Tough start in Lugano

I hate to complain, but we had a hard landing in Lugano. Problems abound with classroom tech issues, book orders and housing. I don't want to dwell on the problems so much as to give a sense of the environment.

Lugano is a throughly Italian city; not at all what you think of when you think of Swtizerland. It is very Mediterranean in look and atmosphere (as you see from the photos) while still having an Alpine quality, too.

Later, I'm going to do a series on "steps" in our daily life to give a sense of how steep the walks are here. It seems that in every direction, it is a steep uphill walk (both ways!).

The weather has been hot and humid with regular rippin' thunderstorms, usually at night. The views are great, though. Here are a few--this one is from our balcony:



This one is from my classroom: