Mountain Lakes & Dalai Lama in the Park

Lake Oeschinen

Lucerne

This weekend, Megan & I decided to take a trip to the mountains.  We whimsically sat at our computers googling/pinteresting images, until we found this image. And when you live in Switzerland, if you find a place you want to go to, you just do it. 

We took about a 3 hour train ride to Kandersteg, an amazing little town in the valley of an incredible & huge mountain range, the Bernese Oberland. Before getting there, we got lost.  It turns out that some trains actually split in half, then go opposite directions.  We were on the wrong half.  There were two women sitting next to us speaking German.  We hesitantly whispered back and forth, "should we ask them?" "where are we?" "what's going on?"

Finally, I resorted to asking the lady sitting next to me... "Parlez-vous anglais?" soo..I asked a German woman if she spoke English in French. 

*face palm*

We ended up finding our way. 

Above is a photo of a little church in the town.  The leaves were beginning to change colors and we stopped several times without speaking just looking up towards the mountains and feeling the season change. 

 When we first got up to the mountain, this is what we saw.  It brought tears to my eyes instantly.  It looked like a painting.  Everything was so still and calm.  I don't think Megan or I finished a single sentence for the first 20 minutes we were on top of the mountain. It was all, "oh my" "what" "how is this" "I don't.."; there were no words.

It looked as if God had placed his index finger in the middle of the mountain and like Moses parting the seas, the mountains had shifted in response.  I couldn't believe this is earth.  This is the ground we touch, the ground we feel.  The earth is so magnificent.  It is shifting, changing, molding.  There is no stagnancy in its existence. 

We began hiking towards the lake.  There were all kinds of mountains on all sides of us.  We walked towards beautiful, expansive snow peaked mountains. 

The earth was shifting slowly and calmly into new colors, new foliage, new sounds. But it felt calm and mellow and everything was at peace. There was an erie stillness.  The sun shone perfectly through the trees so you could see a couple small insects floating almost too slowly through the trees.  It was some other land.  It was mystical and magical and there are absolutely no words. The trees were tall and it was difficult to feel anything but irrevocably small.

Then we arrived at the lake..

We sat on a rock by the crystal clear, blue water and ate avocados and sandwiches.  We talked about family and friends and things that made us happy.  We talked about things that made us sad.  We discussed how we couldn't believe we found each other.  Megan is so calming.  Not only is she my ray of sunshine, but she soothes me in a way I haven't experienced often in my life.  She listens so intently and shapes the things she says around your perception.  She's so insanely intelligent and can't say anything but kind words.  She's the most pure form of positivity there is.  I love to talk about religion and philosophy and life with her.  If there is any legitimacy to the phrase an "old soul", she is the closest thing to it.  She teaches me, not just because of the things she reads, but because of the way she is.  She is a tool to find goodness.  Everyone should have a friend like Megan in their life. I can't believe I found her.

We hiked further up the mountain and it only got more and more beautiful.  We were joyously intoxicated by the earth's beauty. We laughed and were loud and silly, alone climbing a gloriously magnificent mountain.  I indulged in so much friendship this day. 

 Lucerne

That night, we caught a late night train to Lucerne, a beautiful city of about 79,000 people. It sits amid beautiful snowcapped mountains and is the epitome of a storybook swiss town. It had covered bridges, markets, and beautiful architecture. 

We got there at 9 o'clock and began walking, but we soon realized our hostel was a little bit outside of the city. We began to enter a less lit, less populated area and we could feel ourselves walking a little quicker.  It sucks, we realized.  Had we been there with the guys, we never would have thought twice.  It wouldn't have even been a concern, but as two young girls walking late at night in another country, it was scary.  It sucks that in the safest country in the world, I still feel threatened as a result of my womanhood.

We found our hostel and it was a very hip, quaint place with good music and comfy sofas. We settled in for the night and ended up discussing politics with a backpacker from South Africa for about 2 hours.

The next morning we ventured out into the city.

We shopped in the markets and people watched until finding some Lebanese food.

Then we went to find a very famous memorial in Lucerne the "Lion of Lucerne".  It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. Mark Twain once called it "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." 

We sat on the ledge to finish our ice cream and to avoid the crowds and Megan pointed out how all the tourists were smiling, taking pictures with this memorial.  She said, its weird, right? This was a memorial for people who had died.  Real people who lost their lives.  But since it wasn't their country and it wasn't in the last 100 years, we think it's some tourist attractive to be smiled with and to be "seen". Why do we discredit the severity of death just because it wasn't recent? It still happened. People still died.  Nothing is different except how we are affected, but since when is a memorial about us??

When I looked at the memorial, really looked at it, it was so so sad. I've never seen any kind of art encapsulate sadness like this did. Mark Twain was right.

