From Milwaukee to Madison...

After almost a week of staying at my sister's house just outside Milwaukee, I'm headed to my hometown of Madison today. I've been back to Madison just once before (last August) since my Mom died in 2004. It was wonderful to be back, because I love Madison, but also very strange considering I no longer had a "home" to go home to. I'm sure it will forever feel a bit like that, but this journey to Madison should no doubt be a bit less emotional for me. Thankfully, I have some very good friends who live in Madison who I can stay with during my visits! I'm looking forward to hanging out with Laura and Drew and their kids, as well as getting together with a couple friends for lunchs including my Mom's former hospice nurse who's become a good friend (not to mention a regular expatter reader) and one of my Mom's former teacher buddies.

I've had a fun-filled week here in Elm Grove. My sister's house is very... hmmm... how should I say it... alive, perhaps?! With 3 kids and a dog and 2 parents working full-time, the house is always hopping with activity. It's such a complete contrast to our home in Basel (although not for long, I suspect). A typical scenario in this house includes at least 2 TVs on at once (usually one showing SpongeBob Squarepants for Bennett), Natalie practicing either the piano or her trumpet, Connor practicing his electric guitar, Phoebe (the black lab) barking at me to either feed her or play with her, and at least one of the adults in the kitchen either cooking or cleaning dishes. I truly love being here and seeing my family. It is always entertaining!

While everyone has been at work and school I've spent lots of time shopping and eating all my favorite American foods. They live in the ideal suburban setting with absolutely every store and restaurant you could ever want within just a couple miles. Yesterday, my sister took the day off and joined me for a trip to the outlet mall out in Johnson Creek. We've also spent a lot of our time shopping for furniture and bedding and other houseware type things to get ideas for redecorating our soon-to-be habitable condo in Perdido Key, Florida. (It was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Ivan back in 2004 and we've had it on the market since last summer but now it's finally close to being rented out again-- a year and a half later!!)

After a couple days in Madison, I'll be back here by Thursday night, and am looking forward to another weekend in Elm Grove that will include a special visit from my "up north" friend Nanci! Everyone wants to see the pregnant lady...

Ho hum

Geez, this blog gets pretty boring when Gretchen is out of town, doesn't it? I wish I had lots of clever stories and deep thoughts to share, but when I actually have to cook my own dinner (perish the thought), clean up after myself (say it isn't so), walk Grady three times a day (do you feel my pain yet?), and do all the Hausfrau tasks that Gretchen usually does...well, who has time for deep thoughts? (As much as Gretchen loves to go home because she can see her sister's family and visit friends, I also think she likes that it serves as a reminder of just how much she does around here...being a relatively liberated male, I never would have envisioned a time when I would be the sole breadwinner and she would be home pregnant and doing housework--it's like a little slice of the 1950s here in Basel.)

I guess the only interesting observation--which I can't back up with pictures because Gretchen has the camera--is that labs are especially handsome in the snow. We got a couple of inches this weekend, and I swear Grady just looks like he's in his element. Not that he's playing or romping through it--all he wants to do is eat the snow--but he looks good anyway.

Did I mention that this blog is pretty boring in Gretchen's absence?

"You rock, rock"

Of course I prefer it when Gretchen is here, but I have to admit that there are at least a few benefits of having the place to myself. One of these is that I get to watch movies that she wouldn't necessarily want to watch with me. There are exceptions, of course, but as a general rule she doesn't like movies that are either violent or, for lack of a better term, "weird". Last night I watched one of them that fell into the weird category based on the strong recommendation of our friend Julie: "I ♥ Huckabees". I can see why this wasn't a big box-office smash: it's a comedy about hiring existential detectives to help find the meaning of one's life. It sort of reminded me of a lighter Charlie Kaufman film (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation), but even if it was often hard to follow the obtuse philosophical talk, it was still worth watching to see an excellent and funny ensemble cast (especially Mark Wahlberg, aka Marky Mark, aka Dirk Diggler from Boogie Nights as a disheveled firefighter having an existential crisis of his own). Plus, how many movies these days feature a Sudanese refugee, bad poetry (see the title of this post) written in honor of a rock saved from development, Shania Twain, fantasies about machetes, Dustin Hoffman with a bad hairpiece, and finding enlightenment through being hit in the face with a big ball? So I give I ♥ Huckabees" a qualified thumbs-up: it's good if you're in the right frame of mind and don't mind a little weirdness.

Countdown...

It will be a wonder if I get any sleep over the next week. Why? Because of all the excitement that is building. Not because of Fasnacht, although that certainly should be exciting. No, I'm talking about the excitement of my first time going curling next week. Let's just say that wasn't exactly a major pastime growing up in Southern California, but since I work with a die-hard Canadian curler (eh), it was just a matter of time before I got the chance to see if I can throw the rock with the best of them. If you've missed the curling in this year's Olympics, well, that's a pity because it has been non-stop, rock-em sock-em action. (Given my discomfort on ice, I asked if it was possible to wear golf shoes but was told this is generally frowned upon...so instead I'm going to have to try to drink enough beer that it won't hurt so bad when I fall...)

Safe and sound in the land of cheese

After a very LONG day of travel, I arrived in Wisconsin last night right on time at about 6:00 pm local time. I was greeted at the airport by my sister, Kris, and my niece, Natalie, who apparently was so excited to see me that she told me "I just want to scream!". My first Wisconsin meal was an American dream... a good 'ol cheeseburger from Copps, the famous Milwaukee frozen custard and burger joint. Yum. As much as I love living in Basel and am very happy with our life there, it's always good to be "home". There are so many things I miss-- I guess just the familiarity of everything, and the ability to be able to talk to anyone and everyone in my native English language without having to think through what I'm going to say first as I have to do in German. It's kind of weird being here during a regular work and school week. It's only 8:30 AM but everyone (Kris, Tom, and the 3 kids) are already gone for the day. In the past, I've generally been here in the summer or just on weekends. I plan to head out to the mall today. Walking into an American shopping mall after living overseas for a while is one of those things that always leaves me in complete awe. It's so unlike anything we have in Basel and it will be fun!

Two other quick tidbits. First, I can confirm that the tights I described a couple days ago truly are the tights from hell! It didn't take long before I wanted to rip my legs off (or at least the tights), but somehow I managed to keep them on for the whole 18 hours yesterday! Second, for all you lovers of Wisconsin cheese, I think you'll be happy to hear that I had some cheese curds for breakfast today. They were delicious!

