Quiz Night

Yes, yes. I am woefully behind on blogging. Instead of working my way out of the backlog, I'm going to post on recent activity and then hope to catch up.

Last night was Quiz Night at the kids' school. A group of 10th grade students and their teachers organized it as a way to raise money for education in India. This group of students is traveling to India this summer as part of their 10th grade expedition and they hope to be able to bring enough money to support 15 students' education for the year @ a cost of 300 CHF student/year.

The cost of entry was 20 CHF per table of up to 8 participants. Beer and wine were sold along with mineral water. There were fixed prices on the drinks. (Our table proudly bought by the bottle.) In addition, there was an assortment of "snacky" type food -- pizza, egg rolls, chips and guac, etc. For the food, they offered the Auroville principle: take whatever you want to eat and at the end of the night, pay however much you value the food. There was some discussion at our table whether we valued in American or Swiss prices (we were 3 American couples plus 2 strays).

We warmed up for the Quiz with a section of questions on TV and Entertainment. Questions ranged from "What are the recurring numbers on the TV show Lost?" to "Name 3 of the main characters on the popular show Friends." to "Name the female character in the last scene of Pulp Fiction." Our team actually felt pretty good about these questions. Unfortunately, they didn't count. The son of one of our strays wrote the questions for this section. I'm thinking this child talks to his parents just about as much as C.J. talks to us, as the dad had no insight into the answers of the questions. He just knew his son wrote them. Then again, that might be more information than C.J. would have relayed to us -- unless it was a Facebook status update.

Other categories throughout the night were: Literature & the Arts, History, Switzerland, India, Science, World Flags, Literature, Food, Name that Tune and Artist (x2!) and Mystery. Thank goodness for our 2 strays (Dads of participating students who hadn't organized into a table) as one was a university professor and helped us out with history and literature -- areas our team was sadly lacking. (We tried to explain that the U.S. doesn't believe in teaching world history, but we don't think they bought it.) Each team was given a giant joker card at the beginning of the night which could be submitted with any category answer sheet to double the score for that category. We submitted ours with the Switzerland section, which was a good strategy as we got all 10 questions correct. (Thank goodness for talkative relocation agents, information German teachers, and those guide books we read to prepare for the adventure. Oh, yes, the "strays" helped tremendously as well -- a common theme through the night.)

Our team ended up finishing in the middle of the pack. We would have done much better had we gotten more than 25% correct on either music section. (Next year's goal: conduct Name that Tune screening tests for new table members.) A group of teachers won the event, which at least goes to show that they recall the information they teach our kids. There were almost as many teachers as parents at the event. There were 15 tables of 8 each, so the event had a great showing!

We ended up eating the most expensive guacamole we've ever had, as our table more than supported a year of education for a child. We hope one of next year's 10th grade expeditions plans a similar event.

Here's the newspaper article by our school on the event:
Triumph as Quiz Nite raises CHF 5,000

There was an astonishing result at the Staff & Parents' Quiz Nite last Thursday. Over and above the eventual victory by Team Anhut, the fierce debates as team members tried to Name That Tune, and the banter about "Tim's swimwear infringements", one organisation emerged triumphant. It was the Arogya Agam clinic in South India: as a result of quiz teams' generosity, it will receive an astonishing CHF 5,000 to help its work with HIV-positive children.

The Quiz Nite was organised by the ICS Community Service Expedition to South India. As part of the trip this summer, students from Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 will be visiting the Arogya Agam Clinic near Madurai - an organisation with which the school has a 30-year association. Originally set up to help people with tuberculosis and leprosy, the clinic is now also helping children who are HIV-positive. The purpose of the Quiz Nite was to raise funds that the Expedition could take to Arogya Agam to support this vital work.

HIV positive children are a severely disadvantaged group in South India and frequently do not receive either appropriate treatment or education. The clinic wants to send a number of at-risk HIV positive children to a local hostel to live, where they can be cared for and from where they can attend the local school. Annual costs for the children are just CHF 300 each, which covers accommodation, food, books, uniform and a little pocket money. It also covers the cost of a member of staff from Arogya Agam to look after the children.

Organisers were hoping that at least eight teams would take part and that they could sponsor eight children for a year. In the end almost double that number signed up, to the delight of participating 10th grade student Rosie (whose idea it was to hold the event) and her fellow travellers who helped run the evening. A delighted Clive Greaves, one of the teachers accompanying the students to South India, told participants that "Your extraordinary generosity means that we can support 15 students for a year and we have a good start for the second year, too. Very many thanks to you all for your enthusiasm and kindness and congratulations to Team Anhut for their … what shall we say? … cerebral performance."

