Itchy Feet

So, I have already failed my self-imposed challenge to blog every day but, hell, we all know I am not that interesting anyway. And, my ascetic, I-don't-need-material-goods-because-they-only-get-stolen lifestyle (which only gets ascetic-er by the day!) makes my blog not especially visually pleasing. Everyone knows we only read blogs for the pictures that make us feel like our life (food, travels, wedding) isn't nearly as cool (delicious, adventurous, extravagant) as the next guys. But they inspire us to greatness.

My weekend visiting my family in Switzerland was fabulous and exactly the little mini-break I had been craving. A word of the wise: as much as living abroad is awesome, it doesn't mean you don't sometimes get a little bored or that life doesn't get a little mundane (especially if you are working/studying 12 hours a day!) After having lots of guests (the entire Bauer family, Steffi) meeting up with my very travel oriented friends (who are spending their summers in Australia, Thailand, Indonesia etcetera) and having a very vivid dream which nearly convinced me to hop on the next plane to Africa, I was (or have been) really itching to get out. It is not that I don't like it here, but I have the theory that no matter where you are, the everyday has a tendency to become the everyday. Pity, that.

So I was in Switzerland with my... third(?) cousins who just ooze so much awesomeness you'd better not stand too close. We did a lot of water related things, like swimming in the Aare, which runs though Bern and is super cold but I, unlike my pansy snowboarding cousins, could handle it (thanks body fat percentage over 2%!)and bathing in Leukerbad, which I really think is something the general American populus is seriously missing out on! There is nothing more relaxing than sitting on a chaise lounge-like apparatus submerged in steaming hot thermal water while looking at waterfalls in the Alps and enjoying the raindrops pattering on your head.

Oh god, shut up Cheryl.



It was, all in all, a very nice weekend for taking a step back and reflecting. Things are really, really good up in here. I study something that is incredibly useless but it makes me happy. And I am so lucky to be as mobile as I am. And on that note, I am reconsidering my decision to get a cat. and by that I mean I am not getting a cat. I was invited to spend some more time working for Renata (my "aunt") this summer so that I can learn the language, which is convenient because I am going to write my papers on Swiss German and make my life sound academically legitimate, even though I really just want to hike in the mountains and eat raclette and hang with my super cool family. Shh, don't tell anyone.