Back to the homeland

My bags are packed and I'm all set to head out to Wisconsin tomorrow. Actually, I only have one bag packed, plus an extra empty duffle bag stuffed inside my suitcase which will be filled with all the goodies I plan to buy during my stay in Wisconsin! I'm really looking forward to seeing my sister and her family, plus a few of my very closest friends who live in Wisconsin. I've been told that my niece, Natalie, has been asking my sister several times a day about my arrival. "What time does Gretchen get here on Wednesday? Which airport are we going to to pick her up?" Ah, yes, it's good to be loved and missed. As much as I'm excited for this trip, I always get a little melancholy before leaving, knowing how much I'll miss Kirk and Grady. I have no doubt that Kirk will enjoy some quiet time in his bachelor pad over the next couple weeks, although I know he's sure to miss me within a few days after having to cook dinner for himself every night and having to take Grady for those early morning walks! Now it's time for me to get to bed, considering I have to be up at 5:30 AM to catch an early morning train to Zurich, where I'll catch my flight back to the US. I'll return on March 7, just in time for Fasnacht!

Helpful hints

Since Switzerland is, for the moment at least, an island in a sea of bird flu cases, it never hurts to be vigilant. So I was pleased to see this posted on our website this morning:

Due to increased vigilance and surveillance on the part of the Swiss Authorities, Basel veterinary officials have issued the following guidelines for identifying possible cases of avian flu:

- 5 or more dead birds within an area of 50-100 metres
- 2 dead ducks at the same location
- 1 dead swan, goose or bird of prey (such as a hawk or falcon)

If you encounter a case similar to the guidelines above, it must be reported to the Baselstadt or Baselland police.

The Swiss Government has issued the order that as of 20 February all fowl must be kept in a closed barn or cage (no free running birds).

Tell your children not to touch any dead bird or animal that they might find. If someone has any contact with a dead animal, please don't touch your face and ensure you wash your hands with hot water and soap as soon as possible as well as the any clothing that might also have had contact with the dead animal.

I was going to make some sort of smart-ass response, but I figure I want the best possible bird flu karma so I'll let it speak for itself...

I guess Baghdad wasn't available

Despite my occasional case of the nerves, overall I like to think I'm reasonably open-minded about having new travel experiences. But I was recently asked to go someplace that, while probably really interesting and maybe I'm being completely irrational and wimpy, I just have zero desire to visit at the moment: Karachi, Pakistan. I had a scheduling conflict so it didn't really matter, but I have to say that--with apologies to the good people of Pakistan--even if my schedule was free, it would have taken me about 0.00000002 seconds to say "thanks, but no." Instead it looks like my next trip might be to the slightly less exciting and much more characterless city of Frankfurt...

Not a prayer

(Lots of loooooooong posts today, so bear with me--for the first time in recent memory I'm not going to the office on a Sunday so I'm directing my energies into rambling posts instead.)

Probably my favorite experience in Istanbul--and one that I couldn't capture with my camera--was walking the back streets behind the Spice Bazaar. It's not especially touristy, and unlike much of the rest of what I saw, was one of the few areas that seemed heavily Muslim (Turkey is an intriguing mix of a heavily Muslim population but a fervently secular state, so for example in Istanbul it was fairly rare to see women with their heads covered in many of the busiest districts...the book I'm reading, Orhan Pamuk's "Snow", grapples with the tensions this causes). Anyway, as I was walking around the midday call to prayer began, and if I understand correctly the Friday midday service is the most important, or at least the most widely attended, of the week. There must have been 3-4 mosques in the immediate vicinity and they were all a couple of seconds off, so there would be silence until one muezzin would start, then another, and so on, until there would be a powerful crescendo that would slowly tail off to silence again, then it would be repeated. In the meantime, I turned a corner and there must have been 50 men out in the street, kneeling and praying on carpets or, more commonly, cardboard boxes presumably facing in the direction of Mecca. (The only downside of that was that I couldn't visit any of the mosques since prayers were under way.) For some reason I find things like that fascinating--sort of like years ago when I was walking in Munich early on a Sunday morning and it sounded like every church bell in town was ringing simultaneously, or when we visited Hindu temples in Singapore and Malaysia around the time of Diwali, or visiting Buddhist temples in Thailand. I don't always understand what's happening, but it's intriguing nevertheless.

(OK, that's enough long posts for now...)

Alone but not lonely

Because of all my work travels, I've gotten accustomed to dining out alone. As a matter of fact, sometimes I rather enjoy it--I can bring something to read or do some people-watching, I can be on my own schedule, etc. But every now and then I run into situations where it's incredibly awkward, and Friday night was just such a time.

I decided to try what I had heard was one of the trendiest restaurants in Istanbul. When I got there and asked if they had a table for one, they looked at me like I was a leper but pitied me and seated me near the bar. I quickly realised that dining out alone--not only in that culture, but especially at a see-and-be-seen place like that--is Just Not Done. It was probably 10 minutes before any of the unsmiling waiters acknowledged my presence, and although my food came incredibly quickly, when I was finished I swear my waiter was going out of his way not to make eye contact. In fairness, he had a bunch of tables of four so it's only natural that his priorities would be there, but I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to get up and physically accost him just to get my check (you'd think that they would want to get me out of there as quickly as possible if my presence was bringing the hipness quotient down). In the end I'm glad I went because the views were amazing and the food wasn't bad, but I also learned my lesson about dining alone.

Impressions of Istanbul

Since I didn't have much time there, I have to say my impressions of Istanbul are still a bit incomplete. In some ways I was wondering if it would compare to Cairo, but in the end there was really no comparison--Istanbul is a much more thoroughly modern city with a rather European feel and an orientation toward the water.

Anyway, the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) was astounding. It's sort of the opposite of the Mezquita in Córdoba, Spain, which we saw last year--whereas the Mezquita was an enormous mosque that was converted to a church, the Ayasofia was an enormous church that was converted to a mosque (but isn't used as one any longer). Despite the construction that's under way, it was a fascinating juxtaposition of Islamic and Christian elements.



The Blue Mosque (which takes its name from the blue tiles inside) was also amazing, although I didn't have much time to see it because Friday prayers were about to begin (unlike Ayasofya, it's still a working mosque). The picture I took inside was unfortunately blurry, but this is the exterior (one of the most distinctive things about Istanbul is the skinny Ottoman-style minarets, which look to me like rockets--and no I don't mean anything geopolitical in saying that!):



I unfortunately skipped Topkapi Palace, which is supposed to be amazing but I didn't feel like I had time to see everything and palaces don't always do much for me--maybe next time.)

The Grand Bazaar was impressive, but since I already had a carpet and wasn't looking for anything else, I didn't spend much time there. I was pleasantly surprised that it had a much more local and less touristy feel than expected, and I was also pleasantly surprised that no one tried to give me the hard sell to come in their shops.



Finally, this has nothing to do with sightseeing but was interesting nevertheless: no restaurants were serving chicken products because of bird flu. I tried a couple of times to order chicken kebap (as it's known there), only to be told that they were not serving any chicken. So at least I should be safe as far as that goes (although seeing as how they've found it in birds in most of Switzerland's neighboring countries, I remain vigilant!)

