Kung Fu Fighting.

Today at work, some children passed us on the pavement & Alice said to me, 'they are going to Kung Fu lessons.' I did not hesitate to break into song, loudly, proudly, on the sidewalk, in Switzerland. Don't click on the link if you don't want this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day & a better part of your dreams tonight. Although, probably the mere mention of the song invokes that response. But, I digress. After I sang for a while (as the children stared at me incredulously), Alice turns to me & says, 'Liz, you should really sing on stage. Your voice is like an angels.'
Oh, to be six again. I remember thinking this of my mom as well....and, let's just say, my opinions changed a bit. Perhaps I'll check back with Ali in a few years & see what she has to say about my kung fu then.

You're hot, then you're cold Majorca.

We felt quite mixed about Majorca. We found some nice spots, enjoyed the sunshine & each other's company, but nothing about the place particularily compelled us. Our hotel was nickel&dime city. Everything from beach towels to the safe key (in room safe) cost extra. And, they all required a deposit. Then you had to keep your deposit reciept to get your deposit back. Rubbish. Which leads me to my next issue with the place; chock-full of Brits & Germans. The entire island catered to the crappy tourist dollar. If I wanted to go to a British pub, or eat schnitzel, I would have chosen another place to visit. It was like Majorca copied everything yucky and cheap about their most common tourists & then plopped it on every street corner. Oh and they had our delightful American places to boot, more KFC, BK & PizzaHut's than I've seen all year combined.
However, as you can see, we found a great spot for a post-dinner drink. We thoroughly enjoyed this little bar with a great waitress who entertained my Spainish, and was far away from the crowds and the excessive numbers of under-5 children. We took a really nice, winding drive on the one overcast afternoon. Joe was right (ehm, I admit) and we enjoyed some really picturesque towns. We spent another afternoon at a nice beach & the rest of the time, poolside. One night we ditched the car & took a taxi into town so we could 'party all night' (we were back in the hotel by 12.30 & promptly asleep with glasses on face & TV on. Don't let anyone tell you we aren't rock-stars (how we are going to manage ourselves next week at Oktoberfest, I don't know).
Everytime we take a trip, we learn more & more about what we really want out of our holiday time. We need some cultural experiences, some feeling of mixing with locals, eating their food & drinking their beer or wine. We need a hotel that has updated their rooms at some point this century, esp. their comforters, no more rust colored ala-1970. We want some time to relax, to listen, and absorb. No more running from one place to the next to the next. Vacation is not a check-list. A place to get a bit away from the crowd, to hike, or swim, to be a part of the natural environment. Maybe throw in a patio with a view for good measure. This doesn't seem like too much to ask, does it?! ;)
Please note: We realize the fact that we get to do all this (despite my sometimes negative nelly/snobbish attitude) is a serious blessing. Yesterday, one of the children drew me a treasure map & instructed I put it on the hidden treasure in my house & I said, 'I'll stick it on Joe, he's my treasure.' All I'm saying is, take me with a grain of salt peoples. I do reco-nize.

love.

 

I saw a woman recently on a flight working on one of these multi-sudokus. I was jealous. I wanted one too. The book I'm reading isn't grabbing me, so I'm spending a fair bit of time with the free Swiss papers, Sudoku page (*the one page I'm sure to understand;). But the middle difficulty puzzles are starting to bore me....so, one day last week I found a different paper on the tram & inside was this guy. Is the title too strong?, because honestly, it was super fun.

Ambiguous Gender Day

Today on the tram ride home from my appointment I saw not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 people whose gender was not easily determinable. The mental guesswork was woman, woman, man, woman...honestly people I know today is not such a nice day in the city & there is a bit of humidity in the air, but seriously. You are creeping my shit out. Anyone else bothered by this phenomenon?

Magic Mouth

Somebody had their sass-pants on yesterday, and for once, it wasn't me. Instead the lil 4-year old guy I work with was whipping it out left and right. We've brought a picnic lakeside. It's the last decent day predicted for the week, so we're outside and so are a fair bit of others, despite the fact that it's 1.30 on a Monday. (Don't ask me how people are so rich here...) A man is laying down sort of close to the playground area. At one point, he pulls out a cigar and begins to smoke. A few minutes later, I'm straightening up where we'd picknicked & look up to see all 3 children standing in front of said man. I think 'oh, oh no.' Then, I see lil man wagging his finger at said man. Literally, he was wagging it, at a grown, stranger man. I walk up to a laughing guy saying, in accented English, 'they're telling me smoking is bad for me.' Hmmm, well.
Cut to bed-time. I've requested said lil man straighten up some bits of paper he's been cutting out. And I've requested and requested and....you see the pattern. Finally, someone else says I'll help so we pick all the bits up & throw them away. Now apparently some bits were not to be thrown away and he got very upset when he saw we'd thrown everything away. He begins to cry and carry on, then tell me 'your horrible, horrible, horrible' in his gorgeous little British accent. Honestly, nothing made me feel less horrible all day. Of course, I waited until I got home to laugh about it...doing the impression had Joe laughing crying.

Additionally, I arrived to a house full of people who thought my birthday was this week. (It got a bit confused in the 6-year old head, plus, I think she was just really excited about it). They made & hid cards around the living room. Waved to me from the balcony as I walked up from the bus stop. Sang happy birthday when I walked in. It was completely lovely & endearing. I'm already looking forward to next Monday to see what else they come up with ---
Since we don't have a car here, lil man always tells me 'he's going to buy me one for my birfday.' So, we'll see, could be a big birthday;)