Sometimes, Fairy Tales do Come True.

“All that matters is the ending, its the most important part of the story, and this one is very good.  This one is perfect.”

~Jonny Depp

Johnny Depp.

In this quote,  Depp is obviously talking about one of his movies, which one, I am not sure.  I thought that half of this quote was perfect for today’s e-mail, which very likely will be my last.  I say “half” because in my case, the beginning and middle of my Swiss story have been far sweeter and more memorable than anything that I ever could’ve hoped for, but the ending is going to be great as well thanks to a familiar name, Kelly Roysland!  Kelly arrives this Saturday and from the minute she arrives to the minute that we leave, we will be traveling around Italy and Switzerland making darn good use of our time.  We will be flying to Rome first for a couple days and then returning to Switzerland where we will take trains to Zurich, Montreux, Luzern and Biasca.  If you look up Biasca you might not find much, but that is where we will be meeting our canyoning group and then from there trekking into the Val de Malvaglia.  I am really excited to end my trip over here with Kelly.  I am also looking forward to introducing her to the people in my Swiss life who have touched my heart and made my 8 months in Ticino more priceless than the Mona Lisa.  

Time has been flying by as usual and I am behind a couple days in writing my weekly e-mail.  My next 2 days are going to be busy as well and I don’t have much time left this morning so I am going to try and shorten this up and give you a quick play by play of the last week and a half.  

Here we go...

Wednesday of last week I stood next to a long jump pit with a rake in my hand and a camera in the other.  Cinthia’s aunt, Onorina, was conducting a track and field day for her son and all of his classmates.  I helped out with the racking, demonstrating, and picture taking.  After all the kids were gone, I practiced my high jumping skills with my own personal trainer, Cinthia.  When Cinthia was in her teens, she set many records for her excellence on the track.  I got to see 2 of her photo albums with all her pictures and news paper clippings.  At one point in her career she cleared a bar that was 1.78 meters high.  10 cm more than her own height!

The little kiddies.

Long jump!

On Thursday I went biking with Cinthia and Ono.  We packed the bikes into the van and took off for Mendrisio.  We arrived at a parking lot, unpacked our bikes and started our day.  The goal was to ride to this cable car located in a town called Brusino, take the cable car up the mountain and then bike down.  The bike ride to the cable car was gorgeous.  We were on a road that separated the bottom of the mountain with the start of Lake Lugano, the whole scene was postcard-esque.  As we biked along the side of the lake we came into a little town, with houses dotting the shoreline.  I felt like a young child playing peek-a-boo as we rode through the town because every time there was a break in the houses and the lake appeared I would get excited and a big smile would flash across my face, ha.  We arrived at the cable car, arranged our bikes inside and began the smooth ride to the top.  Our ride down the mountain was definitely one that I will remember.  By mistake we misjudged the trails and ended up taking the wrong path.  The path that we found ourselves on was without a doubt the path less traveled.  I am not a seasoned mountain biker and so I ended up spending more time off my bike and walking than actually biking!  Cinthia was a pro, balancing flawlessly on her bike and slowly weaving her way down the path, up, over and around all of the rocks that were in her way.  I tried and tried again but always found myself falling off my bike, oh well. 

Cinthia, Ono and I at the top of the cable car ride.

Boarding the cable car.

After our bike ride I was off to Special Needs basketball practice.  After practice we were told to go upstairs into a room and as I entered the room I saw tables full of appetizers and drinks.  To my complete surprise the other coaches had gotten together and planned a little going away party for me.  All of the players had signed a card for me and I received an orange, long sleeve zip-up, the same one that they were all wearing when they came to one of my games.  I am really going to miss all of them.

Saturday morning I accompanied Cinthia to Switzerland’s National Sports Center where she was in charge of a track and field event.  The sports center was HUGE and was home to every sport that you could imagine, minus American Football.  The center is located right on Lake Maggiore and is equipped with dozens of Tents that serve as homes to the teams who stay for a week or so during the summer.  After the event, we drove into Bellinzona where my former teammates were playing a game.  This game was the Ticino championship game for the Under 20yr. squad.  Following the game we headed into Locarno where we spent the night celebrating my teammate, Judit’s, 20th birthday.  There are 106 steps leading up to her house, but the view from her living room window is worth the trek.  Her house looks right out onto Lake Maggiore and the surrounding town of Locarno.  I slept over at Judit’s home that night because I was going to help her give a presentation at school the next day.  Her high school is a little bit different than the one I went to, the two biggest differences were that the lunchroom was quite a bit smaller and there were no sports facilities connected to the school.  Many of the students go home for lunch or walk to nearby delis, which is why there is no need for a large lunch room.  Academics and Athletics are two separate venues in Europe therefore no fields or courts would be found on school grounds.  

The view from Judits front yard.

The stairs that she walks up multiple times a day!

The presentation was about playing basketball as a career.  I spoke to a class of about 15, 16 year old boys.  I spoke in English and they all seemed to understand exactly what I was saying.  I spoke about my recruiting experience in high school which then lead to my college years which then brought me to where I am today, playing basketball professionally in Switzerland.  One young man spoke english extremely well and fired about 10 different questions at me during the course of the hour.  Many of the questions were not just about sports but about academics, too.  I am not sure what going to high school in Switzerland is like, but I get the impression that it is pretty difficult.  This young man made that clear and also seemed to think that going to college in the U.S was not worth it unless you went to an Ivy League school.  He wondered if I wasn’t playing basketball professionally if I would have been able to get a job after graduating college.  Ha, well I kept my cool and explained to him that my school has about 55,000 students and if these students were not qualified to accept jobs after graduation there would be no point behind going to the University.  At least he had questions though, right?

So that leads us into this past week...another fun week filled with Biking, cooking and packing.  Cinthia, Ono and I went for another bike ride but this time we stayed on the road.  We biked from Cinthia’s house and headed back farther into the valley, actually as far as we could go until the road ended.  The whole trip back there took us about 2 hours and it was practically all up hill!  Ono showed me the house she lived in until she was 6 years old, her parents summer vacation home, which is about the size of my bedroom, her aunt and uncles house and we even got to meet her great uncle.  The houses that we came across on this ride were mostly vacation homes, but there are a few people who do live up in the hills and live their day to day life by tending their cattle or sheep, or working their small farms.  Onorina said that most of the habitants are older, like her great uncle.  Her family moved to town when she was 6 so that she could attend school.  The bike ride home took us a whopping 30 minutes as we zoomed around each curve and glided, effortlessly home.  Oh and I also said cooking because I made one of Paula Dean’s casseroles for Cinthia and Lucas.  The grocery store didn’t have the exact ingredients that I needed...I couldn’t find chestnuts, pimentos, cheddar cheese or cream of celery soup, but I substituted with a couple other things and it turned out just as good!  

So today is Saturday, it’s been a couple days since I started this e-mail, and today is the day that Kelly comes!   I hope that all of you had a wonderful May Day yesterday and hopefully the next time we talk it will be in person and not over e-mail!

Love, 

Leslie

oh, a couple random comments:

 Love driving at night in Switzerland because the mountains are speckled with lights which then look like a continuation of the stars.  It’s like the stars have fallen from the sky and are close enough to touch.

Twice now I have felt like I have been transplanted into the book, The Secret Life of Bees.  Never in my life have I seen someone covered from head to foot with mesh and durable looking cloth until arriving in Switzerland.  During the last 2 bike rides I have seen people tending to their bee hives.

Man. Bees. Honey.

 While driving down the highway in Switzerland it is not the least bit abnormal to smell the sweet scent of baking bread or the stronger aroma of cheese.