My new friend, part 2

Friday was my sightseeing day, so I took a taxi over to the Sultanahmet area where most of the sights are. I had been warned that it was impossible to avoid touts trying to get you to visit their carpet shops, and having the previous night's experience in my head, I was determined to play it cool. So I brushed off a few guys as I dashed first to the Hagia Sophia and then to the Yerebatan Cernici, an old Roman cistern. On the way to the Blue Mosque I was accosted by another guy, Tolga, who I was determined to shake off, but he was persistent as he showed me around the Blue Mosque. He was also honest ("I'm not a guide, but of course I do have a shop") and a bit of a character. When I mentioned I was going to the Grand Bazaar next, he responded that it was so convenient that his shop just happened to be on the way. I told him I had no desire to buy anything, and he said "let's make a deal: we'll try to sell you a carpet and you try not to buy one". It didn't feel like a scam and everyone says that looking at carpets is one of those uniquely Turkish experiences, so I figured there was no harm.

So off we went to his shop, where I was introduced to his uncle (everyone seems to be an uncle or cousin to everyone else) and given a nice cup of tea. As soon as I sat down and his uncle reassured me that he was the only carpet seller in Istanbul who didn't put any pressure on potential customers, he looked me right in the eye and asked what I thought about the government meeting with Hamas representatives the previous day. I tried to give a diplomatic answer, at which point he told me it was bad for Turkey and that the government would probably not last much longer (I'm sure this was all part of the process of sizing me up in advance of a potential negotiation). In the meantime, despite speaking excellent English he said he couldn't read it and he was trying to do business with people in Virginia, and if his nephew printed something from the Internet cafe could I read it for him? (At this point I was wondering if they were going to try to pull me into one of those Internet scams where you give someone your account number with the promise that you'll be generously compensated later. Luckily it seemed legit and they really did just want to understand what their trading partners wanted and they didn't ask me to do anything other than read it to them and try to explain what I thought it meant.) After more idle chit-chat he finally started pulling carpets, which were admittedly beautiful, from stacks, but there was no way I was going to buy a large, expensive carpet. He finally got the point and asked if we had anything for the baby's room, perhaps a small kilim rug? Sure enough, he started to pull out some smaller and less expensive rugs out, and before I knew it I was negotiating for a kilim to put under the baby's crib. Of course they congratulated me on my expert negotiations, but they probably made a killing on it (although at around $100, it was worth it).

All in all, it was actually a fun experience and now we have something for the crib. I wouldn't want to negotiate for an expensive carpet, but it was a bit of redemption for the previous night's weirdness.

My new friend

For all of the great experiences we've had on our travels, there's one thing we rarely experience: meeting locals. I know that can be one of the most valuable things about seeing new places, but at least in my case I'm not prone to initiate conversation with people I don't know, plus there’s the natural skepticism of getting scammed that comes from living in big US cities.

So that's a bit of background for an interesting experience I had on Thursday night in Istanbul. I decided to go for a walk from my hotel to a nearby 7/11 to get a bottle of water, and as I was walking a guy turned to me to ask (in Turkish) if I had a light. When I told him I didn’t speak Turkish and didn’t have a light, he said "oh, you look like a Turk!" (which, by the way, I must have heard four or five times...being of Norwegian descent I don't think I look even remotely Turkish—let's just say men seemed a bit swarthier and mustachioed than your average Northern European--but it seems to work as a conversation starter). He proceeded to introduce himself as Mehmet (or Mohamed?) from Tehran, and he was out for a walk just like me, he was here for business, his government was crazy, I should come visit Iran and see how friendly people are, etc. At this point, alarm bells started going off, but another part of me thought it wasn't a big deal to be having a conversation with someone I didn't know--isn't this the kind of travel experience I seldom have? Besides, we had Spanish friends who vacationed in Iran last year and said that, indeed, the people were overwhelmingly friendly and constantly invited them into their homes, so what's the big deal, right?

I finally decided I was just going to get my water and head back, but he insisted that I had to have a drink with him as his guest. Moreover, he had met a girl the night before who wouldn't come back with him to his hotel, so maybe I could come with him and we would tell her we were on business and she would think he was more credible (I wasn't entirely clear on this concept). I kept insisting that no, I wanted to go back, but he insisted that it would be a goodwill gesture to have a drink with him and despite having an increasingly weird feeling about it, the little voice in my head kept saying "don't be so uptight, this is all part of traveling and meeting new people".

So the next thing I knew, I was following him through the back streets around Taksim Square to have a drink. We finally came to a neon-lit nightclub, at which point alarm bells were at Defcon 5. Let me quote from a section of my guidebook that I had read titled "Cheap girls, pricey drinks":

Just as in London’s Soho, the area around Taksim Square is dotted with seedy clip joints—the kind of bars that get few satisfied customers to recommend them and rely on touts to bring in the business. Anyone naïve enough to be led into such a place quickly finds themselves making more friends--particularly of the female kind and possibly Russian-accented--more quickly than they ever imagined possible. It's the usual drill: the hapless visitor has everybody's drinks charged to their bill and when that bill arrives what looked like Coca-Cola is alleged to have contained whisky and is charged at $100 or more. It's a mugging, and if you don't pay up events, as they say, can take a nasty turn for the worse.

So with that in my mind, I stopped at the door and said I wasn't going in and was heading back. He got quite upset—why was I doing this to him, we would only go in for a minute, why did I walk all the way there if I wasn’t going to go in, this is a bad thing to do to someone, etc. I'm still not sure whether or not he was a hapless victim who really thought he was going to get someone to go home with him and was angry with this backstabbing American who he thought was a friend but wouldn't help him out, or if he was a tout who was pissed off that he wouldn't be able to bilk this naïve American.

The bottom line is that I was finally able to extricate myself from the situation with no harm done and immediately called Gretchen, who was shocked that I could be so stupid and gullible. What was I thinking? I tried to explain my thinking about meeting new people, but that didn't seem to carry any water with her--besides, in this case she was right.

(Interestingly, the next night I was walking back from dinner in the same area when someone asked me for the time--of course telling me I looked like a Turk--and then proceeded to tell me he was here from Iran, and did I know there were lots of nightclubs nearby where I could see ladies dance, etc.? Luckily this time I was smart enough to say no thank you right away...)

Hey, it's good to be back home again

Had a good trip to Istanbul, about which more tomorrow perhaps. Didn't have a whole lot of time for sightseeing, but I liked what I saw. These are guys fishing off the Galata Bridge at lunchtime with the old town of Sultanahmet and the enormous Süleymaniye Mosque in the background:

The tights from hell

My doctor has suggested that I wear some special tights for my upcoming long flights to help prevent blood clots. It seemed like a good idea to me, as well, considering I have a friend who actually got a blood clot while flying from NYC to Basel last fall when she moved here (she was 30+ weeks pregnant at the time). In addition, I love wearing tights in the winter, especially if they have fun stripes or patterns on them.

