updates

Well I have a few stories to tell...and a bit of time to tell them, so here we go!

Carnaval is a celebration that occurs immediately before Lent, with two weeks of celebrating! The most famous in the world is in Rio de Janeiro, and the most famous in Spain is Cadiz. So when we heard about a 22 euro round trip bus ride to Cadiz, we were hooked. I crafted my Greek goddess toga costume out of Jess' costume from Halloween, Allison dressed up as a flapper, Emily as farm girl with my American Eagle plaid shirt, and Tina as "stripes" (just dressed all in stripes!) and we were off. The bus ride to Cadiz was boring but manageable, and when we got there the streets were alive! Kids everywhere, adults everywhere, alcohol everywhere, but most of all COSTUMES! Music filled the air along with the screaming and laughter of everyone around, and although the wind was brisk and the sky overcast, it seemed to be the beginning of quite the night! (And oh how it was...more on this to come) One thing I noticed was that it seemed the majority of people were dressed up in groups, either all identical or had costumes in some way relating to each other. There were groups of chickens, babies, American football players, gladiators, etc. I loved seeing all the costumes, but they did make me feel very non-creative. But Emily said that the Spaniards take this costume thing very seriously, and put a lot of time/money/effort into their Carnaval get-up. I didn't put any of those things into my costume so I guess that's ok then! We spent a short amount of time by the water, but it was extremely cold over there so we hung out mostly by the cathedral and were just talking to people. Meeting Spaniards, meeting more API people, it was really fun to just chat, especially in Spanish! I love that I'm at the point where I can completely have a conversation with someone, now I just need to start creating more opportunities for using Spanish. I would say that right now, 70% of my life is in Spanish. and that is when Ana hasn't been home (her & Jess are in Paris for over a week). I want to make it so about 90% of my interactions this semester are in Spanish! What a goal....Oh, anyways, back to Carnaval. So it was pretty dang fun, and around midnight, it started to rain. No big deal, I brought out my rain jacket and my fleece underneath to stay warm, we pulled out some umbrellas, no pasa nada, right? WRONG. so....very....WRONG! The rain got increasingly worse over the next half hour so we decided to try to find some sort of cover...So for an hour or so we were crammed in with hundreds of Spaniards who were blowing whistles, screaming, just completely drunk and pushing us all over the place. This is only the beginning of the misery. Honestly, I would love to elaborate with every hour of the night, but it was so awful I don't really want to recall the entire thing, and I can safely write that we were STANDING for six hours waiting for the rain to stop, which it never did. The bus wasn't going to be unlocked until 6 am, so it was a tortuous wait, and at first we tried to be positive and chatty and play games, but that lasted maybe 45 minutes. And after that it was all about taking my mind elsewhere, trying to forget about how my feet were wet, the wind was blowing, I was freezing and unhappy and REALLY wishing I hadn't dished out 22 euro for this clearly NOT FUN evening. It was so hard to not be outwardly negative so I kind of did the turtle thing and retreated into my shell for the entire evening so as not to bitch at any of my friends unintentionally. But I think they understood, because we were all in the same boat.

Finally Sam called me and yelled over the people with him and all the crazy Spaniards with me, "COME! THE BUS IS UNLOCKED!" And from there it was go time. Emily, Tina, and I just started to book it to the bus which was located about 15 minutes away from where we'd been standing. The rain had picked up and the streets were mostly flooded. My polka dotted Vans were filled with water, my toga was drenched and nearly falling off, my North Face was completely soaked but thank god it protected my fleece and tank top underneath. It was a mad rush to get to the warmth of the bus, and on the way in the lakes of water on the road we saw abandoned umbrellas, shoes, costumes, garbage, CHAOS. I felt like we were in the movie The Day After Tomorrow or something, it felt, sounded, and looked like we were in a small scale hurricane. Finally we reached the bus, and everyone was half naked, trying to get as far away from their drenched clothes as possible. Thank the Lord, I had a pair of jeans and a tshirt that I had worn on the way to Cadiz before changing into my toga, otherwise I would've been a disaster, I don't know what I would've done, sat naked? sat completely freezing and soaked for the 5 hour bus ride? Who knows. Once the bus started going I was drifting in and out of sleep, but it was really uncomfortable because I was trying to keep my feet off the soaking wet floor of the bus. When we got back to Granada it was fairly sunny and I wished more than anything I had never left. I got home, and my violently growling stomach induced me to make a huge bowl of pasta and crash for the next 7 hours. So my sleep patterns this week have been a little off, what with Carnaval and yesterday, my birthday!

We started with the negative, now we'll go with the positive! After class yesterday Allison, Tina, Emily, Emma, Sam and I went to Chile Grande (the same restaurant where we ate Thanksgiving dinner last semester) for my Mexican dinner! I of course ordered chicken fajitas and Allison oh so sweetly paid for me as my birthday present! Tina bought me a BOTTLE of rum, which I am going to share with my friends the next time we have a gathering. She also made me a cupcake, but since cupcakes don't exist in Spain, it was made out of clay from the Chino store! Aaahhh it was so funny and crafty and sweet! I loved it. Allison and I had ice cream on the way home, and since Sam didn't want to go home he just came to my apartment and we hung out for a while waiting for everyone to come over. But...surprise surprise, Ana's mom and aunt showed up at the apartment at almost 11 pm, announcing they were staying the night. This was so awkward, and so confusing, and kind of frustrating because it was my birthday and I wanted to have a few of my friends over before going out dancing. But, it's their apartment, so what could I do? I got changed and then we headed to the Chupiteria & Bar Marisma (two of my favorite places in Granada), and then eventually went to Mae West for dancing. I loved that club! It was super fun, the music was really good, there weren't any Americans there really, the only disadvantage was it was absolutely PACKED. We left at like 4 am and I skipped my morning class today. It was such a good birthday!!

