I’m fine using squat toilets and I think they can be more sanitary than Western-style ones.  In India I preferred the squat toilets when using public facilities. However, Indian squat toilets could not handle paper waste and solid waste needed to be flushed manually with a little water bucket.  The Swiss squat toilets had a flushing system in place, however this caused unpleasant splashing.  It was nice to be able to flush, but I did not appreciate the standing water.  After I left, every time I got a whiff of something gross, I was afraid something splashed me that I missed and it was me producing the odor.  Fortunately, it wasn’t and I was good to go.

When I arrived, I was given a temporary badge which will be replaced by a badge with photo ID on Monday.  The site is secure and guarded and all buildings (that I’ve seen thus far) require card access.   Pretty much all of the buildings look the same, so I have to orient myself by the cafeteria to know where I’m going.

Everyone is really nice and helpful and they speak English.  I’m really grateful for an English speaking environment because I know so little German.  I’ve been placed in the Management Services of the Computer Science Department.  I first learned that my supervisor was in the CS Dpet, I freaked out because computer science and coding is not my forte.  Fortunately, my project does not involve coding or software development and I’ll be analyzing human-machine interactions.  (Totally not what I expected to do, but I think this demographic work could be interesting.)  It’s also great that my manager is incredibly knid and the members of my team that I’ve met seem really energetic and friendly as well.  I think it will be a good internship.

Writing about India wasn’t all that successful (neither were my experiences in the UK if you consider how long I was there and how little I wrote).  Part of that may be the result that I only had internet access every couple of days or that I wrote most of my experiences via email or IM so they never appeared here.   Hopefully Switzerland will be better…

At the market a few days ago, a friend and I were looking to buy scarves when a man approached. He was a vendor we had met earlier and he was (still) trying to sell us his wares. As part of his pitch, he commented on how pretty we were. “Very pretty,” he kept saying, “you’d be beautiful if only you wore eyeliner”. And then he went on to explain that Indian girls were dark eyeliner and with our pale skin (also valued), the eyeliner would make us beautiful.

It was an odd conversation to have on the street with a stranger, and what struck me most is that of all the girly things he could’ve chosen, eyeliner was the one that struck him the most. His construct of beauty involved pale skin and eyeliner. In the States, I feel tanned skin is much more prized and I don’t know what the eyeliner equivalent would be. Only if I wore eyeliner.

Cars have the ride-of-way so pedestrians must dodge traffic which adds new problems to the mix. (We almost saw a small boy hit today as he ran out in traffic to cross the street.) Traffic lights are usually only functional at large intersections so traffic delays and jams are frequent. (On New Year’s it took 40 minutes to move 2 blocks…) Two-lane streets are usually 3-4 lanes and two-lane highways can be up to 6 lanes. (People will drive on both shoulders if possible.) I don’t think turn signals are commonly used (I honestly have trouble remembering if I’ve seen them used at all) but honking is the mode of vehicle communication. The driver’s hand is never far from the horn and he honks as a warning, as he moves, while turning, before and during passing…etc. (aka all the time). Streets also aren’t labeled, so it’s near impossible to tell where you are or where you’re going. I would never want to drive here–one for fear of my life and for fear of others.