Visitors Come to Lugano!

My visitors with me at the Irish Pub

As you can see from my lack of posts, it’s been a busy week. Wait…don’t I always say that? This time, it’s different. It was busy because I was planning for, prepping for, and hosting not one, but TWO groups of friends here in Lugano! We’ll start from the beginning.

Now, I wouldn’t say that I was good at driving a standard car before moving over here (just ask my dad who tried to teach me 10 times and Eas whom I nearly killed multiple times while practicing this summer)! But living here and needing to shop has forced me to do the unthinkable – learn how to drive a stick! It started off with trips up and down the hill between the two campuses. Then one day I made it to the gas station and back, then to the train station and back, then to IKEA and back (only stalling once or twice, I assure you – haha). Finally the time came where I decided it was time to push myself a little further. Like…to Milan, Italy. So last Friday night I offered to take Blair to the airport in Milan (so I could learn the way and experience going 0-120 in 10 secs - that’s kilometers, don’t worry). But of course I didn’t want to make the trip back alone, so I talked Allyson and Lizzie into a little road trip! Fun times! We only got lost once, in Varese, where I decided going around and around in the round-about while they looked for signs was a good a plan as any! Too bad we were laughing to hard to be able to tell which way we should go! Finally, we guessed right, and found our way home. We celebrated the successful trip with a night at the IP (where else!?).

Saturday came around and it was time to pick up the Austin Middle School girls! Jessica, Theresa and Robina were all sweet enough to spend their week of Thanksgiving break with me here in Europe! I left at 11:00 to drive (by myself this time!) and was just in time to welcome the passengers coming from Paris (their connection). Only, I welcomed everyone else BUT them! After and hour past landing time and still no sign, I began to worry. Finally they were able to get a hold of me after many hours and many unsuccessful attempts. Their original flight was delayed which caused them to miss their 2nd flight. What a mess! No worries, I found a book AND a magazine in English (that never happens here!) and 6.5 hours went by pretty fast. ☺ We had yummy pizza at Argentino’s in downtown Lugano, and celebrated their arrival that night at the IP (where else!?).


Me and Bina at IP

On Sunday I tried to let the girls sleep in, but Jess was having none of it! She got us up and got us moving, and we decided to head to Lake Como to look for George Clooney! First we stopped at the train to get their tickets to Venice (and some Swiss Fraaaanks, as Bina likes to say!). Once in Como we spent the afternoon eating more yummy Italian food by the lake and partook in a little Italian shopping. We ate gelato, of course, and even got to walk in on a real live mass in the Como Duomo that night! Como is very hopping at night and shops close late (unlike sleepy Lugano). Since it’s only 20 minutes away and I can now drive, I think I’ll be spending more time with Clooney than I thought! ☺ I wanted to take the girls to see his house in Bellagio (a 45 minute boat ride) but it was so late that the boat would only take us TO Bellagio, and not back. So we opted for the 1 hour Lake Como boat tour at dusk - it was lovely, and we did get to see Versace’s house! After that ,we headed back home to Lugano, and celebrated the end of a fun day in that night at the IP (are you seeing a trend here?)!

Me and Jess in Como


Girls in front of the Como Duomo


Jess and Bina try the Italian gelato!


Boat ride on Lake Como

That night we stayed up until nearly 3 a.m. just talking, catching up, eating cheese dip (they brought me Velveeta and Rotel and I was a HAPPY girl!) and, of course, some Swiss chocolate. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was SNOWING at 3 a.m., which made it very hard to go to sleep! Staying up that late was possibly a bad idea, as the girls had a 7:10 a.m. train to catch to Venice on Monday. At 7:09 we still weren’t at the station, so I said, “okay girls, hop out, go down those stairs, follow the signs to the trains, and…RUN!” Somehow they made their train, but barely. Off they went to Venice and off I went to work (very tired!).

