Switzerland!

Saturday, May 30.

Melodie, Kristen, and I woke up bright and early, to say goodbye to Mark and Kristina, and then left to catch our train to Zurich, Switzerland! Our only stop and transfer was supposed to be in Milano-which we accomplished. But because it was delayed from leaving, we ran into problems down the line. We stopped just over the Swiss border in Lugano-where everyone was instructed to leave the train. All the passengers were VERY confused, including us ( maybe because we don't speak Italian?) It was an especi9ally small station for some reason, and there was no help/information desk. Only one man on the platform with a bright orange vest. He was surrounded by an immense-crowd of question-filled persons. He found a break in the the crowd at one point, looked around...and ran! Leaving us still very confused. We then made friends with a kind and extremely chatty older Italian man named Maurice. He had a friend in the train business and figured out we would need to wait for aboutan hour on the Lugano platform, get on a train-ride-transfer again to yet another train, in order to get to Zurich. Never the less, we survived the chaos. The train ride was one of the most scenic I've ever been on. The Swiss Alps, the mountain lakes, snow-covered pakes...it was a gorgeous afternoon. I also slept...alot...while Melodie chatted away with Maurice. Apparently he's a world traveler-55 countries total-but never Great Britain ( although he's from Italy?) He'd also traveled more of the U.S. than we had....but we took into account that he was probably in his upper fifties/sixties. Along the way we pasesed through many mountain tunnels. I always knew-even when my eyes were closed-when we were going through a tunnel, because my ears would plug and pop.
With all the elevation changes and going through tunnels, I think I've mastered ho to pop my ears!
We were supposed to arrive in Surich and meet Deb Broek ( a Dordt board member who lives there) at 2:50pm; but because of the delays we got there at 3:50. None of us had been able to use the phone while we were stopped in Lugano-so we were a little worried about meeting Deb late. It turned out akay. She had made a mistake and thought our train arrieve at 3:30-so she'd only been waiting for 20 minutes instead of one hour. Kristen had met Deb when she was in Sioux Center for a board meeting this spring-and Jander Talen and Mark Eekhoff had stayed with her and her husband Brian last summer-so we'd emailed her to arrange staying with them for a couple of days! I was really excited because Jander, Troy, Val, Claire, and Cory had decided last minute to also stay with Deb and Brian. That group arrived a night before Melodie, Kristen, and I-and were gone hiking while Brian and Deb picked us up in Zurich and brough us back to their mountain house in Oberiberg. Our two traveling groups had left Amsterdam on teh samed day-going different directions, so it was a surprise and a really big treat to see them and hear about their travels! While we waited for the hikers to get back, we chilled in a house! (which felt sooo good!) We all headed out to an outdoor grilling area for supper in the forrest. Brian is a fantastic cook-grilling spicy sausages, chicken, kabobs, and making the best baked beans EVER! We chilled our beer and pop in the mountain stream and had an amazing relaxing night outdoors. Deb had volunteered us to sing in their church on Sunday am-so after supper we practiced some choir tour songs before heading to bed.

Sunday, May 31.

I slept so well! There's something about being in a house, a hot shower, and clean sheets! Plus having such welcoming and loving hosts! Deb and Brian fed us eggs and sausage-and COFFEE! for breakfast. They have 8 kids in their small mountain house, but it doesn't seem to phase them. Melodie, Kristen, and Val rode with Brian and Deb in their convertible Audi to Thalwil to church. Jander, Troy, Claire, Cory and I navigate the brilliant quick and smooth, bus and metro system to Thalwil where Deb picked us up in a friend's van. We went to an International Baptist church where the Broek's have been members for the past 10 years. The congregation was warm and receptive and I felt very much at home. The message was on being part of the body of Christ and utilizing our spiritual gifts. Our group of 8 sang 3 songs....Praise the Lord, Chantez a Dieu, and A Gaelic Blessing. After church we talked to so many people! It was awesome to share with them about what makes a college Christian and why we wanted to have a Christian higher education. We had a lot of fun. And I was so happy! In Switzerland. With good friends. Worshipping God. Enjoying His creation. One of the best days of the trip! So happy! Deb's cousin from California was also visting, so us college kids were on our own for the afternoon. We went into Zurich to find some lunch and then stopped at a Starbucks for a caffiene "pick-me-up" Troy had gone to the main train station to see a doctor for his "bronchitis-sounding" cough ( a VERY sick kid); but the wait was two hours long. Troy, Val, and Cory went home after lunch to rest up. Melodie, Kristen, Claire, Jander, and I stayed in downtown Zurich. It was a beautiful warm Sunday afternoon. We took lots of pictures and went in search of bicycles. In Zurich there are "rent-a-bike" stations where you leave an ID and get a bike for the day for free. BUT the place we went looking for had been moved, we wandered a bit (a common theme for our trip!) before finding the station...with no bikes! So needless to say, we walked around for the afternoon, no biking for us! We arrived home at 730pm to find the sick kids watching a movie. Claire, Melodie, Cory, Jander and I played some intense games of Rook before Brian and Deb came home from their afternoon/evening out. Deb poured us all a glass of champagne, while Brian started making a wonderful Mexican dinner. For the first course we had homemade nachos, pico de gallo, guacomole AND quesadillas. For our "second course" we had AWSOME burritos. In between courses we drank wine, talked and talked, and had lots of fun. By the time we were done eating it was about 1030. Claire, Mel, and Kristen cleaned up the kitchen. Afterwards we stayed up sharing stories and talking. Relaxing on leather sofas. In crisp, clean mountain air. With the sounds of sheep and cow bells ringing...