Holy Water, HOLY bike riding, and Nora =)

This is my new friend Nora, or as she likes to refer to herself as, my 'swiss momma.'

I first met Nora, a few weeks ago when I moved into the 9 century old convent that I now live in. (No men allowed, and no talking after 10:30pm).

Nora, offered to take me around town so I would know where things are.  She is such a sweetheart :)

Since then, she will come into my room from time to time to chat or inform me that we are going out.

Today was one of the 'going out' days.  She suggested we go for a bike ride. She is actually moving back to the states after being in Switzerland for the past 20 years and has generously offered to give me her bike. So of course I agreed to go on a bike ride with her today. 

Here's how it went:

Now I have had some physically straining days in my lifetime, not since high school, but I have definitely been pushed to my limit before. I once had to run a 5k on the hottest recorded day of the summer and ended up collapsing on the pavement and vomiting in front of my high school football team. I know, tasty...But that's neither here nor there. The point is, I thought I'd never see a day like that again. 

I was very wrong.

It took us about an hour to bike to the outskirts of Zurich, I had no idea we were going that far.  I also was not aware that the ride to Zurich would consist of going up one hill after another. 

Nora was gliding up hills like her Tour de France medal depended on it. Meanwhile, I am fighting to breathe, repeating the phrase "mind over matter" to myself, and doing that maneuver where you try really hard not to pant because you don't want people around you to think you are ridiculously out of shape. 

By the eighth hill I couldn't fake it anymore, mostly because Nora kept saying things like, "Oh isn't it just so beautiful out here?" And it was getting way to hard to answer with a five word sentence that didn't include me pausing in the middle to gasp for air. So, I hoped off of my bike and walked it the rest of the way.

Talk about feeling like a total failure.

I neglected to mention that it was 41 degrees outside today, so I was wearing a sweater, gloves, and a heavy jacket. When I stopped to walk my bike I took my jacket off because I had gotten very hot.  My sweater was drenched in sweat. Disgusting, yet true. All the while Nora is still pedaling away, smiling, talking...breathing normally.

This is a picture of me, post death ride, with some pretty trees. 

Nora and I like the way the leaves are changing color, photo opp! 

It's truly a blessing that you can't see me very well. At this point my heart was 

beating against my chest so hard that it felt like it was going to rip its way right out of my body. 

Our destination was the home of a very nice older lady. I didn't catch her name, or probably

I just can't remember it, I have a really bad habit of doing that.  She is the mother of a very

good friend of Nora's.  Mrs. Nora'sfriend'smother invited us in for coffee and biscuits. She doesn't

speak English, but I really liked that. We hung around for about an hour and I listened to the two

of them speak German and understood about 10% of the conversation. Just give me time, I will

learn. 

In an attempt to relate to Mrs. Nora'sfriend'smother, I noticed a picture of the Pope on her wall

and informed her that I am also Catholic. She immediately leaned over and picked up 

what looked like a bottle of hairspray and sprayed it on to my head. 

"Ah, this is holy water", said Nora, "She is a very spiritual woman." 

"Yea, and that wasn't the slightest bit odd", I said inside my head.

She also gave me a rosary, showed me a picture of her grandson receiving his first communion 

and told me to sleep each night with the rosary wrapped around my thumb... religion :)

In all seriousness, I genuinely enjoyed being there. You know the opening scene of 'Inglorious Basterds',

the country side of France in the 1940s? That is what this house looked like, it was out in the middle of no where, on a beautiful green farm.  I had one of those in the moment realizations that just make you appreciate your existence. 'Wow I am having coffee with two nice ladies in a gorgeous old farm home, in Switzerland. Is this real life?'

Graffiti wall in Baar we spotted on our bike ride. 

Woody was my favorite.

Oh Katja...

Four year old Katja, is both the devil reincarnated and a 

sweet little angel. It really just depends on what hour of

the day it is.  And what type of mood she is in. Then there are

those gray areas, certain hours of the day when Katja is neither

angel nor devil, but just...insane?  

Age, Sex, Location?

22, Female, In route to ballet lesson via the Zug bus.

Katja says, "Brittany, can you now stick your tongue on my tongue?"