Then we went to a Jesuit church; it was the most beautiful church I have ever set foot in.

Traveling can be hard.  Planning can be stressful. Busy cities can be overwhelming. 

But friends are always good.  Parks are always a good place for a nap.  Music will always soothe the soul.  Sunshine will always give renewal. Ice cream will always taste yummy.

We found a park next to the lake.  With the mountains behind us, clear water in front of us, and a blue sky above us, we laid down for a nap.  I played Explosions in the Sky on repeat and we both fell asleep within minutes.  When we came to 30 or so minutes later, I laid on Megan and we read the Dalai Lama's How to practice the way to a meaningful life. We contemplated what it meant to truly replace anger with love/compassion and how to go about affecting people on a global scale through teaching knowledge.  Filling holes with knowledge and people with understanding. I was so perfectly content.  It was such a perfect Megan & Haley weekend, with both of us working on exactly the same wave length the whole time. 

Oktoberfest in Zurich

Oktoberfest

This weekend, we traveled to Zurich to partake in Oktoberfest festivities. Zurich is a huge global center for banking & finance. It's a beautiful city with old architecture, but similar to Geneva, that you can spot a man in a suit in any direction.

Google images provides a much better depiction of the whole beautiful city than my iPhone 5s (the picture below)

We walked along the river & found a market full of crafts, trinkets, and antiques.  Emmy & I made out with a pair of $8 mom jeans, two rings, and a multitude of uncomfortable "do you speak english" encounters.

We found a man playing polka music from a box along the lake.  As we placed a few coins in his hat, he thanked us with a smile & began a new song.  We were all laughing and happily enjoying the sunshine.  CJ and I grabbed hands and attempted the poorest polka I've ever seen, but we laughed and danced shamelessly and relished in friendship.  What it is to be unashamed.  My french sucks, I can't dance,  but I love my friends, I love laughing without fear, and I love dancing on random streets in a strange city with a man playing polka from a box. 

We then searched for a "cheap" place to eat brunch.  As we all day dreamt about big American breakfasts, we were losing hope until finally we found a small cafe that served omelets & croissants.

My favorite thing about CJ (on the right) is that even in Europe at a nice cafe along a river, he will still order a milkshake.

After we finished our meal, we ventured out to find ourselves a pub, which indeed we did.

There was a band, pretzels, and oversized beers.  We cheered loudly, like Americans.  Especially when they played "I will survive".  We sang, danced and drummed on the table and cheers'd way too many times. 

Emmy quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald when I'm sad.  She makes me banana pancakes, she does a "wallet, phone, key" check every time we leave somewhere, she holds my hand on trains, she laughs freely, and she will destroy anyone in a political argument.   She begins every other sentence with "Well, I read an academic journal that said.." or "Well, there is this podcast series that explains.." or "I know if this experiment..".  I've never met anyone who I have honestly learned more about the world through.  Not only that but it's in a way that is open and from a perspective that is accepting. She's a frighteningly sharp, intelligent woman with a soft, gentle demeanor about the way she takes care of the people around her. Thanks for loving me the right way. 

Afraid to be alone [A knowledge post]

Afraid to be alone [A knowledge post]

In my experience, there are 4 aspects that go into the mastery of being alone:

Distraction

Presence

Energy

Goodness

Distraction

As an extrovert, I always find alone time intimidating. I oftentimes find myself restless or bored or seeking an activity.  So much of the last few years of my life has been activity-based.  When I decided to stop watching TV in high school, I had to cope with realizing that throughout my whole life, I had created "distractions". We all create distractions in our lives.  Distractions that could potentially consume us.  We are what we think of 80% of the day.  So if we spend 80% of our day staring out a window, thinking about make-believe scenarios, watching TV, reading a book, listening to music, we are not living.  Our personality should be an outcome of our core beliefs, loves, thoughts, and influences...not of distractions.  Why are we afraid of being present? Must we distract ourselves every minute of the day? 

Do not be afraid of the person you are when you are not entertaining worldly thoughts.

Presence

Between living in the future and indulging in the distractions, it is really difficult to stay present.  I want to laugh because someone told me a joke, not because I want to entertain the person's ego.  I want to listen, really listen to someone in an attempt to feel their emotion and experience, not thinking of my next response before they finish their last sentence.  

Presence is sharing.  It's sharing experience whether sharing it be sharing it with others or yourself.  I constantly forget to share experiences with myself.  If I'm on the top of the mountain, and all I use is words to describe how I feel, I'm not sharing the experience with myself, I'm sharing it with words I already know and sentences I've most likely already said.  If I'm on top of a mountain, I want to close my eyes, unembarrassed, and become cognizant of my heartbeat, the dryness of my tongue, the feel of the wind or the sound of the silence. I want to look at the speckles in Emmy's eye color or become aware of the way Megan's smile differs when she's happy vs when she's embarrassed or the memorize  the feeling of Adnan's hug.  

