Love the car and the hair!

Today was one of the first weekends, I've had the same level of independence I have in the states...well convenient independence that is. I was here for the weekend, rare but nice, and I decided to check out one of the school cars. I hadn't done this before because I didn't realize we could check out the only one that is automatic. Frustrating, that I can't drive stick.
Friday night, before I had the car, I went to dinner at a student's house. The father works for Harley Davidson and was transferred over here indefinitely, but then received a promotion and now they're moving back to the States. The husband has already moved back, so his wife Brenda is here with their two boys to finish the school year. They live high rise complex, in an area near the lake, called Paradiso. I went home with the kids after school and then Brenda and I walked from their place downtown to shop around. Afterwards, we ordered Chinese food from a nearby restaurant and enjoyed eating out on their terrace overlooking the lake, complete with a jacuzzi, ping pong table and nice relaxing lounge chairs. It was fun hanging out, talking to Brenda and seeing what the boys' home life is like. Everything was great and relaxing until this huge spider decided to fall down and land in my hair. As Brenda said, "OH MY GOSH," I became a little nervous, until she swatted it out. It was then crawling along the ground, and I am not exaggerating it was about an inch wide. I was glad she hadn't screamed, oh my gosh there is a huge spider in your hair. Every bug here is just always about twice the size. It was fun sharing stories, especially when living here we've been frustrating with a lot of the same things. When we were finished with dinner I was supposed to go into town to meet up with some girls for Stacey's (old roomate) birthday. Brenda came too, since she knows another mom that Stacey is good friends with also. What I thought was going to be an early night, turned into quite an entertaining one, hanging out at this bar called B&B and then stopping in at our favorite restaurant/bar, Retro.
This morning I woke up eager to start my weekend with the car. Amazing how much you appreciate what you don't have. I started by running all my errands, but before I left I had to remind myself that it's actually illegal to drive in flipflops. Even though I probably could have pulled it off, the nervous nelly in me told me it was better to be safe. Then finding parking was a tiny challenge. I decided to stick to what I knew best. The funniest part is waiting to get into some parking lots here, instead of letting you enter and then find there aren't any spots the ticket machine only allows cars in when spots are free. It actually works quite well. Another funny part or actually good part of the lines, is that while waiting the cars actually turn off their engines. So swiss. I really do enjoy how people do their best to not be wastful here. Swiss people are amazed when I tell them how all Americans buy in bulk. Everything here is fresh, which means it goes bad faster, but it's also good to know it's not loaded with preservatives. They definitely leave minimal carbon food prints. After I found parking and ran all my errands I went to get my haircut for the first time since December. I've been hesistant to go because I've heard horror stories about people that went to salons where the hairdresser didn't speak English and they came out very unhappy. Today I went to a lady named Deborah, who Brenda had recommended. She was amazing, lived in London and Milan for a few years each and speaks good english. There is also a estetica place next store, where they do waxing and pedicures and manicures. Definitely a good find and something I could have used earlier in the year. It was such a treat and I'm really happy with how she did my hair. Then rest of the day I spent enjoying the sunshine. The forecast had said rain earlier in the week, so when I awoke to the sunshine it was a blessing. Now I'm just trying to decide what to do with a car next. It's such a change! Tomorrow some of us are off to Valle Maggia for a hike, as long as the weather cooperates.