Speaking of my morning class, it's Spanish Civ & Culture and I love it! I'm trying really hard to get into my literature classes, they're just designed so differently from my lit classes at home. I think POE is a stupid waste of time but it's easy so whatever, and Linguistics is the bane of my existence, but I'm trying really hard to focus in the class so that I can be more enthusiastic about it. On the positive side, I feel like this is the first time since taking like, math, that I've had to use that part of my brain and learn concepts like that! Haha.

Tonight we're going to see Valentine's Day, which in Spanish is called Historías del día San Valentín, and tomorrow I have an intercambio with API, hope I meet some more Spaniards! Mom comes in 3.5 weeks and I couldn't be more excited! It's going to be such a blast. And I'm pretty close to booking a trip to Portugal for the end of April. I want to get my hair cut and highlighted (first time ever!), because it's cheaper here and Ana has a place in her pueblo she says is good. Which also means at some point I'll be going to Ana's pueblo which should be fun! Exciting things to come! I feel like this weekend I will be emotionally torn a little because I will be missing home like crazy. Jordan's show is this weekend and I'm soooooo sad that I'm missing it. He's such a talented singer and I love watching him sing! I am just thankful it's not his senior year and I'll be home to watch him finish out jazz choir next year. But my friends from Western are going, so he'll have a support system! It's still going to be hard though.

OK I need to go eat something and head to my Hispanic American Literature class, miss everyone!!
Besos,
MacKenzie

Roma, no podré olvidarte!

In case anyone is wondering, the title means, "Rome, I won't be able to forget you!" And that's the truth. I must say that cities like Rome and Paris will constantly have me coming back, begging for more. I haven't felt that way with other cities like Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Prague, even Budapest. But with Rome and Paris, there's always something else to see. Which is why I will always be back.

I wasn't super excited about jetting off to Rome after only being in Granada for three full days. But hey, I paid for it, and a stay in a 4 star hotel, and what kind of selfish brat would I be not to go and appreciate it for what it was? And so, at 5 am on Thursday morning I was promptly meeting other API students at the bus stop to head to Malaga for our flight to Italia.

We arrived in Rome to overcast weather on Thursday, but it wasn't raining, so I was thankful. (I slowly met new API students throughout the weekend, which was good, but it's proving to be difficult to remember everyone! There are so many of them!) Allison, Sam, King (new person-awesome!) and I went to our first Italian meal at a restaurant called Pastarita near the hotel. I had some pizza and it did not fail to satisfy me--delicious! Then Allison and I relaxed and napped a little at the hotel. After showering we decided to walk over to Vatican City which wasn't more than a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel. We entered the "city" at dusk just as Mass was going on, and I must say it couldn't have been a more beautiful sight. People were gathered in the center of the plaza, in front of Saint Peter's Basilica that loomed above them, and each person held a candle in a red candle holder, giving the illusion of thousands of red tinted flames among the crowd. A choir sang hymns, and every so often the crowd would utter their prayers in complete unison, echoing throughout the giant courtyard. Allison knew the prayers they were speaking even though I think they were in Italian! Or Latin maybe. She was raised Catholic so she knew them just from the flow of the words. Darkness continued to envelop the Mass, and as we walked further away from Vatican City we could still hear the prayers, songs, and see the faint lights. It was really a calm, beautiful experience.

We wandered over to the river, and as we were walking, the shrieking sound of firecrackers hit our ears. So we ran over to the river for a better view, and for 15 minutes fireworks sailed over atop the Basilica and the river. "What a nice welcome to Rome?" I couldn't help thinking to myself. Sometimes when I'm here in Europe I just can't believe I'm actually partaking in the things that I'm doing. As we were walking, we were just thinking, oh, you know, no big deal, just walking along the Tiber river in Rome, underneath fireworks being shot off from the Vatican, on a Thursday night. Cool! :) I have these moments from time to time. I had a hunch that a collection of blue lighted arches on the other side of the river signified Gelato. So we crossed, following our stomachs, and sure enough, we happened across our first Italian Gelatería! I had chocolate (like always) and we walked back to the hotel completely satisfied with our delicious treat.

Thursday night Allison, Sam, King and I, along with a few other API people that I am not totally sure of their names, partook in a pub crawl. This was really fun because I haven't ever done a pub crawl before, and I've heard they can be rip-offs but this one seemed well worth the price. It began at the Colosseum, and from there a huge group of people headed off to this restaurant, where we received awesome t-shirts, had an hour long open bar, and got pizza included in the price. From there the entire group-I'm guessing over 50 people headed to another pub by bus, and then again to another. I spent most of my time at the second pub dancing with fellow API students, some Italian boys, and just having a really fun time! The pub crawl was really fun because I met Brits, Italians, Swedes, Spaniards, Americans--it was a blast!

