Quote of the Day

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." -- Napoleon Hill, American author

CaRnIVaLE!

It's Carnival (Mardi Gras) time in Switzerland and it gets pretty silly here. I guess it started on Friday on my way to work. I'm riding the bus thinking about numbers, assets, and liabilities when, out of the corner of my eye, I see a high school aged girl wearing what appears to be a 50 gallon black trash bag as a shirt with dirt all over her face. She was laughing, so I guessed she was not beat up and forced to wear a trash bag. I thought she must be protesting something, and didn't really get it. Then I looked up and saw the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz and one of the Ghostbusters. Then I remembered this weekend is Carnival.

Carnival here is Mardi Gras and Halloween mixed together. It's a very big event (it's actually called Rabadan if your into wikipedia, youtube, or flickr) in the city just north of us called Bellinzona. It starts on Thursday and continues until Tuesday (I guess that's similar to New Orleans??) Anyway, we decided we would go Saturday night. We heard people wear costumes, but I was not planning on wearing a costume because:

1. I don't have a costume, and
   
2. I have found the people in Switzerland to be generally quiet, polite, conservative, sober, and responsible. I have no idea what kind of "costumes" everyone would wear. I sort of pictured this being a party with people wearing the little masks on a stick that you hold over your eyes while you wear a tuxedo and sip champagne. The costume parties I'm used to going to typically involve dressing up in something very funny, offensive, or otherwise crazy and would not be looked upon favorably by people in tuxedos with little masks on a stick. I don't want to be that guy. I already feel weird enough.

I guess the first clue that it would be a wild party was at work when one of the guys who we were going to go with said to wear "your worst jeans and your worst jacket." Okay... still not thinking this is a big deal, because this guy is Italian and has very well dressed at all times. His "worst jeans" are probably still very nice. I took this information to mean don't worry about dressing as if you were going to a very nice restaurant.

Then I asked another guy at work if he was going. He answered: no, he was not--make sure to wear clothes you don't care about. I said "really?" Then he acted out someone throwing up on his shirt.... Sometimes there are benefits to not knowing how to translate every word. Acting things out is fun.

Despite these signs I don't want to wear a costume, because I really have no idea. We plan to meet my Italian friend from work along with another couple he is friends with at the train station to go to Bellinzona. One of Malinda's friends from school also decided to come down from Zurich to go with us. Malinda's friend has never been to the Carnival either. As we are waiting for the agreed upon time to meet my friend, he calls and says he will be late because his friends have decided that he should dress up as a woman and it's taking longer than expected to get his makeup right.

At this point, we decide that we could wear some Mardi Gras beads at least so we look festive. I mean, my friend is dressing as a woman! Malinda's friend from Zurich brought some swimming goggles to wear, just in case. Good move.

So we went to the train station, and EVERYONE has on a crazy costume (except for the random people who were apparently coming to Lugano for vacation and looking at everyone like they were nuts). I loved it! Some of the costumes were really great too. I saw Bender from Futurama, lots of priests having beers with terrorists, lots of animals (mostly pigs), devils, mummies, knights, and one guy with a long white t-shirt with a dishwashing detergent cake taped on the back!? When our train pulled up, it was already packed with tons of other people in costumes who were all singing!!! Their was nowhere for us to sit, but it was only about a 20 minute ride.

When we got there, it was great. It was Mardi Gras and Halloween mixed together like I said. If you have never been to Mardi Gras, it's like Tom Lee Park during Memphis in May. If you have never been to Memphis in May or Mardi Gras... come on... live a little. It was a fun party with lots of people outside. There were bands too! The first band we saw was on some bleachers and they were playing Rage Against the Machine.

The next band was in front of this super old church. They were all dressed like leprechauns and the conductor was real pumped!

So, last night was fun and it made me think that maybe some of the Swiss people do know how to let loose a little. I was impressed, and hope to go next year as a giant calculator.

Quote of the Day

"Love sought is good, but given unsought is better."--William Shakespeare, from "Twelfth Night"

Super Bowl Party (of one)

I can't really explain how happy I was to watch the Saints win their first Super Bowl. The game aired at about midnight our time, so the plan was to take a nap that afternoon... prepare ourselves for the 4 am victory dance. I fell asleep reading (no offense Amy Tan). I think we were excited, because Ryan took this picture. When he fell asleep after me, I did the same. So, here's a look at our pre-game activities... probably very different from yours in the US.














The problem with our plan... Ryan didn't wake up. He did, however, turn over.


I tried to wake him once in the beginning. Our slingbox wasn't working properly, and it froze when the Saints had the ball. I was pissed, and "asked" him to fix it. Afterward, he went back to sleep.

I wasn't holding back... cheering, pouncing on the sofa, yelling at the tv. Nothing phased him. Except for when the Saints put their first points on the board. I had to celebrate and this is the result. See the eyebrow scrunch? He wasn't as excited. After this picture was taken, he said "okay, I'm going to sleep now," and went to bed.
And it's a real shame, because that's when the game started to turn around. When the two point conversion ruling went in our favor, I felt I had to capture the moment. No one to take the picture? No problem. We're number 1.

