JustJess
When I wrote in previous chapters that cooking is gonna be a big topic of my whole journey, I was not joking. Because cooking for 3 kids, when each one of them loves and hates different things is… well sometimes nerve wrecking. But I am getting used to the feeling that I can’t always please all of them. They are all happy only when I make pasta. But seriously… my most favourite days are those when we don’t eat pasta.
It’s not that I don’t like pasta. I am just not used to eating it so much. My pasta limit back in the Czech Republic was 3 times a month. Now it is 3 times a week… sometimes even more. And for the girl who is used to meat based cuisine with heavy sauces it is quite a change. I feel like my body is turning into pasta itself.
But eating so much pasta also has economical reasons. Even I (momentarily a pasta hater) buy pre-made pasta with fillings for weekends simply because it’s cheap. There is a big difference when I buy 3 packs of spinach and mozzarella filled ravioli for 7 francs and eat it for 4-5 times and when I buy 250 grams of chicken breasts for 10 francks and have it for lunch and dinner. Meat in Switzerland is very expensive and it is not a big surprise that it is not on the daily menu for everyone. But as long as kids love pasta everything is okay. I will have to get used to it. At least until I will learn more a la Swiss recipes.
What I love here for example are quiches. Back home I was not cooking them much because I had to make my own dough and then make some filling which took a lot of time but here? My host mum thought me a very quick form of quiche. She just bought phyllo dough, heated up some cutted vegetables with eggs and plain yogurt, put the mixture on the pastry and baked. In 20 minutes we had a great dish which everyone loves. I also figured out that it works great with spinach and pieces of mozzarella. God bless the person who came up with phyllo dough.
But the thing I can’t figure out here is baking. Back home I was used to baking a lot but here… it never turns out the way I want. The biggest mystery to me is flour. They have many types of flour – for Christmas cake, for bread, for cake, for spatzli etc. But in the end it’s all white plain flour. Back home we have basic 3 types of flour – plain, semi-coarse and coarse. Here? Nope, I am completely lost without semi-coarse flour. Not to mention that in every desert I bake I can taste the eggs which is… leading me into throwing that desert away most of the time. This is making me truly desperate and I feel like I never knew how to bake in the first place. I will probably have to buy a cookbook with Swiss dessert recipes… or give up on baking. Not sure which one it’s gonna be.
With the third week of the stay my working schedule finally went into full speed. Kids started having their free time activities and I started switching between a nervous cook and a taxi driver. Two of my duty afternoons in week look like this: I am driving one kid to the activity, just to come back for kid two and drive them to another activity. Then I am coming back for kid one, dropping them home and taking kid tree to activity while picking up kid two. And then I repeat the process.
Well that was of course exaggeratedly said but let’s say it looks something like that. My kids really have a lot of activities and I am happy for them. When I was growing up, we didn’t have so many options or I didn’t know about them. Or I was too much of an introvert to participate in any activity but that’s whole another story.
Driving here in Switzerland is a bit different than home. There are a lot of roundabouts. I am not exaggerating when I say that 60% of all crossroads are actually roundabouts. In our city there are lots of small ones, with just a big red round centre that inconspicuously suggests you are not on a crossroad. But near our city there are a few double roundabouts that are seriously making my brain boil. Especially at peak times.
Another different thing about roundabouts here is that you are also using the left blinker if you are not leaving the roundabout by the first exit. From what I understood, it is not really a rule but 95% of drivers are using this signalization and other drivers are expecting you to use it. Because if you don’t blink left, they assume you are leaving by the first exit and they will go. I saw a few situations where a driver did not use a left blinker and almost ended in another car. I really can’t wait for the Czech drivers to tap their foreheads, when I come back home and I will be using both blinkers on roundabouts. I know exactly what will be on their minds: “WOMAN BEHIND THE STEERING WHEEL!” 😀
Generally said, a driver in Switzerland needs to be even more cautious. For example pedestrians have absolute priority and people here and not really stopping at the crosswalk to look if they can go. They just go. But they also mosty wave at you to thank you for stopping which is nice. Also there are lots of places where parking lots are taking practically half of the traffic lane. So if there is a car in the opposite direction you have to wait till it’s gone (logical). Or the driver on the other side is nice and will let you go first. Which is happening surprisingly often. I can hardly imagine something like that happening at home. Most likely the drivers would be complaining about cars parking there and slowing down the traffic and it would end with cancelation of those parking lots. But here? I am in Switzerland! Drivers are mostly polite and tolerant to others. Which is inspirative and in the Czech Republic… probably not applicable. But maybe I am wrong… I hope I am wrong.
Anyway, aside from my Au-pair duty I also have my free weekends. An ideal time to unwind and explore the area. My original plan for Sunday was to head into the mountains and finally see the place from a different perspective but… the weather forecast said it was going to rain, so I decided not to risk it. Instead I came with a back up plan – Festival Images Vevey, which just started on Saturday 5th of September.
I consider myself lucky, because not only that this festival is only once in two years, but also the covid restrictions were losen enough for the festival to actually happen. Not like most events this year. So I feel like I am again, at the right place at the right time.
The concept of Festival Images Vevey is practically an open air museum. For 3 weeks in September the city is full of photographs from internationally known authors and it shows the best of contemporary photography. You can find images in large formats on building facades, in smaller exhibitions in parks but also in museums.
This year’s topic was “Unexpected. Le hasard des choses”. Authors built the Biennale around chance as a common element which is connecting chosen art works. Some artworks were coming around this topic playfully, some seriously and together were showing unexpected moments in life of society.
The Biennale had 49 stops scattered around the city and it was little too much to take in in one day. So I went to see only part of it, knowing I will come back in following weeks.
On my way through the outdoor expositions, I stopped several times by the metallic structure with plexiglass, placed by the shore of Lake Geneva. The installation full of colorful images was playfully showing mountain Grammont, which is rising on the other shore of the lake. Author Penelope Umbrico used her mobile phone to take photos of snapshots of the mountain she found on social media. Then applied filters through mobile application and resulting photos printed on plexiglass. It is an interesting idea, placing the reproduction… of the reproduction in contrast with the original object. I wonder who has more views. Photos on social media? Colorful reproductions on Biennale? Or mountain Grammont?
Another very interesting series of photos were “Diving Maldives“, by Edoardo Delille and Giulia Piermartiri. Authors combined underwater photos of divers and undersea life with photos of inhabitants of Maldives at their homes, work and other daily life places. The combination of deep blue under sea water with people’s daily lives created a poetic but also anxious view. Authors were pointing at the fact the Maldives will be likely one of the first countries to disappear due to climate change. According to research, 80% of the archipelago will disappear under water until 2050.
I must say I love the idea of being outside while taking in works of art. It brings another dimension of perception and makes me think of art again as a part of public space. Which should be somehow automatic but… I doubt it is anymore. How many times do we stop in the city to admire a sculpture or architecture? Not many I guess… because we are too busy with work and our phones. Events like this are reminding us to look around and take in things. Even though we have to make time for it.
Funny fact to end with:
While walking the Biennale I stopped at a stall to have a kebab. And I didnt like it. I mean… it was great to finally have some meat but… I guess my life will never be the same after being used to eating at Roy Kebab in Brno. I really miss that damn fast food.
