But before we get that, a few other events of note:
- Earlier this week, a girl in my program who also lives in my village invited me over for a crêpe party at her house - it was delicious! We ate savory crêpes with spinach and meat for the meal, and then chocolate, nutella, honey, and sugar crêpes for dessert. Hopefully her host mother wasn't appalled by my insatiable appetite!
- I got my senior housing for Boston College next year. My friends and I got one of the best pick-times available so we will be living in... *drumroll* a MOD! The "Mods," or modular apartments, are these little red houses on campus with backyards and grills. They form a little community that are ideal for football tailgates and really are the heart & soul of social life on campus. I can't wait - it's almost enough to make me willing to leave Switzerland :)
- My boss at my internship, Dr. Carballo, mistakenly took me for a diplomat's wife at work this week. Maybe that's a common thing in Switzerland? Hah.
Anyways, onto Bern:
The purpose of our field trip - paid for by the program, thank goodness - was to visit the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It's similar to USAID and we attended a lecture on Agriculture and Food Security. After that though, we had the afternoon free to visit the city. Bern's an hour and a half by train from where I live (and the trains are very expensive to take), so it's unlikely I'll have another chance to visit Switzerland's capital.
It was a little bit of a culture shock being when we first arrived - the city is on the German side of Switzerland, so all I heard around me was Swiss German (which doesn't even sound like normal German)! It was very disconcerting to understand absolutely nothing for a change. But, on the bright side, they also had bretzels and sausages for sale on every corner - yum.
We walked by the capital building, which had an amazing view overlooking the city and the Aare River. We also passed by Einstein's House (he lived in Bern for a time), the famous Clock Tower, and a bizarre fountain of a man devouring children - very strange, but I guess it's a famous thing.
The Capital Building (and the view from it) |
Quite the creepy fountain, huh? |
The highlight, however, was definitely the bear pit. The bear has long-served as the symbol of Bern, and bears have been kept in the Bärengraben, or "bear pit," there since the 1500s. Today there are currently 10 living there, in what basically amounts to a small zoo.
Snuggling with the bear statue |
Well, that's all for the schoolweek. I'll post updates on the weekend later, but I'm exhausted for now. Here's a little teaser though: there'll be mountain-climbing, international travel, and more chocolate (of course) in the next post!
No comments:
Post a Comment