Very calmly and in a whisper I respond, "No, Katja we're not going to do that."

"But why? Why not?" (starting to shout, mind you) "Brittany put your tongue on my tongue!

It will feel so funny!"

While she is saying these things, she is trying with all her four year old might to 

stick her tongue in my mouth.  Now it's becoming a scene, people are staring

at me. And I'm trying to smile in a way that says,

 'I'm not a pedophile. Kids?! Ha, what are you gonna do?'

But that message isn't really getting across to fellow bus passengers

and Katja isn't really calming down any. How do you explain to a four

year old, that you can't make out with them? Awkward...

It was a bit of a struggle to turn her around and tell her to be quiet.

In retaliation she said, "Fine, BIRTHday!" (I should have never told

them that they are not allowed to call me that. It's now their favorite

thing to say when they want to be spiteful).

But I must say, that was the first time I have been happy to be called

'birthday.' Because to her, the thought of annoying me far outweighed

her desire to experiment with me on a bus full of people.

Thank God.  

Basel is Lovely in October

And by "lovely" I mean rainy, and by "rainy" I mean sleeting.  To say it was freezing outside is more than an understatement.  I think we would need a new word for freezing. My Florida-temperature-adjusted body is not made for these conditions.  But it's OK, I did not let that ruin my Sunday :)

Mmmm I know that looks extremely appetizing. 

Today, Karah, Jamie, and I went to Basel for their

Autumn Fair. We decided to try these fried apples

while we were there because they smelled really good and it seemed 

like everyone walking around the fair had some.  They were 

delicious! Covered in cinnamon with vanilla sauce on the side. 

They don't look so great in that picture 

but hey, I'm no food photographer. 

Don't get too excited by this picture.

I am sad and embarrassed to report that while in

Basel, we skipped the Andy Warhol showcase at the

Kunstmuseum.  However, the exhibit will be around until 

January and I plan on getting back out to Basel to see it. So 

just consider this a little teaser of far greater pictures to come!

Not embarrassed to admit that I've been pulled into the european

influence of techno music. I was a Daft Punk Fan anyways. 

I fed my new Passion Pit obsession yesterday by downloading 

every song of theirs that I could get my hands on. I think they're

fantastic =)

Since I am very new to this blogging thing, I haven't been

able to figure out how to post videos...Sad face...but either

ways here is a link to a really popular song I've been hearing

everywhere I go. "We No Speak Americano."

 I have no idea if it's big in the states but people

love it here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PityurWHMNE 

I have a procrastination problem...

What did you do at work today?
I played with play dough and was called an asshole by a four year old.
Specifically she said "arschloch", which means asshole. And then she flipped me off. I now know that you shouldn't inform a four year old that she's not allowed to cheat in the game of monopoly.

"What do your sisters call you?" Asked the girls ten seconds after the above incident took place, as kids like to move on fast, and 90% of our conversations are about my brother and sisters, Thomas, Sabrina, and Molly.  I guess because it's the most relatable topic I have to discuss with them; they're children and I once had a childhood.
"They call me Britt."
"Britt? But why?"
"Because it's short for Brittany, you know like a nickname?"
"Well we want that your nickname is 'Birthday'."
"Birthday? No, you're not calling me Birthday. That doesn't even make sense."
"Yes it does, Birthday and Brittany sound so much a like in english, and they are nearly spelled the same."


In between my busy schedule of holding a 6 month old for 11 straight hours, and insisting that the girls stop calling me 'Birthday', I went outside and took a picture of this mountain on Zug Lake. It was such a clear and beautiful day today I couldn't help myself.  Zug's weather is tricky like that, it's normally extremely foggy and you can't see the mountains. But every once and a while you will get a very clear day and you'll be able to see ALL of the town's gorgeous scenery from up in the hills where my Swiss family lives.

The one regret I have of things I left behind in the states, is definitely a high resolution camera. I don't actually own one, but now that I'm here taking in all these wonderful sights, I could really kick myself for not having saved up enough money to buy a good nikon. My camera just doesn't do this mountain justice...  As you can see in my previous and only prior post, it has taken me quite a while to get this blog thing going. I think that camera may have motivated me to start this a lot sooner...