Yesterday I visited my cousin Camilo in Basel, Switzerland. My only chance to see him at all this first half of the year was that day, since he flies back to Colombia next Wednesday until he can find a PhD program he likes. I was afraid that I might have some trouble crossing the border since Switzerland has not completely removed it border controls, although it has recently agreed to join the Schengen agreement. However, and to my amazement, no one checked anyone on the train ride to Basel. I wasn't even asked to show my train ticket to anyone. The Baden countryside is very mountainous, but the grim day disallowed any memorable sightseeing from my train window. I arrived at Basel's Swiss Hauptbahnhof and met Camilo. We bought some groceries for lunch and took the tram to his girlfriend's apartment, Christine. When we got there, Camilo pointed to a fence a few yards away from the apartment; he couldn't legally go beyond that fence, since France lay at the other side. Camilo has a tourist Swiss visa, which doesn't allow you to enter any other European country (yet). A whole different neighborhood stood behind the fence and there was a white booth (at that moment empty) that ran border controls every now and then to commuting drivers. On the Swiss side, near where Christine works, there is an industrial area where most Frenchmen work. In the morning, they ask for their breakfast in French and later they give and receive orders in German.

I was also greeted with an interesting surprise at Christine's apartment. She offered me orange juice and soon enough she took some oranges from the kitchen to squeeze them. When she cut the first one in half, I saw that the inside were very dark-red-colored, apparently rotten. She ignored the appearance of the sliced fruit and proceeded to squeeze it. When I warned her about the color of the orange, she giggled and replied: "These are blood-oranges!" Blood-oranges are a variety of oranges that are common during the season in Europe, mostly Sicily and Spain. When she handed the first glass of juice to me, I thought it looked just like blackberry juice. However, when I tasted it, it was just like any other orange juice I have had before. I have to admit it was an "interesting" experience to expect a a flavor from watching the color of the drink and getting a totally different one.

After a nice lunch we headed out for downtown Basel. We visited the Munster or cathedral, and climbed up to the tower. The view was amazing, extending from the Rhine valley to the Alps. You could also see several bridges that crossed over the Rhine to communicate the different parts of Basel. The way down made my legs shake a bit since the winding staircase was very steep and allowed a aerial perspective that would send an acrophobic straight to the hospital. Safely back on the ground, we crossed one of the bridges and walked along the riverside, hoping for an empty table at an outdoor cafe but with no luck. The time of my train back to Freiburg approached so we walked back to the Hauptbahnhof. However, my cousin could not come with me to the train because the station was split between the German and Swiss territory. Again, better not take risks four days before returning home.

I have been pondering about the border issue since yesterday. I'm sure Basel is not the only city in the world that sits in the middle of a border between (at least) two countries. For immigration purposes, Basel is divided into the Schengen area and Switzerland, but in terms of national regimes, three states claim its ownership. I can't imagine how unnecessarily hectic life in Basel was before the Schengen agreement. Border controls to commute around the city would make life impossible. I'm sure we can get into a long discussion about the usefulness or even legitimacy of borders as a concept, but I don't mean to bore your brains out. For someone in Camilo's situation, a life with borders makes no sense. Borders limit freedom and the natural flow of human capital (ideas, culture, production factors, etc.). At least for that one-hour ride train to Freiburg, I felt a cozy, emancipating feeling while imagining a border-less world where I wouldn't need to worry about losing my passport.

Posted by Sebastian at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a day to remember. I cooked my own meal for the first time in my life. I know it was pasta with chopped veggies, but still. I might have made my own breakfast before, but that doesn't really count. It was a good lunch, although I made too little sauce for the quantity of pasta I had prepared. Since this week I'll be done everyday at 1 pm, I'll try to cook everyday at noon. Maybe I'll take it a step forward tomorrow and cook some rice.

I also had a chat with one of my flat mates, Christoff. He was explaining to me that they rotated the cleaning duties of the common areas (namely the kitchen area and entry hall) every week. The person in charge has to vacuum the floor and mop it and make sure the kitchen table is clean. Everyone washes his or her own dishes, so it's not a big deal. Since there is a "girls" and a "boys" bathroom, we men have the same weekly cleaning schedule for our bathroom. It'll probably be my turn for both duties next week. However, he made a request that might seem strange to most people in both the US and I guess all of Latin America. I was warned by my German teacher today when we were discussing possible aspects of the German culture that might cause culture shock.