The good news is that the event - enjoyed by over 120 parents and staff - is on again for next year. The even better news is that next year, there will NOT be a round on European History. And the bad news? There will be a round instead on the hits of Boney M...

The ABCs of Venice

This week, we tasked the kids with finding the ABCs of Venice by photographing items in the city that made up the letters. They did an amazing job!

Here's the slide show of the final letter photos. You'll want to take a look at it, as the collage cropped some of the photos a bit too much to really see the letter.

Venice: Day 6

Sadly, it was time to leave Venice. We packed our luggage, stopped at the grocery store for food for the train, and headed off to catch the Vaporetta to the train station.

First, a quick photo op by the Bell Tower door at our closest church -- Santa Maria Formosa. The mask above the door was designed to keep the devil away. I'm wondering if he entered the kids instead?



At the train station, we got to see the last of the 4 bridges that cross the Grand Canal -- the Calatrava Bridge. It is the newest bridge in the city and the only one that we hadn't previously crossed.



If you can't tell, the kids are in the picture:



We had gotten to the train station early, so we enjoyed watching life go by on the Grand Canal:

A garbage boat:


A Vaporetta:


A boat bringing supplies:


We all agreed that the very last thing we needed to do was eat another gelato!


C.J. and Abbie agree that the glass making demo was their favorite activity. Brendan liked taking boats everywhere. John most enjoyed the tour of Doge's Palace. I enjoyed the food and gelato!

Venice: Day 5

We started out our last full day in Venice with a tour of La Salute, which is one of the two churches built by the Venetians to thank God for saving them from the plague. During the plague of 1630, the Virgin Mary took pity on the city of Venice, miraculously allowing only 1 in 3 Venetians (46,000 souls) to die. The Venetians still celebrate Mary's intercession every November 21 when a bridge is erected across the Grand Canal to connect San Marco to La Salute. We took a Traghetto to reach the church, which the kids enjoyed.

We stopped for pizza and paninis for lunch, then we headed out on a boat cruise to visit 3 islands near Venice. We had originally planned on just going to Murano today, but it ended up being cheaper to take this 4 hour boat cruise than to get round trip tickets for us just to the one island.

First stop was Murano, which is known across the world for its glass making factories. We saw a demonstration where a glass maker made a vase by blowing glass and then a horse by sculpting the glass. The kids were very impressed with the demonstration; C.J. thought it was the highlight of his trip. After the demo, we had about 15 minutes to shop, and then we were back on the boat.




The second stop was the island of Torcello which was the birthplace of Venice. Only 20 people currently live on the island. We had just a few minutes to walk around. We chose not to pay to enter the church, thinking the kids had seen a few already this trip and needed the time to run around a bit. You can see the church bell tower under repair in the background.



The last stop was Burano, which is famous for its lace making. We realized that it had been a good 20 hours since our last gelato stop, so we rectified the situation immediately. One of Burano's bell towers leans at a 5 degree angle -- consistent with the leaning tower of Pisa.




It was about a 45 minute ride back to Venice. We headed straight to dinner at Barababao Osteria which was another recommendation from Karen, our walking tour guide. The dinner was amazingly good and reasonably priced. The kids had pasta, John had filet, and I had fried scampi and calamari. The vegetables that came with my fish were delicious. The kids talked us into another gelato stop, and then it was off for a (fairly) early bedtime.

Venice: Day 4

Happy Easter! I brought the kids Lindt chocolate bunnies to celebrate Easter in Venice. We left their baskets in Zurich and everyone is hoping the Easter Bunny paid a visit and they'll be able to find a basket of goodies when we return.



We started out the morning with a gondola ride. It's expensive for what you get, but how can you go to Venice and NOT ride a gondola? We all enjoyed the ride and it was fun to see the city from the perspective of the water instead of the sidewalks.



For lunch, we hiked around the city until we found a quiet, fairly empty bench area for a picnic. It ended up being out by the naval base, which we can't even find mention of it in the guidebooks. The pigeons here a bit more gourmet than those from home and really enjoy cheese scraps.

After a quick bathroom break at the apartment and a stop for gelato (we've averaged 1.67 gelato purchases per person per day), we toured St. Mark's Cathedral. There is always a huge line that wraps around the church, but there is a little known secret. You see, no backpacks are allowed inside. Typically, you wait in line with the pack and then get sent to the bag check around the corner. You bypass the line upon your return by flashing the token they give you. We hit the bag check first and then just bypassed the line altogether.

