New country: Switzerland

 I have friends who live in Zurich, Switzerland and though I haven’t gotten to see much of them in over a decade, they assured me they were happy for me to come stay as much or as little as I liked. How lovely! When planning my trip I decided to head to Zurich from Senegal, to stay perhaps 4 nights. After that I thought I might go to Italy, and I started my trip without a solid plan for my return - I just knew I’d be home before American Thanksgiving in late November  




After over 3 weeks in Africa, I was looking forward to the more familiar-feeling world of Europe. I didn’t know anything really about Zurich and had no solid plans for my stay - I figured with a home base amongst friends, I could wing it a bit. Unfortunately a few days before my arrival, my hosts came down with Covid! BUT amazingly my friend’s friends agreed to host me - a total stranger! - at that short notice. I wasn’t really sure what it would be like, but I sure didn’t want to pay for a hotel in notoriously expensive Switzerland, so I gratefully accepted their kind offer.




First, though,  I had to get to Switzerland! The only flight option was a red-eye from Dakar to Zürich, with a 4-hour layover in Madrid. After spending 3 weeks trying to use Swahili and Samburu phrases in Kenya, and trying to excavate any French i might have for Senegal, I was totally off-guard being in a Spanish-speaking airline and country for a few hours. My brain just felt maxed already! (transiting Madrid airport at 4am didn’t help either…)

I finally arrived in Zurich at 11am and needed to occupy myself until my hosts could pick me up at 6pm. Fortunately I’d rested on the plane and felt okay (landing in Europe already on a close time zone is great!), though my brain was a little slow. It was so nice to just take my time figuring out customs, and then how to get the train from the airport to downtown Zurich. After the hustle bustle of Senegal and negotiating for cabs, it was magical to pull up an app, look at a timetable, and buy a ticket. Once I got to the central train station I checked my heavy duffle bag into a locker, downloaded a walking tour, and started exploring the city. 




It was a nice day and it felt good to be in a city in a first-world country - I feel a little sheepish about it, but it was good to have traffic patterns I could understand, building styles that felt familiar, and I realized how comfortable it is to look like the majority of other people on the streets. I never felt unsafe or unhappy in Africa, but I could feel my otherness very keenly there. In Europe I can blend in (until I open my mouth!).

I pretty much wandered the streets, got a quick (20-dollar!!!) meal, and waited til it was time to go meet my hosts. I realized right away that I had gotten super lucky - they are originally from India, were amazingly hospitable, and their homemade dinners were fantastic. I was even there over Diwali and celebrated with them!

Switzerland travels to be continued. 

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