Zurich
Alright I've been negligent in my updates but a lot has happened in the last few days.For now, an update on my trip to Zurich:
I spent last weekend visiting family in Zurich. I've wanted to visit Switzerland for some time -- in part because of my friend Marina's tales of the country, and because cousin Sara has been living there with Yura and Inna for several years now. This weekend was a particularly opportune moment to make the trip because of the overlap with Ann, Tony and Shelby being in town to celebrate Sara's end of chemo party.
Overall it was an easy trip from Barcelona, just 1.5 hours by plane -- funnily enough I was the shortest person in the row of seats, squished between two very tall (at least 6'5") European men in the very back of the plane. Yura was kind enough to pick me up at the Zurich airport and we headed to Sara, Yura & Inna's apartment in Leimbach for a lunch of indian food followed by swiss chocolate and espresso.
In the evening we split up, boys stayed at home to be with Inna while the ladies headed to the party venue to get set up for the event the next day. Tony grilled dinner while Yura and I took a walk around the neighborhood with Inna. We then took on the task of decorating macaroons to look like breasts to match the theme of the party for the next day which segued in to a long conversation with Tony about the precariousness of my current employment situation, and the pros and cons of sticking it out vs jumping ship.
After the ladies got back Sara walked me over to her friend Ricardo's apartment where I would be staying. Sara and Yura have really built a community of international friends in Zurich, many of whom are colleagues from Google and several who live in the same apartment complex in Leimbach. On the community note, Sara was saying that everyone under-estimates the impact of "positive vibes" or "thoughts and prayers" as our american politicans might put it on our abilities to navigate difficult times, but for Sara and Yura's family it seems like being able to rely on friends, family and community for things like sharing cars, extra bedrooms, food, office space, medical insight, shared experience, emotional support, positive energy and... thoughts and prayers, has made a big difference in navigating Sara's treatment for breast cancer over the last year+, and concern for Yura's family who have been living through tumultuous conditions in Ukraine over the last 7+ months.
It was moving to see Sara and Yura's Zurich community show up in full force the next day at the party. Yura, Tony, Inna and I took a bus to the venue which was in a community center in Wipkingerpark, right next to the Limmat river. I used the tram ride to continue peppering Yura with questions about the way Zurich works and whether things are as good as they seem -- more on that below.
What must have been 40+ people showed up to the event -- we were treated to a bbq lunch prepared by who we learned after the meal is a world-famous bbq chef who won some sort of international grilling competition in Tennessee. Sara gave a moving and thoughtful speech, and Shelby led the group through a secular prayer she'd written. It was nice seeing some people from Sara & Yura's wedding in Ukraine in 2019, and meeting new people such as Andreas and Theresa. Theresa grew up in Beltsville, Maryland near Ann & Tony but has been living in Zurich since the early 90s and works as an artist in Zurich's Langstrasse neighborhood which she explained is roughly the Zurich equivalent of Amsterdam's red light district. Andreas is a business attorney from Zurich who wrote his masters thesis on the American Federalist papers. More reflection on our conversation in "things about Zurich" below.
The party eventually wound down and I caught a ride back to the apartment with a few of Sara + Yura's neighbors. Early bed time that evening, and the next day Sara, Shelby and I headed up a gondola to hike the ridge to Uetliberg which felt like a pretty epic mountain to me, but according to my new friend Simone from Black Bonzai who lives in Geneva, is more of a small hill. We were immersed in fog for most of the hike but passed plenty of interesting things (water fountains, agriculture, private gondolas leading to grandiose mountain homes, huge spiderwebs and massive trees) and still caught some epic views of Lake Zurich. Sara treated us to a lunch of Schnitzel, fried fish, mini samosas and french fries and from there we caught a train to Zurich's Hauptbahnhof station to take a photo with the famous flying "Guardian Angel" sculpture made by Niki de Saint Phalle, and part ways -- Sara & Shelby to head back to Leimbach and me to head back to the airport to return to Barcelona.
After an airport beer, a plane nap and an hour or so on the Renfe, I arrived back in Canet de Mar and treated myself to tuna tartare (basically poke without the rice) from Hostalet de Canet which is becoming my favorite place to eat here.
Things about Zurich I thought were interesting:
Everyone talks about Western Europe having a lot of things figured out from a public services standpoint, and spending some time in Zurich I was struck (especially coming from Philadelphia) by the absence of trash, visible homelessness, addiction, pollution and poverty. There is a general sense of public health, safety and ease -- trains, trams and buses are everywhere, they run consistently and on time, the public waterways are so clear and clean compared to post-industrial cities in the US, and I learned there is virtually no gun violence even though almost every man is given a personal gun upon completion of mandatory service.
Yura explained that homelessness is illegal in Zurich. Unlike the US, it is simply not an option to live on the street. I'm curious and still don't have all the details on what happens when someone gets caught in addiction, is struggling with debilitating mental health issues and / or is otherwise struggling and without a personal support system. Are there proactive systems in place that reach people before they get to the point of homelessness? I imagine part of the answer has to do with the country's system of insurance -- apparently (and I may not be representing this 100% accurately) everyone pays in to the system at a fixed rate per month based on income, which spreads costs over the population and makes access to care more affordable for those who earn less. I also learned from my conversation with Andreas that almost 1/3 of the housing in Zurich is owned by co-ops which are democratically governed ownership structures able to purchase land from the government typically at a discounted value, which enables the creation and preservation of relatively price controlled housing supply. Yura did indicate though that there is a high level of anti-immigrant sentiment in Zurich, so much so that there is an annually held protest against immigrants in May, that results in cars being overturned and trash burned in the street. I thought that was interesting context for the next tidbit which is that apparently there are good systems in place to support refugees, but not necessarily all immigrants, such that if you were a picked up as a non-citizen experiencing homelessness or addiction without just cause for being in the country, there is a chance you could be deported. Probably not much different from the US in that regard.
Tony explained to me that for the buses, trams, trains, and gondolas, which are the most effective means of transport for every day life, while you are supposed to buy tickets, the transit system basically runs on an honor system, and it is very unlikely you'll get asked to show your ticket once on board, but if you are asked, and you don't have a ticket, or the appropriate ticket, you'll face a steep penalty; first offense = $200, second offense = more $ and a 6 month ban from transit. This way of doing things was summed up well by Shelby later who described Zurich as a place "where everyone can have a great time as long as everyone follows the rules."
Last things;
- Dogs don't really bark and are trained extremely well. It is not uncommon to see dogs off leash in public and on public transit.
- Kids walk themselves to school from a very young age and receive training on how to navigate public transit, crosswalks, find help if lost etc.
- There are public drinking fountains everywhere that are just perpetually spraying water.
That's all for now. Thanks for having me Sara & Yura, hope to update everyone on my past few days in Canet soon. Also everyone please wish my mom a happy birthday.
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