I finally picked up my tights this morning at the Apotheke (pharmacy). Did I mention they're prescription tights? In typical Swiss fashion, picking up a pair of tights from the Apotheke is not as easy as it sounds. First, I was sent away from a couple different Apothekes a couple weeks ago because I was told I needed to come in first thing in the morning when my legs are the most swollen. Whatever. I sort of figured I could just keep going to different Apothekes until I eventually found one that would just sell me the damn tights. Finally, I gave up, after even my neighborhood Apotheke told me the same thing.

So Tuesday morning, I stopped in "first thing" at 8:15 AM. The woman still asked me how long I'd been up. I told her an hour, which was a lie, because I had been up 2 hours but what else was I supposed to do since they don't open until 8:00 AM? She took me in a little back room (who knew they had consultation rooms here at the Apotheke?) to take my measurements. This was serious business! I even had to take my pants off so she could take several different measurements of my legs. I had several colors to choose from (I chose black), and was told to come back on Saturday to pick them up (they had to be ordered).

Yesterday, the friend who got a blood clot last fall and ended up wearing these tights from hell every day until her baby was born, told me about how hard it is to put them on. She suggested I ask the woman at the Apotheke for help and advice. Unfortunately, the woman who helped me this morning had never worn them before (lucky her!) and had no tips to give me. Even if she did, she didn't speak English anyway so I doubt I could have understood her. She asked if I wanted to try them on, which I figured I should do, so we went back into the consultation room where I spent the next 10 minutes (seriously) fighting with these tights as I tried to wrestle them onto my legs. All she could do was watch, and try not to laugh. I guess the idea is that they're supposed to be tight enough to bind you in and do all sorts of good things for your circulation, but I'm telling you, they are the tights from hell!! Actually, they're not so bad once they're on, but I just hope I don't have a heart attack in the process of putting them on. Fortunately, I only have 2 long round-trip flights coming up, Wisconsin next week, and Thailand at the end of March (we're going to Phuket to lounge on the beach for a week while we still are childless!).

By the way, did I mention that these tights cost 140 CHF? That's about $100 USD. Thankfully insurance will cover them.

My trip to Bern

I went to Bern today. Not because I particularly care for Bern, but out of necessity. In fact, I find Bern to be kind of boring. But anyway, I had to pay a visit to the US Embassy, which is in Bern. Fortunately, it's only an hour train ride from Basel so I was there and back in no time at all. I needed to go to the embassy to get more pages added to my passport. Some might find this to be a major accomplishment, showing how much travel I've done. But for some reason I was procrastinating it forever. I don't know why I didn't want to do it, but I guess now I feel like I'm going to have all these empty pages in my passport and my traveling days are sure to slow down in the coming months! All those pages will just sit empty and lonely with no stamps in them!

So after much urging from Kirk (he had to do the same thing last August), I finally broke down and went to Bern today. I had to go this week because I'm flying to Wisconsin next week (yippee!) and I know that the US immigration people won't be able to find any blank spaces in which to stamp my passport. It's funny, because a lot of places that I've traveled don't even stamp it (eg. Switzerland), so I'm suprised I've managed to fill it up. The US ALWAYS stamps it-- both coming in and leaving. Switzerland NEVER stamps it. They don't even look at it. They just see it's an American passport and wave me through. Last time I landed in Zurich and went through immigration (I guess I was coming home from Amsterdam), I asked the guy if he could stamp my passport. He looked at me like I was crazy. I pleaded with him. "I live in Basel, but I don't even have a Switzerland stamp!" He still looked at me like I was crazy, but went ahead and stamped it with the most boring country stamp ever.

Thankfully, the trip down to Bern was uneventful, and I had to spend a grand total of about 10 minutes at the embassy. I didn't have to wait in any lines while all the poor non-US citizens waiting for visas or something had to stand outside in the pouring rain. I had heard some very mixed reviews of the friendliness and helpfulness of embassy staff in Bern, but my experience was nothing but positive.

Afterward, I did a bit of window shopping which was possible only because most of the shopping district in Bern is somewhat covered so I didn't have to be out in the pouring rain. I found that to be quite boring considering they have exactly all the same stores we have in Basel. I never find anything I like here, so why would I find anything I like there? I stopped in a nice cafe/restaurant and ate an early lunch with all the elderly early-bird lunchers (seriously, I think I was the only one under the age of 60 in there) and then headed back to Basel. For lunch, I ordered something that slightly resembled a hamburger, which reminded of how annoyed I get about why Swiss restaurants have never figured out how to make a real cheeseburger. Seriously, don't get me started on this topic. A whopper from Burger King is probably your best bet in this country. Aren't there enough expats here starving for a cheeseburger that someone would open up a burger joint? Don't get me wrong, I do love the food here, but sometimes I just want a cheeseburger!

Push the button

Everytime I call Kirk in some exotic location (Istanbul, Cairo, Dakar...) I am reminded of a funny story about my Mom. When I first told her about moving to Basel, she had a bit of angst over the whole thing. I admit that I didn't like the thought of being so far away from her either, but I knew that my excitement over the opportunity to live overseas far outweighed the negatives. I frequently reassured her that we could email often, and talk on the phone often (at cheap rates!), but I think she was still stuck in the old world way of thinking. When I had spent my semester abroad in college in Vienna we didn't even have email yet, and we didn't have a phone in my apartment, so communication was very limited. Considering how my much my Mom and I communicated in recent years, I understood her concern that I might be out of touch.

Then, one time when I was visiting her in Madison, I called Kirk in Basel while sitting next to my Mom. He had already moved here (he arrived a month before me). As soon as he picked up the phone and I said "Hi, it's me!", I heard my Mom say to my sister (who was also visiting her at the time): "That's amazing! You just push the buttons and get Switzerland!"

That expression has lived on in our household, and will continue to make me smile for years to come. It's one of my favorite memories of my Mom from her last months of life. All of a sudden, with one single phone call, she felt totally confident that she could always stay in touch with her youngest daughter at the push of a button.

A few minutes ago I pushed the buttons and got Turkey. Kirk arrived there safely this afternoon and reports to me (based on his first impressions) that "it looks a lot like the rest of Europe but with a lot of mosques".

Istanbul was Constantinople

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you’ve a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Ever since I found out I had a meeting in Istanbul, I've had those rather catchy They Might Be Giants lyrics in my head (yet for some reason, despite humming it to myself nonstop for the past couple of months, it wasn't until tonight that I actually considered trying to find it on iTunes...I'm slow like that). Anyway, tonight I have to pack my suitcase for the umpteenth time in recent weeks. Istanbul has actually been one of those cities I've wanted to visit for a while, and I am taking one day after my meeting to sightsee, but all things considered I'm ready for a break after this. On my desk at work I have a pile where I keep all my travel-related documents, and today I was quite pleasantly surprised to discover that for the first time in as long as I can remember, there is literally nothing in the pile after this trip (I'm sure it will change, but right now I don't have anything scheduled until mid-May). So while I certainly won't complain about having the opportunity to see the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, etc, when I get back on Saturday I will be SO ready for an extended period at home...