The church has an amazing collection of mosaics. They are stunning. No photography was allowed in the church, but I'd say the majority of people can't read or just ignored the signs. We were able to tour the balcony and look outside at St. Mark's Square.



We even saw the original bronze horses. They've been stolen throughout history, but somehow Venice claims they are the rightful owner. These horses are around 2,000 years old!



We stopped in the square to hear the bells and see this clock in operation. Supposedly, the statues only bang the bell on Easter. It was the world's first digital clock. The artist who made it was rewarded by having his eyes punched out so that he couldn't go on to create anything more beautiful.



We then went back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. The apartment has been very handy for drop in visits. The plan was to go to Oniga, a recommended restaurant from our tour guide on the first day. Not wanting to walk an hour to find a full restaurant again, we proactively called to make a reservation. The only available time was 7pm. It was perfect for us. Thank goodness we made the reservation as there was a line at the door when the restaurant opened and all of the couples without reservations were turned away. The food, wine and atmosphere were fantastic. We would definitely would recommend the restaurant.

We caught a Vaporetta (boat bus) on the way home. Once again, the ticket counter was closed, so we got a free ride. It pays to find obscure vaporetta stops that aren't frequented by the average tourist.

Here's the link to all the trip photos again.

Venice: Day 3

We started out our third day with a Secret Itinerary Tour of Doge's Palace. We were on the English tour, so we met some fellow Americans. We always pause when asked, "Where are you from?" while we debate whether we should start with Zurich or San Francisco. One person asked us if the kids went to a DOD school. We explained that we were pretty sure there wasn't a U.S. Military presence in Switzerland.

The Secret Itinerary Tour showed us the back rooms of the palace, including secret passages and torture chambers. We saw where Casanova was held as a prisoner and his escape route. We walked over the Bridge of Sighs. When our tour guide pointed it out the previous day, C.J. thought she said the "Bridge of Size" so he didn't quite understand how it got its name from condemned men taking their last look at Venice before being moved to the prison. Once he got that they sighed while admiring the view, he realized his mistake and it all became clear.

We could only take pictures of the Golden Stairway, which really is made out of 24K gold:


When our tour completed, we still had access to the public rooms. I had carried the Rick Steves' Venice tour guide with me, so it became Mom's tour of the Doge's Palace. It was actually very helpful to get some background of the rooms and the paintings. C.J. particularly enjoyed all the references to Greek mythology. We were all impressed with being in a building so old. The palace was originally built in the 800s but most of what we saw came after 1300. Even then, all the new rulers liked to remodel and add their touch!

We then headed out for some ham and cheese paninis and pizza for lunch.


Then it was time for another trip to the Rialto market. We made it without using the map and only had a couple of run-ins with dead ends. We picked up lunch meat and cheeses for Sunday's lunch as well as some artichokes. They are the kids' favorite vegetable, and I haven't been able to stomach paying $6-$8 each for sad little artichokes in Zurich. One positive to living in Zurich: Venice is supposedly a very expensive city, but we haven't felt any sticker shock at all! On the contrary, the restaurants all seem reasonable.



After a break for the kids at the apartment, we headed out to explore the city and get dinner. I've tasked the kids with photographing the alphabet in buildings, etc. around the city, so we took the time to find some more letters. Q seems to be the biggest challenge. We ate at a small restaurant recommended by our guide, Karen, and it lived up to her review. C.J. had prawns, which were served complete with their claws. They were delicious; it's nice to see him continuing to try and enjoy new foods. Of course, Brendan's and Abbie's spaghetti was just a bit less expensive!


This picture on the left of Abbie at the the door to our building shows the average width of a Venice street. And, the picture on the right shows a (not uncommon) narrower passageway.

Venice: Day 2

For our first full day in Venice, I had booked an Essential Venice 4 hour private walking tour from Karen at The Venice Experience. I read about her and her husband's tours at Trip Advisor, and I can't recommend them enough. We walked through all the city neighborhoods while she pointed out important buildings and discussed their history. She's full of knowledge of the city and its history and easily customizes the tour to the group. In our case, we skipped entering churches that might bore the kids, and she was sure to show us a mask maker, a glass blower, and the last remaining gondola maker in the city. She also recommended good restaurants off the tourist path and answered all our questions. The kids had a lot of questions for her, so it ended up being a tour that all of us enjoyed. Abbie only complained of sore, tired legs at one point, and a quick stop for a Coke cured all her ails. It's amazing what a little caffeine and sugar will accomplish!

