2011

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was a wonderful day in Switzerland. Jet lag hit me HARD so I didn't end up waking up until around 1pm, which most of you know is VERY unlike me. After forcing myself to be a functioning human being, I had a late breakfast/lunch of yogurt and a roll shaped like a pig face (a Swiss sign of good luck!). Margaret, my aunt, suggested we go for a walk over to the vineyards in her town where I could go for a run. The walk over was short and once we got there, Margaret suggested a route for me to take. I started at the base of a hill where the roads took a series up loops, going up then back down. Though it was gray and cold, it was absolutely beautiful. There wasn't much snow on the ground, but it was a beautiful winter country scene; lots of small farm houses, rows of vineyards, and flocks of sheep grazing on the still-green grass. I wish I'd brought a camera.

One thing was very striking during the run. Though I was out in the countryside and it was COLD out (around 32 degrees F), there were lots of people out walking with friends and family. It was clear it wasn't people's mode of transportation, but rather a leisure activity. I would pass most without even making eye contact, but some would greet me in Swiss German (to which I would awkwardly reply "hi").

Later in the evening, I had dinner with Margaret (my cousin Maggie met my uncle for dinner in Zurich) who made cheese fondue for dinner. What a treat! Maggie came home shortly after we finished dinner and we all shared black forest cake and prosecco. As it neared midnight, we put out warm clothes on and walked a few blocks to the Zurich lakefront to watch fireworks. It was amazing to see all the fireworks shows that the towns along the lake put on as well as the smaller displays that families (and probably groups of teenagers) set off. After we'd had enough of the cold, we returned home. Maggie and I called our grandmother, Prissy, to wish her a happy new year, but once she realized what time it was here she told us to go to bed.

Margaret took Maggie to the airport this morning, so I've been sitting around the apartment reading and stretching (it was icy on the run yesterday and I slid a little and tweaked my hamstring. nbd). As corny as it sounds, I think being in Europe for the new year has been very appropriate. I'm starting this new adventure in a new country. Let's go for the hat trick and add on 'new year' as well.

That's all for now.

Hasta.