New Worlds for the Weary

"[...] New lands for the living
I could make it if I tried
I closed my eyes I kept on swimming..."

Once again: name that tune utilized in the blog title! (And once again, Josh Ritter narrates my life.)

I was originally going to post this tonight and then I thought I shouldn't because I should really go to bed but then I uploaded pictures to facebook and my heart got all swelled with love for the mountains and I needed it to overflow into the blogosphere and the point is I'm here now.  I think any teacher I've ever had would be really proud of that sentence I just put together.

This last weekend I, along with three other friends from the program, went to Grindelwald.  Grindelwald (not to be confused with Gimelwald) is a small village in the German region of Switzerland.  It's nestled into a valley between some of the most stunning mountains in the world (in my opinion) including the Eiger and the Jungfrau.  The town itself is so picturesque it makes you a little nauseous.  In a good way, of course.  There are cows everywhere with bells around their necks and so many gorgeous trees and mountains and wooden houses and it's generally stunning.

Day 1:

We woke up VERY EARLY to catch the 5:50 am train out of Nyon and arrived in Grindelwald around 9:30 am.  We dropped off our stuff at our deserted hostel (they're in between summer and winter seasons right now, so it's pretty empty in town) and headed off on our first hike on the Bussalp trail (now you can google maps it, Daddy).  We all started off together, and were quickly breathing very heavily and shedding layers upon layers of clothing.  Fiona and Elisabeth decided to split off and take the baby trail to the top, which led them on a gently winding, paved road that climbed on a slight incline up the mountain.  Jack and I, however, decided to carry on and headed straight up the valley at about a 50 degree incline.  It was brutal and I was whiny and slow and generally dying, but Jack was patient and the views were incredible at every step.

We finally got to the top and met up with the other girls.  They had been at the restaurant for 45 minutes and had barely broken a sweat on their hike.  Meanwhile I could literally wipe straight up salt off my forehead from the sweat.  Yum.  We had a late lunch, went back to the hostel, showered, hung out, and then went to a place called Uncle Tom's Cabin (I kid you not) for dinner.  Afterwards we played on a playground and then went to bed early.

We hiked right up through this valley.  Very steep and VERY beautiful.

Day 2:


Fiona left us to go see her grandparents in Bern, so the three of us continued without our translator (Fiona is bilingual in English and Swiss German.  Very helpful.).  Pretty soon after waking up, we began our adventures of the second day.

Elisabeth decided to have a leisurely day: relax and then take the train up the mountain and meet us at the Jungfrau.  Jack and I, however, were feeling ambitious.  We took a train to Alpiglen and there began our ascent of the Eiger trail.  This trail was not as brutal as the one the day before because although it was super steep in places, there were also flat sections to temper it.

The Eiger.  The Eiger the Eiger the North Face of the Eiger.  I don't even know what to say.  We hiked along the base of it for a solid three hours, always keeping it on our left as we made our way towards Eigergletscher.  It is really an imposing piece of rock.  It blocked the sun (there are worse places to be than in the shadow of the Eiger) and loomed over us the entire hike.  It reminded me of my mortality and my infinite nature at once.  It's the kind of mountain that you look at and lose sense of yourself.  You see it, and you can't hear your belabored breathing anymore.  All you can hear is the silence of this mountain.  The dignified silence of a beast that needs no words to make itself understood.  Unreal.

The beast.  The Eiger.

Once we made our way to Eigergletscher (climbing from 1615 m to 2320 m), we waited around for a cogwheel to take us to the Jungfraujoch.  The Jungfrau is pretty famous and is known often by it's moniker "The Top of Europe."  Because we got there so late in the day and because it isn't peak season, we were fortunate enough to not have to dodge a million tourists.  So we wandered around and saw some spectacular views of snow and mountains and the world below.

Sometimes I just have to stop and remind myself how lucky I am.  From Arizona to Colorado to Washington to Italy to China to Argentina to Antarctica to Switzerland...I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been given and for the world I have seen.  It is so immense and so full of grace and warmth and austerity and sincerity and reality and and and and.  It's my true love, the one which will never change and will never love me back and for that I am eternally indebted.  There's something about being so insignificant in your surroundings that just fills me with such a sense of relief and wonder that it can sometimes be overwhelming.  I felt this often in Antarctica and felt it again this weekend.

I keep telling myself: Just stop to look up.  Stop to recognize where you are, what your surroundings are whispering to you.  Where is home?  Where is your heart?  Where is your mind?  Who are you?  Who are you when it is just you and the mountain, and nothing is expected of you?  And the most beautiful moment: when all of that ceases to matter and it's only your heartbeat in the shadow of the mountain.

