On my way to the USA

Afterschool on Friday I wwent to Carmen's house (she is my cooperating teacher). we had a delicious dinner of homemade macaroni and cheese. I met her son (don't remember his name begins with a P, but since it's Greek I really can't pronounce it). Went to bed around 9:30pm but I hardly slept as I was worried that I would oversleep. Finally got up at 4:45 am and we were in the car by 5 to the airport.
I ran into my colleague Keisha and her husband Marcus (Marcus works for the American Embassy) we were on the same plane but they were off to Atlanta. On my flight to Paris, I had a window seat (I always go back and forward about wanting a window versus aisle seat - if you have a window seat you can lean against the wall to sleep - if you have an aisle seat others can knock you as they go past, you have nothing to lean on but if you need to go to the bathroom you can). So the man sitting next to me was fast asleep and I had to go! But then I felt bad b/c he was in a deep sleep and he was a dad who probably got up at like 3 or 4 to get his wife and kids to the airport. So I let him sleep until I was going to burst and then woke him up. So this is the dilemna I have about choosing an aisle versus a window seat.
I have an aisle on my way from Paris to Washington - which leaves in about 2 hours - thank goodness because I have been here for 5 hours already and I am getting tired and want to sleep on the plane - but then again I have the aisle so people and carts will be knocking me!

Saturday my friends and I sent down to Syntagma Square to check out the burnt Christmas tree and to see the other destruction down there. It was really a positive feeling getting off the metro and entering the Square. It was a beautiful day with many people out shopping, having coffee or lunch - the mood was like that after the sniper was caught in Maryland - a feeling of relief that the fear to do your everyday errands had vanished. There were bands playing Christmas music, street performers doing their "mime" acts, some guy blowing bubbles - it was a breath of fresh air. However, later that day there were more demonstrations/protests and they have continued this week.

I had my second successful party Saturday night. The regular gang was there and we did a white elephant game which was a lot of fun. I had many candles burning and a log in my fire place - it was cozy and comfortable. Good food and company!

Sunday evening, I went to the theater to see Rain - Cirque Eloize (a Cirque de Soleil performance) it was amazing - I said "Wow" a lot!

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Happy Holidays Everyone!


Just wanted to let you all know that I will be coming home for Christmas. Home- where exactly is that? Well I will be flying to my parents in Bluffton, SC on Dec21 - Dec30 (here I will also go to Florida to see my grandparents). Dec30-Jan3 I will be in MD, staying with my friend Chris. So hopefully I can see a few of you along the way.
PS - Can't get candy canes here!



If I don't see you, please have a peaceful and joyful holiday!

Love, still Greek2Me!

Safe ---- Athens Riots

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am safe and home. Thank you for your concerns. Well things have certainly gotten out of hand here in Athens but I am safe at home. I actually had good friends walk me all the way home. We were told to leave campus as soon as school got out and tomorrow school is cancelled as they are calling for a day of mourning. But like many riots, I feel youths are all fired up and just think its alright or their right to smash windows, burn things and cause chaos.
I am secretively thankful for the day tomorrow because I have so many report cards to write!

Make-A-Wish

Saturday I volunteered for Make-A-Wish. Bazaars are very popular here and there are tons - every school and organization have bazaars to raise money for their company. So, Make-A-Wish had there's yesterday (Friday) and today in the Syntagma metro station. although there was a tremendous variety of items- it was in a pretty large room and there were SO many people and most purchased at least one thing!

I saw many of the people I had met the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Even though my Greek is ever so small, I really felt that I helped. Once I figured out the prices and figured out how to say them in Greek, I could tell what they asking for!

Before I helped out I went to this area to buy theater tickets at a place similar to a Ticket Master. Syntagma Square is a happening place! I was having lunch outside and these "musicians" came up to me and starting playing a song (asking for money). It was one of those most embarrassing moments as I am sitting there all by myself and they are playing right in front of me. So I dig for some change but before I give them a few coins, I make the most of this embarrassing time and took a picture of them and then gave them money. Everyone around me laughed!

Then I went over to my friend's house with the regular gang and we watched Love Actually.

