MUNICH, GERMANY!!

Last Thursday Ana and I embarked on a trip that I previously mentioned, to Munich Germany!! I was so lucky that my Rotary Counselor organized this whole trip for the two of us, including finding a Rotary family to stay with for four days. It takes about six hours by trains to get there, so of course Ana and I had a fun day with great chats on the train ride there, I love that... sitting on the train with good friends and just talking away while enjoying all the gorgeous views you pass.

Once we arrived, Ana and I met the Heene family.. the family we were staying with. They are incredible!! They were all so friendly and welcoming.. Unfortunately I was really sick the whole time I was in Munich with either bad cold or a touch of bronchitis, so the host mom ended up feeling like an actual mom to me because she took such great care of me.

Our second day in Munich, Wolmuth (the host mother), Ana and I went to Dacchau Concentration Camp. We did a tour through Dacchau and it was extremely unsettling. It was so harsh and cruel, that it was impossible for me to wrap my head around. However, about 3/4ths through the tour there was a moment that hit me and showed me how real it really was.. There are pictures of the soldiers and doctors running tests on the people in that camp. They ran medical tests like air pressure tests, and there were pictures of the people dying and in extreme amounts of pain, it was disgusting. How can someone be so cruel? I will never forget that horrible feelings that I got there...

Afterwards we went out to a movie, The King's Speech. Okay, okay .. I can't say if it was good or not. I can tell you, I head it's very good!! Since I was so sick and on medications, anytime I sat down I would immediately fall asleep without even noticing. My head would tilt back, eyes would close and I was out like a light.. so unfortunately I missed the entire movie!! Also missed all the scenery in most car rides.. oops..

On the third day in Munich, my host father Andreas, host sister Karoline, Wolmuth, Ana and I went to a palace. A king once lived in this palace, it was a beautiful place. However, the inside of the place just scared me! It was COVERED in gold EVERYTHING, it was just too much! It was really interesting to be in there for a day though and tour through the house and see how it was set up in the olden days.

Throughout those 3 days it basically rained the whole time which made it nice there was also indoor activities to do.. However, on Sunday the day Ana and I had to leave it was a beautiful day!! Warm and sunny, it was perfect! Luckily our train didn't leave until 1:30 pm so we had the whole morning to go explore the city of Munich together. Wolmuth, Karoline, Ana and I walked around and explored the gorgeous, old city. It's incredible!! The buildings are gorgeous, so interestingly built. The people are friendly and the atmosphere is so calm and welcoming, everyone was sitting on the street outside of the cafes enjoying a nice Espresso in the sun. At 12:00 we heard the famous Glockenspiel play!! It was the best day there, I LOVED IT!! It's such an amazing city!!

Fasnacht !!

Ever since I arrived here in Switzerland, people have been telling me of the famous 3 days in Basel called "Fasnacht." aka, Carnival.

It's basically a big party in the streets for 3 days starting Monday morning at 4 a.m. and continued until the early hours of Thursday morning. However, in Liestal which is a neighboring town to Basel the traditional "kick-off" happened which I was really fortunate to have a good place to watch it from. Normally people stand on the tiny, narrow street while watching this parade of fire in Liestal but Rotary had a place in an apartment so I could enjoy it without the burning heat from the torches and huge wagons of fire. It was incredible !!!

After the fire evening in Liestal, I pushed my way through an extremely massive crowd of people and made my way to the train station. To go sleep? No way. I went to a concert with a group of Swiss friends that I have become really close with, these people here are awesome!! Since "Morgen Strike" happens in Basel at 4 a.m, lots of people stay up the whole night until that magical time! So I went to a concert and once it was time for Morgen Strike we left and found a good place to sit and enjoy it together.

