Hospital, Family and Adventures

13 april 2016 - Biel, Zwitserland

Its been a while since I have written anything, so much for trying to keep a blog. I kind of lacked inspiration to write, probably due to the fact that nothing exciting was happening to me for some time. I had another asthma attack about a month ago, which kind of got to the point where I couldn`t walk, talk, eat or sleep anymore, so I went to the hospital, got some oxygen from a breathing machine and some medication. I stayed home for two days and ended up with a fitness level of zero. Not so great. Slowly I started to build up my condition through walking and some yoga. Together with rest, medication and work-outs I now finally have my energy and condition back, but man it made me feel like an old person and I`m only 21.

Having lived in multiple places is an amazing opportunity but can also be hard at times. I guess I, along with many others like me, do not like to focus on those aspects. But, at one point I guess I felt homesick, but homesick to what? That is the question I asked myself. I never like thinking about this, as it seems difficult to talk about, but did I miss my parents in Barcelona, or my friends and sister in Holland, or just the idea of having people you love around you? I let myself think about it, but what was the use for that, because I am here and they live there. You can`t change that. I then came across an article about third culture kids and there was one sentence that struck me: ``we are only temporary players in everyone else`s world. `` I hate this sentence, because I know there is truth in it, yet I am determined not to become just a temporary player. All this negativity contributed to me getting sick. But, I decided not to bicker any longer and create something new and worthwhile for myself here. So, since that, this is exactly what I did and now I started loving the place.

In March my parents, little sister and two dogs came to visit me. Sadly, the first day it was raining, so there really wasn`t that much to do. Nevertheless, we were all together and the Swiss Käse Fondue was amazing and probably made me gain some pounds (oops). When the weather finally cleared we hung out in Bern like the typical tourists and saw the hotel my grandmother worked in when she was my age. Later, I showed them Biel, as one dog is too old to walk and one too lazy we ended up carrying them (probably was a funny sight, dad carrying a Chihuahua, but who cares, it was pure love (even if people wanted to sneakily take some pictures)). We were lucky the second time around of going up the mountain, that it wasn`t foggy and we could see the mesmerizing view over the city and glaciers when we went on top.


Even though my sister said she would rather have gone to the Maldives (diva), I think she had a pretty good weekend. She`d better get used to visiting her big sister during vacations, because I decided I might stay away for another whole other year. Settling down somewhere is something I can always do, but for now the world still has my heart, so why not?

This past time has really been about exploring the Swiss culture, after the fondue I ate raclette (Swiss delicacy). Basically it is gourmet and then instead of cooking in the pan, you melt cheese in it and use it as a topping (so, like a smaller version of cheese fondue). Last weekend we decided to enjoy some Swiss pastimes, so as it was an amazing day to go outside, we decided to  build a fire by the lake. Considering my friend and I both come from the city and never made a fire before I should say we can be proud of ourselves. It took about 1.5 hours to even get our little pyramid of wood to catch flames and then another half hour to keep it burning while looking for more wood. As big logs were nowhere to be found we had to keep looking for wood like every 15 minutes... I have a feeling we looked really stupid whilst trying to make this fire, but it doesn`t matter! After we speed cooked the sausages over the fire, the guys put up a slackline between the trees. I had never seen so many grown people walk on a rope for fun in their free time. But hey, it is better than just sitting around and being on social media and just sitting around when hanging out. Despite it being incredibly hard, the five minutes that I tried were fun hehe.

I`ve been here for nearly three months, and with just three months left, I think this place is really starting to grow on me. When I think about I recognize things of all the places I lived in before in this town. Maybe that is just my imagination, but it makes it feel like home to me. The people here seem to be really laid back, the place is beautiful and I still enjoy my internship. I should definitely still travel through Switzerland, but I am sure that will still happen.

2 Reacties

  1. Gerrit J. Elverdink:
    13 april 2016
    Lieve Elisa
    Geweldig verhaal en we begrijpen alle gevoelens heel goed.
    Zijn volgende week al bij je om alles nog eens goed foor te nemen.
    Je doet het geweldig hoor; zijn trots op je.
    Liefs en tot volgende week.
    opa/oma
  2. Peggy:
    13 april 2016
    Hee meis, wat leuk om zo een beetje op de hoogte te blijven van wat jij allemaal aan het uitspoken bent. En vervelend dat je zoveel last kreeg van je astma, niet leuk . Maar je wilt dus langer blijven? Of heb ik dat verkeerd begrepen? In ieder geval heel veel plezier, zowel met je stage als je verblijf in Zwitserland! Liefs, Peggy.