i turisti

i turisti = The tourists

...which is most definitely what ProMo and I are here in Switzerland!  It is even more gorgeous than I imagined and I am even more befuddled by the language barrier than I thought, but we are having a great time!

There have been many surprises - pleasant and unpleasant - but some of my favorite things about the trip so far have been quotes!  Since I try to not use full names on this blog, I'll try to keep these as general as possible, except when the context makes it that much funnier.  For some, you may need to know the people or the situation to think they're funny but I've tried to pull the good (yet relatively clean) quotes from my collection. So without further ado...

While we're packing:
Me: I hope you're not bringing that watch.
ProMo: Why?
Me: You can't bring a fake Rolex to Switzerland!!  That's a huge insult! That's like me showing up in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan without a burqa!!


While I'm trying to figure out how to speak basic Italian...when we're already here:
Me: How do you say "hello" in Italian?
ProMo: buon giorno?
Me: That sounds right. [pause] wait a minute...did you get that from an Olive Garden commercial?!
ProMo: Maybe. So?


Every night in Riva, we've hung out at a local bar with our group of predominantly male civil engineering students.  Here are my favorite bits of conversations with the boys, who will be referred to as CEBs - civil engineering boys:

The one-liners...

Guys, let's not nerd up this sh!t.

Don't. poke. the bear!

Oh I know I'm a [wuss].  I'll take your tequila shot, but I need salt on that b*tch.

Paul, you're el chino. And that's all that matters.

Sargeant, report for duty.

We're going to need the macro setting on this.

Forget about the bridges, the labs, and all the other crap I organized. It's all about the beer.

Gold Bond is just like a thousand little fairies fanning your b***s.

She speaks a dead language. I'm not dead. We have nothing in common.

You look very vertical for being so short.

Digiorno!

And exchanges...

[Regarding a joke that was told in ProMo's class]
CEB#1: Did the international students get it?
CEB#2: Of course.  Everyone speaks nerd.


CEB: Hey, you're drinking an orange juice!
American Girl, also a VT student...though not CE: Um, yeah...VODKA and orange juice.
CEB: Oh so you're drinking a screwdriver.
Girl: [looks freaked out, rolls eyes] yeah, whatever.
Me: No, it's really called a screwdriver.
Girl: [mumble, sigh, rolls eyes, still doesn't believe us]


CEB#1: I can't believe we started out with such an intellectual conversation and now we're talking about sh*t.
Me: Space turds are still intellectual!
CEB#2: I know! So, OK, there's a frozen turd, human shaped...is that turd more dense than me?

CEB#1: I don't think watermelon goes with beer.
CEB#2: Everything goes well with beer.

Waiter: Limoncino! [as he hands out shot glasses of what appears to be limoncello]
All of us: Limoncello!!
Waiter: No, LimonCINO!!
CEB#1:What's the difference between Limoncello and Limoncino?
CEB#2: Paul's involved.

LC from AK: Nobody from Wasilla should lead this country
CEB: Nobody from Wasilla should lead Wasilla


[Swiss guy says something in undiscernable Italian]
Us: What?
Siwss dude: eh...gum?
Us: Oh do we have gum? [Check quickly] No we don't have any gum
Swiss dude: No...[make motions and sounds like the Red Baron from Peanuts]
Us: GUN?!?!
Swiss dude: Si...GUN! [Big smile]
[Longest pause ever. Silence. Lone CEB speaks up...]
CEB: Um...so sorry, we don't have any guns.
[Swiss dude gives us a big smile, stares at us, puffs his cigarette]
Me: [After the obvious pause...]OK so how quickly can you guys finish those drinks!?


And of course, everyone's favorite...

THAT needs to go on the blog!

Annnndddd...on that note, here are a few pictures from the trip.  The first is of most of the group on a hike of San Giorgio (translation - bigg @ss hike) with a follow up picture for scale.  Now, if you know me, you should know that my idea of a "hike" is a wide, preferrably paved, trail.  This was neither of those things.  Two hours (yes, here they measure distance in time) straight up through creeks, loose rocks, mud, roots etc.  And then back down, of course.