Around 2:00 p.m. I received my 2nd round of visitors…my favorite travelin’ sisters, Candace and Christen. They are spending the week in Italy (Rome, Florence, etc) so they decided to come spend a night with me in Lugano! It was so great to see them. Candace even had interviews lined up with people at TASIS to possibly teach here next year (wouldn’t that be fun!). That night I decided to drive to Como again for dinner (they had never been). We just walked around the lake, went to the Duomo and ate a very nice and yummy meal. It was pretty quiet that night in Como (only 3 other table of people in our little quaint restaurant), but the four Italian men who were celebrating a birthday were nice enough to share their cake with the 3 girls from Texas! It was very sweet of them. Turns out one of them lived in Houston for a while (the world really is small).
Tuesday I headed off to work (with Candace in tow to have more interviews) and that was one crazy day! I have decided it would be more fun to have friends in town visiting when you didn’t have to work! More pics from their trip when Candace sends them to me. :)

Candace and her sis left around 2:00 that day, and Group 1 of the friends make it back from Venice around 8:30 that night (after many delays!). I spent the time in between the groups cleaning up and packing for the next day’s adventure. After I got them at the station, it was up to the Bellavista for some yummy pizza and Ticino Merlot. We celebrated them being back into town with a night at the IP! By this time we had become close friends with everyone at the Irish Pub (especially David, our bartender) and I have now been asked to bring back cowboy hats for everyone there, in remembrance of the Texas girls who made the IP their 2nd home!


Last night at the IP

Wednesday morning I took the girls to the station to catch their 8:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport (yeah we didn’t sleep EVER!), and off they went to Paris! No worries, I had plans to meet back up with my girls in Paris (for the night) after work. That day could not have gone faster – I couldn’t wait to spend a night in Paris with my girls! I arrived to the hotel around 10:30 p.m. and we hopped the tube to go have a look at the Eiffel Tower at night. Bellisima! After that, we headed to another part of town to check out a bar that Eason recommended, Bar Latino. We found it, but were too hungry to even think about going in…so we went on a little food excursion. After being turned down by 10 restaurants, we FINALLY found a place with cheeseburgers and French fries. Yes, please! Too bad Bar Latino closed (in my face!) right as we got back down there to do some Salsa dancing. ☹ Oh well, it was a fun night none-the-less, and since the girls had another early morning (to catch the flight back home) it was probably better this way! Too bad we didn’t find an Irish Pub in Paris!


Eiffel Tower at night




Figuring out the Paris Underground

So my 14 hours in Paris was great! Not just because Paris is great, but also because it was with great company. I laugh so much with those girls! It was so great to get to see them on my side of the world for a while. We just kept saying, “We’re in Italy!” or “We’re in Switzerland!” or “We’re in Paris!” It was oh-so-much-fun! Thank you, girls, for coming to visit!! You have NO idea what it means to me. I can’t wait to read the book of comments when I’m home at Christmas!

I am now on the Eurostar from Paris to London (great catching up on sleeping time!) and we have just come out of the tunnel that goes through the English Channel. Tonight is the 2nd Annual Davis Thanksgiving in London dinner and I couldn’t be more excited (to see my friend and to eat some real American food!). It’s also special because her parents are there (which means if the turkey showed up with feet this time, I won’t have to be the one to help pluck!). It’s so nice that I have been fortunate enough to spend my last 2 Thanksgivings with people who are like family since I can’t be with my own. Tonight is special, also, because it’s the same dinner that Eason and I met at last year! Who can believe it…a whole year!? ☺ I’m excited about spending time with him this weekend (Christmas shopping and just watching movies and football). We also have a wine, cheese and chocolate party to go to with his friends, and I’m the Swiss Chocolate provider!

To my family: I miss you all so terribly and am counting down the days when I get to see you! I wish I was home this Thanksgiving with you all. Please freeze some yummy dressing for me, Mom! Happy Thanksgiving to all. Oh yeah, and HOOK ‘EM HORNS!

A Birthday to Remember!

Wow! What a birthday! Before I moved I thought it would be hard to spend my bday far from home, but as it turns out -- it doesn't matter how far away from home you are, as long as you have a good family and friends! I got so many cards, text messages, emails packages, and baked goods -- it was just like being at home! Blair decorated our office and made yummy AMERICAN muffins, and the kids sang to me all day long (in about 3 different languages)! Later that night, Blair had the TASIS girls over and people brought yummy homemade goodies and wine. It was so great -- I even had a cake!



Quite possibly the BEST gift I got was this sweet, sweet video from the Overstreets! It made my name to hear sweet Kate say "Happy Birthday, Hay-yee!" My heart melted! I can't wait to see those lovely ladies at Christmas!

