One big, international family

Enough ice cream to share

Gathering for the reunion

The theme over the last few
days in Switzerland has definitely been family, family and more family.  On Sunday, 50 members of the Eggenberger family (my mom's side) gathered for a feast of medieval proportions at the restaurant and inn owned by my cousin, Ralph.  (Can you imagine -- almost 20 more relatives couldn't make it?  This is a BIG family.)  Ralph, his wife Yvonne and his staff prepared a salad bar featuring at least 15 gourmet salads, then followed up with a barbecue station including lamb, various sausages, veal, steak, pork ribs, corn, baked potatoes, grilled vegetables...  Did I remember everything?  No, I forgot the enormous ice cream cones topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Appenzeller singers

On top of this, Ralph and Yvonne arranged for a special Appenzeller singing group to surprise us with it's harmonic yodeling that is especially typical of this region.  In case you don't know, Appenzell is the area of northern Switzerland marked by rolling green hills and very happy cows and goats that provide milk for the  special Appenzell cheese made here alone in the world -- sharp and smooth at the same time, and absolutely mouthwatering.  The history in Appenzell goes back hundreds of years, and traditions are held with tremendous care and pride.  So this music offered us a little taste of this land and its people, who of course, are part of my heritage as well.

How interesting also that that my family history is being impacted by an increasingly diverse population in Switzerland.  At the reunion alone, in addition to Bereket and Godebo, were relatives from Ethiopian, Haitian and Thai descent.  Nothing like the melting pot of the U.S. yet, but quite interesting for such a small, insulated country.

Peruvian cousins

Yesterday and today were spent with still other relatives:  my Peruvian cousins Alan and Eduardo.  Alan now lives in Spain with his wife Marianna, and Eduardo lives in Norway with his wife Roxanna.  So the two brothers met us here for a couple days of rest and sight-seeing.  My mom's brother, Hans, gave us a fascinating tour of St. Gallen yesterday, including some really spectacular architecture such as the city's characteristic carved wooden window boxes, and a peek at the Stiftsbibiliothek St. Gallen, the library of the former Benedictine monastery of St. Gall.

Go St. Gallen!

In the evening, Jeff and the kids accompanied Thomas Hug, my cousin's husband, to a professional soccer game in St. Gallen. They really enjoyed watching the very-enthusiastic St. Galler fans (called "hard cores" by the locals) cheer on their team, which beat the Lugano team 1-0.

We are quite tired from so much activity, but Switzerland remains enchanting, and my relatives thoroughly enjoyable.