Friday we awoke to a most curious sight-SNOW! Apparently we were fortunate enough to be in Rome during it's first snow in something like 30 years. So, while I was quite cold, and my feet were very wet, it was still a cool and very memorable experience that morning. We went on a bus tour of Rome, which I was quite sleepy during and kept nodding off in the warm bus, only to be rudely interrupted by random walks outside in the slush rain snow. Allison and I ditched the tour a little early because it was just extremely cold and wet and we were borderline miserable. So we hopped into a café and downed some hot chocolate, which is really more like melted chocolate than hot cocoa, and then headed back to the hotel. I had some quality bonding time with Allison, which was nice! We have a similar budget for our travels, and we'd both already been to Rome so we weren't interested in the touristy stuff so much. We started watching the Olympics! And took a nap in our lovely hotel room. Man, I miss that bed and those towels! haha. We were living the high life. Friday night after dinner we walked up to the Spanish Steps, had a nice little romantic time up there, ha! And then we took an early night in due to Thursday's late night out, and we were like a little married couple reading our books in bed in the hotel listening and half watching to BBC. Precious!

Saturday, our final day in Roma, was shockingly beautiful! Not a cloud in the sky, we could hardly believe we were in the same city as the day before where it had been snowing! Allison and I ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel and then set out on a leisurely stroll towards the Colosseum. We walked by the river the entire way, as it was a nice walk and a good alternative to getting completely lost in the streets as we headed to the Roman Forum. It was toasty warm to us Washingtonians, so we just walked around in our t-shirts. Yes it was probably like 55 degrees, but compared to the snow on Friday, it seemed like summer! We got many stares though from fur-coated Italianos. Don't be hatin! :) Seeing the ruins in Rome was cool as ever, I always imagine who walked around there thousands of years ago! We finished off our day with some shopping at H&M, I bought a new coat! and then spent the afternoon napping like usual. I know it sounds lame, and lazy, but I've been sick for two weeks, and after walking for four hours one is quite tired! We finished off our trip to Rome by meeting up with Tina, Emily, and Alyssa, some of the other "Year" girls. We grabbed our last gelati for the weekend and took another spin by the Spanish Steps.

And that was basically Roma! =) It was a blast, I loved every minute of it, from the naps to the walks to the buffet breakfast at the hotel, to the pub crawl. It was an amazing time.

And I am out of my funk that possessed me before leaving for Rome. Now I'm back in action, communicating a lot more clearly in Spanish, and ready to plan some trips! I just purchased reservations for the a Mediterranean Cruise for when my mom comes to visit me! It will go to begins in Barcelona and goes to Spain, France, Italy, and Africa!! It's going to be a blast, I can't wait for her to get here, and it's right around the corner. This weekend I'm going to Cadiz for Carnival, and I think Ana has come up with a good, warm idea for me to dress up as a kitty cat! :) Still trying to fit in trips to Portugal, Galicia, and Morocco, but we'll see how the rest of the semester treats me, both money/time wise. My 20th birthday is a week from tomorrow, and I'm excited to celebrate but bummed because Ana and Jess will be in Paris! But a whole week alone in the apartment will allow me to adjust and start a cooking routine for the rest of the semester. Life is lovely, I am very happy and settling in quite nicely at this point. I will go to the gym tomorrow for the first time, exciting! And my only wish is that the weather would improve a bit, so I wasn't so cold all the time! That's about it though. Anyways. Oh-Olympics--go US!! I hope I can catch a few events at a bar or something while I'm here! Love & miss everyone, hope to set up some skype dates in the near future!

Besos, MacKenzie

settled?

Right now I'm feeling slightly...annoyed with myself and with parts of Granada. First of all, the weather has been terrible since I arrived, which is really the only reason I'm annoyed with Granada. My boots are currently soaked, and I'm hoping it doesn't ruin them, because right now they look very...spotted with rain.

I'm annoyed with myself because I feel like I can't speak Spanish (though this has improved over the past few days). Sometimes when Ana talks to me I just feel like my mind is blank and I haven't a clue how to form the sentence of what I want to say.

I am not eating very healthy. Switzerland got me into a chocolate eating frenzy, and the giant Toblerone bar that Brigitte sent me off with is only getting smaller. I FEEL extremely bloated and fat...as all I've been eating really is carbs carbs carbs....counteracting everything I did over break. When I come back from Rome I need to do a serious healthy shopping trip-for meat, vegetables, eggs, and fruit. I need to not buy the junk I've been buying and limit those things to only once a week or even once a month! On a positive note though, Allison and I joined a gym today. It is 45 euros a month for students, with limited hours, but they're great hours for me. I can work out Monday-Friday from 7 am-4 pm, which is perfect because the majority of my classes are in the evening and I wouldn't want to exercise after class anyway. I am not sure if I'm actually gaining weight or if I'm just facing the grave realization that if I continue eating this way and not exercising I WILL gain weight. ahhhhh....so frustrating. Anyways though. The gym. Very nice, has a pool, cardio equipment, weights, and lots of fitness classes that I plan on partaking in. Allison and I have a meeting with a trainer next Thursday (we're not exactly sure why...the guy who registered just told us we have to). So we're not sure if we're having a training session or just learning the way the gym works...or what? Ha I don't know. But I'm very excited to go to the gym every weekday, and the weekends will be my rest days, or just days to run by the river or something.