Becoming infatuated with a love for others and all the goodness that can be between two people. Becoming so infatuated with a love that is ever-present, that is us, that is God-given, that it consumes our entire being.

Share life with yourself in the exact moment that it is happening.

Energy

Note to self: Don't forget, you are not a separate entity.  Also, you are not in control of your life.  You are only in control of how you channel the energy around you.  Don't contend with your surroundings.  You are your surroundings. Let yourself be influenced by the energy surrounding you.  

Let yourself gravitate naturally towards what is good. 

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. 

Goodness

Saint Francis de Sales once said, "never be in a hurry".  It is in slowing down that I can feel reverence toward all that flows to and fro.  It is then that I can meditate on what feels good and right.  It is then that I can reach a sense of whole.  When I focus on [God]'s presence, the good is unprecedented. It is sturdy, strong, and surrounding. Goodness is not a feeling or an action, it is a calm, endless communication between the earth, [God], and you.

**For those without an experience leading to the observation of a God, God is placed in [].  God is as you wish. More simply, I refer to a presence that is wholly good.

Alone

I spend time alone.  I spend time by myself.  I do not, however, spend time "with myself".  Spending time "with oneself" is something different. I constantly preach gratefulness and appreciation to myself, but it really does boil down to that. If you spend time with yourself, you open up, you let go, you give in.  It's too exhausting to hide from yourself.  Don't forget that the open, transparent, vulnerable you..is good.

We derive from goodness, and that's it. 

I am not shamed. I am open to myself and I spend time with myself because I enjoy loving myself.

Being alone is just enjoying loving yourself.  Loving yourself is a feeling, a necessary commitment, but enjoying loving yourself is an experience. Take time to smile and feel the warmth in your fingers and enjoy the calm in a deep breath.

Enjoy one's love for thyself

Fam goes to Interlaken

Interlaken

The whole fam went to Interlaken this weekend, which is a small backpacker's town.  It's known as one of Switzerland's most famous towns for extreme sport excursions; ex: sky diving, paragliding, canyoning.  The hostel we stayed in was absolutely huge. It was called Balmer's Hostel.  Definitely the best hostel in Interlaken. There were at least 100 beds; there were large social common rooms, a bar, and a club. The hostel was very safe, clean, and had an incredibly friendly, fun atmosphere.

Sometimes you meet people that will dance with you, sing at the top of their lungs with you, embarrass you, mentally push you, and accept you because they're genuinely wonderful. Grant is one of those people that will ask why, will question things that need to be questioned and will be honest without hesitation. He also has a tragic flaw of not being able to resist himself from a good joke.  Here is a photo of my beloved friend and I wandering the streets at about 2am singing House of the Rising Sun while playing on a piano sculpture.  This was the middle of Grant yelling at me "Play a diminished chord!" ...It was one of those moments that you look at someone & think, "dang, I got really lucky."

The first day, Megan, Hannah (Megan's friend), Caroline & I hiked through three BEAUTIFUL towns in Switzerland (Between which were the Swiss Alps): Lauterbrunnen, Murren, and Grimmelwald.  It was so crazy going from the French side of Switzerland to the German side. In Interlaken, the people were so friendly.  We had full conversations with almost everyone we came into contact with. Much different than individual-minded, professionals in Geneva. 

Here are photos from our 10 mile hike.

There were huge waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen, one that we were able to walk through the side of the cliff & under the waterfall.

At the top of mountains, you can often find these water troughs. We think they're for cows, but I love them.  You can fill your water bottle up with mountain water.  I love being up in the mountains with no human interference, but there is also something simply beautiful about a small, unobtrusive man-made trough with life-sustaining mountain water sitting lonely on a mountainside.

The next day, we went to the top of another small mountain; it was early in the morning & we ended up being in the middle of a cloud, which was way cooler than expected. 

check: walk around inside a cloud

Interlaken was the funnest, most laughter-filled adventure thus far. If coming to Switzerland, put it on the list. 

Climbing Mont Blanc // Friends from home

Chamonix Mont Blanc
Sion
Geneva

I was accompanied by two beautiful people, Perian & Trinity this weekend who stopped through on their backpacking Europe excursion! (The back story is at the bottom of the blog!)

Thursday:
Chamonix - Mont Blanc
Chamonix is a small French town in the mountains. Mont Blanc is 4,810m. To give perspective, the Matterhorn is 4,478m & Mount Everest is 8,848m.