I'm Feeling Something for the Constellations...

In case you're ever confused by my titles, they are often song lyrics.  Clever, I know.  This one is from a Josh Ritter song (I'm so predictable sometimes) called "Right Moves."  There's a line in which he asks "Did you look up at the stars / and feel something for the constellations?"  And my response right now is a resounding yes.

I have been remiss in blogging, so pretend I just returned from a week long adventure in which I visited Brussels, Paris, and Nice! (This actually happened two weeks ago, and I will talk about this past weekend in a separate post.) There is SO MUCH to say, but I think it would be unfortunate to have a mile long blog post, so I'm going to try to limit myself.

Brussels:

Brussels is a quirky little city with a distinct personality.  It is famous for it's chocolate, waffles, beer, and the statue of the peeing boy.  I can assure you that the former three are indeed delicious, and the latter is small and very strange.

While in Brussels, we attended briefings at the European Commission (this was a school excursion, after all) and then pretty much wandered around the city for the rest of the visit.  I swear I traipsed from one end of that city to the other and saw every building in between.  My favorite was the Cathedral de Saint Michel et Gudula.  It's an absolutely stunning place.  When we first wandered in, it was Sunday night and there was a service going on in which (I think) they were installing a new priest, which meant that we got to see the bishop!  Plus the organ was pretty cool.  I ended up going to that cathedral three times.  One of these times was for a free organ concert in which the most incredible choir sang.  It was awesome.

On a less holy note, we also "visited" another famous Belgian establishment: Delirium.  In case you haven't heard of it it's a bar that has 2,004 or more beers at any given time.  The fun part is that you can order it in a boot, which is a liter of beer (which is A LOT to have in front of you at one time) in a glass shaped like a boot.  This led to some classic "Das Boot" jokes.  Of course.

We also went to the Royal Art Museum, ate moules frites (mussels and french fries, a Brussels classic) and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Brussels is kooky.

Paris:


I'm going to admit something right now: I didn't think I was going to like Paris.  It seemed way too hyped.  I mean, the most romantic city, the city of lights, so on and so forth.  I figured it couldn't possibly live up to it, and it was going to seem very fake and contrived in it's efforts to do so.

This is not the case.  I found Paris very genuine and I absolutely LOVED IT.  My program, in another wonderful stroke, got us a hotel literally across the street from the Moulin Rouge.  The Moulin Rouge is mildly glamorous, but it is also in the middle of a working sex district.  It was amusing and shocking to walk out of the subway and end up in the middle of this.  Eye opening!

I saw the big sights in Paris, of course, which was lovely.  The Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, etc.  I think my favorite was the Sacre Coeur.  It's at the top of this massive hill, so you have to climb a million and a half stairs to get there, but standing on the steps gives you an incredible view of Paris.  Plus the inside of the cathedral was just stunning.  I may be in the minority, but I liked it better than the Notre Dame.

Another fun aspect of the trip to Paris was seeing my old friend from Phoenix, Adam.  We had facebooked each other about our respective locations (he's studying in France this semester) and we planned to meet up in Paris.  He and I (plus a few kids from my program and his friend, Rose) went to dinner together and we caught up.  It was such a strange thing to see someone so very clearly reminiscent of years past while in a foreign place.  A strange dichotomy, but a fun one.

I was a little amused to realize that most of my associations with Paris were from the movie "Ratatouille."  I don't know if I should be embarrassed to admit it or not, but it is what it is.

Totally Ratatouille, no?  The view from the Sacre Coeur cathedral.

I'm sorry I just blazed through everything, but if you want to hear the mile-long story of the whole week, just e-mail me or something.  I don't want to burden the blogosphere with all the details!


Hopefully I'll post about this weekend sometime tonight...

Filler

Hello, blogosphere!

I'm leaving tomorrow and will return next Monday (that's 8 days people, can you survive that long?).  During this period, I will be spending time in Brussels, Paris, and Nice.  It should be pretty fantastic!

Essentially, this is a post to tell you I won't be posting for a week.  Maybe I'm thinking too highly of myself to think that anyone checks this more than once every other week, but it's ok.  Also, I think I FINALLY figured out my phone situation!!!  At the very least, I am now able to send and receive texts domestically!  Thank goodness.  It was getting difficult there, and now if I get lost in Paris I can find my group the old-fashioned way :)

I was going to insert a picture of the cob here to showcase how awesome he is, but it's being too slow.  I don't want to wait another ten minutes, so you'll all have to wait.

