10/05/08 We Cross Three Different Borders

Yo no duermo mala en Switzerland. Yo siento no escribir para la leccion de espanol. La dia yo trabajo mucho en mis lecciones. Confio mi libro de espanol ensenar mi espanol porque normalmente yo no tengo una professora. Mi abuela quia mi en mis lecciones. Mi abuela comprende tres idiomas: Latino, Espanol, y Frances. Junto nosotros conpunto la idioma aleman. Es interesante!

I woke up early this morning. This is not entirely unusual, in fact I've gotten used to waking up early no matter what time I go to bed. It's unusual when Ahmee truly wakes me up in the morning. That has only happened once so far, and that was in Giverny. Here I woke up not because I had to use the restroom or because I had been sleeping too thinly, I woke up because my bed was closer to the window and the light hit my face from the crack between the curtains. I know I mentioned that yesterday I'd had difficulties getting pictures of the Alps due to cloud coverage. Well, this day I knew from the beginning that that wasn't going to be the case. When we all got up and started moving we got to see blue skies, sunshine, and absolutely no clouds in sight. This was wonderful because I knew we'd be able to see all the way to the top of the Alps. After breakfast I made a point of peeking my head out the window to check out the view. The mountains that we'd tried to drive through and had been overcast with snowstorms were quite different. I could see all the way to the top of the mountains and see all of the snow that had fallen in that trying snowstorm. Those mountains were stunning to see and I became anxious to see more, so I hurried and packed my bags quickly.

Before we got on the road to get back to a less expensive area (we'd spent hundreds of dollars in Switzerland and we'd only stayed 2 nights) Ahmee wanted to make sure we "climbed an Alp". To translate this all I have to do is say: take a cable-car up to the top of one mountain and look around while up there. We did this in the cable-car that was right next to the hotel.

It was a 30 minute "climb" to the top where Ahmee, Poppy, and I got to sit with three other serious hikers who were discussing where they'd like to walk and were thoroughly enjoying themselves. I adored the view. What none of us adored was the piece of ice that hit our cable-car on the way up. The loud crack from above scared us all and made everyone jump. Course, the hikers knew what that sound meant and explained with one word what it was: "ICE". Our cable-car companions were German and only one of them understood a bit of English. We were English and the three of us together could maybe put together about 20 words of German. Needless to say, we didn't talk much to each other. That was perfectly fine though because while the German hikers were talking and chatting and distributing sunscreen and occasionally looking out to the back (my back was to the view of the valley), we were pointing out ladders that technicians had to climb, waterfalls that were ginormous, and the incredible views all around. I think we all agreed that the Rocky Mountains weren't as dangerously beautiful as the Alps.

Once we reached the top we got out of the cable car, said goodbye to our German cable-car-companions and headed up to the cafe. The top of the mountain, like so many others around it, was covered in snow. The snow covered all the rocks and thus made it dangerous to climb, but this didn't stop some ambitious climbers from walking (with backpacks 4 times the size of mine) out across the ridge to some kind of outpost. We stuck to the main building at the top where we ordered hot chocolate and continued to enjoy the scenery. It's not every day that we get to sit on top of an Alp. What surprised me was that I was not cold at all. In fact, I was boiling up. The German hikers had put on sunscreen for a good reason. The sunlight that shone down on you and from many different sides (due to the snow reflecting) made it feel like it was 80 degrees outside, even though the snow covering the ground informed people of something quite different. I'm sure that if I had crossed over into the shade I would've found myself incredibly cold. Also fairly certain that if I had started throwing snowballs off the sides of the terrace (like the elementary kids were doing-one I was certain was going to cause a giant snowball to roll up and knock over a cabin in the closest valley) then I would've cooled off significantly. Instead of getting up and moving I scooted my chair so that I was in the shade of the pillar. It was this slight cooling off that enabled me to enjoy my hot chocolate (not to mention my love for everything chocolate-except for that which is deep-fried). From that spot I was able to see the mountains behind me by looking at the reflection in the window, and I was also able to see through the windows within the cafe so that I was seeing literally through the building and viewing the mountains on the opposite side. While we sat there we kept hearing strange blasts of a horn coming from within the building. Ahmee guessed it was an Alpine Horn. She turned out to be right. Before we left we got to see kids blowing the horn (one of which was very very good at it and tended to hog it so I never got the chance).

