Tag: Switzerland

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Ballot received and will be counted

“Your ballot for the 2020 General Election was received and will be counted. Thank you for voting!”

It feels great to have this done.

It also brings back memories of living in Switzerland during the 2004 presidential elections. At that time I had only ever voted in person on Election Day and I wasn’t familiar with the absentee ballot process. So I missed the deadline (the only time in my adult life I didn’t vote for President).

The thing that surprised me was how passionately concerned my friends and family in Switzerland were about my participation in the process. For weeks I had people asking whether I had voted yet…and explaining to me about my right to an absentee ballot!

Some were actually rather upset with me when I admitted that I had missed the absentee ballot deadline! I had to assure them that — being from California, which was won handily by John Kerry — I hadn’t thrown the election to George Bush!

So I’m glad to have successfully voted, not just as an American, but also as a global citizen. Because I’m sure that this year my friends and family around the world are more passionately concerned with the outcome than ever before.

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Meanwhile, in Switzerland…

Don’t get me wrong, I love my life… really I do!

At the same time, I have to admit that I would love to be in Switzerland right now. Especially if I could be walking beside my father-in-law, Silvio, and enjoying these incredible mountain views.

Silvio enjoying his favorite pastime.
The beautiful Swiss Alps
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Aldesago

Our little Airbnb is in the “nucleo” (or center) of the old village of Aldesago, located halfway up the side of Monte Brè. There isn’t much information out there about these little villages, but I think the buildings of the nucleo might date back to the 1300 or 1400’s.

The narrow streets aren’t one-way, as those of us accustomed to American roads might expect! When two cars from opposing directions meet, there’s a particular car etiquette that apparently dictates which one pulls over and allows the other to pass.

We’re far enough up the mountain that we would have a view of the lake…if it weren’t for the apartment building across the street. 🙂

As you can see, we look out on a rather uninspiring expanse of concrete, but when I walk out to the edge of the patio area, I can not only see the lake, but — when it’s clear enough — I can see the Monte Rosa massif… a glacier so high and far away that it’s snow-covered all year round.

And just for fun…Ramesha says “hi”!

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Fun with languages

One of the first things one has to get used to in Switzerland is constantly sorting through multiple languages in order to do almost anything.

I already had a fair amount of Italian when Ramesha and I first got together, but it was amazing how much high school French came back to me — and how much German I learned — while grocery shopping or figuring out the bus schedule!

There are four national languages in Switzerland (German, French, Italian, and Romansh), with most every product description appearing in the three “official” languages of German, French, and Italian. A few products will also have information in English, but not that many.

Less than 0.5% of the population of Switzerland speaks Romansh, which I recently learned is a legacy of the Roman conquest of Rhaetia (now the Swiss canton of Graubünden) in 15 B.C.  Fascinating stuff!

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Ciao ciao

Today was about prepping and packing; tomorrow we fly to Switzerland to visit Ramesha’s family. We’ll also spend time with Ramesha’s (pre-Ananda) best friends, who’ve continued to be very close to us over the years.

I can’t really wrap my mind around anything else right now, especially since I really want to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Buona notte!