Observation Point, Giant Chess, and Camera Failures

So I decided to go to the Lake again about a week ago to take more pictures of ducks and tourists. I did an alright job with the pictures, nothing amazing or profound, and a couple of days later Eva (one of the girls living with me) went out with me to walk about Zürich a bit. She had heard about this spot from which much of the town can be seen. I took some pretty awesome pictures from there, and then when I got home I realized that the entire time my camera had been set to take tiny, tiny 2.5 Megapixel pictures. SUCK. So I decided to just edit them badly, make them look retro, and post them on a website instead of making high-quality postcards out of them, sell them on the street, and get arrested.

So here we go:

Some flowers


Graffiti, which is EVERYWHERE in Zürich:


Me, contemplating jumping into the lake of DOOOM:


Hungry duckies:


The feet of this really weird woman who emptied a huge back of bread crumbs into the water, causing the water in some of my pictures to look icky:


Zürich from a vantage point!


A cool roof:


More cool roofs:


Tram 15:


GIANT CHESS BOARD:


An Austrian:


Building:



I had also been noticing these really shiny hubcaps on a car every time I walked to the grocery store, so here's a picture of that:



Cheers,
Asma

There, Somewhere Else, then Back Again

In the time since my previous update, I have had an incredible amount of adventure (of course, recorded through my precious Nikon D80). On April 10^th, I made my way to Jordan, to visit my family on my mother's side. This was the first time I had met any of them. This was an interesting experiment in nature vs nurture--although some behaviours I had learned from my mother would be mirrored by her siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews, nothing prepared me for the extent to which I am similar to my family. One aunt in particular is so incredibly similar to me that I have decided I must be her clone.

On to a pictographic narration!

	A display of Jordanian English (source: Queen Alia Airport)
	The levels of a mall in the vicinity of my aunt's house
	One of my cousins' wife and two of their six children
	The bunny (Ernoubi) that I fell in love with and an aunt-in-law!
	Delicious food (makluba) one of my cousins made
	Mmm... almonds
	Two of my uncles with very characteristic facial expressions
	Kuku the parrot, who speaks only when being ignored, and who dances when I whistle at him
	Another uncle talking to my mother on the phone
	Crazy landscapes seen while driving to the Dead Sea
	And more...
	A camel at the dead sea
	Sunlight at the Dead Sea
	One of my cousins at the Dead Sea
	Me, having fallen into the Dead Sea
	Skin-healing mud at the Dead Sea
	All this is the Dead Sea
	A pond(?) above Istanbul
	Mountains above Switzerland
	Some random person's farm. I should let them know I took a picture of their place...
	Pretty airplane shadow!

Anyway, that was a fun trip. I was really happy to see my relatives and be in an Arabic-speaking country for once. I think I really improved my Arabic during the time as well as became connected with a family from which I had been alienated for 21 years. They were so generous and so incredibly kind to me. I haven't received so many gifts in my life--everything from clothes and make-up to not-so-inexpensive jewellery. They even plucked my eyebrows and my aunties cooked me the most delicious food I've had in my life. God, I would kill for some of those pickles...

I had a really horrible experience upon returning, however. While packing, I checked my ticket, which said I was allowed 2 pieces of luggage of 20 kg each. However, when I arrived at the Queen Ali'a Airport, the people behind the ticket counter said I was only allowed one piece of luggage and that I had to pay $250 (approximately 300 franks including the airport's monetary conversion fees) in overage charges. After lots of pleading, crying, and stuff, they didn't budge, and I had to give them the money. Also, when I arrived in Switzerland, they had broken the handle off my new piece of luggage. That was a huge mar on my trip, but overall I was really happy to go to Jordan.

And getting back into normal life, this is what I cooked today:




That is all for now.

Love,
Asma

Homesickness, Mark II

I just got back from Boston, and I'm feeling down in the dumps again. Chocolate covered coffee beans do help, but it's too late at night and I'm ill. I haven't managed to do my homework for tomorrow yet. I don't think I'm going to finish it in time. My visit to Boston went really well. I was toured around Boston University, and I'm pretty psyched to go there for graduate school. I'm also really looking forward to living with my brother in August. I really miss him a lot. He introduced me to “Munchkin” while I was down there, which is a pretty awesome card game, similar to D&D without the role-playing or storyline. He also bought me a yomega x-brain yoyo (four-clutch), and him and my sister treated me to a haircut and a burger. And now... I'm all alone in my messy room. Just sitting here, not doing anything important, not accomplishing anything, just being a massively depressed loser.

Carefully Consuming Cheese, Coffee, and Chocolate

Spring time is here, and with spring comes delicious food and flowers. I noticed these precious little guys popping out on the little walkway that leads down to my street.