Knosses - Minoain Palace - 3,500 years old

Historical destination! Well Kate and I thought we better do something meaningful on our voyage to Crete, so this morning we got on a “Greyhound” bus at 8:30 for our 2.5 hour mountain ride to Iraklion the capital city of Crete. The views were great despite the hairpin turns through the mountain! From the bus station in Iraklion we boarded a city bus to Knossos. Knossos is an ancient Minoan palace. It was built over 3500 years ago – though it was destroyed 3 times – once by volcano, once by fire and once by something else! Although most of the upper ruins and frescos are copies most of the original rocks which was made mostly by alabaster. It was incredible. We got a guided tour to learn more on our educating day! It is pretty amazing the brilliance of the Minoans so long ago with their engineering of their buildings, windows and water system. As our tour guide said “History repeats itself.” There were these large earthenware jars which they stored cereal, oil, grain, etc. As you can see by my picture how large these were.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Well the school provided a Thanksgiving dinner – it was good by not the same! Had the turkey and mashed potatoes and rolls – no sweet potatoes, pumpkin pies, or cranberry sauce! Kate and I flew to Crete this morning and arrived on a huge island with 75 degree blue sky and sun! We hopped into a taxi to take us to our hotel Porto del Colombo in the Old City – which we later heard was an excellent choice! The ‘hotel’ is an 8 room bed and breakfast in a building that is 600 years old – 600! We are in the Venetian part of the city so tight narrow alley ways were a little bit of a maze of cobblestone roads. With our suitcases on wheels we bumped along the cobblestone roads and with some assistance found our accommodations. We unloaded our stuff and then hit the harbor which is 30 meters in the other direction. Really gorgeous – tons of restaurants/bars encircling the harbor – most were closed because it is winter. But with a recommendation from our receptionist we went to Remezzoz for coffee and breakfast. Then we continued walking around the old and new city. What a gorgeous day! We also walked out along the Venetian harbor wall to the lighthouse – a famous landmark here in Chania (pronounced Hania).
Here’s a little history about Chania (taken directly from the DK Eyewitness Travel book) Chania’s earliest settlers were Minoans. Later in 520 BC, colonists from Samos arrived. From 1252 to 1645 it was mainly ruled by the Venetians who fortified the town and harbor. However, Chania fell in 1645 after a 55-day siege and remained in Turkish hands until 1898. In World War II, Cretan civilians fought along Greek and British Commonwealth troops. The German garrison in Chania held out until May 1945.
We got ready for dinner around 8 and went to a restaurant called Taman, again recommended by the receptionist. Taman was a cozy restaurant and it had this lower and upper level. We sat on the upper level (it was about 3 steps down to the lower level). We learned that where this restaurant was it was the cold pool people plunged into after having a Turkish bath across the street – thus the lower level! It was pretty packed so we knew we had chosen a good restaurant. So for our Thanksgiving dinner we had zucchini croquettes, a baked potato with mushrooms and cheese and then I had baby lamb, pita and taziki.
After dinner Kate and I need a walk so we were about to go along the harbor when some guy passed us by and said “Do you work at ACS?” This guy Stelio who is Greek-American whose home is here in Chania was home for the Thanksgiving break. Stelio is a shadow teacher and works in the counseling department – it is his first year at ACS too. He was with his sister Mina and we join them to their friend’s restaurant to watch “football”/soccer. So we did watch football – an American Thanksgiving tradition! A lot of the guys we met were Greek American or Greek Canadian! We then continued to another bar and then Kate and I headed home. As the night progressed I was losing my voice. I feel like I have laryngitis again!

My Walk to Work

Here are some photos of my walk to school. It is down hill in the morning and I am refreshed so it is a pleasant walk except for the obstacles as you will see along the way. My building is the one beside the Applebee’s restaurant behind the trees. For some reason every time I walk past the Applebees it smells like wet dog! The parking lot sign cracks me up because green grass is quite rare here in Athens and the man who runs the parking lot has a small fountain, garden decorations such as a blue crane, turtle, hedgehog and other knickknacks – sometimes there are torches and sometimes there are little umbrellas and everyday he sets them up on his little patches of grass! Maybe he will deck it all out for Christmas! The orange tree is full of fruit and they are all over the roads but no one seems to pick anyone. The stray dogs seem have their own territory and there are usually 2 dogs on the same block! So here are some of my regular dogs I see on the way to work! There is my closest grocery store about one block down, my post office, one of the many kiosks that I pass on my way to work which sells everything from gum, candy bars, newspapers/magazines, cigarettes, chips, ice cream, drinks, beer (Amstel and Heinken), phone cards and bus tickets! And as you can see from the sidewalks it is very difficult to walk on them due to the parked cars, trash cans and trees growing!