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I am not sure one could create a country any more different from Sudan than Switzerland. It was perhaps a good thing that I “eased” my way out of my life in Khartoum by visiting Kenya and Tanzania before heading to this Alpine country. Still, it was almost shocking when I landed in Zurich International Airport and saw a timer next to the baggage claim belt announcing how many minutes remained until our bags appeared. Really? They can know this stuff? In Khartoum I always just hope my bags appear at all…
This was not my first time in Switzerland (actually, I think this is my third visit). But I never cease marveling at how bizarrely efficient this little country is. Like the proverbial Swiss clock, everything runs according to schedule and is closely coordinated. The transportation network is the example par excellence for how well this works. You can get almost everywhere in the country by train or bus, with connections timed to minutes. In most other places I get slightly panicky if I have a short connection time (what if my plane or train is a little late, and I miss the next leg?), but here I can
breath easily even if there’s a five minute – or less! – turnaround. I know the train/bus will arrive at the appointed time; I know that the next train/bus will leave on schedule, too. This system made it a breeze to get to Liechtenstein (see previous entry)– from Zurich I took one train to Sargans, another to Buchs, and then a bus to Schaan (the biggest “city” in the principality); total travel time: just over an hour.
I used the rail network fully during my week and a half in the Confoederatio Helvetica, slingshoting around the country to see friends. Mostly using Zurich as a base, where I stayed with my globetrotting friends Semra and Tamer, I visited Lugano, Lucerne, Burgdorf, Bern, Geneva, and Lausanne, plus making that brief excursion to Liechtenstein. Eight locations in ten days!
There are some other rather major differences, as well. In Khartoum, it can be hazardous to one’s health to go on a simple walk, let alone for a run, due to the combination of extreme heat, gaping holes, and crazy drivers. It makes it hard to stay healthy. But go anywhere in Switzerland, you will notice that the Swiss enjoy their
unbelievably beautiful natural surroundings to the fullest. It seems a national obsession to use any free time to head into the mountains to go hiking, biking, and climbing or out onto one of the pristine lakes to swim or sail. It is impressive to see so many retired folk all kitted out for the great outdoors, hiking poles in hand, gathering in the morning at the train stations, preparing for a day on the trails. Somehow I have a hard time imagining many 65+ year old Americans doing the same. I constantly remarked to my friends here how I marveled at the overall fitness of the Swiss people.
On one particularly Swiss day, my friend Chris and his family shepherded me out of Lucerne for an “easy” hike up – and down – Mount Riggi. The day was one of the warmest of the season, somewhere around 35C, the sky bright blue without a trace of haze. The snowcapped Alps marched across the horizon, while the relatively flat plains of central Switzerland were laid out as clearly as a topographical map. We stopped for an early dinner at a rustic Swiss farmhouse/guesthouse perched high above Lake Lucerne, tucking into
a rib-sticking meal of Apfelmakronen (a mix of pasta, potatoes, cheese, and bacon, served with apple sauce!) and a ginormous plate of meringues smothered in rich cream. (Perhaps this is why the Swiss are so active - they need to burn all those extra calories!) After descending back to Lucerne, Chris and I decided to take advantage of the long summer day to take a quick, cooling dip in the lake (riding bikes there, of course).
At other points, I went for swims in the brisk mountain-snow fed lakes and rivers in Zurich, Bern, and Geneva, enjoying how clear the waters were, despite being so close to urban centers.
Even beyond such outdoor activities, I reveled in being able to walk (and walk and walk) around the cities. Every Swiss city is highly pedestrian friendly, often laced with designated walking paths. Being in Switzerland made me realize just how much I miss being able to walk freely and widely…
The other major difference I couldn’t help put note was of a more political and cultural bent. Since independence, Sudan has been riven with divisions of all sorts – ethnic, linguistic, religious, political, and various mashings of all.
Indeed, in just a few days, the country, currently the largest in Africa, will split in two. There are also horrendous atrocities being carried out in places like the Nuba Mountains. Little Switzerland, however, manages to juggle FOUR distinct national languages while keeping the country a generally peaceful whole. On one side of a mountain, people might speak Schweizertutsch (Swiss German), while on the other, Italian predominates. Yet they are all Swiss, and proudly so. Also, while there is an obvious military presence in Switzerland, it is not menacing as it is in Sudan; here, the army is meant to uphold the country’s fierce neutrality – NOT go to war.
Of course, not all is paradise. Switzerland’s efficiency and peacefulness comes at a price. Change seems to be viewed with a fair amount of suspicion (“hey, it might disrupt the system!”); immigrants often don’t feel completely welcomed (although the foreign population is quite high, especially in the cities); and the cost of living is through the roof (a plain old cup of coffee often cost me more than US$6)... Overall, the country can feel a little insular. However, the world is encroaching on Switzerland and it is gradually becoming
less and less a "sonderfall" (a “special case”) in Europe.
Still, there is still much that is special about this mountain retreat. For me, at the very least, it proved a great way to detox from a year in Sudan!
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