Then it was time to go sleep, rest up and then enjoy the next few days normally. Fasnacht is basically instrumental bands everywhere playing their own songs in a parade, in which they choose their own way so there is just basically beautiful music everywhere for a full 3 days. Everyone participating in the bands or cliques, wear a costume with a mask. On Monday and Wednesday the masks and costumes match but Tuesday is more for fun and for the kids, so it's not so serious on Tuesday.  There are also parade wagons full of other stuff, like the famous "Waggi's." These are the Fasnacht bullies and go around throwing and stuffing you with confetti, then kindly giving you candy or a rose afterwards.

The atmosphere during these 3 days is unexplainable, the people are so happy and the streets are completely full with people, candy, and LOTS of confetti.  Here are some pictures to explain it !!

On Tuesday, I was invited by a member of Rotary to walk with him, his family and the band they are apart of. Out of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Tuesday is the day for kids and also costumes the don't have to match. I walked at the front of the band with a few others to help clear the path of people watching it, here is me in the costume they lent me, I'm on the left!

I encourage everyone to go to Switzerland for the traditional Fasnacht that happens once a year, the feeling and exciting you get is indescribable. 

Mom came to Switzerland!

On March 3rd, after an hour flight delay and many emotional moments during the waiting period in the airport, my mom finally walked through the Arrival Gate in the Zurich Airport. It has been seven months since I have last seen her so it was an emotional greeting since I have really missed her. Tomorrow she heads back home to Canada, it won't be long until I see her again since the months fly by and my exchange sadly ends in four months.

While she was here we went on many adventures in my attempt to show her Switzerland in 9 days. Here are the photos to show what we did:

Mom came to my school and met my best friend Ana. Ana and I showed my mom the entire school and had a lot of nice chats so Ana and my mom could get to know each other. 

My mom and I went to Basel (the big city that I am close to) and went to the Marktplatz (Market place). We bought some Swiss cheese, Swiss bread and took it to the river and ate it in the beautiful sunshine. 

Mom and I went flying in the Swiss Alps!! It was one of the most incredible things I have ever done in my life. I absolutely loved it and enjoyed this once in a lifetime opportunity, to the fullest. 

This is a view from the plane as we flew through the Swiss Alps. 

My mom and I took a 4 hour train ride trip to Southern Switzerland. We went to 2 cities, Bellinzona and Locarno. These two cities are on the border of Italy, so we got to experience what it is like in Italy. We had amazing pizza.

Mom and I in the Italian part of Switzerland.

At night we went to Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. We walked around, shopped and went out for some really good dinner. The food here is incredible.

We went to France!!! After a nice lunch with Rotary, my Rotary counsellor Peter, took my mom and I to France to see another culture. 

In France, we went to a big Supermarket. France is famous for their fish so here is a picture of my mom and I standing with the Fish lady in front of the stand. 

We went to a hotel in Interlaken for 3 days. Interlaken is a little town in the Swiss Alps. From our balcony we had an amazing view of many mountains. This is me standing on our balcony.

We took a train ride to the top of the Alps. We were very fortunate with amazing weather and had an amazing day together as we drank coffee in the mountains.

View of the mountains!

It was an amazing time with my mom, and tomorrow she goes back home. It was really nice to spend a week with her and be with her again!! 

going to Munich! 3 more days mommy!

Sorry I have been soooooooooooooo busy lately and no time to update anyone about what's going on!!
A couple weekends ago, my Rotary Counselor took me to some really cool places. It was a lot of fun to spend the day with him, and him and I get along really well with a lot of similar interests which gives us a lot to talk about. We started out by going to a museum about old music machines, before the record player. It was really interesting to learn about how they listened to music, and I got to hear the famous orchestra automatic music machine that was in the sister-Titanic  ship called the Britanic. They used that when they did long cruises, but took it out because they had to use that ship during war. That ship got sunk during war and they were happy to have taken it out since it is worth millions today and a huge part in history. I was able to hear it play!! It was really cool.