Granada doesn't quite feel the same yet, I haven't gone out since I've arrived. Granted, I've only been here 3 nights but still. This city feels very strange without some of the people from last semester. I am walking the same streets and seeing the same places, but the faces are all unknown, different, and not Shannon, Eric, Courtney, Cory...I could go on. I don't want to seem like I'm dwelling on the fact that they're not here, because I'm not, but I do miss them very much and sometimes I feel antisocial because they're not here. I really love living with Ana and Jessica though, they are both just wonderful people and I'm enjoying getting to know them more. I also feel like part of the reason I've been somewhat anti-social is because Ana and Jess have finals going on and no class, so they're kind of holed up in the apartment all day long. It's just very different not having Courtney & Eric pestering me to go out nearly every night! Haha. I'm sure things will find their normal course when I return from my trip to Rome, but this week has just been kind of strange.

I had my first days of classes today and yesterday. I'll give a brief rundown. My first class yesterday was POE which seems like it's going to be an easy buy pointless class. Second class, Images of Women in Spanish Lit, is going to be tough. My teacher has a pretty strong Andalucían accent, and it just seems like it's going to be hard to follow unless I'm completely focused all the time. My third class, which gets exhausting, having 3 1.5 hr classes in a row, is Linguistics, and I can already tell that this class is going to kick my butt. Not only is the concept difficult, like I feel it would be hard to learn in English, but this professor also speaks rapidly with a strong accent. So...Tuesdays and Thursdays aren't going to be too much fun. But today was a lot better. First of all I have class from 11:30-1, Civilization and Culture of Spain. My professor speaks really clearly, the class seemed pretty interesting, and I get to go home for a few hours afterwards. This is nice because I walk twice to school on Mondays and Wednesdays, which can only help me, that's for sure! Then in the evening I have Hispanic American Lit with another clear speaking professor, and we started watching a movie today which was pretty good, but hard for me to understand because the accents were Argentine and it's really different from Spain's accent. Overall I feel like I need to put in a little extra effort to school compared with last semester. Which is ok with me, but I feel like I can't summon up the amount of energy it takes to focus completely in class! Hopefully this will improve once I start working out in the morning and eating a healthier diet.

Hhhmmm....what else? Well I have to meet at the API bus stop in...6 hours, we're off to Roma! I'm kind of excited, kind of not. I don't want to spend money doing anything touristy in Rome because I have already seen everything, and money is not something I want to waste. However, I am excited for the good food and the shopping! Kind of bummed because the weather is supposed to be rainy (also supposed to be rainy in Granada for at least the 10 day forecast ahead-which I don't get because it rained like 4 times last semester). But I think once I get going Rome will be fun. Allison and I are rooming together and we'll probably be hanging with Sam quite a bit. I also hope to see Liz and get to know some of the new people.

Oh! Today I had two great encounters, I ran into Marí Carmen, Pepe, and David walking to my first class this morning! I was so excited to see  them and they seemed very happy to see me too. David is so cute!! And then on my way home in the rain from my evening class, I ran into Marí (the daughter), David (the husband), and David (the baby)! David was all excited and said "Camión" (truck). I couldn't believe he's learning new words! Both run-ins seriously lifted me up, I feel like so much that I'm experiencing is overwhelming new-ness....and it was just good to have some familiarity for once.

Overall, I would say I'm doing OK. I anticipated that re-assimilating back into life in Granada would be much easier. But what I'm realizing is that EVERYTHING I'm doing is completely different. My living situation. The style of my classes. My food preparation. My friends. It's pretty overwhelming. I hope I can get out of this slump soon...And really it isn't a slump, just a general uneasiness that I can't quite put a finger on what is at the heart of my troubles.

But, the show must go on. I'm going to Rome tomorrow! And I need to be thankful. :) Everything will turn out right, I just need some time to adjust.

Till I return...Miss you all!

Besos,
MacKenzie

Estoy aqui. :)

Home Sweet Home. After just over 24 hours in my new apartment, I am feeling pretty dang settled. Not every single thing is in place, but everything is unpacked, I have groceries in the kitchen, I purchased sheets, which are not yet on my bed but in the wash along with my dirty clothes from Switzerland, and I am home.

Pedro Antonio de Alarcón 73 1C

18002, Granada, España

Ana and Jess welcomed me with open arms last night around 9 pm after my 13 hours or so of consecutive train, plane, and bus traveling from Chur to Granada. Ana had made some delicious pasta that I wolfed down gratefully, and Sam, Sabrina, and Allison came over to hang out for a while. It was great to see people! I was so tired and pretty out of it so I didn’t have the best time, but it was nice all the same.

Once everyone left I was exhausted and my room was full of bags, shoes, clothes, everything I own here in España. I didn’t know where to find anything or even where to begin with unpacking, and overall I was just extremely overwhelmed. However, I will note that I am very thankful that I arrived in Granada with a lovely piso (apartment/flat) waiting for me, where as many of my fellow API year colleagues were not so fortunate, and had the stress of being homeless/finding a place to live for a few days. That being said, I was still overwhelmed. ;) I knew the only logical solution at that point (1:30 am) was sleep, so after that fact being confirmed by good ol’ J Floe (love you bestie) I hit the hay.