Since my last entry, the weather has been much milder. The sun is shining more regularly, allowing me to be more awake and happy (although the chocolate-covered espresso beans really aren't hurting), and it has been warm enough to be cold without a coat and overheated with one. I have made some really nice friends. A couple of Saturdays ago, Eva (the tall Austrian girl to the left in the picture below), Sibylle (the shorter German girl) and I went on a grand tram tour of Zurich. We visited a large shopping mall that I hadn't known about earlier.




Unfortunately, Eva was tired from partying all night long with her co-workers, so we went to a Starbucks to chill. I got a Java chip frappaccino and a tomato mozzarella basil pesto sandwich. It was delicious. Amazingly delicious. And expensive. Amazingly expensive. After parting from Eva, Sibylle and I went shopping in the main station. We, of course, went right back into the chocolate shop I mentioned earlier (Merkur). This time a man was making a cute chocolate duck, and gave us samples of orgasmically dark chocolate.

The following day, the three of us went ice skating. It was the last day that the outdoor skating rink was open (apparently it's the largest outdoor one in Europe, although it really wasn't very enormous). Ice skating is really REALLY difficult! Of course, it was exacerbated by the fact that Eva and I accidentally switched ice skates. I wear a size 38 and she wears 42 (European), so this was enough to really hurt my feet. When we took a pause, we noticed that my skates were larger than hers and switched back. I was kind of pathetic--with Sybille grabbing one of my hands and Eva grabbing the other, I was able to make slow circles around the perimeter of the rink. I finally decided to stop being much of a hindrance, and after a short pause to rest my aching feet, I skated back and forth while holding on to the far wall. It got to be more and more fun the more carefree I was, but my posture still wasn't correct. I want to try again in the future. (Pictures pending--they were taken on Sibylle's camera.)

Last Tuesday, we had a fondue party in the apartment. Six of the girls attended. We melted cheese in a pot on the stove and then transferred it to this bowl on top of a little flame. And I folded the napkins into little boats (how cute am I).



We had little pickled cucumbers, pickled onions, salad, pineapple, and cut up bread into small pieces. Each girl dipped pieces of bread (or pineapple) into the cheese and ate. To be honest, I wasn't very fond of the cheese--it's really really sharp and my pallet can't take it yet. But it was a really fun time and the pineapple was delicious. Pictured here are Isa, Bille, Heike, Eva, and Eleonora, from left to right.



Also (this blog entry never ends...) Eva and I went to the movies last Saturday. We say "Marley & Me" in German. The movie theatre experience is pretty similar, except there's a short intersession in the middle of the film. It was a cute movie and I understood a good portion of it! I am happy to report that my German is actually improving enough that I am no longer totally afraid to talk to people in the streets and in shops and stuff.

Oh, and Sibylle insists that she's not a vampire, but I think she's really trying to get me off her trail. When I arrive in Boston on Thursday, I need to remember to buy a stake.

A Clear Day?! With Sunlight?!

So the sun decided to come out yesterday. As we are nearly 50^o from the equator, surrounded by mountains, and covered in a perpetual layer of clouds, this is a rather momentous occasion. Elenora and I of course decided to go to the lake, as, unlike our room mates (who are apparently vampires), we are used to seeing the sun.

We first decided to shop a bit at Bahnhofstrasse. The main event there was entering the chocolate shop. We both have to shop for chocolate, as we are about to see our relatives (and my sister will kill me if I don't bring her back some of Switzerland's best). Immediately before entering, the sweetly heady scent of excellent chocolate wafted into the street. A lady with a tray of free samples offered us a taste, which we gladly took. Mine was a heavenly bit of dark mocha with the light touches of wafer. As we browsed the shelves of different chocolates I noticed some workers in the back stirring large melted pots of chocolate, some pouring them into bunny-shaped casks, and yet others cracking previously poured casks. These bunnies were being made fresh in the back of the store as they were being sold. I was taken aback by the endless varieties of truffles and pralines, everything somewhat expensive, but appearing to be very much worth it.



After a bit more window shopping, we went down to the lake. The sun was hovering just over the mountains, sending shimmering beams of light to dance among the ripples of water. After basking in the glorious sunlight, I began to notice the huge varieties of fowl that were apparently enjoying the weather as well.






Apparently this little orange-headed guy is called a Red-chrested Pochard. Isn't he adorable?!








A little further to the west, there is a strange statue of a man and a bird, the significance of which I don't quite understand. However, when trying to take a shot of him, a flock of something decided to fly by. I'm pretty sure the man, with his arm in the air, summoned them to scare me off.



The following pictures are taken from the opposite side of the street. Peering down where the lake turns into a river allows one to see downtown Zurich and some pretty cool landmarks which I have yet to visit.




I also have yet to ride the ferry, which will apparently start going across the lake regularly come April.



And this is how happy Italians are in the sunlight:



Love,
Asma