Sunday, October 19 – Switzerland to Italy

Buon Giorno from Italy. We wrote some thoughts from our experience at San Marco's already. Yesterday, we traveled from Reinach via Bern down to Italy. Lotte went with us as far as Bern as she was teaching German to 12-15 Thai women there. Lotte is quite involved working with Thai women in Switzerland. There are upwards of 10,000 Thai women who have come to Switzerland to marry Swiss men. Though not technically trafficked it is still frequently a sad saga for many of them. Switzerland is not Thailand, German is difficult to learn for many. Marriages often do not work out. If they have been in Switzerland long enough to be legal they can stay, so there are many Thai women alone with or without children. I think that Lotte said that most often the women get custody of the children, but I could have misunderstood. Lotte and many others including another OMF 'auntie,' who actually lives in Germany but crosses over to Switzerland, are spending much time with Thai women serving as a resource for them. There is even a magazine published for them in Thai (and maybe German.)

So after waving goodbye to Lotte in Bern we quickly entered a 15 minute tunnel and then as we encountered daylight, we also magically were in Italy. Initial impressions were quite a contrast from well kept Switzerland in terms of asthetic appearance. In some ways, for those who have ever crossed the border from Thailand into Burma, it is a similar feeling. Somewhat startling at first, but there is a beauty that grows and captivates from the towns and villages with their red tile roofs to the rolling and sometimes hilly countryside. We changed trains in Milan and continued to Venice eventually finding our Hotel Dalla Mora late into the evening. By the way, every place we have stayed at so far is a gem (OK Paris was a little more of a shoe box with a bathroom the size of a real shoebox – but still adequate and clean) – we have not been disappointed anywhere. Our room in Venice looked right over a quiet canal. Great breakfast. Sunday we spent wandering and exploring Venice, finding a good pizza and calzone place and beginning an ongoing Gelato exploration as well.

Duncan