On the way back down we continued to admire the Alps, of course we ended up doing this the entire day. At least, I know I did. After we got down from the Alp we went into a restaurant in town, ate. admired the killer cars that were parked in the parking lot outside, and then got on the road. Since it was sunny out and the sky was clear not only did we see the Alps, we also got to see tons of really cool cars. One of my favorites was an orange lotus that was driving in front of us. The curves in the road made it easy to admire these cars, since we were behind them we were also higher than them we were able to see them in their full glory: when they were in motion.

For the first part of the drive we were on these curvy roads, later we got on the interstate and I got to work on schoolwork. I had a deadline: I needed to study for a test, take the test, write spanish, read four different articles and write three summaries over them, and write a summary over a political cartoon. The main issue I had once we got on the interstate was that I often couldn't see. At the time I'd been rereading a chapter for AP US History so that I could do a good job on the test. When we went through tunnels I couldn't see a thing except for the lights that lit up the road. The interstate that goes through Switzerland has many, many tunnels and most of them are very long. I got things done after I pulled out the laptop and started typing.

I ended up stopping when we got into Lictenshtein so that I could help Ahmee and Poppy find a place to use the restroom. While I looked I got a glance at a country that is smaller than Luxembourg. Most of what I saw was office buildings, gas stations, and a few restaurants. I know that the town we were in had a whole lot more than that, but unfortunately I was busy scanning for a place where Ahmee could use the restroom. We didn't find a place in Lictenshtein so we got back on the road and drove a short period of time to a separate gas station that was alongside the interstate. We payed to use the restroom (this time I didn't grumble about how I could easily piss on the building because I saw how these toilets disinfected themselves-the seat rotated under the cleanser), tried to use the internet there, drank coffee and coke, and then got back on the road.

It wasn't too long after this that we arrived in Austria. We searched in the town for a hotel and were all astounded when we found one that had internet and rooms open. We were astounded because we checked in much later than what we normally do and the past couple days we'd had issues finding a place to stay. Once we got situated in the room(s) I pulled out the computer and sent off the work that I had completed. We then went out to eat in the Greek restaurant that was next door. While we were there we toasted the three countries we'd been in that day, and expressed our joy at being out of the expensive Switzerland. Of course, we also ended up expressing our joy in our food. My bowl I believe had the most in it, and I surprised myself and I think Ahmee and Poppy by eating every last bit of the stew that was put down in front of me. Afterwards I wondered if I was going to be able to stay awake long enough to finish reviewing and take my test (and send it off of course) because the food in my belly was warming me up and making me sleepy. Curiously enough I didn't wonder about this very long because shortly after we finished the meal our waiter brought us complementary ouzo (sp?). This is the shot that Ian's parents got drunk on in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. It did taste like licorice. Even though I dislike licorice this stuff didn't taste that bad. Course it was there and gone.

Once we got back to the room(s) I got to work. I read chapter 11 and completed the test AND sent it off before I went to sleep. I'm not sure if the shot I'd had really had any affect on me. I'd eaten tons and I hadn't taken any medicine beforehand. However I do KNOW that it was incredibly easy to focus on the chapter and take the test. I haven't gotten the grade for it back yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a 100, I didn't have any second guesses on those questions.

Before I went to sleep I sent out quick emails to people, apologizing that I couldn't type long because while the internet connection there was great, we didn't have an adaptor for Austria (even though we though we'd gotten one). Basically, I was frantically typing and watching as the battery on the computer slowly died away.

Just before the computer's battery got into the dangerous red phaze I shut it down and climbed into bed, thinking about the emails I'd sent and received as I feel asleep.