30 May 2008

day three: vv


victor vitanza. The man. The myth. The legend. And I'm back in his class. But let's back up...

Josh and I start our day with a brisk walk up the side of a mountain. Well, nearly. We start down a path headed away from town -- a direction we've not yet explored. Before too long, we come to a fork in the road. We start with the left, but soon decide that the steep pitch and muddy path are a bit too much for 7am. We retreat, start again, this time to the right. This takes us back, around, and through, until we find a resort of sorts that appears to be undergoing renovations. Oh, and a ridiculously steep drop off the edge of the mountain. We head back.

Class begins at 10am (making morning walking and then breakfast completely reasonable), and I find myself once more preparing for the vitanza experience. I haven't had this directly since my first year in rcid. At that point, after each weekly class, I'd call my dad, alternately excited for the mind-blowing knowledge and experience, or crying, convinced I'd never make it through this. Two years later, all ABD'd, I'm more optimistic with those prospects. But here, I'm faced with v for three hours, twice a day, for three days, and all on Lyotard (a French post-structuralist philosopher perhaps most known for his work on libidinal economies and the differend). I quickly realize that I'm not the same pre-scholar who walked into Clemson; I follow (as much as one can) v's moves, the theories unfolding in fits and starts, gestures, asides, tangents and word play. The sheep bleating outside fit nicely into the whole experience. This is going to be fun.

29 May 2008

day two: adventures in Saas Fee

After much delightful sleep, we start our first official day in Saas Fee, all leading up to the opening meeting for egs that night. Our meal plan begins this morning, and I'm exceptionally glad to see many bowls of cereal. There's also dried fruit, fresh-baked breads, soft-boiled eggs, and more, but I'm glad that my love affair with cereal can continue on the continent.

Josh and I have the afternoon free, so we explore the little town a bit more. It's not as little as first imagined (learn about Saas Fee), but it is lovely. I exchange some money -- Swiss francs are quite colorful! -- and we go to the grocery store. We've been warned about the tap water causing some gastrointestinal bloating issues of sorts... so I bought bottled water. Called me a consumptive American if you must. It's better than the other option here.


The afternoon continues with more reading, emailing, lunch and then dinner. We meet some people, Victor arrives, blah blah blah.

Finally, all egs-ers gather in the hotel lobby for the opening remarks by Wolfgang Schirmacher, director of egs. This is an exciting performance. We are encouraged to peruse and discard our books, to take 20% from theory and use it creatively. Egs is a program in Media and Communications, and many students are painters, filmmakers, poets, and artists (of various sorts) in their own right. Now, I happen to be quite fond of my books, and don't really subscribe the same philosophical approach -- but I'm excited for the ride.

28 May 2008

day one: the arrival

Though our travels to egs began the day before, I'll start this story post-boring travel anecdotes...

8:50am
The plane touches down in Zurich.

I've slept in fits and starts though the short night (and prior day) of travel. After retrieving our luggage, Josh and I venture down to the trains, below the airport. We negotiate ourselves to our train and, after a short wait, settle in for a few more hours. The train from Zurich to Visp cuts across much of Switzerland -- but i miss most of this in more napping. I am twice chastised for putting my feet on an empty seat. Damn wish to stretch out...

noon-ish
Arrival in Visp without incident; now, a bus awaits us. For this hour long journey, I'm away and taking countless pictures as we wind up the sides of mountains (see more pics). The country is beautiful -- high peaks, deep chasms, waterfalls, buildings that show the epitome of my conception of the Swiss chalet. But mostly, I think about hte numerous heart-attacks my mom would have riding along these roads. And I'm grateful for our highly skilled bus driver.

1:15pm
We pull in to Saas Fee in the early afternoon. It's cloudy and drizzling. I've realized that I managed to forget all hats but my baseball cap. Between that and my hoodie, I'm excessively Clemson-ed, and freezing. Silly girl.

Maneuvering to the Hotel Allalin is a challenge. We're directed by a German woman who gestures vaguely towards streets -- various streets. We walk up and down the steep hills, feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, the altitude, hours of travel, and odd meals. Eventually (thank you Josh and the Information Office!), we find our way, check in, and are sent for another endless walk to our new apartment (for the next three weeks).

The apartment is nice -- and the same that Justin and Jason had last year (which I realize from the creepy pictures of seemingly-dead children in my bedroom. They were previously described in great detail. Justin did not exaggerate.). We unpack and venture back into town to forage for food. Saas Fee is primarily a resort town, one which is predominantly closed right now, and is rather expensive. Even for not-terrific pizza. Oh well. Upon return (realizing our apt. is not that far when not lugging bags), we're pretty much done for the day. I read a bit of Lyotard to prepare for class on Friday. I'm quite happy to stretch out, unfettered, in a bed, lying down to sleep, snuggled into heavy, warm feather blankets and pillows. I do, however, wish I was not allergic to feather blankets and pillows.