My dad and Lisa also sent me a great gift -- a BOX full of UT gear! My friends here just died laughing as I pulled out item after item of burnt orange goodness!! A backpack, a mesh bag, 2 notepads, a FLAG, a calendar -- you name it! All UT! I loved it! :)

Friday morning I hopped a plane to Paris to meet Eas -- what a fun weekend he had planned! It helps that he lived there for a
while and speaks French. :) He had a "Hag Bag" of gifts (as if PARIS wasn't a gift in itself!) and we went out for a nice French dinner! The whole weekend was great - we saw every sight there was to see! My favorite was the view from Sacre-Coeur, although the weather didn't really provide great picture taking!








This is a shot of the Alps from the plane ride to Paris! How beautiful!

All is well in Swiss-land but I'm really looking forward to Christmas in ONE MONTH! Jessica, Terri, Robina, Candace and Christen are ALL coming to visit this week and I couldn't be more excited! It'll be an action packed week (Como, Lugano, Paris, London) -- but I can't wait to see my friends! It's about time I had visitors!!

Prouder than Ever...

to be an American! No matter what your political views are, we should all be proud of what happened this week. This country came together to elect an African American to the highest office of the nation. My children will never know that there was any other way. I can now tell my students of all races, "you can be anything you want to be" and mean it. I know that the country was divided this election, but I am thankful for so many people having an opinion and taking part in the democratic election process (isn't that what America is all about?). No matter who we wanted to win, we wall must come together now to support President-elect Obama. He has a tough road ahead of him. But remember...change is good. :) Everyone here was SO into the election. I woke up at 5 a.m. JUST in time to turn on CNN and hear them announce their projection that Obama had won the election. It was exhilarating! I thought McCain speech was really great and very honorable. I will forever remember Obama's speech. It was one of those moments that I really, really wanted to be at home. But luckily my sister finally found out how to use Skype, and we got to talk in person! That made it all the better!

Here are the pics I promised from last weekend's visitors. Don't the castles look fun!?!


Blair, Me and Allyson in Montagnola (where I live) with the view of Lake Lugano behind us. Beautiful!

Blair, me and Lizzie in a castle in Belinzona

Me and Eas

The crew - claiming our castle!

Last night my friends took me out to celebrate my birthday (a week early since I'll be in Paris on my birthday next weekend with Eas!). We had such a great time! After shopping on Saturday in Lugano with Blair, we played some volleyball (yes, I played volleyball!) and then get all dolled up to head to Milan. Blair drove the 14 passenger van full of girls to the big city! Oh you should have seen the reaction we got driving that monster through the tiny, crowded streets of Milan. We actually had guys BEGGING for us to stop! I don't think they'd ever seen 9 cute girls in one van before! :) We had a great Italian meal (deep-dish pizza, for once) and headed to "The Club" for some dancing! It was a typical European club with TONS of people and loud music. Very fun times! It was a late, late night, but at least I didn't have anything planned on Sunday. I rested, cooked dinner, went for a run and cleaned! We don't have a dryer, so my apartment smells of fresh laundry (hanging from every chair and table I have)! I'm so glad I have such fun, sweet friends here at TASIS! The 9 of us had a great time! More pics to come.


The girls out at dinner!

Next weekend is Paris and I'm so excited! Eas sent me the itinerary, and it is action packed! I am really looking forward to seeing Paris with him. He knows the city pretty well, so I'm just letting him decide where to go! Pics to come soon from that trip! Don't worry -- part of the itinerary is watching some college football on Saturday night. He's a man after my own heart. :) Milan, Paris, friends, and football. Sounds like a perfect birthday to me!

Long Overdue!

Hello all! Many apologies for the lack of updates lately, but I have been very busy! I finally have moved into my new (and very own) apartment -- WITH INTERNET! That should make blogging much easier, so I shouldn't have too many excuses from now on. :) Where to begin...

I'll start with the Swiss version of a lawn mower. See picture below! Imagine my surprise when I came home one day to this in my front yard! Two days (and two very full horses) later, the grass was perfectly short!