Afterwards, Peter and I crossed the bridge in his village that crosses into Germany!! I stood with one foot in Germany and one foot in Switzerland, it was a really special moment for me. We went to a church in Germany and inside this church was a small room with candles, flowers, pews and a place the priest can stand. We went in there and I asked him what it was for.. He began to explain that this was the place the families went to during the war to pray for their friend or family member currently fighting.There was a huge board of names, birth date, date of death and where they died or in which battle. There were hundreds of name and they all came from that little city on the border. I started to ask questions and we had a really good conversation, and I explained to him that I have always wanted to go to a Concentration Camp but will have to come back to Europe one day to do so, since it is too far from Switzerland to do it this year. He told me that there was one in Munich, called Dachau. He told me the partner club to my Rotary club is Munich and he can see what he can do to get me there. It's amazing what someone will do for someone else, just out of the common good and I really thank him for everything he has done for me and helped me with.

Last night I received a phone call saying he found a Rotary family in Munich that will host me and my best friend, Ana from Mexico. So in 2 weeks, Ana and I will be travelling to Munich for 4 days. One day for Dachau, and the other days to travel the beautiful city. It will be a very eye opening experience and will definitely teach me a lot. I am very excited to go.

Here are some pictures of that day with Peter:

standing on the border! :)

Germany

The church in Germany

Germany

I am so excited for Ana and I to go to Munich, it'll be so amazing! There are a tonne of trips planned to other countries but I will talk to them once they come!

MY MOM COMES IN 3 DAYS!!
It has been nearly 7 months without her, which is hard to imagine if you knew how close we are. I am so excited to show her my life here, so on 10 45 am on Thursday, I will be reconnected with my mom once again after being apart for 7 months. I am so incredibly excited to see her and we have so much planned so she is going to see a LOT of Switzerland in just 9 days!!

Welcome mommy and have a safe flight .. I'll be eagerly waiting for you at the arrivals gate!!

Weekend in the Alps!

At Christmas time, I attended a Rotary dinner and met an incredible family.. The Sollberger's. We sat at the same table and they invited me to their apartment in the Alps, and that was this past weekend!

Their apartment is in Sorenberg, Switzerland. It is a gorgeous place!! It had a balcony that you could walk onto and view rows upon rows of mountains, along with all the skiers and snowboarders that were going down the mountains.

Saturday was a relaxing day which was wonderful. We went out for ice cream and I got to see the beautiful village. Then we went back to the apartment and I sat on the balcony, in the sun, overlooking the Swiss Alps.. Here is the view from the balcony:

Here's the view from my bedroom window:

Once the sun went down, the Sollberger's invited me to a ski & snowboard freestyle competition, it was so cool! These people are absolutely incredible at being in control while flying through the air attached to skis or a snowboard, it was magnificent. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture because it was night time and they were going too fast but it was really cool !! Afterwards we went to a Pizzeria, mmmmm. And we all sat there chatting the night away.

The next day, I was apart of a really cool family tradition. Every Sunday that they are in their apartment for the weekend, the father (Simeon) and the two kids (Florence and Fabreece)  go to the local store and pick out the bread they want to have for breakfast while the mom (Sandra) prepares everything back at home. So I went down to the store and picked out a few croissants and other neat Swiss bread.. PS the bread here is fabulous. My hips think so too!

Afterwards we got all warmly dressed for the mountains, oh who am I kidding.. the weather was fabulous and you barely needed a winter jacket!! It was spring temperatures, probably around 10 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately Sandra wasn't feeling well, but Simeon, Fabreece, Florence and I went skiing! I'm not very good at it, and they were all very patient and so supportive, encouraging and all made very good teachers!! Since I was on a mountain, some parts of the hill were really steep! At one point, I was going down a not-so-steep hill then I looked beside me and there was a hill attached to mine, it was so steep and I laughed as I went past it. Simeon stopped and said, okay lets try this one! At first I chuckled and thought he was kidding, but he wasn't.. I could have said no but I wanted the challenge and I did it !! I followed him and I was so proud of myself, I went down that really steep hill twice and it felt really good. They are all so incredible.

