SWITZERLAND: FARM TRADITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS
Rain, rain, rain! Our return to Switzerland was one rainy day and the next morning greeted us with more of the same! We drove along the southern shores of Walensee Lake before making a sudden climb up the hillside toward Glarus and from there on to Sool, a small community up in the mountains.
Our hosts, Thomas and Elsbeth, live in a reconstructed farmhouse that is directly adjacent to Thomas’ family’s farm, now owned by his brother. Sool is on a small hill at the edge of the valley with a 360° view of the surrounding mountains and villages below. Thomas, an engineer has done a marvelous job of creating a modern and attractive home in this historic structure. Elsbeth is the Switzerland coordinator for Servas and also works part-time in the local bank. They have two sons, Sven and Jan, who both speak a little English. Thomas owns Marti Engineering, a small robotics design company, which among other projects are engaged in major program for fabricating engines for Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
During our visit was the week to celebrate the return of the cows from the higher pastures in the Alps. Three levels of pastures up in the Alps are used, each with its own barn for cattle. As the tradition carries on; the valley farmers pay the Alpine pasture farmers to care for each cow and they then share the profits of the cheese sales. All of the alpine milk is made into cheese and this weekend was a time to display the fruits of the summer’s labor. As part of the celebration the cows are paraded covered with floral decorations and the head cows decked out with an unusually large bell. It was cold and rainy, so the parade was called off but the celebration and the sale of the new cheese went on in full swing. We were wet and cold but in spite of it all we appreciated the country fair atmosphere, the huge tents with the dinning tables and wide variety of cheese available to sample. We were even able to visit Thomas’ sister to buy some cheese that her husband made.
On Monday morning, finally the clouds lifted revealing a dusting of snow and the rocks and trees, with snow capped mountains above. We knew that the house had unusually good views; however when we looked outside on Monday morning the clouds had cleared and were able to see the mountains covered in newly fallen snow reaching for the sky in every direction!
Story: Submitted by Robert and Dorothy
Picture: A Host's farmland home.
UNITED STATES: A NEPALI TRAVELER'S FIRST SERVAS EXPERIENCE
I started my cataract charity bike ride to the west coast of the USA in Burlington, Vermont. On April 14th from Rutland, Vermont I had contacted my Servas host in Stillwater, NY, Eve Nagel, to stay there for one night. The morning of April 15th, I called my host again; I planned to reach Stillwater around 1:00 pm. It was windy from the west in the morning making it very hard to ride. I didn't have long gloves and my fingers were freezing. At 10:00 a.m., the wind stopped and the warm sun came out. I was riding on a village road and it was narrow, but there wasn't any traffic. In the village every house had one or more dogs tied up. When they saw me riding my bike they started to bark like, “Why are you in our village!” After crossing the Hudson River I reached Stillwater and I called Eve again. Her house was a little bit out of town. She told me on the phone that she could pick me up. “I have bicycle no problem,” I told her. I rode along the east side of Saratoga lake for about a half hour.
Then I saw Neilson Road. That was my destination, my host’s house.
Eve 's house was one mile from Saratoga Lake, away from the crowd of the city. There was a dog sleeping on the porch in the warm sun. When he heard the sound of my bicycle tire he came running near me. After she heard the dog bark Eve came out .She gave me a hug and welcomed me to her house. She was my first Servas host. It was almost 2:30 pm, I arrived one and a half hours late. I was very hungry and Eve knew that. “We are a vegetarian family,” she told me. “What kind of food do you like?” she asked me. “I like everything. When I get on the road, there is no choice,” I told her. She made me a sandwich with meat. I was surprised. They are vegetarians and they give meat to their guests. '”It is nice system,” I thought. Eva asked me, “How was it?” “It was nice,” I told her. “How about the meat?” she asked me again. “The meat was also nice,” I told her. “Do you know that was fake meat?” she asked. Wow! I knew that there was fake beer but I didn't know there was fake meat. Someday Americans will make fake man. But I'm not fake Servas traveler!
Pushkar Shah has spent the last six years biking around the global to promote peace. To hear more about Pushkar’s travels visit his website at: www.pushkarshah.com
Story: Submitted by Pushkar Shah of Nepal
Picture: Pushkar camping out without Servas!camping.JPG
JAPAN: A CONVERSATION WITH A NAGASAKI SURVIVOR
During his bicycle tour of Japan, Servas traveler, Robert Thomason visited the Peace Museum in Nagasaki with his Servas day host.
At the Peace Museum in Nagasaki I saw deeply moving videos such as the one about a school friend who stroked his severely injured friend on the back to encourage him and the skin of his back fell off. The friend, a boy, died late. No object can speak as a human being can. On May 9, 2002 I met with Masatoshi Tsunenari, a survivor of the Atom bomb and my Servas Day Host translated our conversation. He told us about his horrible experience with typical Japanese reserve. I learned that military leaders like General Eisenhower believed that Japan would surrender by the end of 1945 with no Atom bomb.
Excerpts from Masatochi Tsunenari’s story:
I was 16 years old in 1945. I was 1,400 meters (less than 1 mile) from the explosion. I was working in a military factory. On August 9th, I heard the air siren earlier than usual. I went to the bomb shelter. I had heard that siren everyday. Then the siren stopped so I went back to work. It was unusual that there was no antiaircraft gun sound. Just before 11am I was hungry for lunch. I saw an extremely bright light and bursting explosion. No time to think. I wanted to run out but I was frozen. I lost consciousness. When I regained consciousness I was in a different place. I was lying down on the concrete floor when I opened my eyes. Black smoke was everywhere. Like evening at 11am. I wanted to stand up. Tried to push with right hand to sit or stand but could not. Looked around. No one was there. It was smoky. I had bare feet. My wooden slippers had blown away.
Masatoshi Tsunenari is 75 years old today. If you plan to visit the Peace Museum in Nagasaki ask to speak with him and hear firsthand about his courageous and incredible survival.
Story: Submitted by Robert of Brooklyn, NY
Picture: Nagasaki Survivor and Servas Traveler
