Adjusting

It's the little things that get me here.

School is in English, and I speak in English with my friends, so when we go out in Lugano it's strange to be struggling so hard to get what we need. Yet my Italian is improving day by day (even though it is extremely limited, but whatever). I'm really glad I took that continuing ed course this summer, it's come in quite handy since I got here. I find myself asking almost everyone I meet if they understand English or French. It's a struggle.

Last weekend we went to Bellinzona for the wine festival, but we ended up spending most of our time on the castles, which were incredible. Again, everything is such a hike here. I feel like I've lost some weight since getting here just because of the crazy hills that need to be scaled on an almost daily basis (though I live "up the hill", meaning that I don't have a really difficult walk ahead of me every morning, like those that live "down the hill").

Next weekend we're going to Zurich, which should be really exciting. If any of you have been there, any ideas for things to see would be nice, though we already have some ideas....

I also solved my phone issues and just bought a cheap but nice Swiss phone (I have Swisscom, if anyone is interested). I can receive calls from the US for free (for me, at least), so if you don't mind spending a bit of money, you can call me!

The best things that have happened to me since I've arrived here have been spontaneous.