The Big Move

So Bern Fasnacht was something to see, for sure. But I cannot even express how much cooler Basel Fasnacht was. Lorianna, my friend here, and I dedcided that since we are basically like foreign exchange students that we should just get on the train and go. So we did and it was glorious. The biggest street festival I have ever seen in my life and I am so happy that we went. It was, no kidding, about 60 times larger than the one in Bern. We walked for a solid hour and a half in one direction and it was completely packed that way and even when we had to turn around, there were still people crowded as far as the eye could see. There were bands in Basel as well, but the difference was that these bands marched parade style down every street. They just kept coming and they were all dressed in amazing costumes with giant masks. Lorianna took a ton of pictures, but I don't have them, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Speaking of Lorianna, I really enjoy her company and we just hit it off. We have been hanging out a lot and she is just a genuine person and lots of fun. She likes to go out and do things, which is something I felt like at home I was lacking. She is older than me, so she has some advice and things, but always very helpful. She even helped me put together our bookshelf and kitchen table and collected my work from school when I was absent. Just little things that for someone I just met seem like a nice gesture.

So the move, it was a long day Monday. We got up very early to get things done. The BKW (Andri's employer) gave us a moving van for free and even paid for the gas for the day, so we had it in our minds to take advantage of it. We moved everything in a few hours and then went to IKEA! aka the cheapest household store in the world, which made it perfect for starter supplies. We aquired some very nice pieces of furniture at some Brochenhäuse (thrift stores) this weekend, so we only needed some bookshelves and lots of little things that were inexpensive like pot holders, cookie sheets, hangers and so on. We spent three hours there and they were glorious, although Andri was sick, so not so glorious for him hah. He was consoled with a heeping plate of Swedish meatballs in the cafeteria for the time being. We went to a few other stores out in the suburbs as well on Monday because that was the only day we knew for sure that we would have a car.

Then the fun started: putting stuff away. Actually, I thought it was really fun, for the first three or four hours, then it lost some of its glitz and glam, but I kept with it. We were moving and unpacking and shopping from about 7am to 9 or 10pm. This was quite an accomplishment, so we decided to treat ourselves to a falafel/kebap and a beer. I made some very cool candles out of some pyramids I got in Mexico and Guatemala for the backyard. I have a feeling that the backyard/garden are going to look pretty similar to a Latin American hostel, which would in reality be flippin' awesome. I can't wait to buy plants and start making it look cute, but right now I have to direct my focus to one thing outside:grass. I need to get grass(seed). Once that is taken care of I can move on to other aesthetic pleasures.

I am going to Vienna this weekend and I am really excited because I can use my German a little and see one of the great European capitals. I am looking forward to the ferris wheel (from "Before Sunrise"), their famous chocolate cake (whose spelling escapes me at the moment), Austrian beer, cafes and Fleamarkets!!! Hopefully I can find some nice things to put in the new apartment while out walking for ten hours a day. heh. I will write when I get home and post pictures, assuming we have internet by then.

viele Grüsse
Brittany

P.s. If there are spelling errors it is because everything has a red squiggly line underneath it because I am in the German media center and don't care to read and correct. :)