After a few weeks of climbing, I started to feel better and was able to climb some things on my list. I felt like I was learning the styles of Switzerland and starting to widdle away at my massive “to do” list. Then, three weeks into the trip, we went to Magic Wood for the first time, and I saw more amazing boulders that I wanted to do. I was once again overwhelmed by the amount of climbing in Switzerland. It seems that this entire country is covered with boulders. Everywhere we drive we see them, covering the hills and clogging the riverbeds. In Colorado, any rock that is visible from the road warrants further exploration. In Switzerland, exploring all the rock you can see from your car would take you a lifetime. Jamie, Ryan and Jason have spent numerous rest days running around looking at boulders, but I usually fall behind or opt out of the excursions. I have enough boulders on my plate already, and if I see any more, I think my head might explode. 

Throwing myself into an entirely new culture has been just as overwhelming as the amount of bouldering I have found here. We came to Switzerland under the impression that the people in Ticino speak dialects of German or Italian that are far different from traditional forms of these languages. For this reason, I thought it would be futile to learn any amount of either language. As it turns out, knowing Italian in any form would have been quite helpful. I can’t count the number of times that I have stared blankly at someone in response to a question asked in Italian. I have gotten used to feeling flustered and foolish for not being able to speak to the locals, and I am sorry to say that four weeks has not brought me any closer to conquering the language barrier.