Tgau mes amitgs!
And here I am in the Cheminée-Raum of Casa Caltgera, at 23.30 after the dinner and music program which marked the end of the summer session at Casa Caltgera.
During our last class today we were drilled in on-the-spot interviews and verb conjugations. All of this was so much fun, and really intensive right to the last minute.
One of my new friends, Ziggy (the professor from Berlin) lamented over dinner today that there were set rules for the various verb types in Sursilvan, yet each new verb he encountered was irregular. I couldn’t agree more! Stem vowel changes and -esch- infixes which one can never tell when will appear. My teacher, Irina Lutz, said the only way one can tell if an -AR verb takes the -esch- infix is by memorization. Yikes!
A reporter and photographer from La Quotidiana newspaper were at photo day yesterday and in today’s paper on page five is a photo of the entire class of 2005. I have a copy which I will show you.
Conradin Klaiss, a teacher of level five, wrote a song which six years ago appeared on a Romansch compilation album, Grooves Rumantsch. The song, “Sche ti carezas mei” (translation of the song title at the end) is a tear-jerker and during the after-dinner musical presentation he sang this song. I had heard it before in class, when Irina played it and had the class transcribe its lyrics. When I heard the slow piano opening I knew what song was coming, and it was a sad moment for me in that room, with all my new friends at the end of our studies. The song is included in one of the CDs I bought last Saturday at the Romansch bookstore in Chur, yet I had bought all five of these CDs without having listened to any of the songs in advance. So I am happy to own a copy of this music. During each vacation I choose a song to represent my travel experience. It must be a song I hear during my travels that I had never heard before. And “Sche ti carezas mei” is it.
Yesterday I had a practice run packing my suitcases and I am more shocked than surprised to say that everything fit. I think the only souvenirs I can manage to fit in the remaining crevices are postcards and stamps. Good thing Liechtenstein is in no short supply of the latter. People here have been telling me that there is nothing to do in Liechtenstein; that I can walk through the capital city, Vaduz, in five minutes. I will arrive at 11.00 (a.m.) tomorrow, so shops will still be open, yet I am looking forward to walking around the country on Sunday when, most likely, stores will be closed.
I leave for Schaffhausen in the north of Switzerland on Monday. The reason I am going to Schaffhausen is not that I want to see the northernmost canton, but rather that I want to see Germany.
There is a second enclave within Switzerland. In an earlier post I expressed an interest in going to the Italian enclave Campione d’Italia. Perhaps with more free time after my course I could have done that, but with three days left I don’t want to be running around with heavy suitcases. The second enclave within Switzerland is the German town of Büsingen. This town is completely surrounded by Swiss territory. I might fire off a few “Having a good time, wish you were here” postcards from Germany while I’m there.
Tomorrow at 08.56 I catch the postal bus to Ilanz. Then I catch the red Rhätische Bahn train to Chur, and transfer to a Swiss Rail train to Buchs, where I will then cross the Swiss-Liechtenstein border. It’s only four minutes to Schaan, a town north of Vaduz. I think I can walk it from Schaan to Vaduz, yet will take the buses if it’s too far. The hostel reception doesn’t open till 17.00, so I hope there are lockers to store my luggage at the bus station (or train station).
Engraziel, Casa Caltgera
Salids e saleps
Jeu carezel tei
“If you love me”