Little Swiss Miss

I must have said this about thirty times so far - I can't believe I live here. This country is surreal in a way I can't say I've experienced before. And maybe this school (TASIS) is too. If you've ever experienced real life to feel dream like you know what I'm talking about. I'm not saying that everything is wonderful and I'm floating on a cloud - but it's just nothing like life in Brooklyn.
I've been here for almost 2 weeks and sometimes it feels like 2 months and other times I'm lost in every sense imaginable and just want to GO HOME. In part the general feeling of being overwhelmed is due to the schedule mapped out for us, but there have been some great moments so far. The breakdown so far:

Job: I still don't know what I'm doing here - today may be the big day - which has been a bit frustrating, but there has been alot of talk of faculty interested in Yoga and massage so there is hope of private work at least. What I have been told is that I am a dorm parent in the middle school/9th Grade dorm. It's a tough dorm to handle because it's a larger mix of grades and more of them. It is also alot of new students so we have to set the standard of how things will be in their time here. EEk. Imagine me as a dorm parent?! I am also supposed to be an advisor to a group of students. Probably in the same age group for getting to know them purposes. And that's all for now. More to come soon I hope on this front.

Weather: We have experienced a variety of swiss weather ranging from quite hot and humid to postively chilly rain. (though let me state now that nothing has compared to NYC summer heat and humidity!) What is lovely is the way a thunder storm will clear and the mist lifts off the mountains. It's stunning.

People: People here are strange, as they are anywhere I guess. It's just the fish bowl existence that points it out quicker and easier. It's hard to say whether the social life will be a booming success or a bit of an irritation. In some ways I'm used to my solitary existence with a few key players on my social calendar. Here it's hard to stay out of what's happening. In some ways it's nice for bringing us out of our shells, and in others you can end up stuck with people you don't really feel like talking to anymore. I'm not making any decisions yet on who to like and dislike. Only time will tell certain things. As always though, there are a few people that immediately make you feel more confortable and at home, and to those few I am grateful.

Our Home: Meanwhile on the home front our little duplex is starting to shape up and feel more like our place. I have to say it takes a while to give a place your own smell - not in a bad way - and to have the right feel about it. Ours needed some help from Ikea and a bit of furniture changing. Thankfully these were accomodated well for us by the school. (except for the pink arm chairs which appear to be here for the long haul!). I am grateful that our double bed was swapped out for a queen. We have a fire place and a washer dryer so that's exciting. We also happen to be housed in one of those oh so quaint stone buildings. It's quite adorable from the outside.

Driving: A word to the wise, learn how to operate a stick shift before moving to Europe! I have at least had some experience with it, but what a challenge it has been to try and learn driving up hills and little windy mountain paths. The two way streets here are narrower than one ways back home AND we are driving VANS, not cars. So they take you out a couple of times and make sure you can drive alright, but honestly, I feel so unready to leap in a van and drive a bunch of teenagers some place.
A) I don't know where I'm going
B) I am not comfortable with the size of the vehicle and all the hair pin turns
C) Hill starts scare the bujeezus out of me.
We'll see what happens but you can guarrantee that on my first weekend on duty I won't be planning some driving required trip for the kids! We'll try something safer - like a movie at school or something.

The area: Montagnola is the sort of bigger picture area where the school is located. We are up the hill from Lugano and so there are many places that offer a pretty spectacular view of the lake and surrounding area. We also are conveniently close to the Airport and an Ikea (without traffic about 10 to 15mins each). What more can you ask for? We have a small "town" center that has the essential pharmacy, post office, bank and corner store. Besides that you can get into lugano center in maximum 20mins I would say. We are super close to Italy on all different sides. It will definitely be a great location to travel from.

And so I will leave this post here. If you've read this far, thank you!

Appreciating NYC - Part duo

A brief visit from Iman and Nadim was all I needed apparently, to get my touristness on. I've never done a lot of things that one does in NYC - but yesterday I rode the Staten Island ferry. It was fairly amusing to get on, right over, disembark (they make you), and get right back on! We had a good laugh. And when looking for free things to do in NYC, it's a good one. Who would have thunk? Plus you get a pretty decent view of the good ol' statue of Liberty.



I had a moment before I fell asleep two nights ago where I was struck with an interesting thought. I have been looking to get out of this city for some time now. So I lay in bed wondering if I had any regrets about leaving NY now, and the answer was actually yes. I can admit now to myself that I regret not going out and taking advantage of dance classes and even more yoga classes. These are things I realize I may not have access to again - things that I think I still love and would love to be doing for myself. Oh well.. Can't go back in time. I have to think what i can do in the future is all.
I guess the dancer isn't all out of me.

Appreciating NYC

I admit to being a bit a of grump about NY alot of the time, but now that I'm actually leaving for real I think it's easier to sit back and appreciate the wonderful bits. For me that really comes down to the amazing food one can find here and the energy (when you're looking for it.) Had a very nice visit from Shirin and enjoyed being out and about in the city. I can also strongly recommend the Negril Village - an awesome Carribean restaurant in the village. YUM.