Please don't shoot me

I try to keep politics to a minimum on the blog, but I couldn't resist posting this notion that the Cheney shooting is a metaphor for the entire administration. (I mean, hello--our Vice President actually SHOT SOMEONE IN THE FACE, tried to keep it hush-hush, and when it came out blamed the guy who got shot...doesn't that sound like something that would happen in a former Soviet backwater or an isolated banana republic instead of the US?! I'm definitely looking forward to watching the Daily Show's take on it when I get home tonight...)

VD

Happy Valentine's Day! I suppose there were times many years ago when Valentine's Day seemed like an exciting holiday. Like when you're a kid and you all exchange valentines in class and eat little candy hearts. You couldn't wait to see if any of the boys would write notes on your valentine. When I was in 2nd grade, I remember a boy named Ari writing something like this on my valentine: "Dear Gretchen: You would make a terrible wife because you'd always want to get your hair done". I have no idea why he came up with that, but it was mean! I didn't like him anyway so I really didn't care at the time (he was only a 1st grader, after all...). Hopefully he's now married to a very extravagent woman who pays outrageous amounts of money to keep herself looking beautiful.

And I suppose Valentine's Day is a big deal whenever you are dating someone, especially if it's a new relationship. I remember the first Valentine's Day that Kirk I spent together. It was in 1997 and we had been dating just a few months. It must have fallen on a weekend that year because at the time we were still long distance dating at the time (him--NYC, me--DC). We were so in love! He took me out for a wonderful dinner at Jaleo, which remains as one of my favorite restaurants in DC. Sorry to be cynical, but now, I really don't care that it's Valentine's Day. Unless Kirk does something totally unexpected like bring me flowers tonight, in which case I would LOVE this holiday once again! Seriously, though, I told him this morning that "every day is Valentine's Day" for me. Awww...

Here's a funny Valentine's Day memory. My 7th grady homeroom teacher was Mrs. Peterson. She was really old (or at least we thought so at the time), and she was definitely not hip. On Valentine's Day, she had written "Happy VD!" on the blackboard. Take yourself back to 7th grade humor. Happy VD?! Doesn't she know what VD is?? We all got lots of giggles out of that one for days. That confirmed to all of us that Mrs. Petersonn was definitely out of touch with 7th graders...

Snowy Washington

Even over here in Switzerland we've heard about the big winter storm that has blanketed the Northeast US. And for once, it sounds like the weather forecasters in DC got in right! (They're notorious for predicting snow which never amounts to anything more than a trace, nonetheless causing complete chaos at the grocery stores because everyone stocks up on toilet paper, bread, and milk believing they'll be snowed in for days...) Our neighbors back in Arlington were nice enough to send us this beautiful photo of our house (we still own it) covered in snow. What a sight!

You've got to be kidding me...

Grady had another follow-up appointment with his elbow surgeon this morning. Hopefully, this is his last appointment with this guy. As much as I really like the vet, I don't like driving an hour each way to get to the clinic which is just outside Zurich. Six months after his (very expensive) arthroscopic elbow surgery, Grady still limps. I guess that's not surprising considering how severe the ligament damage was at the time of the surgery. Because he now has arthritis in that elbow he will likely always limp. Not that it slows him down, mind you. He still runs and plays and acts like a wild puppy. The vet seemed pleased with his progress as this point, and said there's not much more we can do to improve his condition. You may recall that in the past, he had suggested that Grady lose a few kilos. That's not an easy task for a lab, like all labs, is totally driven by food. Somehow, however, the vet seemed to think he had lost a few pounds (it must be magic), and even commented that Grady has a "very nice shape".

His only other suggestion would be to try and build up his leg muscles. At this point I almost started laughing. I know that some people will go to all lengths to help their pets, and even we would pay for expensive elbow surgery, but as far as I'm concerned Grady's current rehab routine of taking expensive medicine daily and eating special joint food which is only available in vet offices is sufficient. I will not, as he suggested, subject Grady to (get ready for this...) an underwater treadmill!! I'm serious. He said that's what some people do at this point. He was proud to tell me that even his clinic is getting one next week! Can you picture such a thing? Me, driving Grady to weekly therapy sessions during which he walks on an underwater treadmill?! That, my friends, is totally excessive. Sorry, Grady, you'll have to keep on limping.

Super Bowl Saturday

I realize that the Super Bowl was last week, and that it's usually called "Super Bowl Sunday" (not Saturday). But yesterday, we celebrated Super Bowl Saturday in Basel. We were invited to a Super Bowl party by some friends who had taped the game last Monday morning from an Austrian TV channel that shows it live. We, as you can imagine, don't get that channel on our landlord's lame German satellite. I really didn't care about the game, especially since we all knew how it ended. In fact, I really haven't followed football at all this season. I think I'm in denial about my beloved Brett Favre's dreadfall season so I've ignored the entire NFL. But regardles, it was fun to see a little bit of Americana! Especially some of the fun commercials. Kirk and I had planned to just "stop by", because we were going to go out on a date and have a nice dinner last night (a welcome break from all of his work and travel), but instead we ended up eating the spread of American party food with our friends, including homemade Mac and Cheese, chicken wings (both teriyaki and buffalo), and 7-layer dip! I haven't had that in years!

Traffic

There were plenty of memorable things about Cairo, but perhaps one of the most memorable is the roads. It's a sprawling city of somewhere around 20 million people...and not a single traffic light that anyone actually heeds. I thought I had seen chaotic driving when I was in Beirut last year, but Beirut is like Basel compared to Cairo. I would rather drive a car blindfolded through Rome than try to drive in Cairo.



I loved this sign, because telling drivers not to honk their horns is like telling people not to breathe. Liberal use of the car horn is apparently a requirement, which is especially helpful at night since most drivers seem to prefer not to use their headlights. Near as I could tell, the car horn could be used for any of the following reasons:

• "Would you like a taxi? Are you sure? Really?"


• "Passing on your left/right."


• "Please, pass on my left/right."


• "Hello, stranger, and welcome to Egypt!"


• "I could use a falafel right about now...mmmmmm, falafel."


• "Does this work?"...(HONK)..."Does it still work?"...(HONK)..."What about now?"...(HONK)...


• "I know you're walking 100 feet away, but I just want to make absolutely sure you don't suddenly get the urge to dash across 3 lanes of traffic and get in my way."


• "I'm not wearing any pants."


• "I hereby reaffirm my very existence."


• "It's quiet...TOO quiet."