My recent train jam has been "Big Red Machine" by Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaIx2kBC8_A) Check it out...it's a stunning piece of work.  I do love me some melancholy train jams.  There's something so wonderful about a painfully sad song while you're rolling through the Swiss countryside in full view of the lake and rolling green and vineyards and all.  It's so wonderful it makes you ache, you know?

"Americans! Not here to kill anyone, I hope."

First off, I would like to make a point of clarification.  My mother seems to think I don't love her or don't miss her or something and thinks that the lyrics in the previous post were not directed at her.  They were PRIMARILY directed at her.  I hope you feel better now, Mama!

I have returned from the German-speaking part of Switzerland!  Let me be the first to express surprise about this, but I have NEVER been so happy to hear French in my life.  Swiss German is totally beyond me.  And when I say totally, I mean it: it's hard to be polite when  you don't know how to say hello or please or thank you or any of the words fundamental to the politesse.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed Bern greatly.  The capital of Switzerland, this town feels a lot smaller than Geneva and much more historic.  While there, we attended briefings (some interesting, some not so much), took a walking tour of the city, explored quite a bit, and generally tried to immerse ourselves in the culture.  In my opinion the best parts of the city were the bear park (no longer the bear pit, seeing as that was inhumane and all), the cathedral, and the view behind the parliament building.  See above, and you (like I!) will wonder how the Swiss parliament ever gets ANYTHING done.  The cathedral was great because I'm a sucker for a good pieta but I know not everyone else, so I'll spare you.  However, it would be cruel to omit a picture of the baby bears.  Inhumane, even.

See??  The best. (P.S. can you tell I'm excited that I learned how to insert pictures?)  Also the best were the incredible tortas we found at a Mexican food stand in the market.  Be still, my heart.

Not the best was being the recipient of much anti-American sentiment in Bern.  One of my good friends on this trip lived in Bern for a while so she is fluent in Swiss German (which is different from High German) and unfortunately for her was able to understand all the comments made about us as we walked around.  She passed some on in her anger, and most were just rude and petty and often concerned our appearances.  However, at one point we were walking around in a group of four and a man on the side of the road yelled out in English, "Americans!  Not here to kill anyone, I hope."  That one stung a little bit.  I understand its origin entirely; I've never been entirely proud of US military action and the more I learn about international relations the more I realize the US has done some really terrible things.  However, it was bizarre to be one of group of four colllege-aged girls walking down the street and to hear this.  As much as I try to distance myself from my cultural identity by clinging to my interest in international relations, I realize that I am affiliated with my government's actions.  I suppose it is this that I struggle with the most.  I can vote against a candidate or a proposition, but in the end, my international identity is determined by the masses.  It stings, especially since I would venture to guess that most people who were in support of the illicit military actions fueling this disdain would never be studying multilateral diplomacy in Geneva.  It was a rude awakening, but one that was inevitable.


Onto a happier subject!  After the excursion ended, a group of nine girls (including myself) chose to go to Lucerne/Luzerne/L____ (too many languages here!).  We got in on Friday afternoon and unpacked into our hostel which was surprisingly neat and spacious for the price.  We unpacked, relaxed, wandered around a little bit, had a great Italian dinner (hello, Risotto) and then had the true hostel experience.  Our door was open a crack, and guys kept poking their heads in to say hello.  At first it was pretty surprising, but we got used to it quickly and made the best of it.  Apparently a group of nine American girls in a hostel attracts some attention...(Don't worry, parents!  It's all ok!)  We met people from a variety of places, but ended up spending the evening with some Canadians from Montreal and some guys from California.  At one point we were in the lounge singing Beatles songs together...very campy but very fun!  It was nice to have some companionship from outside the program and definitely negated any chance of monotony.

We went to bed pretty late and had to wake up at 9 to check out of the hostel.  As my friend Fiona said upon opening the blinds, "It's a harsh, harsh world out there."  Well worth it, though.  We wandered around by the lake, got free samples of some awesome cheese at a cheese festival, got nostalgic for the Great Johnston European Adventure, and then headed up Mount Pilatus.  We took a gondola up and up and up and up, seeing what Switzerland is truly made of.  And let me tell you, it is beautiful.

After changing gondolas, we ascended into the clouds.  We had gained quite a bit of altitude, and suddenly everything around us was just white.  It was a little freaky and a lot awesome.  Once on top of the mountain, most members of the group instantly began whining about how cold it was and went into the gift shop.  I was having none of that and wandered outside, where I was gifted with the most incredible cloud break.  Ever.

It may be difficult to see on the pictures, but this is a purely white sky with a single break, revealing snowy mountains.  Is this real life??  We wandered around in caves and clouds for the afternoon.  After being serenaded over hot chocolate by about 40 Swiss frat-ish boys (accompanied by an accordion, no less), we took the steepest cogwheel in the world back down the mountain and from there headed back to Geneva.

