Summer Daze of Our Lives, Part III

Hello friends and followers!

Well, another month has passed, we’re moving into autumn and October. Oxford is sunny but chilly, the leaves are changing, and the city is redistributing its population like an aging man redistributes his hair – we have a thinning tourist hairline and students are sprouting up in unexpected places. And I’m still back telling you about July! Well, I’ll do my best to catch up a little…

Last time, on Summer Daze of our Lives… Alyssa, Anya, England, camping, ball, punting, Switzerland, Zurich, Walenstadt, mountains, bikes…









The next day we packed up a lunch and set off up the mountains on the other side of the lake (which looked even more vertical). We didn’t know what to expect, especially given that the mountain looked like a vegetated cliff, but found a beautiful hut serving traditional Swiss lunch and found out that you could also stay in these huts for a reasonable price. Thus we started devising a plan that included a long loopy trek with an overnight at a hut. We were still debating exact routes so decided to take the following day off to plan, swim, and rest. We woke up to… rain, and more forecasted rain. We sadly canceled our trekking plans and decided to head back to Zurich a day early. It’s not much fun to sit in a tent in the rain in a crowded campsite full of screaming children – a local summer circus camp for kids was hosting its final show at our campsite and the kids pretty much had the run of the place.












We arrived in Zurich just in time to miss the last spot in the cheap, funky, downtown backpacker hostel. We were advised to catch a bus to the International Youth Hostel. Bus, hah! The Wechslers don't do buses! Three miles and three heavy bags later…


ANYA: The hostel is just a little further on, I’m sure. What a nice walk!


ALYSSA: I knew we should have called a cab. Wait, you found blackberries?! All is again right in the world…






The hostel was out in the boonies, no kitchens, no nearby restaurants, and definitely not Walanstadt mountains. Still stuck in mountain mode, we asked a hostel worker about “non-touristy” things to do. We ended up having a grand walk/run up a mountainy-hill on the edge of the city (where, incidentally, I’d been three years before while visiting a friend in Zurich while on vacation during my French study abroad…) We went downtown for the afternoon and met back up with Fritz, Martin’s dad, for a coffee and a chat. We then headed back toward the hostel we'd heard about a gig at a nearby venue in an old, edgy converted warehouse. It was “some little American group…” None other than Michael Franti and Spearhead!!! The venue was cozy, and we were literally right at the stage. We saw an absolutely fantastic show, got a hug from Franti at the end, and on our way out struck up a conversation with Manas, the drummer. In the end he signed some drumsticks for our brothers and invited us backstage for a drink. We hung out in the tour bus and green room, chatting with the other band members and roadies. They were all such interesting and engaging people! No drugs or weirdness, just a few beers and great conversation. Manas had an extremely interesting perspective on what it's like to grow up in Nigeria and then become part of an internationally-known band. We exchanged numbers and email addresses with him and headed back to the hostel for a few hours sleep before our flight back to England. As an epilogue, the band just played near Missoula where the family got VIP backstage passes, and Manas hung out with them for the opening band. We all hope he can come back to the mountains soon so we can take him camping (but only once I’m back from Oxford!)












Back in England, I had some dissertation work to get done, so Anya headed off for a couple of days to a WWOOF site near Totnes in Devon. Totnes was recently described to me as “the crusty hippie centre of England,” and while Anya seemed to enjoy the short time she got to spend in the town, her WWOOF experience left something to be desired… lots of rain and little food. But she’ll have to tell you those stories! We then met up at a WWOOF community near Hereford that you will all be hearing much more about because it is one of my dissertation study sites. A beautiful old converted Georgian manor house and stable block on 40 acres have been converted into private flats for about 45 adults and a bunch of children. As a community, they work and play together, growing vegetables all year in several passively heated greenhouses, hot houses, polytunnels, and a walled garden that always reminds me of The Secret Garden. They also have cows, goats, sheep, chickens, and turkeys. We spent five days there working, learning, observing, drinking tea, and eating fabulous fresh food.
Since I could spend a whole separate blog talking about each individual day, I’ll do just that! I will soon be setting up a new blog about my research. I’ve realized that each day, both on and off my research sites, I learn about people’s perceptions of sustainable development, but I quickly forget details unless I talk about them and get comments from others. A research blog will likely be less interesting in terms of “what’s up in Oxford” but more interesting in terms of learning more about what I am “researching” here. Hopefully it will provide an outlet for my mental mutterings and a venue for research participants (from communities) and others (friends, family, colleagues, advisors) to comment. I guess this is what blogs were traditionally set up to do… amazing! I will be sure to let you know when it's up and running.

But I digress… We have come to the end of Alyssa and Anya’s Europe adventures in “Summer Daze of Our Lives.” However, only five short days after Anya flew home, I followed for some Wyoming lovin’ of my own! More on that next time.

Like sands through the hourglass…

Alyssa and Anya