And... I'M IN CÁCERES!!! I'm so delighted to be here, at last! But, I intend to share my final impressions of Switzerland before leaving it behind. So, this post will bring us all up to date.
A list of Swiss things that I did not get pictures/ found interesting/ were awesome.
-Cows: each Swiss canton (I will explain cantons later in this post) has its own specific type of cow, with which they make their own cheese. In Ticino I saw shaggy cows, they were amazing!!
- Sheep: big woolly things. I saw more sheep than cows, actually.
- Bird-life: Water birds- swans, ducks, mergansers, coots, herons, cranes, and so many more. They were everywhere. Also, raptors, I'm not sure but I think I saw eagles and hawks, lots of them.
- Other wildlife: I was told that foxes are pests there because they have so many of them. I only saw one, curled up in a clear patch of a snowfield- SO CUTE! Deer- I didn't see tons and they weren't the same as the ones that I see in the U.S., so of course I loved them because they were new to me.
-Cheese: I ate some everyday because it was the easiest way to feed myself- bread and cheese. When we went to Gruyere (to Americans who know cheese, Gruyere is just the name of a kind of cheese) I thought the whole town stank at first. Then I realized the smell was just cheese, and eventually, I got used to it. But I never really got over the smell. When I was in Geneva, looking for a place to eat, I avoided places that smelled strongly of cheese. And remember, I am a cheese maker, but this was overwhelming for me.
-Waterways: The Swiss have strict environmental regulations (they strictly regulate almost everything) which results in the most beautiful lakes and rivers that I have ever seen. The snow on the Alps provides them with enormous amounts of water which they turn into hydroelectric power with dams. Every body of water that I saw was clean and clear, and a beautiful shade of blue or green. There were also tiny streams pouring down almost every mountain or hillside that I saw, flowing into bigger and bigger rivers.
-Waterfalls: I tried but I couldn't get any good pictures of all of the waterfalls pouring down mountain and cliff sides everywhere.
-Water: Switzerland is extremely damp. The trees are covered in lush moss, as are the rocks and even the buildings. I was one happy desert lady in a very moist place.
-Logic/Efficiency: Swiss society runs so smoothly. Trains are on time. There is no trash in the streets. I did not see any slums. They have thought of everything to make things work better. Examples: Little rubber things on the door handle instead of attaching something to the wall to stop the handle from doing damage. Super efficient wall gas heaters that you can easily hang clothes on to dry, but, many also have an insert that you can pull out to make a clothes rack! Ingenious!
-Gardens!!: The Swiss work hard to use only Swiss ingredients in there food and source locally for all products. So, farms take up a huge part of the land and you can see signs on the barns that say SuisseBio, which means that they are providing organic food for the grocery store. Besides that, so much space is used for personal gardens! Little tiny plots of land in the city, between apartment building and the train tracks, between the highway and factory. Almost everywhere there is a plot big enough for a couple small gardens, they cultivate it. Apparently, the plots are divided up and get rented fast, and it's a highly fashionable thing to spend the whole weekend or vacation in the garden. Just another reason I love Switzerland.
The weather was moderate during my time there. Often raining at the lower elevations. Winter had not really come yet to Western Europe. When I woke up before 6am on my last morning there was snow on the cars. By the time my aunt and I got to the airport it was snowing hard. Our plane sat at the gate for more than an hour while they sprayed weird orange and green stuff on it to take the snow and ice off, and to make sure that no more would stick to it. After taking off we climbed above the clouds so I didn't get to see Switzerland from the air.
By the time we made it to Spain (less than a two hour flight), it was a beautiful sunny day. On the ground it was warm in the sun, though colder than it had been when I left 12 days earlier. It seemed the winter had finally come to Spain as well.
