So I am in Switzerland right now, for a study abroad program, gettin’ down with direct democracy for a couple of weeks. I promised Mekhami I would try to write once a day on what I was doing, so here’s the first part of achieving that goal.
Just so you know, I’m on a German-language keyboard right now, so don’t expect my usual literary greatness. And I’m still jetlagged. Our first flight to philly was delayed, then our flight out of philly to Zurich was delayed. Not fun, but I did get to know some of my fellow students better (woo 4 hour card games in the terminal!). Finally got here, local time 8 am, and had to take a tour of the city and shit. It’s amazing and historic and all, and I^ll have pictures for you when I^m back home, but, I was damn tired.
Got a three hour nap, then back to historicity. Eventually, we went to dinner at this very upscale, traditional place, where I had the Alps equivalent of fettuccine Alfredo with caramelized onions. Very awesome, if I spoke German I’d give you the real name.
The real fun came at night though. One of the girls just happened to be turning 22 today, so we went out to celebrate. Most of the bars we found were too small for the size of our group, but eventually we ended up at the best gay bar ever, a place called Cranberry. It was a little awkward, but the B-day girl wanted to stay, so that was that. We got some chairs together in the upstairs pool hall, and about this time I decided that I needed to get over my awkwardness of crashing someone else’s scene, and fast. So I ordered a shot of absinthe. That’s right, my first legally purchased alcoholic beverage was a hallucinogen from a gay bar (background: absinthe , in addition to alcohol, has thujone, which makes you trip. It’s illegal in the US. Also, this was my first legal drink because I’m 20 years old, and in Switzerland, the legal age is 16 for beer and wine, 18 for spirits).
Absinthe is cool as hell. At some points my brain was racing like on speed, sometimes very happy about silly details found on the side of beer bottles and the floor. My self-reflection was severely reduced, making me easy going, unembarrassed, and accepting of everyone. Especially accepting of the lesbians making out in the corner. Yeah. Anyway, absinthe also made me very happy with my fast heart rate, the nation of Switzerland in general, and with the constant activity of my peers around me in particular. Simply describing the trip to them was a rush. About 20 minutes after I took it, two of my friends decided to do it. Expectantly, they tripped their asses off as well.
So that’s Switzerland day one. More to come, expect the unexpected, cause i didn’t see tonight coming.
Enigma Engine. 
I want absinthe.