Then, the most unbelievable things started happening. The game looked like it could actually be won... by the Saints!?! This was too good. I felt like I needed to do more, be more in the moment. I brought some beads with me from our Christmas trip, thinking I might throw a NOLA style party one day... gumbo, homemade king cake, that sort of thing. Anyway, I remembered that it was all in the closet, and I thought, well, it needed to come out. This was a party after all. So, now I wasn't just cheering in a Swiss apartment at 3 in the morning by myself... I was doing it with a Mardi Gras boa! Much better.

I don't know how to describe what came next. They won! The New Orleans Saints won! Even now I can't believe it, but I knew then that I wanted to remember it. I was one excited, Saints shirt and PJ wearing, old beads and boa donning, PROUD, proud, Saints fan. It doesn't get much better than this.
People talk about how this process gave New Orleans hope. I personally think they had hope long before this season. And I couldn't be happier about them being in the spotlight like this. I wanted this sentimental, shoulders back, proud of where I came from kind of feeling to last, so I decided to wear my Saints shirt to an Italian class the next day. I started by introducing myself to the French guy sitting next to me, saying "I'm from New Orleans, you know, we just won the Super Bowl? See my shirt?" It was a wasted effort. He didn't know enough English to really know what I was saying, nor was he even aware that the Super Bowl had taken place. I kept trying, though, and finally found someone who knew what I was talking about. He even gave me a high five. A high five from a Romanian! Only here... pre-game naps and Romanian high fives. I'll never forget when the Saints won the Super Bowl. THE SAINTS WON THE SUPER BOWL!?! Ahhhhhh, still feels good.

Black and Gold Super Bowl

I've been wanting to put this up for a while, and now seems like an appropriate time. We went to see a friend from school play music on the streets around Christmastime. I asked if he knew When the Saints Go Marching In, and he did! It got everyone dancing and clapping... I thought it had to be a good sign.

Our plan is to nap at some point this afternoon, so we can stay up and watch the big game. We both have to be at school/work at 8:30, so we'll see how well that plan actually works. I can't believe they're actually playing in the Super Bowl... wish I was in New Orleans. But, having an experience where Swiss Santas play Saints music isn't such a bad alternative.

Snow Day

The weather has been great lately - cold and sunny. But this morning, out of nowhere, we woke up to white. I say out of nowhere... we're still not comfortable enough with our Italian to watch the news, so every day is a surprise. And today it was snow. Today is also my first official day with nothing to do (exams are over), so I set out to run some errands, get books for next semester, buy groceries, and meet Ryan for lunch. All the while, adding more bags to by arms and catching more buses. It feels good to be home... wet, but home. Here's the view from our balcony. You can't even see the lake, and the snowflakes are so big you can hear them hit the ground.

We've had a great week, despite exams. We went to a Jazz concert last night in Chiasso, I got to drive my neighbors new BMW to the Italian grocery store, and we have friends coming this weekend from Zurich! They're coming to escape the weather, and we have palm trees! Covered in snow...

If I Had A Million Dollars

I have this reccurring dream... it's about how I'm going to move back to New Orleans and open an animal shelter. My sister has thought of ways Sacred Heart could raise money, I tell relatives I'm going to hit them up one day, and I've even picked a spot. Katrina left pockets of areas devastated - it could be a win win. Sometimes before I go to bed I think of ways to do it, and what it would look like. Everybody (Oprah) says that you should pay attention to those kinds of voices, but so far I've opted not to. What can you really do? If you're me, you can get a real job, surf non-profit websites, and give what money you can. And that's enough for now. But I do wonder... how many people really want to do something that would actually help, but choose not to? I'm sure Danny Thomas dreamed of St. Jude before he laid the foundation. And can you imagine if he didn't?

I'm no Danny Thomas, though. And yet, I'm married to someone who thinks I can do it. Isn't that crazy? I've bought books about starting non profits. I've looked for classes on grant writing. I even shadowed a vet for a day to see if I could go that route. I can't. I want to pick dogs up off the street, not take their stool sample. It's just a dream, really. I've had others too. When I started making frames, I dreamed they were so popular that I became the next Kate Spade. But even in that dream the millions I made went to a shelter. And a new wardrobe.

That's why I can't take this seriously... chances are it won't happen. Chances are whatever you think of doing won't happen either. We'll have kids and get bigger houses and those things will become less important. But just in case, I'm throwing it out there. Did you know that if your goal is written down, you're 80% more likely to achieve it? So that's all this is. I'm just writing it down. I know I'm going to grow up and get a real job. I actually like working. I like dressing up and making money. I'm sure everybody has their "thing" and this is just mine. But it does make me wonder. Am I alone in this? How many of you are dreaming impossible things? What would people really be capable of if they didn't have to compromise? The Saints are in the Super Bowl for pete's sake. Maybe anything's possible.

PS - Just in case your thing is animals, take a look and donate. There are people with more guts than me doing amazing things. Here are the two that I love to give to - www.strayrescue.org and www.aspca.org. All they need is money.

Quote of the Day

"Cease to be a drudge, seek to be an artist."--Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and civil rights leader