several updates!

at a Mexican Independence party.

Sorry I haven’t blogged in so long, I have been busy… making a baby!
So here’s a list of random stuff that have been happening on our side of the world:

Baby:
I just had another appointment with my doctor and everything looks good. The baby is kicking now with full force and you can see my belly jumping, moving and contorting, kinda like in the movie “Alien”. The belly is oh so huge, and still growing. It started a perpetual growth spur between week 24 and 25 and there’s no end in sight… well, there is: December 24th, remember? Anyways, we now the sex of the baby. Actually, we’ve known the sex since week 13 (I am now week 27… almost 7 months to those of you doing the math). Do you want to know? Leave a comment and I will make sure I send you a personalized email (what a clever way to get people commenting, no?).

We’ve also decided on a hospital to have the baby, and my dr. is sending all my files there so they have my records. For next time, I’ll give you a quick rundown of how things work when having a baby in Switzerland. There’s some interesting stuff to share.



2-year anniversary
I probably wont have time to post this on the actual anniversary, because I will be busy with my dad, who will be visiting for a couple of weeks (more on that below) so here it is now: On October 5th is the second year anniversary of my arrival in Switzerland (I say “my” because gera arrived a month before me). So much has happened since then… The plan was to stay here for a couple of years and then move on to somewhere else… now with the baby on the way we’ll just have to adjust our timeline a bit and stay a bit longer. But be certain that we will be moving next year. Where? Well, I’ll just say the planets are aligning and plans are being made. More on that when we know more.

As for the progress/changes during the last year… there hasn’t been many milestones. Since we stopped going to german classes last year the language hasn’t improved a great deal, BUT I do feel I understand a lot more, and I have been known to order and ask questions at the store in german, so it really cant be all that bad, can it? We’re thinking we should start lessons again somewhere, maybe even just with a CD course.

I have made many more Spanish-speaking friends too! (at this rate, I will forget even my English). There’s now a group of seven of us that get together regularly for lunch or dinner. I love having people that understand where you come from and that are going to the same expat experience as you. I also made friends with a girl from Venezuela, who is also pregnant (1 week behind me). We have so much in common it is scary. She is also a graphic designer, and she used to live in the US (St. Louis), we’re the same age, and got married the same year (among other things). It is also super great to have a pregnant friend, I am so lucky! ( I am sure you will read more about her).


gera and shopping:
Gera is on his way to the US as I type this… (right now!). He’s going to a conference in Nevada, then to Dallas to visit family, and finally to Indiana for other work-related visit. He will be gone for a bit more than a couple of weeks, and I was pretty sad to see him go this morning. BUT I keep trying to look at the bright side and think that my dad arrives tomorrow (see below, again). Anyways, we have been online shopping like crazy and while in Dallas, Gera is going to pick up a few* things we ordered. (*few meaning a stroller, stroller bag, video camera, some books, some clothes, and some other stuff). We also ordered a bunch of other stuff to be delivered to El Paso and my dad will be bringing that. He even had to pack a extra suitcase and get some “space saver” bags just to get stuff to fit (thank you dad!). Getting all this stuff will make it feel like christmas in October!

Dad’s visit:
Perfectly timed for gera’s absence, my dad will be coming to visit for a few weeks. I am soo very happy yo see him, and very excited for him, since this is his first time coming to Europe! He’ll be here for about a week straight, and I have some plans to propose for his stay during that time, which include day trips to Laussane, Bern, Basel, Luzern, Milan; and just walking around Zurich. I hope I am not a big party pooper and can make it through the sightseeing without getting too tired. He’s also got plans for some short visits to London, Paris and Bayeux. Gera took our camera with him, so I will have to make sure I get lots of photos with my dad’s camera (and don’t forget to download them to my computer before he leaves…)

Celphones:
We have finally gotten ourselves cel phones! We’d never had one, and had survived without a mobile phone pretty well for all these years. Now with the preggo belly it was super important to be able to reach each other in case of emergencies, so we just got a pre-paid basic plan, and actually don’t plan to use them much at all: only for emergencies. Yeah, right! I can see myself calling him from the store to ask “what kind of bread do you want?” … not really an emergency. But we’ll try to be good and keep the calls to a minimum.

