La Désalpe, or I Eat Raclette and Look at Cows

First off, let me apologize for the fact that this post is out of chronological order. I found pictures from it on my computer and remembered that I wanted to share them with you. I go to school in the city, and I go shopping in the city, and I go to orchestra rehearsals in the city, but I live in the country. My house is surrounded by rolling hills, on top of which are lots of trees, cows, and red-roofed houses. How picturesque. And to celebrate the cows (and the families who raise them), there is an event every year called the désalpe, which roughly means "coming down from the alpine pastures." The families that raise cows walk with their herds down to a town where there is a parade. This happens in multiple towns, but the one I went to is Plaffeien, about a fifteen-minute walk from where I live.

As you can see, it's pretty crowded. Animals and people are everywhere! There are stands selling food, shops selling traditional crafts, and a makeshift stage where musicians are playing and people are dancing in Swiss costumes. The families are announced as they arrive. The people and animals are all decorated. And it's not just cows: I also saw several goats.

And now I've gone all high-tech on you, and have included a video! Somewhere in the middle a group of men and boys walks by wearing the traditional Swiss cowboy outfit. Lots of the women also wore those blue shirts, as did some of the guys in my class when we had a class party. I hope you enjoy the video because it took forever to upload.