I met with friends over the next 3 days, went to a couple more museums, and enjoyed being back in a place where I could speak the language. I am so grateful to have friends here. Friends to go out of their way to make time for me. It helps me so much, linguistically and emotionally. I have been experiencing really low confidence about my Spanish. I guess I want to speak perfect Spanish, or I feel that I should. I am so blessed and fortunate to be able to come study in Spain for this time. To be able to take this trip. But, being on my own, in a new country, can feel lonely. When I see my friends though, I feel totally at home and so happy.
I am so glad to have made it to Cáceres! Speaking of being emotionally ungrounded, I think making a life, having a routine, staying in one place where I can make friends, and having work to do for my classes, should all help a lot.
My trip here took me through Trujillo, a beautiful and old little town. I am excited to go there, to Badajoz, Albuquerque, Manzanares, Mérida, and who knows where else.
I haven't taken any pictures of Cáceres yet, and I don't know which part of town I'll live in. So, you will be getting lots of info and images of this new place. But, for now I will turn to the questions that the La Puerta students have asked and then sign off.
1- Mrs Erin asked how to finish a letter in Español. I asked a couple people, I can ask some more, but this is the info that I got. Formally, you can finish a letter atentamente, informally you would finish it con cariño, un abrazo, un abrazo cálido, un abrazo fuerte, un beso, besitos, un beso grande. I have also ended formal letters with Gracias por haberme prestado la atención.
2- Phin asked if there are diamond mines here in Spain.
Phin, simple answer, no. There may have been some diamonds discovered in Spain at some point, but there have never been any big mines.
3- Zac wants to know if there is a gold mine.
Zac, yes, there is. But, from my own knowledge, the people from Spain who went to the Americas, went looking for riches and gold. So, that tells me that the gold mines in Spain can't be that big.
4- Anya asked if there are castles here and what they are like.
Anya, there are tons of castles. They are huge and made of enormous stones. They were built to by fortresses, so that who ever owned them could defend themselves from invaders. I will begin traveling and taking pictures of some castles for you soon.
5- Hezekiah asked if it is cold in Spain right now.
Hezekiah, as you probably just found out from what I wrote, it got cold this week and it is winter time. But it's about the same here as it is in New Mexico, or maybe a little warmer. But only a few degrees warmer; and I think the spring will come earlier, but we'll see!
6-Vincent inquired whether there is a place in Switzerland with a castle built on top of a waterfall like he saw in a Sherlock Holmes movie.
Vincent, I did not see one, nor could I find one on google when I looked. But maybe if you search on the internet you can find one. If you do, please send me a link or a picture or post it here in the comments on my blog.
7- Omar wants to know how it is over here, if it's nice and if it's pretty.
Omar, YES! I think it is so nice and pretty. It's really cool because most of the towns are really old, so the building and streets are made out of stones, and people have lived in them for hundreds of years. I also like it because it is different. The food is different, the language is different, the sky looks different, and the land looks different. But, the area that I am in also shares some things with New Mexico and since I think New Mexico is beautiful, of course I think it is beautiful here.
8- Mario wants to know if there are movie theaters in Switzerland.
Yes, Mario, there are. There are movie theaters in Spain, too. While I was in Madrid I saw a live theater production (like a play but it was a musical), but now that I am in Cáceres I wan to go see movies in Español hopefully about once a month. So, I'll report back to you about any differences between theaters over here from the ones back home.
9- Vincent also asked if I could bring them some Spanish coins.
Well, yes. I will bring home some money, but Spain no longer has its own money. Now most of Europe uses the same money. So I will bring home some Euros, which I will give to La Puerta.
Also, apparently Rio said that Rio Manzanares means the river of apple growers. Now, I think it means that Manzanares the place where the apple trees grow. So, awesome, I have some more research to do. It could mean both things!
Thank you kids so much for reading my blog and for asking me questions. It's nice to talk to you this way.
For anyone reading this, if you have something to add, a question or a comment, to correct a mistake, please do.
Hasta Luego, Cariños. Un Abrazo Muy Fuerte!!
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