Christoff asked me to pee sitting down on the toilet every time I used the bathroom. Apparently it helps cleaning (you don't splash all over) and it's a cultural statement of the equality between men and women. I find it really funny that the culture where I grew up, a man that pees while sitting down is considered very unmanly (to say the least) and jokes are made around that. However, here it is completely normal, and although I haven't asked yet, it seems like German women can get into lengthy discussions about why should men pee while seated. Strange or not, one of the suggestions for people studying abroad is to immerse themselves in the host culture as much as possible... however some things might take me some time to absorb!

Posted by Sebastian at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, this past week has been one of the craziest ones in my life! Packing for my study abroad program was really stressful, since I had to make sure I didn't go over the weight limit on both suitcases and that I was able to haul all I packed through the airports and train stations, since after my arrival to Frankfurt Airport I had to take a 2 hour train ride to Freiburg. My travel schedule included:

3 Flights (Bogota-Miami-Chicago-Frankfurt) with their own layovers
2 customs checks
2 train rides
1 cab ride to the IES center (final destination).

Not that I'm complaining. but being on the move for more than 24 hours straight is really tiring.and hauling my luggage up and down stairs and trains wasn't very pleasant. However I made it safely to Freiburg and met two girls from the program on the way there. My first impression of German was very positive, at least from what I saw from the train window. The landscape was beautiful. Trees and hills everywhere and with a pale green color due to a warmer winter than years before. I was expecting white forests and snow sheeted hills, but until now, Freiburg's weather has barely touched the freezing point (THANK GOD!). I was also impressed by the punctuality of the train system. The train peeks through the horizon 30 seconds before the time its supposed to arrive at the station so at the exact minute it's scheduled to arrive it has stopped and with its doors wide open.

We were brought to our rooms ("home" for 5 months), and it was different from what I thought it would be. All the students were scattered around the local university dorms so they could interact more with German students. Since its a public university, dorms are just like sharing an apartment with three other people, except you have an additional key to your own room. In my case, there are 2 guys and 2 girls living with me, sharing the flat's kitchen and two bathrooms (each bathroom assigned by its occupants to either sex). There is no cleaning service, so there is a cleaning schedule we have to follow. In addition, we have to cook. COOK!! This spoiled child that complained about not liking the food at his school after several weeks and how long an 8 minute walk to the dining hall was had been removed from that right for the first time in his life!

To be honest, I made my first grocery shopping trip today. I have bought pasta, rice, and the equivalent of Raumann noodles. It will take me some time to cook my own meal, but I will definitely have to because avoiding cooking just kills your budget. It was also funny to find that we were given sheets here, that consists of a pillow case, a sheet to cover your mattress, and a humongous pillow-case looking thing to place your comforter into (also provided by the school). I spent my time figuring it all out, but nonetheless it seems a little bit more practical for someone who hates making his bed every morning (like yours truly). I was pissed by the fact that my desk had no drawers, so it's even messier that it normally is both back home and at Trinity. All is white in my room: bed, walls, sheets, table, closet... so sometimes I feel I'm in a mental institution. I will have to buy some poster or something to hang on this walls before I reach the point where I need to be sent to one.

Freiburg is an amazing city, from what I've seen this few days. There is a huge cathedral in the middle of it, called the Munster. It's almost 800 years old, and the local farmer's market still meets at its footsteps for business. You can find a wide spectrum of architecture types, from the Middle Ages till today. However, nothing seems out of place, everything moves and looks like it has been synchronized together perfectly in a giant watch. Simply spectacular.

German has been a challenge. I know it very little, but my flatmates have been kind enough to bear my attempts to hold a conversation with choppy usage of the language. In general, this is a liberal town, populated mostly by students; the fear of xenophobia I had some weeks ago has dissipated a little. Most Germans I have met have been very welcoming and kind. Germans learn English in school, so the majority of them can hold a short conversation in English, but some college students know it a lot better. I even had the pleasant surprised that one of my flatmates studies Spanish in college. It is very tempting to just speak the languages you know, but I have started to resist recently.

Sometimes I feel like I have been here for a about weeks, or months. It has only been 4 days! So much has happened and so much is still to happen. Classes start Monday, and our first field trip is a few days away. Tomorrow we'll go hiking to the Black Forest, so hopefully I'll upload some pictures soon. I forgot one of the most important things you can ever forget for a trip this long: my camera's chord. Yes, I have a lot of pictures, but I cannot upload them to my computer... yet. I'm solving that problem, but for now... auf Wiedersehen...

Posted by Sebastian at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)