And that leads us to... Friday! Again, Nicolas came over (he's a househusband, that's how he was able to come help us during the week!) and picked up Joyce, Alice, and me. We went to the church to make preparations for lunch. Someone from the church always makes lunch for people of the church and people in the community. It was a small group that day, but we sure had plenty of spaghetti and hot tomato sauce to go around! =) And ice cream for dessert. WOW! If I hadn't had my cute little apartment in Old Town to come back to... I would have stayed in Switzerland!
After lunch and clean up, I talked with Holger for a while (the preacher there). He and I had meant to talk more extensively that morning about mission work in Switzerland an elsewhere, but he had an emergency come up that morning and we had to postpone. We did have a good discussion Friday, though. He told me about a website where I can take Bible courses online for free--woohoo! Between that and German lessons, I'll be pretty busy this summer and fall! :)
After lunch, Rosanna (again, from church) took us to the grocery so we could pick up a few things and took us back to the Steinhauers'. Again, I took a nap! There was a minor problem with a leak in Alice's room (coming from the top story of the house, probably from rain), so Rosanna went to investigate and cleaned it up as much as we could--never a dull moment! =)
Ben came to his parents' place that night to stay with us women (he and Chris shared the duty while their parents were away, just in case something went wrong at the house--ahem... rain leak-- or if grandma needed anything Joyce or I couldn't do. He and I stayed up talking for a while, and he let me try on some of his Swiss Army stuff! I meant to get a picture--so sorry I didn't! He let me hold his gun and put on his gas mask and everything. =) hahahaha. I love it!
Saturday was pretty great. Ben and I went to the grocery to pick up ingredients for Rocklette (um, I think that's how you spell it!), which is a Swiss specialty made with potatoes, cheese, pickled vegetables, and seasonsings. It was really good! Made me think of my daddy, actually. It's something he'd really love! =) Mr. Steinhauer (Dan's dad) joined us for lunch, and it was really funny watching him and Alice interact. He knows some English, and he's such a cute little old man! After lunch, Chris took the four of us out for dessert in Leistal, while Ben stayed home to work on his lesson for Sunday. I met back up with the guys that night and went to a movie (Dear John--because it was in English!).
We walked around Basel before the movie started, and the cooles thing happened... All the stores close at 6:00 each evening. The only things that stay open are restaurants and the movie theatre, basically. Chris and Ben told me there was a Gummi Bear store, and while it was already 6:00, I had to go at least look in the window! We started singing the Gummi Bear cartoon theme song, which just tickled me because they knew it! My brother Jared and I used to watch that show every afternoon when we were little! Anyway, the little man inside the store saw us gawking at the window, and he unlocked the door to let us in! So of course we had to get some. I got apricot-flavored gummies! =)
And what did we do after the movie? We got ice cream! =) Whew. Quite the exhausting afternoon, folks! I love it!
Sunday... my last day in Switzerland! Church was great. We all had breakfast together at the church, then had class and the sermon. It was so sad to have to say goodbye to everyone, but Lord willing I'll go back soon! Pina gave me a curtain from her house that she'd embroidered. I had commented that it was pretty when I was at her house for supper that one night, and I was shocked when she gave it to me! Kathrin gave me a t-shirt that says "Switzerland" on it and eidelweiss from her garden! People aren't allowed to pick eidelweiss in the wild, but she knew I'd wanted to see some, so she gave me a couple of blooms out of her own garden! I'm drying them and will hopefully frame them to put in my new apartment! =)
A few of us ate lunch together, and then we went to one of the last places on my list of things to see while in Switzerland... Three Corners! It's the place where Switzerland, France, and German meet, right beside the Rhine river! I got to stand in three places at once! =) Nicki, Chris, Ben, a guy I'd just met named Gabriel, and I went back into downtown Basel then to go up in the tower of the cathedral there. Whew! Talk about some narrow hallways and steep stairs! It's very old (just like everything in Europe!), and it was quite a hike to the top, but what a view! I kept waiting for a Hunchback to come bounding down to ring the big bells! =)
And then came the most difficult part... I had to say "gut nacht" (goonight) and adieu (goodbye) to Joyce and Alice. I'd have to leave early the next morning, before they woke up, so I wanted to make sure I said goodbye the night before. Chris and Ben both said Alice would miss me when I left--and I miss her, too! She and I have a very similar sense of humor--one that totally transcends the language barrier! We could just look at each other and start laughing. I love it! Lord willing I'll see her again soon! =)
So that's that. I left with the guys on Monday morning and they dropped me off at the Zurich airport. I hopped on the plane and landed at Dulles later that afternoon. It's funny that it was June 21--the longest day of the year. It was even longer for those of us in the plane because we gained so many hours coming back! =)
Thanks for stick out the journey with me! Lord willing, there will be more Swiss Adventures to come! =) Love y'all!
Adventure Whit
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