Racchete, yes snowshoeing!

As I stood at the teller window on Tuesday morning I began talking with the man behind the counter.  We see each other several times per month and pleasantries are always exchanged, he follows my team in the paper so he is always up to date on how we are doing.  Anyway, on this particular day the first words out of his mouth were “Oggi è un giorno grande per il suo paese!”  I shouldn’t be, but I am still surprised how informed people around the world are about U.S politics.  He was just commenting about how great a day it was for my country.  I am sure that many of you watched the inauguration on T.V and I’d be curious to know if anyone was actually there?  Anyway, besides him not too many other people bombarded me with questions, unlike my experiences leading up to the election.

This week I tried two things for the very first time.  The first is called Mate and can be found in South America, particularly Argentina.  The second is something that most Minnesotans are probably familiar with and that is snowshoeing!

Mate is a wonderfully delicious hot tea that is quite common in Argentina.  Check out wikipedia and see the interesting glass/mug/thermise that it is served in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate.  I had the opportunity to try this tea on Wednesday afternoon before heading off to practice.  Cinthia’s boyfriend Lucas is from Argentina and he and his family make it back to Argentina at least once a year.  Well, when they returned this last time they brought with them some of this Mate.  I was surprised to see that there was only one “glass” but as I sat and watched I learned that the ritual was similar to sharing a peace pipe.  One by one the tea would be passed from person to person.  The glass itself could only hold enough water for about 2 deep swallows of tea and then it would need to be refilled.  So I sat at a table with several people I had never met and felt somewhat awkward while we all shared the same straw, but I soon relaxed as I realized that this experience was so utterly normal for them that I had no reason to feel anxious.  

Thursday morning I awoke with anticipation as I got ready to embark on my first snowshoeing adventure!  Cinthia, her aunt Onorina and I drove about an hour north to a  ski resort called Cari.  We strapped on our snow shoes and took off like a trio of turtles as we slowly climbed up the mountain.  I was literally mesmerized by the mountains that surrounded us.  The pearly white peaks of the mountains dazzled my senses as the sun’s rays magnified their beauty.  I felt incredibly small standing amongst these natural giants.  

When I was flying back to Switzerland after Christmas I was fortunate enough to have a window seat and I remember thinking that the mountains didn’t look THAT big, but when I was actually standing between them my opinion changed dramatically.  I also remembered thinking (when I was on the plane) that the mountains looked like a dessert covered in whip cream that had been frozen and then dropped on the floor, so that the whip cream had cracked and the dark oreos beneath were exposed.  The oreos of course, were the dark pine trees that are scattered all over the mountains.  But once again my opinion changed when I was actually up close and personal with the mountains.  The trees were not the dark color of oreos, but were instead a deep green that was lightly frosted with a dusting of snow. In short, the up close view was far more appealing.

Onorina and I, resting at the top of the Mountain.

Anyway, we trekked along the ski slope and climbed an extremely steep slant that required us to take several breaks along the way.  I tried not to look ahead but instead focused on putting one shoe in-front of the other because the path ahead of me was really quite intimidating.  However, we kept on going and finally made it to the top, where Cinthia collapsed immediately! ha;)  After our great feat, we meandered over to the chalet where we enjoyed a nice, warm, cappuccino.  I couldn’t help but smile when I heard what song was coming from the speakers, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wpyilPsi6Q.  I mean, life really couldn’t have gotten much better at this point as we sipped our coffee while looking out over the immaculate horizon and listened to a good ol american classic.  

Cinthia, taking a break?

The journey down the mountain was by far my favorite part of the day.  Instead of taking the path most traveled, we ventured off on our own and made our own path.  I was a little reserved and cautious as we approached our first steep drop-off, but once I saw Cinthia jump for it I threw caution to the wind and plunged off the edge!  I landed in a heap of powdery snow and from then on I was constantly taking the path that would provide me with this same thrill.  The snow was so soft, fresh and white, and it was almost like we were in our own little world because there were no other people nearby, so that all we heard were the sounds of our own laughter or the utter silence of the nature that encompassed us.  The day was oh so memorable and I hope to go at least one more time before the season is up.

Vacation homes covered in snow.

Man, this is turning into a long one....ok, I’ll try and shorten this up.

Saturday was game day, we played Fribourg who we had beaten earlier in the season.  Unfortunately we ended up losing 90-86, or something like that.  To say the least, neither team played very strong defense.  I had a pretty solid game and fortunately walked away unscathed.  Losing this game, however, does not help our ranking or our positioning for the playoffs, grrrrr. 

Sunday, (today) I toured around a small town called, Locarno.  During the summers Locarno is a bustling little town with many people coming to vacation.  Right now, however, the streets are calm and parking is a lot easier to find!  The lake in Locarno is called Lago Maggiore, one of the largest lakes in Switzerland.  There is an extremely old castle, Castello Visconteo, which was built in the 12th century, but now only about 1/5th of it remains.  The path along the lake is quite nice and along with admiring the mountains, birds, boats, and gardens, I was also happily surprised to see quite a few paragliders floating about in the sky above.  

Locarno's Castle.

Lake Locarno.

Alrighty, that about sums up my week.  Real quick though, my high of the week was being able to provide Onorina and her family with Maple Syrup! Ha, they had never seen it before, let alone tasted it!  I watched in delight as they flipped open the lid, smelled it, and then gingerly let a drop fall onto their finger so that they could taste the foreign, brown, gooey liquid!  All approved and I see an “American” breakfast in our near future;)

Arrivederci!

Leslie