I will probably be MIA for a few weeks, but be patient because I am sure I will have a ton to share when I get blogging again.

swiss national day

Swiss national day fireworks


(or is it national swiss day??) Whatever the term, it means “Gera’s off work day, all the shops are closed day, fireworks day”
Last Friday (aug 1st) was a holiday in Switzerland. There’s a parade in the morning, they sell fireworks at the store and at night, people go crazy lighting them. So in essence, its like the swiss 4th of July. We heard the best fireworks were at the lake, but that it was crowded and kids play with their “fire toys” disregarding their safety (and other’s), so we opted for another spot: the terrace overlooking the city at the University. We were not the only ones who thought that would make a nice spot, because there were a few people there before sunset, and a small crowd had gathered by the time we left. Nonetheless, it was quiet (as quiet as you can get with fireworks), not too crowded and safe. We got some nice shots of St. Peterskirche with fireworks on the side. From there you could see most of the city very well, but the view of the lake was obstructed by some trees, so even though we got to see some of the “nicer” fireworks, most were the kind lit by people on their rooftops.

On the preggo front, we just bought a stroller! It was a big purchase for us, since we had been researching, debating, comparing, and changing our minds for the last couple of months. We will not be getting a car seat, since we don’t have a car (it sounds like an easy decision, right? Well, we thought long and hard about that one too!) We went with a three-wheel stroller that is supposed to be good for urban living. We bought it online to have it delivered to Dallas. Gera will stop by on his way back from Reno and will bring the stroller with him. Now the question is… do you need to travel with a baby to check a stroller at no extra charge? Or will we have to check it as another piece of luggage and pay the extra $25? We don’t know yet, but we will find out.

I have to say (at the risk of sounding like a total drunk) that I thought being alcohol free for 9 months would be harder. It’s not too bad! The first few months I didn’t even feel like having a beer, or smelling one. Now, maybe I could enjoy one on a hot Sunday afternoon, but that is what Alkoholfrei bier is for! It is not too bad (I like light beers anyways) but Gera said it tasted like yellow water. Now I think I could use some sangria..mmm (is there alcohol-free wine?)

For our anniversary (on July 29th) we went really low-key. Gera got me flowers, and I made a nice dinner at home, and for desert: cheesecake! It looked way better that it tasted.

Did you notice the cool pregnancy counter at the top?

Preggo beer

Anniversary cheesecake (looks better that it tasted)

Anniversary flowers (still blooming!)

Happy Anniversary!

8 years of happiness!

Here's a collection of photos of the weddings in my family. My parents have been married about 5 times, all of them to each other!!! (no, they didnt get divorced, they married once with a judge, then at the church, then through the Catholic, then renewed vows at their 25th anniversary, and... i think i am missing one....) By those same lines, I have married Gera twice!
BTW, all the weddings happened in July (my parent's july 14, Abril/Roberto's July 25, ours July 29).

July 29th, 2000

our "first" wedding, at Gera's house, with a judge. With my sisters Abril & Baba

our first dance 

removing the garter, very funny!

Abril and Roberto, July 25th, 2003

My parents' first church wedding. Lots of family in the pic, my mom is carrying me, and dressed in Blue in the foreground are Baba and Abril.

My parents' first wedding with a judge.(July 14th, 1971)

My parents' 25th wedding anniversary. (1997... date added after abrils comment... sorry sis, blame it on my preggo mind!) 

