A difficult sight to wake up to everyday...
It is hard to imagine that today is the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the US...partly/mostly because I am in a country where I have seen zero....0....law enforcement or signs of a military. Whereas New York buzzed with police of every size, shape and color...Switzerland...for obvious reasons...is not part of the remembrance. We do have about five kids who reside in or go to school in Manhattan. This afternoon we had a moment of silence as a group and it was obvious that the New York kids had their minds elsewhere. As I participated in the moment of silence, I could not help but be ultimately disappointed about where we currently are as a country. The division that exists among people, parties, politics, etc. and the inability to find 'common ground' ultimately are what drive me to be as apolitical as I have ever been. Ah yes....but I digress.
Vertical...as in...not horizontal
A lovely train ride through forests of pine and grasses preceded the ass-kicking hike that followed...yikes...how I longed for the Incline!
A view...one of the hundreds along today's route. That's Zermatt below.
Truthfully, it is difficult to document...digitally...the trip we had today. Every time the trail changed direction, the view changed. It is difficult to NOT see the glaciers that dominate the landscape. It is also NOT difficult to see how the glaciers are receding over time. KR, the director of the program, told me today that the glacier is easily 500 meters shorter than it was just 10 years ago. Scary.
My amazing Emme...fitting right in!
Emme has completely assimilated herself into this program. In fact, she may take up to three classes...math, English and art history...with the rest of the students beginning tomorrow. She has befriended most of the girls...or they are at least adding her to whatever they are doing. And she has surprised me with her physical prowess. Not one time today she hang back or slow down. She is an amazing kid...and I am a lucky dad. As you can see from the photo above, we had quite a walk today. This was the halfway point...a break for lunch. A lovely sight to help digest our food.
Yet another Christmas card photo...please print and enjoy!
We were very close to the top at this point...France on one side, Italy on another and Switzerland behind us. While you are staring at these beautiful children, please notice the glacier in the background. Below the kids was about a 1000 meter drop to the valley floor. A simply amazing view...breath-taking as they say. I am thrilled to say that the kids actually smiled on their own at this point...no gun was pointed at their heads!
The entire group...balanced and holding on
Here's the last photo of this blog...promise. What struck me about this picture was how the 'point' of the group of kids matched the 'points' of the neighboring mountains. I thought it was pretty cool! The reality is that this entire experience...all two days of it...has been a cool experience. We have 88 more...can't wait to see what we do tomorrow.
How cool if Ems could do some classes with the older kids! I know she can hold her own in English and math...and I hear that the art history teacher really likes her.
ReplyDeleteI like the "point" picture too--nicely composed! I think you've become the official photojournalist of this expedition.
I like the picture of DJ and Emme together.....not many siblings so close in age get along that well. I certainly didn't with my sister!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Heather, my sister and I were not getting along well at that point in our lives.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are wonderful!