Then sadly it was time to go back to the apartment, pack up and head home. I had such an incredible time with this family, they are amazing!! They are so down-to-earth and happy and so welcoming, I felt like I was at home within the first 30 minutes of being there... I had an INCREDIBLE weekend!!

Sunny Switzerland!!

WOW we are having incredible weather over here in Switzerland.. I know my previous post makes it look like we have a lot of snow, but where I live we haven't had any for quite a while!! Some other parts in Switzerland has snow because the altitude is higher.. but here in Basel the weather is incredible!!

Yesterday I had half a day of school, so afterwards Ana and I decided we should do something since it was the most warm and beautiful February 7th I have ever seen. There is a river in Basel that we often go to during the day or sometimes at night, and it's one of the most relaxing places I have ever been to. There is a sitting place on the side of the Rhine, that looks like this:

Yesterday it was around 13 degrees Celsius, so Ana and I went to the sitting place and sat there for over three hours.  At first we talked and ate lunch, then we started to quiet down and really enjoy the moment. I sat there looking at a typical, beautiful Swiss view (in a t-shirt might I add.) We were surrounded by people laughing and talking, swans floating down the rivers current, birds chirping and flying around, trams crossing the bridges and the beautiful row of Swiss houses across the narrow river with the church bells ringing ever half an hour. This exchange is a dream come true. 

I would also like to add that today, I have officially been in Switzerland for SIX MONTHS!! Time is flying, I can't believe I'm more than half way done my exchange. I hope time slows down a little bit because I'm loving it here so much. 

Rotary Winter Weekend, Switzerland!

This time last year, I was at a camp with Rotary finding out which country I was going to for the year, that day feels just like yesterday. It was one of those days that I'll always remember and look at, knowing that's the moment it all changed.

This year, I had the Winter Weekend in Engleberg, Switzerland. We met Saturday afternoon and walked to the group hostel/rented house place and I knew at that moment this was going to be an amazing weekend. There were a few different rooms, with a giant bunk bed in each. It was like sleeping on a giant bed with my best friends here in Switzerland.

It started off with us going ice skating, and was really neat to see the differences between students. Most of the Canadians had previously played hockey and we taught our friends that aren't used to skating. I taught my friend from Brazil how to skate.

Afterwards we went back to our house and had some time to relax, talk and catch up with the other exchange students that we don't see very often. Then the Rotex (previous exchange students that run these weekends) organized a game outside... Beside our house we had a big field, and Rotex came up with a pretty funny game. One person was it, and the others had to run from on side to the other without getting tackled, that made it quite an interesting time! If you got tackled you had to join in the center and tackle other people. It looked pretty funny since we are all in our big snow suits attempting to run as fast as we can. It got a little dark out so people started to head back into the house, but I stayed outside along with my closest friends here. We lied down in the snowy field and looked at the stars.. There I sat with people that are changing my life, surrounded by the Swiss Alps that made a prickly black outline in the moonlight shadow, talking and laughing together in Switzerland. I just lied there, soaking all of this in. It was an incredible moment, that I will never forget.

Then we had dinner and played a few other games all together until we decided to go downstairs and all lay in my bed telling ghost stories in the pitch black with nothing but some moon light shining in the window, it was incredible. I love these people!!

The next day, Rotary took us sledding. It's not tobogganing down a hill then running back up, it's real tobogganing. You take a ski lift/gondel to the top of the mountain and go down a long path, similar to a ski hill. It looked really funny, almost like a video game called Mario Kart racing. During some paths, you could look beside you and see the most incredible views. The Swiss Alps are magnificent and it was so cool to toboggan along and see the amazing views. Unfortunately I went over a bump and hit my face off the toboggan and hurt my nose but I'm so thankful I didn't break it !!

I had such an incredible weekend, with extremely special people. This place is incredible.