Today, I can gladly say, was PRODUCTIVE. Slow kind of, but productive. I figured out my schedule, which is as follows, for those of you who care. ;)

Monday/Wednesday: 11:30 am-1 pm             Spanish Civilization & Culture

                                    6:30-8 pm                        Hispanic American Literature

Tuesday/Thursday:            3:30-5 pm                        Oral & Written Production (POE)

                                    5-6:30 pm                        The Image of the Woman in Spanish Lit.

                                    6:30-8 pm                        Intro to Linguistics

So tomorrow I’ll have class from 3:30 to 8. All my classes are in Spanish. I’m pretty happy with my schedule except for the fact that I have to take POE (it doesn’t count towards my major at WWU). It will be strange having class in the evening (never experienced this before) but also awesome that I never have to wake up early. Yay! And…sitting through nearly 5 hours of class on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be rough. But manageable I suppose.

Anyways. So the other things I accomplished today were grocery shopping, purchasing a pillow & sheets and other random things I needed, enjoying a nice slice of pizza and some quality hang out time with Miss Allison who I have dearly missed, and looking into joining a gym. There is one a block over from my street that is very big, very nice, and pretty expensive but I think I am going to join it because of everything they offer and the hours they’re open. Hooray for not getting fat again this semester!

This weekend, Thursday actually, API is going to Rome. This is weird to me for two reasons. One, I feel like I just got here, which I did. And two, I know basically nobody out of the nearly 70 spring API students. But, no pasa nada, I’m going to Rome this weekend, how many people can say that? It will be fun and I’ll get to know the new people. Things in API are strange though, Eli is now gone, she got a new job. So now it’s Carmen, Alicia, Jonathan, and Laura. So strange…And I introduced myself to a few new peeps but there’s so many it’s a tad overwhelming and I can’t even possibly imagine knowing all of them. Anyways, that’s all for the updates of program, travel, and life I guess.

Tonight for dinner I had strawberries, crackers, and a sandwich. And you know what I loved most? The fact that I chose exactly what I wanted to eat. Jess, Ana and I watched Internado, a Spanish telenovela (soap opera) which was silly, intense, and fun. I think I’m going to like this. Actually let me rephrase myself. I know I’m going to like this. Life is good. =)

Hasta pronto, y os echo de menos!

MacKenzie

                                    

Adventures in Switzerland!!

I apologize now for how ridiculously long this is. It covers a significant chunk of time & was written over a few different days! (Note, the random changes in time period)

Well, here I am. Switzerland, day number four. I finally feel totally adjusted to the time change, but apart from that I’ve developed a bit of a cold. Last night I slept over 10 hours, took Dayquil this morning (that drug is a blessing, I swear) and I’m feeling alright today but kind of drained. It’s so weird to me that my family is on the other side of the world, once again.

Leaving this time was so much easier than the first. There was some general anxiety and unnecessary eating the few days before takeoff, but when I left Mom, Dad, Lena, Jordan, and Max, there were no tears as there were the first time I traveled to the further side of the planet. My flight went smoothly from Seattle to New York, and then from New York to Zurich. The only problem was I arrived in Zurich at 7 am Friday, after leaving Seattle at 5 am Thursday. And the goal was to remain awake until a reasonable bedtime! Sooooo difficult….anyways I promptly purchased an $8 grande mocha at Starbucks in the Zurich airport, knowing full well that I won’t be drinking my delicious chocolate-y pick me up for a long time, not to mention I needed it to jump start the rest of my travel process. I ventured over to the train station, not entirely sure how to use my Eurail pass but then discovered it to be pretty easy. The guy working told me where to go and I boarded a train headed for Chur, where Brigitte was going to pick me up. When I finally sat down on the train with my iPod and breathed for five seconds, I discovered how beautiful Switzerland is during the winter. I was here two years ago in summer, and I was even amazed then. But this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before! And that was only the beginning. I panicked a little when I couldn’t get a hold of Brigitte on her cell or at work, and then struggled to call my mom from my phone. I wasn’t sure if my cell wasn’t working or what, but finally Brigitte received my text, and we sorted out a meeting place. I know for a fact that I have spent an un-Godly amount of money already because the fees for using that phone outside of Spain are absurd. Oh well…that’s Europe I guess! I’ll just have to be extra frugal with my phone when I get back to España.

Brigitte met me at the train station in Chur, and we went grocery shopping then headed back to the house for lunch. Aita came home, and was surprised at finding me there! She thought I would be arriving in the evening. The three of us ate lunch (in most villages in Switzerland the kids come home to eat lunch for about two hours before heading back to finish their school day—Brigitte doesn’t like this so much because it basically requires at least one parent, usually the mother, to be home during the day which isn’t financially feasible for every family) and Brigitte headed back to work and Aita to school. I walked partway with Aita to school then turned off and did a scenic loop past their village, Zizers. The sun was shining, nobody was around, all I could hear was the crunching of snow beneath the boots of Brigitte’s that I’m wearing while I’m here. My friends here have no idea of the beauty in which they live. The scenery is like a fairytale, everything almost fake looking. Zizers is a small village nestled right in the Swiss Alps, mountains rising above it on both sides. Absolutely incredible. I was so exhausted from being awake for so long, that the walk took all my energy out of me, but it was so unbelievably gorgeous. I went back to the house and slept for 3 hours or so, and when I got up Aita had returned home from school. We talked for a few hours and pretty soon Gian Martin came back. When he came inside I heard him say hello before I saw him, and I asked Aita if it was Heinz (her dad) or her brother, and indeed it was Gian Martin! Ha I haven’t seen him in a year and a half and he has grown up so much and sounds so much older! Both of them actually. Aita is fifteen and her English is amazing from the last time I saw her (she couldn’t say anything!) and Gian is seventeen and is taller than me and I just can’t even believe how much he’s grown up since visiting Seattle in 2008.