The second set is of us being semi-illegal as we were climbing on a bridge in Switzerland.  This is just one of the amazing bridges that we've seen on this trip.  More pics to come as these are from a colleague who is obviously MUCH better at posting pictures in a timely manner than I am. :)


At the top of San Giorgio.  Don't be fooled.  This was a crazy hard hike because we started at the base in Riva San Vitale...

...see that little town at the base of the mountain on the left? That's where we started. :)




Us on the Nanin (or Cascella...they're right next to each other) Bridge designed by one of ProMo's idols, Christian Menn.  Yes, his name is very similar to ProMo's)




to give you some idea of the scope of the bridge.  More pics to come when I can download my own (these are courtesy of a colleague!)



Today we leave the Italian-speaking area of Ticino (pronounced "tee-cheeno") and head to the French-speaking areas of Lausanne and Montreux for 2 days before the trip ends in Zurich on Friday.  I admit I am really sad to leave our little town of Riva, our sweet faculty apartment and of course our bar Osteria San Giorgio.  The bridges have been gorgeous, amazing and awe-inspiring, the company has been fun and the atmosphere has been relaxed and (generally) upbeat. :) ...except when the CEBs occasionally want to brawl, climb on stuff and get large gaping wounds that are patched up with electrical tape, or scream obscenities during "tranquility hours"...

But in all seriousness, it has been an incredible experience to add to our list!

Until my next update, Ciao!!!

Swiss Miss

2 blogs at once! Craziness!

I'll be making my first trips to Switzerland and Italy and I am excited, but as it is a "work trip" and not a vacation, I am on someone else's schedule.  If you know me, you know how difficult it is for me to give up the reins so this is a major accomplishment for me.  Nevertheless, I am looking forward to playing tourist and checking out some historical structures and just seeing some new countries. 

I hope to get a chance to blog while I'm abroad but if not, don't miss me too much! :)  In the meantime, here is my wish list for things to happen in the U.S. while I'm not here:

• For no natural disasters or major domestic crises. (Gotta start with the serious one.)
• For Marlon and Eli to not (a) injure themselves or (b) cause too much trouble at Flying Fur! - the dog spa
• For "King James" to lose in the NBA Finals.  (Oops! Already got that one.)
• For UVA to win the College World Series!!
• For that cute girl with the short pixie haircut and round face and that dude named Wadi to NOT be eliminated on So You Think You Can Dance.  I want to see them when I get back!
  
• For Christina Aguilera to pull herself together, for goodness sake (hair brush, properly fitting clothing, easy on the spray tan.  It's not hard.) and...
• For Britney Spears to not get injured or go crazy so I can see her, as scheduled, in July!

Well, that's all I've got for tonight.  Ciao!

The villa in Riva San Vitale where we'll be!

Green green grass

I'm getting ready for a trip abroad but I couldn't leave the country without a long-overdue blog post!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've started and stopped quite a few blogs.

Ironically, one was about writer's block. :)

But one of the things that I've settled on after a good 2+ weeks of pure observation of the world around me could be summed up by a few cliches.

You can't always get what you want.
The grass is always greener on the other side.
Never judge a man unless you have walked a mile in his shoes.

I've traveled a bit over the past couple of weeks, and in that time I've had the chance to catch up with a bunch of my good friends.  Inevitably, it ends up as a mutual admiration club.  I wish that I lived in one of the more exciting cities that they live in, but they long for the light traffic and low cost of living in the 'burg.  I miss the multiple opportunities to meet new people, they wish that they could be home at a reasonable hour, park in a driveway (or garage) and watch the sunset on a back porch with nothing but the sound of the birds chirping and the wind through the trees.

At the same time, my crop of friends and recent graduates that are entering the working world are quickly wondering why they were sooo ready to graduate.  It seems like everyone is wanting what they can't have.

I feel like it's not too much of a generalization to say that most people aren't completely satisfied with at least one aspect of their life.  But I think this is totally normal. 

Most people will vent occasionally but every now and then you meet those people that like to keep up a good "face" and keep it all inside.  I like to say that these people are being very American Beauty.  By this I mean, on the outside, they look like they have a perfect life but inside, it's a crazy Kevin Spacey mess.  And that's not good for anyone.

