A Special Treat

My neighbor, Suzie, has a subscription to People magazine. She is kind enough to share them with all of us expats when she’s done. It’s a happy day when I get one. Her husband came over tonight to have a drink with Matt, and he didn’t come empty handed. He brought a few beers and four People magazines with him! Let the boys drink. I’ve got some reading to do.

Television

Our TV time is pretty limited over here because the programs are mostly in French or German. Every once in a while we’ll be surprised and find a show that’s in English, like Two and a Half Men (called Mon Oncle Charlie) or That 70’s Show. We’ve started to watch television shows on DVD to help with this. Most of my expat friends are watching trendy new shows like 24, and Lost, with their husbands. Not the case at the McCarthy household. I get to watch something from the early 80's with my husband. Matt recently received a gift from his mother – the first two seasons of Magnum PI. You know, the one with Tom Selleck – bushy mustache, Hawaiian shirts, fast cars and lots of women in bikinis. He’s watched two episodes so far. That’s two hours down and 44 more to go!

An Afternoon in Lausanne

My friend, Andrea, and I went into Lausanne for the afternoon. It’s about a 10 minute train ride from Morges. We had two stops on our agenda – an English book store and Starbucks. I loved the book store. It’s so nice to be around books with titles that I can actually read! Our visit to Starbucks was just as good. I had a chai iced tea latte. It cost me seven francs for the smallest size, which is equivalent to 6.50 US dollars. A little on the expensive side but well worth it. We stopped to see the Cathedrale Notre-Dame, too, since it was on our way. I read that it’s the biggest church in Switzerland as it’s more than 300 feet long. I also read that a night watchman continues to call out the hour at the top of the tower (225 steps up) from 10:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. Lausanne is the last town in Switzerland to continue the watchman tradition (according to my Rick Steves’ guide book).

Sausage in Switzerland

Matt loves to go to the market to buy garlic sausage on Saturdays. He has a hard time ordering in French, so he will often times stand there with his hands spread wide open to indicate how much he wants. He gets some serious sausage, like two or more feet at one time. While my parents were here visiting, we took them to the market and Matt demonstrated his ordering skills.

After returning from their vacation, my mom was explaining all this to my 4-year old niece, Rowan. My sister, Lisa, was out of the room and did not hear the story. The other day when Lisa put Rowan's breakfast sausage on her plate, Rowan said, "Matt's sausage is bigger than that." When Lisa asked how Rowan knew this, she said, "Grandma told me." I wish I could have seen my sister's face! Lisa immediately called me and asked how our mom knew the size of my husband's sausage. Hee hee.

Sometimes a Girl Just Needs a Burger

It’s been five months since I’ve last enjoyed a cheeseburger. The hamburger here tastes different, so we’ve given up the search for a good burger. We’ve come to terms with it being just one of those things that’s not the same as back home. A burger from McDonald’s is the one exception. So, my friend, Jen, and I ventured out to McDonald’s today for lunch. We struggled to order our food the last time we tried this. I thought that this time around it would be easier since I know more French than I did five months ago. Guess I was feeling a little too confident. The McDonald’s employee had no idea what I was trying to say when I ordered my value meal. I even got an eye roll from the girl. Some of the simplest things can be so darn difficult here! It was worth the pain though. I enjoyed my cheeseburger.

Weekend Hike

Matt and I ventured out for a walk on Saturday. Who knew there was a beautiful chateau so close to our apartment?! These are some of the things we saw on our hike... This is something we heard on our hike...

Twilight in Switzerland

Last weekend I had my girlfriends over to watch the chick flick, Twilight. For those of you who are not familiar with this book (and now movie), it’s a young adult love story with a vampire (Edward) as the lead character. It’s not just for teens. Thirty-something year old women like it, too! A friend’s parents brought the DVD with them from the States when they came for a visit. It was a fun evening with appetizers, wine, chocolate, vampires and good friends. (Matt says this blog entry is boring but I think our readers need to know that we stay home sometimes and aren’t always off in exotic places!)