Their 1st wedding. (1971)

blast from the past: wedding

This post is better suited for our anniversary, but since i just found the CD with this pictures (i thought I had left it in Mexico), i will share them now. Our wedding was 7 and a half years and many many pounds ago! (July 29th, 2000- except the civil ceremory, which was a few weeks earlier).
I continue packing, or rather just throwing stuff in the suitcase, i will sort and pack later. I made a big calendar for the wall with special notes and reminders (take out trash, pay bills, etc) to leave everything sorted out when Gera heads out (we really dont want to repeat the cucumber incident of 2002, when we left a cucumber in the fridge during our winter vacation, and when we came back it had exploded and the whole fridge smelled horrible!).
see you soon!

Anniversary!

Today it’s the anniversary of my arrival in Switzerland. Its incredible already a year has passed… so fast. The past year has been filled with lots of trips and adventures, german classes and “lost in translation” moments, new friends and home sickness. Here’s a recap.

Trips.
We have traveled a lot over this past year. We figured since we’re here, we should take advantage of having a home base right in the heart of Europe.
In the last year we’ve visited 12 cities in 4 countries There’s still plenty we want to see, if only we had more money… For now, we have out trip to Munich for the Oktoberfest this Sunday, and the big trip to the US and Mexico in December.

Language.
We started taking German classes in October of last year, and made it through 2 courses (that lasted about 4 months each) It was hard and time consuming, but fun and a great thing to do together. We learned enough to understand bits and pcs of tv shows, and words here and there on posters and advertisements. We stopped attending classes last july, and planned to take other (less expensive) classes later. We still haven’t signed up for anything… I don’t know if we will, since we’re a bit discouraged by the fact that even learning German, we still wouldn’t speak the “local” language, which is a swiss-german dialect… a bit frustrating. We get by with what we know, and with English (even though a lot of people are reluctant to speak English to you unless you ask them in German if they do… weird).

Green, green, green.
This whole recycling thing is hard core! I’ve mentioned this before, but I think its worth including on the anniversary recap.
So this is how the trash-recycling system works:
-Trash is picked up once a week and you have to buy special bags from the city or it won’t get picked up. (like $1.50 US per 30 lt bag). This gives you an incentive to recycle all you can so you only put actual trash in the bags.
-Paper gets picked up twice a month, and you have to bundle it up really nicely and put it on the curve the morning of pick up. (paper sheets, paper packing, phone books…)
-Cardboard gets picked up once month (egg cartons, cereal boxes, toilet paper tubes…)
-Clothes and shoes are picked up about once every 3 months. You get a special bag in the mail and you leave it out the day of pick up (or drop it off anytime at designated locations)
-Big items (like furniture, mattresses, garden things) are picked up about once every 2 months. You bring them to your neighborhood collection point.
-Glass bottles and aluminum you bring to the nearest collection center (separate glass by color)
-PET bottles are collected at the grocery store.
-garden waste is picked up once a month on a special green dumpster.
-Batteries and electronics you bring back to the store.
-hazardous waste (paint, paint thinners, chemicals) is picked up about twice a year at a neighborhood collection point.

Always on time
The public transport system is unbelievable reliable. Buses and trams arrive and depart on time (to the minute) and you can always count on it. When accidents happen and lines need to be diverted, you can always hear announcements on the speakers on every tram, bus and stop so you plan your route accordingly. I just renewed my one-year pass for about 650 CHF (around $550 US). I am sure this is one of the things I will miss the most when we leave Switzerland.

Prices
Yes, everything is Switzerland is expensive. Food, clothes, everything. Eating out is really not even an option (for us), and going out to bars is an activity that does not happen often. And everybody notices, not just us. But that is how it is, and people just deal with it. So do we.

Friends
We met some people in our German class, and hung out with them a few times. But ever since we stopped going to classes, we haven’t kept in touch. I met a couple of Mexican girls online (through a zuri-mex forum) and we hit it off right away. We are close friends now and get together once a week for lunch and conversation. There’s 4 of us now, and we have a good time talking about mexico and about living so far from home. We have special (evil) fun talking about the swiss, hehehe. Gera’s lab is not nearly as “active” as its predecessor, so contact with them is pretty much a work thing for Gera.