It was about a 3 hour train ride to Chamonix.  The town was full of hiker shops & little tourist stops. The weather was absolutely perfect.  The sun beat down on us, but we brought our winter coats in preparation for the altitude change, which was more extreme than I had anticipated.

Halfway up the mountain!

We stopped to watch paragliders take off.  We saw one glider attempt to take off before her parachute getting twisted & she had to crash land before running off the edge. It was horrifying. I'm not sure I'll ever be adventurous enough to paraglide off a cliff by myself, but perhaps someday.

The mountains were jagged & snow peaked.  The clouds just dusted the very tops of the tallest mountains (as seen in the photo above, the mountain to the left).

The mountainside looked like something off of Lord of the Rings. There were little caves and multiple times we found ourselves hugging the cliff's edge. The path was rocky & at times, there was no path to be seen at all.  We just trucked on towards where we thought the path might be.  The incline was crazy and we took quite a few breathers as the air got thinner and the weather got chillier. It was a really cool sensation because even though I wasn't particularly out of breath, my heartbeat was racing the whole time trying to adjust to the oxygen change.

The picture below is us at the very top! It was incredible. There is no feeling like being up in the clouds. Too high to see cars or people.  Just God's beautiful creation.  Sitting on the top of the mountain, my body happily aching with the usage of new muscles, the cold wind touching my blushed cheeks, and the distant sound of goats far off somewhere.  We sat in silence for a little bit, just absorbing. There were no words, besides an occasional "wow" or "oh my gosh" or "how is this happening", but how silly it was to pollute the experience with words and phrases.  I just kept thinking..it's silence that describes it best.  Appreciation is calm.  We must slow our minds to an extreme degree to practice gratefulness.

I kept hearing a quote from Mother Teresa somewhere in the faint outskirts of my memory.  I looked up the full thing when I got home..

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of silence. See how nature- trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.. We need silence to be able to touch souls."

Friday: Sion

The next day, Perian and Trinity wanted to see Castles.  They voted to go to Sion.  I had already been to Sion, but I had not been to the history museum within the castle.  We got there in the late afternoon.  We learned all kinds of cool history & then got to the castle in ruins when the sun was just peaking over the mountains.

After, we ventured down into the town & went to a cathedral, but as we walked in, we realized that we had interrupted something.  We ended up sitting in the cathedral listening to about 8 priests sitting facing one another sing chants in a "call & response" type format.  It echoed through the huge hall and we were the only ones in all of the pews.  We sat in silence & felt God's presence. The soft, French voices echoed gently.  He was there. You could feel it.


Saturday:
We spent the day galavanting around my beautiful, perfect city.

Lake Geneve: We sat along the lake with some sun bathers and naked babies, and watched the swans swim past while we soaked up the weather. Featured in the below photo: the infamous "Geneva Jet".

St. Pierre's Cathedral. We went into the largest Cathedral in Geneva, located in Old Town.  We paid 5 francs to go up into the bell towers & watch tower.  We felt the vibrations from the bells ringing & looked out at the entire town. It was beautiful.

 Geneva's Contemporary Art Museum

The cool thing about this museum is that it is inside of an old factory.  They don't paint it or gut the building because its about the smell and the experiences that happened in the building that makes it the way it is.

When artists come in, they let them tear down walls, paint, or do whatever they need to do to the building in order to create their art. It's not an "institution," its actually art.

THE APARTMENT:

There was actually a whole apartment set up in the museum.  The artist's only stipulation was that if it is not used and appreciated as a home, he would take it back. Now, every time I read the Dalai Lama, I do it sitting at a kitchen table in the middle of an art museum. How cool is that? How often is it that we get to become a piece of art that is admired by other people. Living art. It's like watching someone you love take a sip of wine while cook a meal or watching your mother tuck her toes in the crease of the couch or trying not to wake your grandfather as he sleeps on the couch. That's art. And they actually captured it.

MCM: Dan Flavin

Excerpt on Perian & Trinity:

All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir was a strange place where a bunch of nerdy choir kids went and met the best friends of their whole lives, sang a hundred hours a day, and cried from loving too much. I met Perian over 5 years ago. She doesn't follow social norms or care for superficial things. She's the kind of person who touches things at an art museum when she's not suppose to and enjoys obscure puns and laughs only when she means it.  The way that she loves people is pure and real and easy.  Her & her best friend, Trinity, are backpacking Europe & just happened to be passing through Switzerland when we crossed paths on social media.  Perian & Trinity were the perfect slice of home I needed.  They reminded me that its okay to be silent.  It's okay to be a little touristy. And no matter who you're with, you should never be afraid to say God's name. Life always works out if you let it.