I spent the rest of Friday afternoon chatting with them, trying so hard to stay awake. Aita made sort of a pizza thing for dinner and we watched Get Smart with Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway, which I hadn’t seen before and it was pretty funny, but I haven’t a clue how it ended because I kept drifting off. I went to sleep at 10, before both Aita and Gian Martin, and slept until Saturday at 9! I obviously had to catch up a bit. J Saturday morning was low key and relaxed, and Brigitte explained that they like to sleep in on weekends and have slow, lazy days! I immediately love them for this, reminds me of weekends at home with mom. I explained to them that Dad and Grammy do not function in this manner and it drives me crazy! Haha….So we went into Chur for a few hours, Gian had stuff to figure out for his new job (lifeguarding at a pool in Chur) and Brigitte had to run some errands so Aita and I just shopped around Chur and got to know each other. She is such a sweet girl and really mature for her age, I have enjoyed spending time with her! And she’s much younger than my brother, so obviously I’m not used to hanging out with 15 year olds!

We spent Saturday afternoon relaxing and Brigitte made some soup for dinner, then we piled in the car with Heinz and picked up Gian Martin’s friend Dario and headed to the outdoor ice skating rink! Now this is the first time in my life that I’ve ice skated outside, and it’s quite the romantic activity if you were with the right person!! Gian and his friends (another one, Stefan joined us at the rink) were racing around kicking a hockey puck, while Aita tried to help me not fall! Ice skating is surely not my forte. I am not terribly bad, I only fell once, but I definitely am not very graceful! But when Gian and Aita held my hand I went quite fast! Which was really fun. It was sooo cold though, but they didn’t think so, just me, only being used to Mediterranean & Pacific Northwest weather. I loved ice skating and I hope we can go again this Friday! It’s something I don’t really ever get to do. Everyone here knows how to though, and pretty much all the boys play “ice hockey” which is what we just call hockey haha. Even Heinz was good at ice skating! He played hockey when he was young. And Gian Martin is such a good skater and I missed his hockey game last night but I want to hopefully watch one of his other games before I leave.

After ice skating we went to the bowling alley! So much fun, even though I sucked at bowling. We played two games and it was just nice to have some good quality fun with the kids and Heinz. And the night was not yet over, we then headed to this party, Maskenball, which roughly translates to a costume party. It was a celebration in Chur as a preview for Carnaval. It is so strange because the drinking age here is 16 to buy beer and wine, and 18 to buy hard liquor. I was Aita’s “adult” so that she could get into the party, because I’m over 18. So that was weird…being old enough to get children into places!! And I won’t lie, I bought her a Smirnoff! Well, I guess it was Gian’s money, but I purchased it with my adult legal capabilities. Haha! This was all very strange to me at first because the last times I’ve seen Aita & Gian they were nowhere close to a party age but now, in Switzerland at least, they certainly are! J Anyways the party basically consisted of 8 or 9 bands that get dressed up in crazy costumes for Carnaval and play popular music, but it’s all instrumental. My favorite band was the one whose entire setlist was ABBA songs!! Loved it of course! The whole band vibe of the place reminded me a lot of my basketball games in high school, warming up to the pep band beforehand. So naturally I loved it. We danced and chatted and had a few drinks, and overall it was just a really cool new experience and fun to see Aita & Gian with their friends in a sort of social activity that’s normal for them in Switzerland. But towards the end of the night I was so exhausted, still feeling the effects of jet lag, and when we got back home past one, I totally crashed into bed as I had a big day ahead of me.

Sunday: Snowboarding!! ….in the Alps! Never thought I would check that off my list of things to do, but sure enough, I have done it now! It was different than home though, usually if I was going up to Baker for the day I have to wake up at 6, be there at 9, stay the whole day, and in general I usually dread it until I am actually snowboarding and then I remember that I love it. This was nice because apparently they spend shorter days at the mountain, which was good for me because it was a new mountain and I was tired anyways. Heinz took us down to the train and we caught it around 9:45, where Stefan was already waiting for us. I have to admit I was nervous, because one, I’m a nervous person in general, and two, I was about to embark on a snowboarding adventure in a very different environment than what I was used to, with two boys who were presumably FAR better on skis than I was on my snowboard. The train took about an hour and a half, and when we arrived, I was on edge. I had never experienced a gondola before. So we put our skis and boards in these little contraptions outside the gondola, and climbed in, as it took us up to the altitude where the base of the ski resort was. Second trial of the day was the first new chairlifts I got to experience. Keep in mind that I say first. I have only been to Mt. Baker and Stevens Pass in Washington, and our chair lifts don’t have bars that come down in front to keep us from falling. Which, looking back, I think every chair lift should have this! Safety you know………….