Perhaps best of all were the taxi rides. Since it's such a sprawling, pedestrian-unfriendly city, the best way to get around was in local taxis, most of which had the feel and exhaust output of 30-year old Soviet-era castoffs. If I had to choose one word to describe a ride in a Cairo taxi, it would be Inshallah (God willing), as in "I have faith that this driver will get me safely to my destination, Inshallah." What then ensued was 20-30 minutes of jockeying for position in traffic, honking, narrowly avoiding pedestrians, honking, passing donkey carts on narrow dirt roads with oncoming traffic, honking, lighting up a cigarette (perhaps to mask the gasoline fumes?), etc. Certainly a better adrenaline rush than any roller coaster, and a great way to see the city. This is a lousy picture, but we were in the heart of downtown--the most modern part of the city--when this guy came flying in front of us on the way to the airport:



If it's difficult to imagine driving, imagine being a pedestrian. If you need to cross the road, you're basically on your own (the Inshallah principle at work again). While not all the roads are this large, it is fairly typical in that there are no traffic lights and no stoppages (other than when traffic gets backed up), so if you want to cross you need nerves of steel and lightning reflexes...both of which, evidently, Cairenes have in abundance.

Dust in the wind

One of the reasons I couldn't get too many pictures is that a big dust storm blew in on the day when I walked around ancient Cairo. While it was kinda cool to experience my first dust storm, the last thing Cairo needs is more crap in the air. I swear, if you walk around for an hour you must breathe about 3 pounds of particulate matter. Combine that with noxious exhaust fumes and smokers galore, and it's a wonder that half the city doesn't have black-lung disease. Anyway, this is the view from the balcony of my hotel room down the Nile before the storm...



...and this is the same exact view when the storm rolled in:

Images of Cairo

I saw so many fascinating things when I was in Cairo, but unfortunately most of them were at night so I didn't take nearly enough pictures. I'm especially bummed that I didn't get more pictures when I was walking around the area my guidebook calls Islamic Cairo (which, frankly, is about as redundant as calling a neighborhood "Catholic Rome"). I thought it was going to be entirely touristy and Disney-esque, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I went for a long walk one evening down the main street, and with the exception of the area right around the market, I was one of the few people who was obviously western. It felt like stepping back into an earlier century: ancient and crumbling buildings, stately mosques, rutted dirt roads, children walking with donkeys, tiny shops with men sitting around smoking shisha, the call to prayer from the muezzin echoing through the streets, etc. Alas, I have few photos to show for it. Still, I managed to get a few. These are from the Al-Azhar Mosque (incidentally, one of Cairo's nicknames is "the city of 1,000 minarets", which I would say is an understatement):







This is the Spice Market:



And of course, the obligatory shot of the Great Pyramid. The Giza pyramids--which are only about 20-30 minutes from downtown Cairo if there is no traffic--were actually a bit of a disappointment. Not that there was anything wrong with the pyramids themselves, but the conference organizers planned an excursion from 6:00-8:00am...which was fine, except the pyramids didn't open until 8:00am and our guide couldn't talk our way past the guards, so all we could do was stand in the cold and look at them from afar.

Today's the day

Finally, the time has come. Today is the start of the Winter Olympics! I love the Olympics, especially the winter games. I like to watch just about every competition in the winter-- even the curling! (My Dad used to curl in Madison) Perhaps my excitement over the Winter Olympics was first sparked by our hometown speed-skating champion Eric Heiden in 1980. I seem to remember there were a lot of athletes from Wisconsin at the Olympics in 1980, and after they came home, the city held a huge celebration for them at Camp Randall (the UW football stadium). It was really fun. Of course the skiing (primarily downhill) is my favorite event to watch, and this year I think I'll recognize even more of the skiers because I've been watching a lot of the world cup races on TV this winter. I'm especially looking forward to watching live coverage of all of the events, given that we're in the same time zone as Torino. That means I won't have to watch all the packaged programming that shows in prime time in the US with all the stupid background human interest stories (that somehow always seem to be tragic) when only the top competitors are shown. I want to see ALL the skiers go down the hill, not just the Americans!

One might wonder why, if we're living so close to Italy, we're not going to the Olympics. That's a good question. I'm seriously tempted to get on a train this weekend and just show up and see if we can get tickets.

Not to be outdone by the Olympics, today is also the day that German music video channels (MTV and Viva) will be premiering the next Madonna video: "Sorry". They've been advertising it constantly. They'll show it at 3:30 this afternoon. I'm not sure why they have to give an exact time. It reminds me of when the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video came out in 1983. Do you remember how they promoted it? It was first shown at like 5:00 on a Friday afternoon and everyone watched. Well, at least everyone in my world...

Chaos update

OK, so here's my freaky story from Cairo today:

A colleague and I were in a car on the way to the airport. We kept running into traffic (a normal thing in Cairo), at which point the driver would look for an alternate route...where there was usually even more traffic. Anyway, at one point we drove down a side street and traffic once again slowed to a crawl. Then we noticed objects flying through the air up ahead of us. Hmm, that didn't seem right. Then we noticed long lines of police in full riot gear lined up on the left side of the street, and a bunch of what appeared to be students on the right side of the street, many of them hurling objects over the street (i.e., us) at the police. All of a sudden the police charged the crowd with batons swinging freely--and I mean literally right next to my window (at this point were are at a complete stop). As they retreated, all of a sudden a rock or a bottle slammed into my colleague's window, which luckily didn't break. (The driver hadn't seemed terribly alarmed before, but once it appeared that his car might be damaged he finally took on an air of urgency.) With things that have been happening in the world lately, suffice it to say that being caught in the middle of a riot in Cairo was NOT high on my to-do list. There were basically two things that kept me from hyperventilating and completely wigging out: (1) no one was carrying signs or banners or burning flags, and I didn't think we were near anything symbolically important, so there didn't appear to be anything anti-western about it; and (2) everyone seemed to be smiling--the riot police as they walloped the students, the students as they dashed through traffic to the other side, etc. It didn't have a completely hostile vibe--or at least not as hostile as your normal situation involving rock- and bottle-throwing and police beat-downs. In the end, we finally came to a side street where we could duck out, and in the end we came through it unscathed. PHEW! Other than that, though, I felt incredibly safe the entire time I was in Cairo.

Back in Switzerland, on the other hand, I had something almost as shocking happen once I got here. I was taking the train from the Zurich Airport to Basel. It was a double-decker train, so I left my bag downstairs and rode upstairs (which I do all the time). When I got to Basel, I discovered that my suitcase had been opened and rifled through. Luckily I hadn't packed anything valuable so I don't think anything was missing, but it was pretty shocking for peaceful Switzerland!

OK, I think Gretchen is a bit aggravated that I'm blogging within an hour of arriving home--I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I'm a bump

I went to my first Mom's group today. That may sound strange considering I'm not a Mom yet. Wait, let's reflect on that statement a minute. "I'm not a Mom YET". OK, I'm trying not to freak out.

This is a Mom's group for Moms-to-be and new Moms with babies under age one. What a great concept! The group is called Bumps 'N Babes. As you can imagine, I'm in the "bump" category. Everytime I introduced myself to other women today ("Hi, I'm a bump"), all I could think of is "My Humps" by Black Eyed Peas. Unfortunately, my bump is much different from the humps that Fergie is referring to. Regardless, I love that song, and now I've been singing it in my head all day. That's one of those you can't get out of your head once it's in there.

