The Last Tour ‘De Force’- Day 20
This was the last tour for the day. We had a lecture with Mr. Wicki for the morning. I was aware of the European students were leaving to and they were going back the day after us. We had an early breakfast then surprised Sophie with card signed by all of us plus gifts. She seemed a little surprised and happy about the situation but definitely enjoyed it. Prof. Garely asked her what is the difference between Americans and the Swiss and she didn’t seem to know what to say first. We all laughed but she eventually said that Americans demanded a little more flexibility than the Swiss and their timely and organized ways.
It then around 8:00am and time to see Mr. Wicki for his lecture on Sustainable ecology. He talked about the fundamentals of environmental sustainability and the objectives necessary for the us as human beings.
We should understand the elements of networking and the global relationship between ecosystems. I enjoyed it, but felt a little tired and under slept. We had two breaks and finally lunch came around. After lunch we had a chance to get our laundry done before we go back home. Sooner than later, we were heading to the GEVAG, Waste burning Plant, Trimmis. The drive was very pleasant and the radio was playing my favorite song of the moment. Soon all of us were singing Usher’s ‘Love In This Club’. We reached the plant in the school bus and took pictures of the statues in front of the entrance. Sasha had a picture with the female statue before we went inside for a brief introduction to Mr. Francois Bon.
He gave us a very thorough tour of one of the most energy conserving garbage plants in Switzerland. They tour around the plant started with a brief lecture and power point presentation. He said that we were the first to Americans to tour the plant facilities. He seemed proud to show off enough if his English wasn’t the best, but both Mr. Wicki and Sophie (she drove the second car) helped with some words.
Once outside he started with the trash that is picked and placed into a pile of garbage. As crane was pulling a way at the loads that were parallel to the chute outside for the trash to be dumped. We went to another area once the dust got too much. All the extra metal is picked up after the garbage is burned and cooled down. It was interesting to see the many levels garbage goes through to be partially broken down then reused for electricity. Even the water they used for the garbage is recycled to be released back into the rivers.
After the tour we had refreshments in the conference room with Swiss beverages like Rivella and Valsar. I had a sample of all four and liked one that tasted like grapefruit soda. We had a brief discussion about America’s trash problems especially in New York, we had 9/11 and the debris from the towers was a difficult task to accomplish.
We left around for Landquart water treatment plant which was worse than the garbage plant because it was smelly water that came form the sewage. Many of us had to sit out the tour because the smell was incredible. Mr. Herbert Vat was a manager at the plant, and one out of four employees that work the entire plant. Everyone has to do a little bit of everything. He told us about the many levels of cleaning that the water goes.
I was ready to leave but wanted to see after all the dirty water and stench when does it become clean. He took us to the back and we saw that after the bacteria eats the germs, the natural moss cleans tha water turning it a green hue. Then it’s released back into the rivers. We took pictures and felt better to be on our way to dinner.
We went to his neighborhood where we took cable cars to the top of the Fanas-Eggli summit to enjoy fondue in the Alps. One cable car took one then the second group went up. Once up I was taken aback by the beauty at the top. The view of the Alps and rippling countryside inspired me. We took pictures as usual doing silly thing and excited to be in the beautiful surroundings. I started to sing the ‘Sound of Music’ and everyone sang along. It was Katherine, Sarah, Lilliana, Gia, Adele, Mark, Shevy, and myself fooled around with the camera.
We went back to see everyone seated at the table for the fondue, which I found to be very strong but tasty. It tasted like several cheeses with white wine, pepper, garlic, cinnamon and other ingredients I couldn’t pick up. Mark presented both Sophie and Mr. Wicki with shirts from BMCC from all of us. It was a nice gesture for all the hard work they accomplished to make our stay an eventful one.
As we descended back to the parking lot for the cable car, we hopped into van and continued the packing process. I went to bed feeling happy about the next morning.
