It's the little things...

...that have made me fall in love with Lausanne. 

• My towel rack is heated! I know you can get heated towel racks in the States, but this was the first time I've ever used one on a regular basis. It's fantastic. I usually hang my pyjamas there, too.
• So many new culinary delights! Amazing chocolate, artisan cheese, warm loaves of fresh bread...living in Switzerland has allowed me not only to eat new foods (traditional Swiss rosti, anyone?), but to see familiar foods in a new light.
• Flowers in flower boxes. Everywhere. I'm convinced that (unlike me) all Swiss people have bright green thumbs. 
• The Accordion Player. There is this amazing accordion player that plays in the Lausanne train station. His music isn't like that of typical street musicians-- improvised versions of well-known songs that make for a pleasant enough back drop, but certainly aren't something you would actually want to listen to. This guy plays almost solely classical music, and he plays it really, really well. I'm not the only one who's noticed, either- he almost always has a small crowd of listeners, and many times he has 2-3 CDs of his music as well. If I spoke better French, I'd like to find out more about him. I can't help but wonder: Why is he playing in the train station? 
• Speak of languages...Lausanne is full of them. While French and English are probably the most common, it's perfectly normal for German, Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese to float by your ears. The linguistic diversity is beautiful.
• Lausanne is a green city. There are recycling bins everywhere (and folks actually use them). There is a heavily-used, incredibly efficient, public transportation system. Grocery stores charge for your bags (encouraging shoppers to bring their own). Very, very cool. 

...that have made me dearly, dearly miss home. 

• MEXICAN FOOD. While there are other only-in-America foods that I occasionally miss (frozen veggie burgers, Starbuck's pumpkin lattes, and Amy's frozen dinners top that list), I constantly crave Mexican, and it just doesn't exist in Europe. While I finally found black beans (they were in the ethnic foods section. go figure.), I still miss going out for cheap burritos and eating spicy salsa and guacamole to my heart's content. 
• Stores that are open late. In Lausanne, all stores close at 7pm, and nothing is open on Sundays. On one of our first Sundays in Lausanne, Ben and I headed to the grocery to stock up, only to find the door locked before us. We ended up eating a wacky combination of plain noodles, random spices, and peanuts for lunch and dinner, and quickly learned that grocery shopping in Lausanne takes a little advanced planning. 
• Driving. This one actually surprised me- I normally don't like driving at all and am happy to sit shotgun and let someone else take the wheel. However, after seven months of public transportation, I've found that I really do miss driving. While public transportation can be fantastic, it can be frustrating to plan your schedule on a bus that only runs once per hour, or miss a meeting because a metro came late. Sometimes, it's nice to simply climb in your car, turn on the music, and be in control.
• School Spirit. It doesn't really exist at the EPFL. There aren't any sports teams, there's no competition, and the school book store contains a few "EPFL" stamped pencils and a handful of polos. While I wasn't a super-crazy-Cameron-Crazy, I did spend a fair portion of my Duke career waiting in line for games, jumping in the stands, painting my face blue and white, and taking a rather epic ten-hour road trip to Indianapolis for the NCAA championship. Even when I wasn't physically at games, I spent a fair number of evenings curled up on a friend's couch, watching an away game and eating pizza. School spirit brings people together. It makes a campus a community and gives you something to cheer for. I miss it.
• Friends and Family. Okay, I cheated, because this is certainly not a little thing. But I couldn't end a post like this without mentioning it: For any friends and family reading-- I really, really miss y'all.