OK I’m back, I took a break from yesterday’s writing. So now it’s Wednesday and I’m still in the snowy Alps, but unfortunately the weather has changed and now it’s windy and snowy and not so beautiful as before. Anyways, back to snowboarding. So I sit down on the chair lift and Gian says, “Pay attention…” and I didn’t know why he was saying that until the bar came down in front of us and my leg was smushed because I wasn’t sitting in the right spot. The boys were chuckling and I felt so stupid! I had to explain to them that I had never been on a lift like this before, I’m sure they thought I looked as if I had never even been on a mountain before. The first few runs went well with a few falls as usual, and once I started to get my bearings things went more smoothly. Something seemed strange though. Overall, I felt like something was different, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then as I was sitting with the boys on a chair lift ride, the lightbulb came on in my head. “There aren’t any trees!!” I looked around me, relieved that I had identified the weird aspect of the mountain, and sure enough there wasn’t a tree in sight. Gian explained that with the high altitude there couldn’t be any trees, but it was still just so weird. Looking down on the slopes it was just vast fields of snow, and I loved the width of the runs, and how everything seemed gradual and nothing too steep. It was just all so different from Baker back home. Then, the last extreme challenge of the day was these entirely new looking chair lifts that I have never seen before in my life. Not even anything remotely close to it. Attached to the cables going up the mountain were not chairs, but little contraptions that I can only describe as looking like pick axes? And for skiers they were easy, all you had to do was sit on them slightly and the cable would essentially “slide” you up the mountain, with your skis on the ground. Naturally, things were different for snowboarders. Gian clearly did not understand that I had absolutely NO clue how to get on the thing, but it became clear when I repeatedly fell 3 or 4 times in a row. We kept letting people behind us in line pass (luckily there weren’t that many people, I was embarrassed enough! Haha) and finally the guy working the booth thing came out to help me. He said something to me in German which I obviously couldn’t understand, and I kept trying to sit on this chair pick axe thing. Finally though, they explained that while Gian’s side was to be sat on (the skier), I had to put my side BETWEEN MY LEGS so that my snowboard would be perpendicular to the mountain. The next “pick axe” arrived, Gian swiftly leaned back and I grabbed the bar and put it between my legs, and away we went! I had to hold onto Gian for moral and probably needed physical support, but I was excited and proud that I finally conquered the strange new chair lift! Now the only question was how to get off, which Gian said we would figure out at the top. Great. On the way up, which probably took 10-15 minutes, my left thigh and butt cheek just started burning like crazy, because I was in such an awkward position. I don’t care for these chair lifts, but apparently they are all over Europe! I was wondering if they’re anywhere in the US? I had never heard of or seen them, but I wonder. It was hilarious and interesting all the same! The first time up I totally fell disembarking from the “pulling lift” and the second time I made it off without hitting the ground! Yayy! Overall though the day was a ton of fun. The boys helped me a lot and were so nice and fun. Gian & Stefan were FLYING down the mountain, sometimes Gian would just you know, be cruising down on one ski of just go backwards a bit. I was stunned! I guess going snowboarding 3 times a year doesn’t make for cool skills like they have though. Stefan told me he usually goes 40 times a season. Dang. That’s a lot! But we left the ski resort around 3:40 and played a new card game (to me) called “Asshole” which was really fun and hilarious.

Sunday night we had dinner with the whole family, Brigitte had this grill in the middle of the table and we fried mushrooms, cheese, beef, bacon, and had pineapple and salad. It was so delicious! I remember having it when I was here Summer of 2007. I really am thankful that I have these friends here in Switzerland, and I am so glad I came here this winter before heading back to Granada. I am developing good friendships with Aita and Gian Martin, and I also love talking with Brigitte and Heinz. Heinz is such a good natured, kind man, who is very soft spoken but also very funny at times! And Brigitte is just a feisty woman if I’ve ever met one, she’s just different than other European women it seems. We spent the evening chatting, and then they had a visitor that they said was actually for me! It was their friends whose daughter, Silvana, is 21 and looking to study and maybe work in the US for 6 months. She was asking me about it and I wish I knew more details and specific places and programs she should look into, but for the most part I told her to avoid the middle of America and stay on the coasts! Haha. An unfair statement I suppose, considering I’ve never been to the middle of the US, but still. I added her on Facebook so now I am going to look into programs for her.