I have been on 2 field trips this week and both were a great time! We took the 5/6 graders to a Safari Park in Italy with real live African animals, falcon shows, and amusement park rides! It was great fun (we even got to see the rare leone bianco -- white lions -- which apparently there are less than 100 of in the whole world)! The kids were so excited to see real life safari animals (not caged up)!







The Pre-K/Kindergarten kids took a much shorter trip to a local town where there was a great little "nature walk." Of course it had rained the night before, so it was a quite muddy nature walk, but that made it even more fun for them. They were so cute in their little rain boots, trying to find brown leaves and spider webs! I love that I get to call this work. :)





After all of that field trip fun, we finally got a few days off. I jumped a plane to Madrid, Spain, to meet Morgan for a girl's weekend! It was such a blast and the hotel was super nice. All we did was eat, drink, and watch UT football via Slingbox in our hotel room (while eating chips/salsa of course)! We probably should have done a better job of seeing the city and touring the museums, but both of us were much more into living the Spanish life (siestas, margaritas and yummy food)! The weather was great and we even saw a parade of sheep, haha! We also spent time in a really nice spa getting massages. This was after we walked the ENTIRE city looking for food during siesta time, and happened upon a restaurant that said "queso fundino" and it was open! You better believe we stopped in there for some queso and margarita fun! :) I had a great time with my friend!! Pics coming soon!

I finally got all moved in this week, and thanks to the help of Blair and Allyson, I literally got the place looking "lived in" in less than 24 hours! I had planned a housewarming party for the weekend, so it was a race against the clock getting all moved in, unpacked and getting pictures hung on the wall. I don't know what I would have done without them (especially Blair who was my choffeur, decorating guru and picture hanger). I feel so blessed to already have such great friends here! Here are a few pics of the new place!





The weather has been really yucky lately, so I was totally bummed that Eason and his two buddies, Eric and Adam, were going to leave rainy London for rainy Lugano. :( But, even though it rained the first night, the rain lifted by Saturday morning and stayed relatively sunny and warm through out the whole weekend! For the first time in 2 weeks I could see the mountains and the lake (way too foggy lately for all of that!). There is so much snow on the mountains, it's crazy! So the boys got to see Lugano at its finest and that made me happy!! Friday night Blair and I drove to Milan to pick up the boys and then enjoyed a chill night in the apartment with a few friends over. Then Saturday we got up, took a tour of campus and saw the beautiful mountain and lake views of my 'hood. After that the boys, Blair, Lizzie and myself hopped in a van and headed up to Belinzona to go to the famous castles! We scaled the walls, took some great photos, and the boys plotted out how they would most strategically shoot their canons if this was their castle. :) After that we headed a little further north to a quaint little town called Soazza. We had never heard of it, but Eas and Eric work with a guy who's family was from there and he recommended we check it out. What a great idea because it was beautiful! There is a great church up there and awesome views of the snow-capped Alps. Pics to come soon from that trip!

Then we went down to downtown Lugano and walked around the lake. It was beautiful at dusk -- I'm so excited to have people here to show off this lovely place! After another yummy Italian dinner (that's all we ate all weekend!) we came back home to prepare for the Halloween/House Warming party. Little did we know it would turn into College Football Headquarters and Karaoke Center! We hooked up a projector and projected football games all night on the blank wall (I call it my flat screen tv)! The boys around here loved it! Eason's team, Cal, won...and we won't talk about my Horns. Definitely not happy to stay up until 4:00 a.m. watching that hot mess. But in between the games Eas had the great idea of playing songs from my Itunes and googling the lyrics. We had a proper karaoke night -- it was hilarious!! My personal favorite was "Sweet Caroline" and Adam's rendition of "She's Lost that Lovin' Feelin,'" with dance moves and everything - classic!

Today was another lovely day in Lugano, so we took a hike up the mountain to our favorite restaurant in all of Montagnola - Bellevista. The boys loved the view (it's a hike to get there, but definitely worth it) and the food was yummy as usual. This afternoon I took them back downtown for some MORE pizza and a gelato hunt! We found both and we were all happy! Tonight I'm relaxing and catching up with family/blogs. If I can stay awake I think I'll watch more tv on my "flat screen." Living in Switzerland is great - I can see my family over Skype, my friends who come visit in person, American TV (thanks to slingbox) and outside is a view you couldn't pay money for! Life is good! More soon!