I took Art History - v. difficult to understand the woman who taught it at first - v. thick German Swiss accent. I was late (shocking, I know) and a bit concerned when I first arrived that I'd be sitting through 2 1/2 hours of only listening to her speak. But to my delight, we soon switched to viewing slides of various works of art and discussing "What is art?".
I then limped home and created tremendous blisters doing so, as I had unwisely chosen a cute but never-before-worn pair of shoes. Thank goodness my next class, that afternoon, was to be Spiritual Bellydancing and shoes were not required.
Bellydancing class was v. fun yet somewhat embarrassing at first. The teacher was great - much more into having us feel the music and doing what came naturally than giving specific instructions and techniques. This tactic is good for me I think, but also v. challenging, as anyone who knows me knows that I like direction and to know what is expected of me. I want to know the right way of doing things... (easier to break the rules when one knows what they are.)
The teacher brought in skirts and scarves and jingly hip-waist-y things for us all to wear. Not having much of a waist, the skirt she chose for me was (not surprisingly) a bit snug. It seems she thought I was a bit smaller than I looked and gave the adjustable waist skirts to the larger women in the group.
So there I was with my muffin top shakin it like I was alone in my room at 12 and pretenting to be Olivia Newton John in Grease when I look out the window to see a handful of men outside the neighboring building on a smoke break staring at us - their eyes obviously glued to our large studio window. At this point I shimmied my way to the other end of the room where the table with a pitcher of water and glasses was located, poured myself a glass, drank it and planted myself at that end of the room for (almost) the rest of the class.
In the last exercise she had us blindfold ourselves - so that we were not self conscious - and put on the really rockin' belly dancing music. The best part? She maneuvered us individually around the room so we would not bump into one another or walls/windows/poles, etc.. and guess where I was placed? Yup. Right back in front of the window. When I took the blindfold off, the same idiots were standing there, still smoking, still gawking. So I took a bow, of course.
Took 2 art classes - Mosaics and Charcoal drawing. Both lots of fun. I have done a little work with mosaics before just playing around on my own and found this class atmosphere great.
Lots of chatty women from early 30s to 70s. I sat next to one woman who grew up in Brookline, MA and just moved in September to ZH from Manhattan and another, from San Francisco who had just moved to ZH a few months ago from Park Slope, Brooklyn - v. close to where I had lived in Brooklyn. She is pregnant and almost exactly one year younger than I. Her husband is an environmental scientist. We had a great talk after the class and pretty much decided to be friends. (This sounds silly, I know but our conversation kind of went that way. We both had limited expectations of the week of classes and merely hoped that we would find just one woman we liked enough to perhaps hang out with.)
I had not finished my mirror when the class ended so I needed to take some tiles home with me and go buy some tile cutters and glue. I guess my design was more detailed and the peices smaller than most others in the class - that's why it took longer ... (it was not because I was talking too much ... I know what you're thinking...)
Charcoal drawing was fun too. I am by no means an artist, but I love to do artistic things. I'd say I'm more crafy, though I hate that term and the fact that it's so overused and trendy right now ... anyway. This is my 'peice'. Bidding starts at 100 CHF. I take PayPal and cash only.
Moroccan cooking class was yummy. We got to drink wine while cooking, always a good thing and I learned about degerming garlic. I had no idea. Why did no one ever tell me about this before? Apparently the germ in garlic and even onions is the bit that causes some people's bellies (mine) to hurt. I was so thrilled to find this out and am on a mission to see if it holds 100% true. I'll keep you posted.We made Moroccan Lamb Tagine, Couscous, Eggplant parcels, and Baklava. I was not sure I would like all of it as it was very black olive, nut and coriander heavy - all of which I'm not usually that fond of - but wow - all together and in this menu - amazing. If you come to visit us, this will surely be one of the meals you'll get!
I think I may join the American Women's Club of Zurich after experiencing this week. A good time all around and I met a handful of women I think I might just have to tea in our new place!
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