Monday I had a bit of an adventure on my own. I woke up early and went to Chur with Brigitte, then at 9 headed off on Bernina Express, a train that is celebrating it’s 100^th year anniversary of scaling the Alps. If you ride the train completely, which I think you can only do during the summer, you go all the way from Chur to Italy. (I think, not positive.) But I just rode from Chur to a village in southern Switzerland, near the border of Italy, called Poschiavo. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the train had panoramic windows, and we climbed through the Alps, passing church steeples in small villages, hordes of cross country skiers, all the way up to the bare, treeless areas of the mountains, the sun bright and shining the entire way. It was absolutely beautiful. I took so many pictures but I’m not sure how any of them are going to turn out because of the glare on the train windows. But it was amazing nonetheless. I had my headphones in to block out the boisterous German family to my left, and it was really peaceful. I never get time completely to myself, and Monday was the perfect day of that. I was content and alone in my thoughts, and I just let my mind wander as we passed picturesque places. Nearly four hours later, I arrived in Poschiavo, and would have just under three hours there to explore. I quickly realized I could explore this village at a very slow walking pace in maybe 30 minutes tops! I didn’t mind though. A river ran through the village and similar to Zizers, the mountains rose high on each side of the village. The only strange thing was nothing was open! It seemed a lot like Spain, because the entire place was shut down and apart from the people like me who had come from the train, the village appeared to be empty. It was so quiet that at times it was a little creepy. I moseyed along, taking pictures and humming to myself, enjoying the fact that I was just hanging out in a small Swiss village instead of being at work in Marysville or in class at Western. This is the life! J I only saw two open restaurants, one of which was extremely expensive, and I wasn’t terribly hungry but I had walked around for an hour and a half and was starting to get cold, so I went to sit in an Italian restaurant near the train station. First experience dining alone. And I loved it. The restaurant was nearly empty, save for a mother and daughter who chatted with the one waitress, and an old man reading a newspaper towards the back. I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese, and read my book (Three Cups of Tea-amazing…everyone should read it!) in the warm, quiet restaurant. I finished off my lunch with some delicious vanilla gelato and then headed back to the train station.

The adventure of the day decided to be that my train would break down in the mountains about 10 minutes from Poschiavo. With a four hour train ride ahead, I was not thrilled. We were stuck for well over an hour, and all the Germans were quite cheery, but the New Zealander chick next to me wasn’t too happy, and I would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been for the fact that when the train is stopped, the doors to the WC (bathroom) don’t open, so I was in a very uncomfortable position for an hour and a half, needing to pee terribly. There was no announcement or anything telling us what had happened, but I roughly learned from word of mouth that the wheels on the train wouldn’t turn, similar to a car stuck in the snow. So we ditched the last train car, which made our car a lot more crowded, but allowed us to keep moving. I was in and out of sleep until arriving back in Chur around 8 pm. It was a relaxing, beautiful, but VERY long day. Heinz picked me up at the train station and we went to Scheirs, another village about a half hour away, to pick up Gian Martin from his ice hockey game. I had hoped to see the latter half of it, but due to my train issues, I missed it, so that was a bummer.

Yesterday Aita and I did absolutely nothing, she stayed home from school and it seems we’re both a bit under the weather. I have a cold and am not feeling too hot, but my Dayquil and Nyquil are helping me get by. Today will probably be a fairly lazy day as well, and tomorrow Brigitte and I are going to see the Matterhorn! Cool! OK. This blog is so long. I apologize. And it’s only going to get longer because I am not posting it until I get back to Spain, because it’s on my laptop where I don’t get internet. So…I will write more soon!

………….Brigitte’s and my trip to Zermatt was a lot of fun. We had another fairly lengthy train ride across to the southwest of Spain. Our train was delayed for awhile, and we sadly learned it was because another train had hit a woman who jumped in front of it committing suicide…it was really sad. L and because of the delay, we didn’t end up getting to Zermatt until after dark. So Brigitte and I only saw a dark, shadowed outline of the Matterhorn, and sadly I did not get a picture of it. We had a hostel to stay overnight and after chowing down at the restaurant beneath the hostel we went out for a drink. I felt bad that I was not a very exciting party companion as my cold had taken over at that point and by 10:30 pm my energy was far from existent. Early the next day we woke and, still unable to see the Matterhorn, hopped the train to do a bit of a roundabout through Switzerland. This is very possible considering the size of this small country! We stopped in Bern for lunch and a very wet, rainy walk. I’d like to go back when the weather is better! I was so exhausted and when we finally got “home” to Zizers I couldn’t have been happier. But the time with Brigitte was so nice, I just love talking to her! That night we ate DELICIOUS cheese fondue and I got to look at pictures from when Gian Martin & Aita were little—so fun!

Saturday was my final day in Switzerland, and we slept in and spent the day relaxing until two pm when we headed down into their village (Zizers) to watch the parade for Carnaval. I am so ashamed that I did not bring my camera with me. Gian thought it would be boring but it was such a new experience to me that I thought it was awesome! The parade was filled with bands and organizations all dressed in the craziest costumes to celebrate Carnaval. Afterwards we went back to the house for awhile, then ate dinner with the whole family. Following dinner, Heinz, Brigitte, Gian and I went ice skating, and I improved greatly from the previous time the week before! Gian and I played hockey! And by played hockey I mean I kind of stumbled around with a large stick in my hand, trying to ignore the fact that I can’t really ice skate to begin with. ;) It was a ton of fun though. I was sweating and smiling and even when Gian barreled me over (barreled is probably an exaggeration) I was cracking up and just having a blast. Later I went down to the village to party, sort of, with Aita and Gian, which was fun but mostly I was freezing and tired. We got home and I said my goodbyes to Aita and Brigitte so they wouldn’t have to wake up for me the next morning, and when I left at 6:45 am on Sunday I said goodbye to Gian. Heinz took me to the train station and bid me farewell. I can’t wait to go back to Switzerland, whenever that may be. I can’t express enough how thankful I am to have such great friends, to know such an awesome family halfway across the world that I now feel like I can almost claim as my own. I look forward to seeing the Meiler family again!! J And then off I went to Granada….which will be discussed in the next blog…. ;) be prepared! Ha!

Hope you enjoyed my stories from the land of winter!

MacKenzie