For some reason, I expected Switzerland to be super-advanced, particularly on women’s issues. I don’t know – nothing specific, I just figured it was one of those places where women lead and hold fancy positions and get all kinds of respect that they don’t get elsewhere.

I think I had it mixed up with Sweden, is all.

Turns out, it’s a pretty traditional country, which is fine in a lot of ways, but which isn’t great if you’re a woman and you want to work outside the home. I’m told that women are expected to work part-time or not at all, and the way society enforces this is simple: Swiss schools let out for an hour and a half in the middle of the day. Kids go home for lunch. And someone’s got to be there. (Sarah’s working for an American company, so things are a little different.)

So anyway, there’s that. On the other hand, there’s plenty of good parking available. Like at the library, on the top of the underground parking garage, closest to the cashier. For damen only. A whole row of ‘em.

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