Anyway, I think I'm really going to enjoy this group, and mainly it's just nice to meet other English-speaking women in Basel who are going through the same thing, or have just done so (if they've already had their babies). In a way it was totally surreal... what am I doing at a Mom's group? Is this for real?

I already got one of my critical questions answered. "Do you know where we can buy a glider chair?" You may recall that Kirk might go crazy if we can't find one before the baby is born. I was told by one woman that she recently saw a couple models for sale at the Baby One store in Freiburg. I have a feeling we'll be making a trip up there as soon as Kirk has a free weekend.

Chaos in Cairo

It's always comforting to get an SMS from your husband in Cairo that says he has a "very scary" story to tell about his experience today that involved "riot police, stone-throwing, and blocked traffic"... but that he's "OK now"...

Kirk is flying home tonight, so I bet all you blog readers will get to read a good story tomorrow! I can't wait to hear it myself.

I may never leave Cairo

It's not just that this is a fascinating city--which it is--but perhaps more importantly, not only was I able to watch the Super Bowl the other day, but today when my meeting ended I was able to watch a rerun of the second half of the big Duke-UNC game (Duke barely held on for the win). And let me add that there is something amazing about the Four Seasons Hotel: despite about 90% of the people here apparently being smokers, if you walk into a room 2 minutes after everyone has stopped smoking, the smell is already gone. I'm not sure what sort of technology they've deployed to achieve this effect, but whoever is responsible deserves a medal or a knighthood or a Nobel Prize of some sort...

(But seriously, as much as I'm glad I had the opportunity to see a bit of Cairo, I'm SO ready to go home and I don't think I could ever live here.)

Molly needs a home

Any of you veteran Expatter readers will remember the story of my Mom's dog, Molly. After my Mom died, I had to find Molly a new home. It was one of the hardest things I had to do. It broke my heart that I couldn't keep her, but I knew that bringing her to Switzerland was not the right thing. I had really bonded with Molly during the 4 months I stayed with my Mom in 2004, and saying goodbye to her was like having to say goodbye to my Mom all over again. Fortunately, I was really happy with the home we found for her. I've kept in touch with her new owner, she would sometimes send me pictures, and I even visited them when I was back in Wisconsin last August.

I had always told Molly's new owner that if for any reason she felt she couldn't keep her, I would want to know before she gave her away. I never really expected that would be the case, but I knew that I would want to help find her a new home if it came to that. Now I'm faced with knowing that Molly needs a new home. I got an email from her owner yesterday explaining the circumstances, and although there's not a problem with Molly, it's become difficult (and unfair to Molly) to keep her. Molly really needs someone who doesn't work full-time and can spend time during the day with her, and that's no longer possible in her current home.

I'm thankful that Molly's owner contacted me, but I'm also sad to think that she has to relocate once again. Of course I know she'll adjust with no problem, because she loves anyone who pays her any attention! But still... I know how hard it is to find a good home for a dog you care about. I've told Molly's owner that I would put the word out to all my friends to see if anyone knows of someone interested in providing a loving home for a precious 6-year old golden retriever/lab/collie mix. You never know who might be out there. Please let me know if you have any ideas!

The bachelorette

I guess I haven't done much blogging recently. Actually, not at all since we've been back from Amsterdam. I suppose it's because there's not too much exciting going on to talk about. I'm living the life of a bachelorette this week since Kirk is in Cairo. Frankly, it's not a whole lot different than when he's here, because even while he's in Basel he works so much! I guess the biggest difference is that I eat dinner earlier (like 6 or 7) when he's gone (rather than 9ish). Nonetheless, I'd rather have him here! It's funny. You'd think that I would sleep in a bit when Kirk's out of town, considering I really don't have to be up for anything early in the morning and I certainly don't set an alarm when he's gone. But it's just not possible! I still wake up every morning between 6:30 and 7:00, as usual, and I'm physically incapable of staying in bed any longer. Especially once I hear Grady flopping around outside our closed bedroom door (he's not allowed in) anxious for his morning walk. I've always been a morning person, and I suppose that's a good thing these days, otherwise I could've slept away my 2 years in Basel.

Other stuff that's going on... I went to a doctor on Monday to see if he could help with some back pain (presumably pregnancy-related) that I've been having for the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, he couldn't pinpoint anything wrong with me, partially because it wasn't bothering me that much on Monday morning. But he did talk to me about the importance of posture, and suggested I change the way I sit and bend over, etc., so I don't irritate it further. When I asked if there were any exercises I should avoid at the gym, he said: "If it hurts, don't do it". Good advice.

I finally started watching Six Feet Under, thanks to Ms. Mac who lent us the first season on DVD! I really like it, and my friend Lee was right about the lone tree in our neighborhood field looking exactly like the tree in the opening footage of the show.

I went to France yesterday to do some shopping at Géant. I think it was the first time I've ever been there and didn't get annoyed with the crowds. Usually it's a madhouse in there. Maybe Tuesday mornings are the best time to go! They have a few things there that I really like to buy, including American style sandwich bread which is perfect for making grilled ham and cheese. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the bread in Switzerland. But you can't use it for grilled ham and cheese and sometimes I need some comfort food. They also have cold, non-UHT milk in a plastic jug that's only 1.5% fat as opposed to the Swiss "low-fat" 2.7% milk, which sits on a shelf in a paper box. I've never been able to get used to that.

How's that for a boring post. I'm off to the gym, and I'll be sure not to do anything that hurts.

It's all good

Not that I've seen much of it, but Cairo seems like a pretty fascinating place. I've been working, plus it's hard to get around because this is a MASSIVE city, but this evening they arranged to take a few of us to the Al-Azhar Mosque, which dates back to 972 AD, and to the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, which was chock full o' touristy crap but fun nevertheless. I'm just glad we had a guide with us, because if I had to find my way out of there on my own I would still be lost. Also, for the first time I heard the call to prayer by the muezzin, and almost as exciting, I learned how to pronounce muezzin (I always thought it was MEW-zin, but it's actually more like mWAH-zin). Otherwise I've hardly had a chance to leave the hotel (which doesn't seem to be close walking distance to much), but I'm hoping to get to the pyramids soon. Plus, I'm getting a little taste of US pop culture since the Super Bowl is being re-shown tonight...but at least I'm eating a nice bowl of hommos with it, so I'm not a totally ugly American.

Walk like an Egyptian

After arriving home from Amsterdam last night and spending today in the office, tomorrow morning I need to be on a train to the airport at 6:00am to leave for a meeting in Cairo. I have really mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I never in my life thought I would get to go to Egypt. I won't have a lot of free time, but hope to at least see the Pyramids, the souks, the mosques, the old Islamic and Coptic districts, etc. What an amazing opportunity! And maybe I should be concerned, but I'm really not all that worried about safety (I'll probably stay clear of the Danish embassy, though)--I lived in LA through the riots and the 1994 earthquake, and lived in DC on 9/11, so I figure bad stuff can happen anywhere.

