Jan. 12

Jan. 12

Ciao! (Or as David would say, “see-ow”). Class from 9 to 4 is getting hard to handle, and I am definitely looking forward to the weekend! Today, Whitney and I presented for our group about our study design (a class assignment). We basically got torn apart by the teacher because our study was all wrong, so that was embarrassing. The class had our back though- our Lugano group is a pretty awesome collection of people.

After class, a few of us checked out a new grocery store called Manor. The grocery stores here are the closest thing they have to Walmart, Targets, etc. They are around 7 floors with everything we need! We splurged and got Swiss dark chocolate- DELICIOUS!

A group of us decided to tackle “Insanity”- a work out video that is super hard- this evening. We did this outside, on the lawn over-looking Lugano… a pretty spectacular work out!

Tomorrow, we take the bus to Interlaken for our first travel weekend! It’s a three-hour drive, and we will be eating fondue and extreme sledding tomorrow night. So far, my travel backpack is packed to the max… Don’t know what I am going to do for the 10 days. I will blog again on Sunday or Monday! 

View of Lugano from the Montarina

  

Jan. 9,10,11

Jan. 9,10,11

Classes have officially started. The room is hot and stuffy, but we are learning Italian which is very helpful. Ciao! Sono America, sono Whitney. (Hello! I am American. I am Whitney). Pretty good huh?! We are also taking consumer behavior with Bringberg. We have to read one or two chapter a night, and we have quizzes every day… Since reading is not exactly my forte, I am struggling a bit with this, but hopefully it will get better.

Something that I have noticed in Lugano is that everyone has a dog, and dogs are allowed in all the stores in restaurants! I am working on transferring this culture trend to America so stay tuned.

Today (Wednesday), we went on a beautiful run to a local town called Gandria. Our run took us winding around the lake with breathtaking views and picturesque towns. It is finally kicking in how unbelievably lucky we are to be experiencing such amazing things. Not only are we traveling abroad, we are living in one of the most beautiful areas of the WORLD.

Gandria (Jill, Kelly, Nicole, me, Marlee, and Whit)

Gandria

We are provided dinner Mondays through Thursdays, and they have been so good! For breakfast and lunch we are on our own, so we obviously take the cheap route of peanut butter and toast. So dinner allows us to experience some delicious Italian food. Today on our run, however, we splurged and had a great tortellini lunch at a small restaurant. Everything in Gandria is closed except for this one little restaurant. The lifestyle here is so much more relaxed. Many places are randomly closed, people are out enjoying the day and not at work, and meals last three to four hours (more of a social gathering than a time to eat).

The beginning of our hike on Sunday...

... It was a long hike.

Jan. 7-8

Jan. 7

Whitney and I have officially become “the Whitneys.” This has come as no surprise to us, but it is still entertaining.

On Saturday, we had a free day to get groceries, figure out the phone situation, plan some trips, explore and enjoy the night life. This posed a few problems to say the least.

First of all, we realized that the language barrier is more than a little bit difficult. Many people in Lugano do not speak English or if they do it is very broken. The only phrase many of them know is “my friend speak English be back soon.” We soon learned that this was not the case and merely an excuse to stop talking to us. Many people also made fun of our accents, mocking us in a “southern twang.”

These language barriers also lead to our second problem. What phone do I need? Eventually, I just bought a phone for 30 Francs that said “prepay” next to it. As I programmed the phone, I realized that the language throughout the phone was Italian. I still don’t know how to use the phone, so I will keep you updated on that.

We also booked our first trip to Interlaken this coming weekend! The train is pretty expensive (about $150!) because our EuroRail passes are not activated yet. But it should be a pretty amazing trip! And our hostel is pretty cheap for 26 of us (with a club in the hostel!) From sky diving to parasailing to canyon swinging, should be an awesome adventure with lots to choose from!

Saturday night we went to a pizzeria for dinner where we made friends with the owner and split really good pizza and wine between everyone. Coyote Ugly came next…

Our bartender was an attractive woman wearing a very tight cheetah print dress. She spoke great English and was so much fun! From giving us free shots to dancing on the bar, she was very entertaining. Until she told two Swiss guys to throw Whitney and I into the air repeatedly (apparently something they do for fun?). It was a frightening experience that I do not wish to repeat. The music was a mix of Italian and American and we danced the night away!

Jan. 8

On Sunday, January 8, we hiked the Swiss Alps from 10am until 4pm. It was a long and very exhausting trip that not everyone was fit enough for. It was about ten miles of pain and suffering. Three girls had to turn back. But the top of the mountain we climbed was spectacular. We could see for miles and miles (even Italy!). There is not much more to say about the hike other than I do not regret doing it, but it was very challenging (the hardest hike I’ve ever done).

Brinberg did not tell us how far and challenging the hike would be, so none of us brought enough food or water. By the time we got back to Lugano, we were all starving and dehydrated to the max. Four of us (Whitney, Marlee, Ashley and I) stopped at a little restaurant and spilt pasta. Splitting up the bill is another problem we have faced a lot. They do not split the bill here or know what we are saying when we ask, so figuring out who owes what is really hard. But we did get free water and bread- a rare find around here!