy. If my family, my friends, and myself can keep on being healthy and happy, I think that\u2019s quite good! And then all the rest will just be a bonus.<\/em><\/p>\n We conclude the interview on that joyful and uplifting note and, after thanking Eva for her time, I take my leave with a smile on my lips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Image:\u00a0Eva Suarato Adams. Author: Marie McMullin If you don\u2019t know who Eva Suarato Adams is, I wouldn\u2019t blame you. And yet, you should, as she is behind almost every email you receive from the English department and is an invaluable help to all the staff members who get lost in the administrative maze of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001853,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[39],"class_list":{"0":"post-954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-winter18","7":"tag-interviews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001853"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}