A New Addition

As if Bugsy's life hasn't been tough as it is the past few weeks, on Thursday we brought Samba Blue home with us. After taking care of Bugsy this past year I thought we had a good idea of cats. Not so. Samba is everything Bugsy is not. He's adventurous, fast, friendly, loud, talkative and just a bit Nutso. To bring such a small animal into a new environment with a new animal should have been a little more disturbing and scary, but not for him. He's made good use of his time and has become well acquainted with every patch of apartment we have allowed him in. Bugsy is adjusting to the new comer with a lot more trepidation, but we are hopeful that the two will become close before long. Watching them both is better than TV.

Samba wedged between couch cushions

Samba with his favorite football toy

How do you do it?

I feel like the worst "mom" in the world for taking Bugsy to be spayed yesterday. She's a cat; she has no idea why she's being taken some place and handled by foreign faces and worse still, put through pain. I know this is the most common proceedure, but I am having a tough time getting my mind around what I have had done to her. She came back to us very drowsy and drugged up with a ridiculous cone on her head. Her first attempts to be mobile were so sad. She walks into things all the time and even now that the drugs have mostly worn off, she has no idea what this obscene thing around her neck is.

I confess I caved in and took it off for a while this afternoon and let her scratch her own neck and wash her face. It was also the first she had a chance to eat anything. Now the cone is on she looks depressed and sits with her one eye wide open like sleep is never going to come...

Weekend of Fun and Sun

Having Ju, Nu and Jessi in a the same place together spells trouble. It did when we were 14, and it does still now. It's a rare occurence but when it happens (like 2 weeks ago) it is outrageously entertaining. I don't think I've giggled and snickered that much in months!

Lucky for us winter decided to finally up and leave and we had the most glorious 2 days of 70 degrees and up to spend frolicking in parks and generally soaking up the outdoors.

We picnicked in Prospect Park munching on some of Brooklyn's best sandwiches courtesy of Piazza Merchado. Love that place. We also had free entertainment which we had hoped to capture on video but alas was out of the zoom reach. A very spritely chap with no shirt on decided to choreograph a few bits and pieces while those of us around looked on in amusement. Think african dance meets jazzercise aerobics meets bad tai chi and you're starting to get an idea.

After and lunch and show we decided to investigate the state of the cherry blossoms in the Botanical Gardens. They were trying to come out, but the main orchard had unfortunately not bloomed yet. However, the rest of the place was looking absolutely gorgeous. All greens and flowers. And as if that wasn't enough outdoorsness we went to DUMBO for a stellar Hot chocolate from good old Jaques Torres, and meandered around peoples wedding photos on the pier and then up to the promenade for the sunset. Fab.

All I have to say is after the winter that didn't want to leave I think everyone was in good form to enjoy the change.

As for sunday - Brunch at Applewood is my favorite thing. Lucky for us having guests is an excuse to go there again. YUM. Of course since Tracy used to cook there we had to drag him along so that he could experience being on the other side of the kitchen. Brioche french toast sound good to anyone?!

An Ode to All-Inclusives

I never thought I would be the one to vacation in an all-inclusive resort, but now that I have given it a go I have to say that I highly recommend them. Well obviously it depends where you stay and when, but the concept of going somewhere to simply relax and not worry about anything is quite necessary from time to time. Don't get me wrong, I could certainly not become convinced to only go on those types of vacations, but I'd say every so often it's a must.

We stayed in Dreams, Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, and loved it. It really is a well run beautiful place, and the service was unbelievable. All rooms have ocean views and there are no reservation requirements to have dinner at the specialty restaurants. The food was decidedly good and beautifully presented. James and I were able to go and sit on the beach, drink yummy sugary frozen drinks, eat, swim and generally do a whole lot of nothing. Bliss. The advantage of the Dreams resort is the private beach; many other resorts are layed out on a strip with one beach going into the next. It never felt overcrowded though we were there at a busy time, and we were always able to get a little hut for beach shade. In case you can't get enough to eat in the 5 restaurants they also include the 24hour room service in the package. If there is one thing that I would do differently it is to omit the additional service from the airport to the hotel and back. I think we paid a ridiculous $76 for both of us, and found out that a taxi ride from the airport isn't normally much more than $10. Of course never having been, we were uncertain what other options were available - now we know and we are making sure others know!

A few favorites during our 5 night stay:

Favorite employee - Gaby - front desk

Favorite frozen drink - Passion Punch (non alcoholic naturlich!)

Favorite dinner: sea bass from Oceana restaurant or pesto linguine with duck at Portofino

Favorite beach spot: South side close to the old tower - it's a little quieter

Favorite pool: infinite pool and Jacuzzi. It helps that it's adults only there!

Favorite breakfast choice: mini waffles with nutella and whipped cream

Best entertainment: circus night - the rest was actually quite bad but we didn't care since we had plenty to keep us busy.

There's more I'm sure but for now that's enough. So if you've been hankering for a getaway, check it out...