As always, my biggest concern (other than just being, as Gretchen accurately put it, "fried" from recent travel and long days) is health. It seems like everyone I know who has been to Egypt got violently ill at some point, and it's always nice to read something like this in one of the guidebooks: "Anyone who visits Egypt should expect to spend a certain amount of time in the bathroom, since catching diarrhea through food or water is almost inevitable." WOOHOO! I really hate that I worry about stuff like that, but I guess that's just the way I'm wired. So I'm just hoping for smooth travels, calm nerves, and an iron stomach so I can enjoy what I imagine is a fascinating city...

Pferde season?

As we've written before, you can sometimes find horse (Pferde) meat served here at restaurants and sold at grocery stores. It's weird to me. I guess, in a way, it shouldn't be any stranger than eating all the other animals that we eat regularly. But still. Eating horse is not a normal thing to us Americans, so it always kind of freaks me out when I see it. I'm wondering if it's a special horse season right now. As I was stocking up on groceries at Coop Gartenstadt earlier today, I passed a special display (which is not normally there) of Pferde salami.



A few minutes later, as I entered the frozen food section, I saw another special Pferde-related display, this one advertising Fondue Chinoise Pferdefleisch (horse meat). Fondue Chinoise is a type of fondue that seems to be popular here in Switzerland, and which has nothing to do with China or Chinese food. I've never tried it, so I can't really judge it, but I'll stick with cheese fondue. Check this out-- I just noticed, as I looked up these products on the Coop website, that the Pferdefleisch in the Fondue Chinoise comes from "USA"! How disturbing! So we may not eat horse in the US, but we apparently ship it over to Switzerland to be served as fondue!

My poncho

I bought a really cool wool poncho when we were in Rome over New Years. I love it because it's unique, and it's very roomy which means it won't ever get tight on my growing tummy. To his credit, Kirk spotted it first in a store window, and encouraged me to try it on. The rest is history. I've realized that people love to stare at my poncho. I'm used to lots of stares in Basel, because, as all expats know, the Swiss generally love to stare and it usually has nothing to do with what you're wearing, how you look, or what you're doing. It's just their way. I usually stare back until they look away. But this week I noticed everyone staring at me (and particularly at my poncho) in Amsterdam. It's getting a little annoying and disturbing. I'm not sure if they're thinking my poncho is truly bizarre or if they love it and are staring because they're jealous. I'm trying to convince myself that it's the latter. I don't want to get a complex about my poncho. As people stare at me, I tell myself they're saying something like "Where did that very stylish (yet pregnant!) woman get that one-of-a-kind poncho?"

Back from Haarlem

I had a fun day trip out to Haarlem. It's actually only about 15 minutes from Amsterdam by train, so it's a really quick and easy day trip! I mainly planned a visit to Haarlem because I needed to go back to my favorite little shop and buy more beads, similar to those I bought there last fall. The really funny thing is that the woman (the storeowner) remembered me! What she actually remembered was my story about how I raced and ran (literally) out to Haarlem from the Amsterdam airport during a layover between Oslo and Basel. When I first discovered this store and saw all the fun beads hanging in the window, it was a Sunday and they were closed. We were staying in Haarlem at the time. They were also closed the next morning, and we were leaving for our vacation in Norway that afternoon! I knew that if I wanted to buy those beads my only chance would be the following week during my 4 hour layover in Amsterdam! I was determined, and I made it. I guess it was an impressive effort, because she recalled the story right away. Today I was much less rushed and could peruse the beads to my hearts content. I walked out of there with 3 new necklaces and a bracelet for myself, plus a necklace for a gift, all for a total of less than 50 Euro. That's my kind of jewelry!

Afterward, I treated myself to some fabulous vlaamse frites (the Dutch version of french fries) served in a paper cone with a heap of mayo on top. Yum. I spent the rest of my visit shopping (primarily window shopping, as usual) on the main pedestrian shopping street in Haarlem. I did buy a few baby things at Prenatal (I couldn't resist), a new pair of red boots (there are SO many boots here and they're all on sale!), and a couple tops that could double as maternity wear. Before catching the train back to Amsterdam, I stopped in a cafe and enjoyed another Dutch treat-- pannekoeken, Dutch pancakes (I choose the ones with apples). Yum again.

My other proud Amsterdam purchase (from yesterday, actually) is a very hip diaper bag. Have you ever noticed how awful traditional diaper bags in the US can be? I suppose there have been some improvements and lots of brands are coming out with better styles, but I absolutely refuse to carry some pastel-colored, puffy/quilted bag around that's decorated wiith little bunnies or something. I bought this bag at a Claire V store in De Negen Straatejes neighborhood that I originally stopped in because I noticed their beautiful (and inexpensive) purses in the window. I came out with a diaper bag instead, which these days is probably much more practical!"

Fortunately, Kirk does not have a work dinner tonight, so we'll actually get to go out together! Isn't it nice of him to take me along on his work trips so I can spend his hard-earned money? Don't think I don't appreciate every minute of it!

A beautiful day in Amsterdam

Actually, it's a freezing cold day in Amsterdam, but I'm really enjoying myself nonetheless! The sun did come out briefly earlier this afternoon, which makes the canals and all the beautiful buildings look even more charming. Poor Kirk will hardly get to see the city during this visit, as he has meetings all week (including tonight). I, on the other hand, have lots of time to explore. We spent a weekend here last fall as well, but I always feel like it's fun to come back to a city a second time when you already have a feel for the city.

I was really hoping to take a tour of the red light district, (I'm totally fascinated by the legalization and regulation of prostitution here), so we stopped by the Prostitution Information Center yesterday after checking into the hotel to ask about the tours offered by former sexworkers. I learned that, because this is the slow tourist season in Amsterdam (maybe because it's so cold?!), they don't offer regular tours right now. Instead, I picked up a couple brochures and asked a few of my burning questions about the prostitutes (are they unionized? where are they from? what's their average age?). I truly can't imagine or understand this lifestyle, but yet I find it so intriguing and curious.

So far today I've spent some time wandering around a couple of the main shopping areas, including Kalverstraat and De Negen Straatjes (the nine streets). I find people here to be so friendly, and as we've noticed before, everyone speaks excellent English (and they don't seem to mind using it with me). You can find a cosy cafe everywhere you look, so long as you don't mind suffering through lots of smoke. I think the biggest danger in Amsterdam is getting run over by a bike. Everyone rides a bike, and everyone rides them aggressively! So look out! Or "let op", as they say here (is that right, you Dutch-speaking blog readers?).

Tomorrow I plan to take the train to Haarlem. We stayed out there during our last visit (although I choose to not remember that dump of a hotel) and I found this really fun shop that sells the coolest bead necklaces ever. I bought a few last fall, and am dying to go back and buy more.