Daily Life

This past weekend, two friends and I attempted to take a spontaneous trip to Geneva, but didn't end up getting our tickets in time. The culture of the Swiss doesn't very easily allow for spontaneity, as they really value punctuality. So I spent my weekend in Lugano, hiking and exploring during the day and going out at night. School keeps me busy, and I also just started a band new A Capella Choir on campus, which has been a big success so far. We just performed for the first time at a student open mike night, and arrangement of "I'm Yours" that I put together. I'm really enjoying that. I have also joined a Swiss Aussie Rules Football team, which is like a hybrid between rugby and soccer. Just today, I met a representative of the Greenpeace branch in Lugano and I plan on going to their next meeting! From what I hear, they are still very involved in the anti-whaling movement. Here are a few pictures of some friends and I!

Right now a lot of people are preparing for Octoberfest, which starts this weekend. A friend and I are planning on renting a smart car and doing a short road trip over to Germany for the weekend. I've been here for a month now, and I was getting a little homesick for the Southwest this week. I felt like I'd give anything for a red enchilada! But I'm still intent on making the most of my time here. I have so much to learn from this place.

Climbing in Switzerland

So I'm a little behind in my postings, but I'll try to make up for lost time. I believe it was two weekends ago now that I finally got out of Lugano to do some rock climbing! A group of us, complete with some experienced climbers as well as a few beginners, took a train to the Swiss town of Bellinzona and a bus farther into the mountains where there are a lot of climbing routes. We climbed all morning, and I particularly enjoyed a slab climb (where there are few foot and hand holds so you have to rely more on balance and technique) that was challenging. It was a beautiful area, and I look forward to going back. Before it gets too cold, I hope to do some deep water soloing as well.

After climbing, we went back to Bellinzona to go enjoy an annual wine festival that was happening there. Bellinzona is an absolutely beautiful town, complete with cobblestone roads, cathedrals, and colorful houses lining alleyways. One of my friends described it as what mainstreet disneyland might look like if it were a real place. You could buy a wine glass for ten francs and sample all the wine you could ever want. For me, who has absolutely no experience with the culture of wine, this was quite the educational experience as well. I got to learn about some of the different kinds, and now know that when tasting wine you are supposed to start with white before moving to rosette to red. We bought a few bottles, stopped to pick up some kebobs from a popular local "fast food" place, and walked up to one of the Bellinzona castles that overlooks the whole city. How incredible to think that people once lived there! Later that night, we took the train back to Lugano.

Blues to Bop

This weekend there is a music festival in Lugano called Blues to Bop that draws musicians from all around the world, including many American groups. I went last night, and downtown Lugano was just filled with music and people spilling over from five different stages. There were some amazing jazz bands playing. Being at a concert also made obvious another cultural difference between the Americans and the Swiss. At every stage, all of the Franklin students were front and center dancing like the crazy college kids that they are. The Swiss don't dance. They sway, and tap their feet and appreciate the music, but they don't seem to really dance like we do and seemed to find our behavior amusing to say the least. We left the concert at one in the morning, and it still went on for another hour.

After the concert, a big group of students walked to a famous spot along the lake where there used to be an old rope swing. The police have long since cut it down, so Franklin made their own rope that they bring and attach to the old spot. Everyone was swinging and jumping into the water, which isn't very cold this time of year. It was amazing to swim in the lake at night and I couldn't imagine having a better view of the world at that moment; the shores of Italy were to one side of us and Lugano was to the other.

Food Per Favore?

Never in my life have I felt so incompetent, and I felt very incompetent when I was in Nepal and India. I just had the chance to finally go explore the downtown area by myself, with the goal of coming back with groceries for the week. It is so beautiful, just the way you might imagine an Italian city might look like. Lots of small shops and restaurants, people sitting outside in the sun eating and drinking wine. I was just surrounded by beautiful things. Because of my complexion, many people assume that I am also a Swiss Italian which helps me to blend in when I am alone. However, this facade ends the second I open my mouth. Grocery shopping without knowing any Italian was difficult. The shopkeepers treat me like a local until it becomes obvious that I am struggling with the most basic tasks, like weighing my fruits and vegetables myself, which is what is done in Switzerland. Also, grocery shopping is quite a time commitment; between walking there and back and visiting several shops to buy all the products I need, at least three hours have gone by. However, this seems to be perfectly normal and acceptable here, as if time has slowed in Lugano. The people here are very leisurely; there is no rushing around or unpleasant attitudes, which seems to give people all the more time to experience pleasure. In Lugano, life literally passes by at a much slower pace. Despite it all, I think I will look forward to some leisurely grocery shopping every week. I'm sure it will get easier as I learn more Italian.

While shopping, I realized that it will be more difficult to feed myself than I anticipated. All the food sold here is very fresh, and by law all stores must label where the food was produced and shipped from, making it very easy to choose local products. I would like to take this as an opportunity to eliminate processed foods from my diet and cut down on my carbon footprint by only buying local, fresh foods. It seems like the Swiss do it, and I really want to figure out how to do it too. I'm even thinking about eating local meat from a macelleria every now and then when I am really lacking in protein, because beans aren't very common here. Right now in my refrigerator and pantry I have tomatoes, carrots, plums, grapes, lettuce, blueberry jam, a homemade loaf of bread, cheese, yougurt, eggs, pasta, olive oil, and "italian beans" (whatever those are). All of these products were either local or imported from Italy.

Class Registration!

I just registered for classes! I am taking Conservation Biology, Environmental Discourses (a communications class centered on how environmental documentaries are framed) macroeconomics, intro to Italian, and a music history class called Mozart to Mahler. When I registered for this last class, my temporary adviser remarked, "How refreshing, an environmental studies person who likes Mahler!" My actual adviser will be the environmental studies department chair once I officially declare my major. I knew who he was right away; he was the only person I have seen in Switzerland wearing Chaco sandals. So far, he seems like a great teacher. For those of you who may be reading this from Lewis and Clark, he is definitely not a Jim Proctor.

I was also assigned what Franklin calls an academic travel class, which is basically a one credit class that all students take that takes place during two weeks of travel outside the classroom. My class is called Following the Rhine, which is basically just what is sounds like. My group will be traveling from where the Rhine starts in Switzerland up through Germany and France, ending in Amsterdam, studying the cultural, historical, and environmental impacts of the river. I can't wait!

Now I'm off to get groceries downtown for the first time, I wonder how much this will cost?

Pizza

I just ate my first Swiss Italian Pizza...it was amazing. The cheese was creamy and the crust was thin, it's like art! There is a pizzeria under one of the dorms. We had a group dinner and sang happy birthday to one of the freshman, much to the amusement of the Italian diners. Even though the student body is so small and obviously very close, everyone is very friendly and supportive to the new students.