Here are a few things we learned from the tour:

• The city was built on salt marshes, and the canals are all natural. Buildings were built on land, but they get flooded during high waters. (Brendan)
  
  
• The Grand Canal is like a Big S. (Brendan)
  

• Since they don't have cars, firetrucks are actually fire boats. They also have garbage boats. Deliveries are made by boat and they use the fisherman's throw. (C.J.)
  
• You can take a short boat ride just to cross the Grand Canal instead of walking to the nearest bridge. (Abbie)
• It takes a year to make a gondola and it is custom made for the gondolier. (C.J.)
• There is ice cream (gelato) on every corner, and it's really good. (Abbie)

On the way home, we returned to the Rialto market to pick up fixings for an afternoon snack. We went to "the best cheese man in Venice" and got a selection of cheeses, salami, olives, and roast beef. We then hit the fruit and vegetable stands for strawberries, melon, and artichoke hearts. We though we were getting the whole artichoke, but these ended up being great -- and easy. I just fried them up with a little butter. Since we were all a bit tired at this point, we headed back to the apartment We enjoyed a video Skype call with the McEntees, which just goes to show how small the world is. We love being able to steal wifi from someone in the building! I guess they don't have an older brother to teach them to lock down their network. (The apartment does have wired internet.)

We decided to eat at a restaurant across town, and the boys were our guides. They took control of the map and did a great job navigating us through the back alleys, across bridges, and to the door of the restaurant. Unfortunately, it took us longer to walk there than expected and the tables were booked. After a few tries at full restaurants, we found a place that could take us, but it wasn't nearly as good as the previous night's dinner.

Here's the link to all our photos.

Venice: Day 1

The day before our trip was a bit stressful. Abbie's friend fell at our house and needed stitches. Then, the dog sitter didn't show up at our meeting spot. Unfortunately, he was vacationing in France, and wouldn't be back until AFTER our train left. John's co-worker came to the rescue, offering to take Lucky and deliver her to the dog sitter the next day. Phew. Disaster adverted.

On travel day, we woke up to snow. So much for Spring and those lovely shorts the boys had longingly packed! We grabbed some gloves, swapped out for warmer coats, and headed to the train station.
Traveling by train is definitely the way to go. During the first half of the trip, I read the Venice guidebook, John played an iTouch game (to stay ahead of the boys), and the kids watched assorted videos. We played cards together for the remainder of the journey. The kids' new favorite game is Monopoly Deal. It's a fun game that involves both luck of the draw and strategy. Brendan won the first 3 games. Since then, the rest of us have all managed to squeak out a win, including Abbie.
We finally arrived in Venice. Door-to-door it was an eight hour trip. When you factor in airport waiting times and transit to and from the airport, I don't think flying would have been much faster. And, we wouldn't have had the family game time.
We had dry skies just long enough to call our greeter. She directed us which boat to take, checked to make sure we had the right address for the apartment, and told us that she'd meet us there. It seemed like a reasonable plan until it started to rain. It came down so hard that we couldn't keep the map out. We kept making wrong turns and ending up in dead ends or at a canal with no bridge crossing. C.J. is once again convinced that his parents have no map-reading ability or sense of direction. The 15 minute walk ended up taking us an hour and a half. We got soaked. Our luggage got soaked. It wasn't good. The greeter showed us around the apartment, taught John the trick of unlocking the door, and even pointed out the closest grocery store. I still argue that it would have been better for her to meet us at the boat stop, but I can't say she wasn't helpful once we found the apartment.

John stopped at the grocery store for breakfast food -- milk, yogurt, and Honey Nut Cheerios. Most of you won't think twice about the cereal selection, but C.J. was ecstatic. Honey Nut Cheerios are his favorite, and they aren't to be found in Switzerland. He's already declared that he is taking a box or two home as a souvenir.

After drying out, we headed out for dinner. We got summoned into a little restaurant that ended up having amazingly good food. C.J. tried gnocchi for the first time. It was the best gnocchi any of us had ever had. Brendan and Abbie had pizza, and John and I had pasta. The kids watched the pizza maker for most of the meal. He ended up making them a bread mask. (I think the kids encouraged this act of generosity.)
I took the camera out to get some pictures, and the waiter immediately rushed over and told us to "hide the evidence." The pizza maker wasn't supposed to be making masks for the kids, and he didn't want anyone else to see and get jealous. The kids ate it on the way home, so I never did get a good picture.