Those who scream the loudest have the most to hide.
Sometimes the saddest people have the biggest smile.

With all that said, it can be nice to see my life through someone else's eyes.  I could be feeling kind of blah, but then I'll hang out with someone who will tell me that they envy:

• the amount of free time that I have
• the fact that ProMo and I are DINKs who can "travel on a whim"
• the fact that we live in a cheap college town
• our lack of "responsibility" (a thinly veiled reference to kids)
• my 8-5 job
• my proximity to nature
• that I have such a cool husband...

I agree with some of these statements, disagree with a few others and find the rest laughable.  I'll let you figure out which is which. :)

The point is, sure...there are a lot of things that I would change about my life if I could, and there are a lot of things that I would keep the same.  So for now, I will be content with my perfectly imperfect life.  And I hope you will too.  Because no matter how it may seem, the grass isn't always greener...

Family Ties

Late last week, I was hit with the news of another death in the "family."  I use the term family in quotation marks because she was not a member of my immediate or extended (by blood) family, but a member of my filipino family. 

When my parents moved to Richmond, VA in the late 60's, they were one of the very few filipinos in the area.  I've blogged about some of the things I loved about my dad, but one of the most admirable traits of both of my parents is how incredibly hard they worked to create a better life for themselves and their daughters.  I still marvel that my mom got a job with a small Richmond-based consulting civil engineering design firm in the late 60's, and I wish I could thank the owner of that company for taking a chance on a young female immigrant engineer at a time when civil rights were at the forefront of everyone's minds...especially in the "capital of the Confederacy"...

Mom and Dad looking classy in the durrrty south

But while they were working to prove themselves professionally, they were also keeping an eye and ear out for other filipinos moving into the area.  They knew that the "newbies" would be looking for familiar faces, accents, and a common love of pancit, crispy pata, longanisa and sinigang.

Eventually, they and some of the other couples formed a local group for filipinos in the metro area.  As time went on, they all had kids and I was lucky enough to grow up with a number of "aunties and uncles" and kids that were all born around the same time.  We literally grew up together. My parents were many of their godparents.  I couldn't stand the thought of dating any of the boys because they were my "brothers."  The parties were big and frequent and the food was plentiful, even if they weren't always...conventional...by American standards.  For example, check out this post for more of a glimpse into the Fil-Am life and the picture below for my dad's way of throwing down for a party:

My baptism party - fresh lechon! Dad roasting a pig in our backyard. Pretty sure he didn't have a permit for that.

2nd birthday...Slim (next to me) wants to blow out my candles and my sis (2nd from left) looks like she's about to say something bossy. And of course, the table full of food.

Over the next forty years, families came and left, the kids grew up and graduated from high school, scattered around to different colleges and came together for weddings.  Some moved back to Richmond, some never left, and some never returned.  But I still consider them family.

My Class of '92 FAACV brothers and sister at our high school graduation party

College graduation party with the same crew and Slim and XT "roasting" us.  Don't worry...it was a filipino party so it was the same microphone we used for karaoke.

One of these "sisters" was my friend A.  Though she had muscular dystrophy and grew up with numerous challenges, she had an amazing spirit and a wicked sense of humor.  She always acknowledged that she knew her time on earth was limited, but I think after 36 years, we had all gotten used to having her around and thought that maybe she would continue to beat the odds.

While I didn't see her often once I left Richmond, she had a special place in my heart.  Logically, one would think that someone who I didn't see much and had spoken to only sporadically over the past few years would not be missed.  But she was family, and family ties defy logic. 

A and her family visiting mom & dad in HHI

Family doesn't have to be connected by blood. Family, to me, means a shared history and a loving community.  I am lucky to have such a big and loving family. And I am lucky to have called A a part of that. 

Slim, A, XT and me at A's 30th birthday bash. One of our favorite pictures.

RIP, sweet friend and sister.  We miss you already.

To read more about A's life, click here.  And if this small glimpse into her life has affected you in any way, please consider making a donation in Aileen's name to the Muscular Dystrophy Association at www.mda.org.