Monday, January 5, 2009
Today was our first day of class…early to rise! Ok, not really…7:30 a.m…but we all know how much I love early mornings – especially if I have to go and sit in a lecture. Breakfast here is great – tea and fresh bread with marmalade. The lecture topic was on international organizations, given by a professor from the University of Fribourg who specializes in international human rights law.



It was quite informative – mostly a good refresher on some of my undergraduate classes. Most of my classmates just flew in yesterday so they were quite jet-lagged. It helped solidify my decision to fly in early and allow my body to adjust on my own schedule!

After class we all headed to lunch. The director classified the lunches here, which are included in our program, as “grandma’s cooking.” It wasn’t quite as good, but I get what he was trying to say…it is hearty. A note to culture…drinks are not covered in our plan…apparently they are considered optional (with the excepted of tea at breakfast)!





Following lunch we headed out on a tour of Fribourg. As you can see from the photos…it is quite beautiful. I feel like I should be in really good shape by the time that I arrive home…I have walked for a minimum of two hours (generally four to six) each day since I arrived. In the middle of our walk…after a long staircase…we headed into a café for “chocolat” or hot chocolate. Astounding. I could move here just for the chocolate.



I also love that cafés are so popular…it is similar to the coffeehouse feel of the States, but it seems like we are still catching up to the culture of it all (not sure if that makes sense!).

After the walk, and a little shopping (I needed an alarm clock since I apparently failed to think of it as necessary), we were all quite exhausted and went to our rooms for a quick nap before dinner. After meeting up again we found that pasta is apparently a favorite…maybe I will need to walk just a bit more each day!

Tonight is set aside for studying and uploading photos! Tomorrow…a lecture on human rights and the chocolate factory!!!