All in all, it was an awesome time.  Today we had class at the UN, and I have a paper due on Wednesday (I won't even tell you how bad the procrastination is, lest my mother's heart stop) and then we leave for Brussels and Paris on Sunday.  This is the life.  No question.  ALSO I'm halfway done with classes!  Only four more weeks left of classes and then we enter the ISP Period, which is 6 weeks devoid of scheduled activity to work on our behemoth paper.  How is this possible?  How is it possible I've been here a month already?  This is passing way too quickly and making me think I'll never be ready to come home...

Wait

Hello everyone!  Tomorrow I leave for Bern and won't be back until Sunday, so I figured I would throw a short thing into the cyberspace to tide you all over.

Things are continuing to be great.  We're definitely getting into the academic part of the semester more!  I have a 10 page paper due the Wednesday after I get back from Bern about threats to international security in the 21st century.  I'm writing about small arms proliferation, which is totally fascinating.  I love being so interested in what I'm studying!  It just makes life so much easier.  Also we're working on our proposals for our Independent Study Project, which is the 30 page paper due at the end of the semester.  It's kind of intense, but we're managing to keep relaxed :)

As I was falling asleep last night, this song came on my iPod, and it just felt so right.  It made me reflect on myself and where I've come from and all the people who have touched my life.  The lyrics just are so accurate to any doubts or sadness in  my life.  (Also, the song makes me think of the first time I watched "Away We Go" with my mom and we got all teary eyed together.)  Here is the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy8oKasuXVU and here are the lyrics:

"Feel I'm on the verge of some great truth
Where I'm finally in my place
But I'm fumbling still for proof
And it's cluttering my space
Casting shadows on my face
I know I have a strength to move ahead
But I can hardly leave my room
So I'll sit perfectly still, and I'll listen for a tune
While my mind is on the moon

And if I stumble
And if I stall
And if I slip now
And if I should fall
And if I can't be all that I could be
Will you, will you wait for me?

Because everywhere I seem to be
I am only passing through
I dream these days about the sea
Always wake up feeling blue
Wishing I could dream of you

So if I stumble
And if I fall
And if I slip now
And lose it all
And if I can't be all that I could be
Will you, will you wait for me?

And wait for me
Won't you wait for me?
Please wait for me
Oh, wait for me."

-Alexi Murdoch, "Wait"

"Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see"

...but your soul you must keep totally free."
-Mumford and Sons, "Awake My Soul"

And today, a little self-reflection.  I was reading comments on my blog (because until today I totally forgot about that feature) and saw a comment from my wonderful friend Kalie (hi!) referring to me as her friend who refuses to live in anything constant.  The minute I saw that, two things happened.  The first is that I felt an instant pang of missing her (obviously, who wouldn't?) and the second is that I realized without any hesitation that it's quite true.

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to Jenn (hi!) and we had a conversation on my penchant for getting bored and moving on whenever things get too comfortable.  As soon as I brought up a couple examples, she said, "Ah, yes.  The Maryn I know and love!"  So this isn't a new characteristic, or one that I'm making up to give myself something to talk about.

I'm both proud of this trait and a little disturbed by it.  What if I can never "settle down"?  What if this lifestyle leads to me constantly having to make new friends every couple of years as I continue to move?  But then again, what if this movement is incredibly formative?  What if it allows me to do things I would otherwise be afraid to do?  What if?

But I'm choosing to exist beyond the "what if."  I can not (or will not) force myself to stay still while I have the motivation to move.  There may come a day when I get tired and am happy to live in one city, in one house, for the rest of my life.  But on that day I want to know that I have lived it up.  Until then, I'm going to think about going to grad school away from my first home and away from my undergrad home.  I'm going to think about joining the International Committee of the Red Cross to go work in the most remote and dangerous jungles.  I'm going to float on the wind, to go where I please.


Enough of that.  Everything continues to be great here.  There's a little girl who lives upstairs who is about 5 by the sound of her voice and loves to sing "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga.  I can always hear her on the veranda, and it provides endless entertainment.  Yesterday my friend and I literally sprinted to make the train and jumped on after the whistle blew.  Tomorrow we don't have school due to a public holiday and I will thus be exploring Lausanne (also will be going out tonight...again, live it up while I can!).  So clearly, things are not boring here.  My current obsession is picking 20 of my favorite songs to put on a mix CD because everyone on the trip is exchanging music.  I've been working on my list for about a week now, am still adding and removing songs, and am beginning to think I will never be able to narrow it down to 20.  Of course, I SHOULD be working on my paper, but I like to procrastinate.  Some things never change!

