Walking on Water

Being from the snow belt and having my fair share of frigid winters, I am not super impressed with the winters here. I get it. It gets really cold. The air hits the lake and then we get smothered in the white stuff. Brrr...



Nicholas on the other hand, being from South America, finds it to be really great here. This whole winter thing is a phenomenon to him. It is like watching a little kid. He loves that walking on the snow feels like flour and that he can stay out really long because the boots we bought before we left keep his feet warm and dry. (obviously)



After another big snow storm yesterday, we were looking out our window to this little fountain/pond in front of our house and these kids were all walking on it, even though it was not fully frozen in the center. I shrieked to Nicholas that they were going to break the ice and fall in. Nicholas just thought it was cool. After we left the pub last night, another student and Nicholas wanted to test out the ice/water for themselves. I got the camera, the wallet, the phone and they went to the water.



I was laughing too hard and missed the shot were the ice cracked and Nicholas got a wet foot, but this is the one previous.

White Horse- Ouchy

Last night we had drinks at our local pub with other IMD students, partners and the partner coordinater, Marcella. It was a blast.



It reminded me of one of the things I love about Europe. At our table, there was a couple from Tokyo, a guy from Spain, a guy from Argentina, a Dutch guy, a Korean woman, an Italian woman and then us. For the beginning of the night, before we ran into the rest of the group, the night was in Spanish, then it switched to mostly English. The conversation was so interesting. Marcella and I chatted the whole time and I have a bazillion ideas about what I am going to do with this year and I am so excited. I am going to take over this town :)

I am sure I will have more posts about White Horse, since this is the unofficial bar of IMD and it just happens to be about 2 mins from our apt. Have I mentioned I LOVE our apt?

Brrrr--- Baby it's cold outside

And INSIDE!

Long johns? Check!




Sweaters? Check!



Ski socks? Check!


Hats? Check!



Ready to... go to BED? Check!

Nicholas and I have been so crazy cold the past few days in our apt and we chalked it up to being from a mild climate (although I hear DC is getting 10"-16" this wknd) and not being properly acclimated for living on the lake in the Alps. BRRR...

Luckily, today, as we left our apt fully dressed for bed, er, I mean a snow storm, we ran into Christian, our handyman. He answered a few questions we had, such as, where does the trash go? what can we recycle here? (A. Cardboard, Paper, glass, aluminum/tin/metal, composte. Oddly enough, no plastic.)

I digress. We also mentioned that the apt has been a tad chilly and if that is normal or if the heat could be turned just slightly up. He then apologized and told us that the heat has not been working this week!

No big deal. No heat. Here. In Switzerland. For three days. Brr. Baby it's cold inside.

Zattoo! Bingo!!

While it has only been a few days here, I just realized how dependent I am on the media and some sort of mindless distraction... Knowing full well before we left the States that I would no longer have access to the abc, nbc, cbs, online shows :( ...Even knowing this, I TRIED



and tried



and tried



and tried each of my favorite networks back home to see what shows I could keep up with...

Alas. I had to get creative and creative i did. I found ZATTOO


(love the logo!)



and it plays all sorts of european shows and American ones, like GREY's Anatomy in Italian. I think it is an old one I must have missed unless some of the old characters come back... I should have studied that Italian book that Uncle Bill gave me years ago.

Anyways, Zattoo is awesome. I found the French channels and we watched the end of one of the Spiderman movies and then almost the whole Children of Men. Even with my lack of French, that movie is spectacular. Wow. Luckily, Nicholas just sat there as my instant translator, think UN.

I am hoping with a few more shows/movies in French on Zattoo, I will be speaking like this lady :)



Bonjour!

Well, HELLO Switzerland

Things I love about Switzerland so far:

CHEESE! We have been here for just over a day and I have to say, the rumors are true- the dairy here is magnificent! Our local grocer sells huge wedges of Brie for $2!!! Back in DC this wedge would have easily cost at least $7 on sale. It is delicious. Yogurt for breakfast also passed the test with flying colors, even in the flavor of caramel pear. We declare this to be true, DAIRY in Switzerland is the crème de la crème. Pun intended.

Onto another very important topic: CHOCOLATE! Arguably the thing Switzerland is most known for, next to the cheese and clocks, the chocolate here is spectacular. Upon arriving to our new home, our sweet, kind landlord gifted us a beautiful, large box of chocolate. Our smiles could not have been bigger. Nicholas even gave the man a hug! Admittedly, we have not opened aforementioned chocolate box, because we are still working on the one that our dear friends from Zurich gave us for the wedding. Melt in your mouth deliciousness. In interesting flavors and textures. We LOVE it. I had to suppress every urge in my body not to down a few of the decadent morsels this morning before breakfast.

SIMPLICITY. Things here are simple. We do not live in a rural countryside or even in a very small town. This is one of the larger cities in Switzerland, however, things over here are just more simple. For instance, stores close early. Why? No reason, they just do. So figure out what you want and make sure you get it before the grocer goes home. Can I tell you how happy people are for a store that stays open until 9pm? We thought when they said a store stays open late, all hours, meant 24hrs. The IMD administrator Lucy nearly fell over when we asked if she meant the store was 24hrs. She clarified that a store open til 9pm is nothing short of a miracle. I am sure this whole store-closing-early thing will irk the heck out of me later, but for now, I appreciate that people don’t have to work until 2am just to make sure I can get that bag of sugar I forgot to pick up before 7pm.

KINDNESS. How else do you describe the fact that our landlord gifted us a box of chocolate, then invited us to tea in his restaurant, after which he apologized that he had to run into the city for business but to stay as long as we liked in the café? During which time, the manager came over to introduce herself and invited me to always come down and ask them for anything that I may need for our apartment upstairs. After which, we ordered a large lunch and were then told, it is on the house. Welcome! Wow… we sure felt special. And loved. And lucky. Come visit, the people at La Riviera are just like the chocolate and the cheese, spectacular.

I DO

Nicholas and I had a beautiful, simple wedding this past Sunday in hot South Beach. Since the priest decided he liked his vows better, we were not able to do our own vows at the ceremony, I figured I would share them here. Listed first in English then Spanish. I do, I do, I do!

I vow to take care of you, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in new or known countries.

Prometo hacerme cargo de ti, en salud y enfermedad, en riqueza y pobreza, en paises nuevos y conocidos.

I vow to never go to bed angry with you.

Prometo nunca irme a la cama enojada contigo.

I vow to make my best effort to understand you, even when lost in translation.

Prometo hacer el mayor esfuerzo de entenderte, aun cuando el sentido se pierda en la traducion.

I vow to be wrong, even when I am right.

Prometo estar equivocada aun cuando tenga la razon.

I vow to make you happy everyday for the rest of our lives.

Prometo hacerte feliz cada dia por el resto de nuestras vidas.