First day of arrival...phone service and internet = null

Today, we took the Métro* to my apartment at Ochettes and moved my bags. Only one roommate has moved in thus far; her name is Mansoureh and she is purely francophone from my understanding. She is studying linguistics and literature at the University of Lausanne. She is very friendly and welcoming and has invited me to share most of the household items like the dishes and pots. In the kitchen, we have a sink, an oven/stove, and a small counter. There is no microwave or dishwasher, so I must get used to longer food preparation on a regular basis as well as efficiently washing dishes. The oven also has many buttons that I do not understand – instead of words, the settings are in pictograph form : heat on top/bottom, heat on bottom, heat on top, broil, etc. The rooms are spacious and the windows are different from those in the States. They have blinds on the outside, and only the top part of the window opens.



*One great incentive about staying in hotels in Lausanne is that they offer you a free public transport card for the duration of your stay. Thus, you can take the metro or the bus for free almost anywhere in the city. Think of all of the money you save on a rental car!

Our recycling program is interesting in that they have a compost bin, glass, cardboard, tin, aluminum, and plastic, which is much better than the offerings at Iowa State. All we have to do is go downstairs to the basement, or “la cave,” and drop off our recycling and trash. They also offer a bicycle parking, which also encourages my environmentalist tendencies. (Stay tuned for pictures of these facilities!)

After having dropped off my things at Ochettes, my mom and I went in search of a Migros, one of the local chain grocery stores. We stopped at one near the Métro station and compared prices to those in the US. Obviously, things are more expensive in Europe…5 CHF for a red pepper can give you an idea. Even after purchasing mostly the Migros budget brand items, we spent over 30 CHF on a bag of groceries, which included lunch for the day and some household items needed for my apartment.

I experienced a problem on my first day of arrival – my Swiss cell phone got lost somehow in the chaos of removing my luggage from the overhead bin of the airplane. Thus, I had to spend today in search of cell phone providers, not necessarily sure what would entail a good rate or not. I tried three different Migros stores, a Co-op hypermarché (a very large grocery store that was bustling with people on a Saturday afternoon), and a Manor grocery store. Sadly, none seemed to carry a phone. However, I thought I was in luck when I spotted an InterDiscount store a block ahead. They sold a pre-paid phone for about 30 CHF with some minutes added. Unfortunately, when I asked the store clerk if I could purchase the phone, she claimed that the phone transactions were closed for the day and I would not be able to purchase one until the following Monday. I have subsequently decided that the city of Lausanne does not wish for me to be able to contact people via telephone. Perhaps I will try another grocery store or the post office in the next couple of days…unless we can track down my vagrant phone.

After having no luck with the phone, I pursued my next endeavor – obtaining a public transportation card. The train station reminded me a bit of the DOT….one of those “take-a-number” charades that involves standing and waiting amidst crowds of people shuffling in and out of automatic doors and listening to the constant “ding” of the queue. In addition to the heightened sense of chaos in the train station, I had a million butterflies fluttering in my stomach from the constant stress of speaking a foreign language and navigating foreign streets.
I never thought that I would see the day where I longed to find a Wal-mart to simply have a store with everything I needed at a low enough price that I didn’t care about the quality. How hard is it to find a comforter and a pillow? IKEA can be reached by commuter train and then bus and then by foot, but that would take over an hour to reach the destination. Besides, all of these specialty stores pride themselves on Swiss quality, which is great unless you’re on a major college budget and desperately long for secondhand prices.

Along with frustration comes a sense of appreciation for what Lausanne does have to offer. For one, I cannot imagine better scenery than snow-capped mountains, a glistening blue lake, houses and hotels with astounding architecture, and an assortment of happy-looking farm animals. One thing that reminds me of Iowa that I never thought would be true – there are sheep farmers a block away from my apartment building, which is a pretty surprising similarity to the horse barn next to the Frederiksen Court apartments. I also seem myself becoming accustomed to this beautiful weather, something which often seems unfamiliar in the state of Iowa. The air is crisp and clean, and there is very little humidity. I actually enjoy the rain and the slugs on the sidewalk; it gives me a chance to break in my raincoat.