Love you all! (Or at least I'm assuming I do, if you care enough to be reading my blog.  Stalkers, I might not love you, but I hope you have a good day.)

World Spins Madly On

I have returned to the world of interconnectedness known as the internet!  My host dad installed the wifi today, and since I have now been here over a week (where has the time gone??) I feel like I can accurately convey the sum of my experiences thus far.

Daily Routine:
I wake up around 7 to get to my bus stop to catch the 8:05 bus.  The stop is really close to my house, and the bus is always incredibly crowded with kids going to the gymnase (which is basically the equivalent of high school) so it's always standing room only.  I get into Nyon in time to meet up with 4 other people from my program and we take the train into Geneva, where we have time to sit around and drink our cafe au laits before class.

My international relations seminar is from 9:30 and 12:30 and is absolutely fascinating.  So far we've had incredible lecturers who are well respected in their fields and still working within their respective organizations.  I'm a little afraid I'll come to wish I hadn't chosen such an academic program (it's pretty intense!), but right now it's a wonderful affirmation that this is indeed what I want to do with my life.  Everything is just so interesting and relevant!

We have from 12:30 to 2:00 to eat lunch and get to French school.  Lunch sometimes consists of going to the grocery store to get supplies for a picnic and sometimes of discovering new ethnic foods in the blocks around school.  It's true, everything is expensive here, but the food is worth it.  Around 1:30 or 1:45 we get on the tram to go to Balexert, which is the complex in which our French classes are located.

French class is from 2:00 to 5:00.  There are six people in my class, so there's definitely no hiding.  The professor is wonderful and speaks only a little bit of English but is great at dumbing down her French for us.  It's helping me to learn, but I just wish I could just know the language in it's entirety already!

After class, I catch my train and then my bus and am home by around 6:15.  Then it's homework, dinner, hanging out, and bedtime!

Host Family:
The Jarriccio family is incredibly nice and accommodating!  They speak French, Swiss German, and Italian. My dad (Alessandro, or Sandro for short) speaks English pretty well, so he helps me out sometimes.  My brother (Roberto) also speaks some English, which is helpful as I struggle to communicate in my truncated French.  However, my mom (Tamara) and my sister (Jessica) don't speak any English at all.  They're very patient with my attempts to speak to them in French and will correct me when I say something incorrectly, which is great.

Living with a host family so far reminds me of staying a friend's house.  It's familiar and it's comfortable, but it's definitely not home.  I do not have total freedom (though, since I am their 5th host daughter, they have very realistic expectations of what I will do with my time) and I am a guest.  At first it was a rough adjustment what with being totally overwhelmed by the language barrier, but now I am truly learning to love it in Eysins and learning to appreciate it for the learning experience that it is.

Life in General:
Everyone in the program is really great.  No cliques have formed really, which is nice because it allows for total social fluidity.  Someone going to a town you want to visit?  It doesn't matter if you've only talked to them once, just tag along!  That being said, real friendships are starting to form and deepen at this point, which makes life so much easier.  I've discovered that sharing your experience makes it easier and more meaningful! Sorry to be the cliche...

Yesterday a group of us went to Montreux.  It only took about 45 minutes to get there by train, and the ticket cost about 21 CHF with our half price pass, which was nice.  It was sooooo beautiful there!  Unfortunately the Montreux Jazz Festival is in July (we checked) but we did get to listen to a mediocre Queen cover band as we ate our picnic lunch on the beach.  I'm pretty sunburned today, but I think it's well worth it.

Short Observations:


1)  Scooters are a legitimate form of transportation here.  From little kids to middle-aged men in their expensive suits (I am not joking), these are everywhere.  Yes, Razor scooters.  It's fantastic.

2) Public displays of affection are much more common here.  I have seen people hard-core making out in a variety of places.  My favorite was a couple on the train who seemed to be in their late 30s.  Her hair was all over the place and he was wearing a white knit turtleneck sweater.  I've said enough.

3) So many people are dressed formally in Geneva.  I like it.  Especially the pinstripe suits with the Clark Kent glasses.  And it doesn't even look pretentious!

4) Smartcar Roadster.  Google it.

5) The chocolate really is worth the hype.  As is the cheese.  The taste is so worth any weight I put on.  I would be ok with 50 extra pounds if it means I can keep eating.

6) Just because you can say a phrase in the language does not mean you can fool anyone.  I can pass as a Genevoise...until I open my mouth.





And lastly:
Check it.
http://picasaweb.google.com/marynb07