My Summer Plans

I am coming home for the summer! Where is home? Good question! I am flying into DC between July 2 and July 7 (precise date still to be determined) and staying in the DC area for 3.5 weeks! Thanks Chris!

Then my parents will pick me up on their drive up to Maine on July 30. I will be in Maine for 3 weeks too! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Then on Aug. 21, I will fly out of Newark Airport back to Athens, Greece. What am I doing next "school" year you ask? Well..... that will be announced soon, so stay tuned!

Rhodes - long weekend

Last weekend was our long weekend (Monday was Whit Monday - Penecost Monday). So 4 of my friends and I decided to fly to the third largest island in Greece called Rhodes. It is near Turkey. We could have taken a ferry but it is a 15 hour ferry ride so we took a plane - 45 minutes!

Although when we arrived it was teaming down rain, it quickly cleared and by noon we were sunbathing by one of the resorts many pools.

Rhodes is a large island, its west coast meets the choppy Aegean Sea while its east coast meets the smooth Mediterranean Sea - we chose to stay on this side in a "Little Cancun" town called Faliraki. The hotel's accommodation price included breakfast AND dinner! The Blue Sea Hotel has 3 outside pools, one inside, a gym, tennis courts, ping pong, activities lined up like water aerobics and darts! They had a mini mart too!There was a bar by the pool and one by the nice sandy beach! Don't get me wrong there were a lot of "older" people here, as well as families, and honeymooners.

I really felt like I was on vacation because I hardly heard any Greek - there were lots of Brits and Germans.

We had rented a car. On Saturday afternoon we drove up to Rhodos - the oldest medieval town in the Mediterranean. The Old Town which we visited is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the city part of Old Town is where the Knights of St. John built most of their monuments. There are Orthodox and Catholic churches as well as many Turkish buildings. The labyrinth streets are mostly stones.

After a partying late Saturday evening, some of us had a late start on Sunday. In the afternoon, we drove down to Lindos. Lindos is between two beautiful harbors. We had to walk down some streets and steep paths (which means when you are hot and tired from sunbathing you need to walk back up!) to a well-populated beach.
Monday we enjoyed our beach for a few hours before setting off to the airport. I took a quick dip in the chilly sea and Lacey and I enjoyed massages on the beach. A full body massage for 40 mins. only 25 Euros!
I think Rhodes is my new favorite island!

Conference to Concert

Friday after work the annual OM (Optimal Match) Learning Differences Conference began. I went to a session about math and technology - and boy if I had some classroom computers or a Smartboard in my class - I could do a lot. (But I don't). Then I went to a session called Differentiated Learning.

Saturday morning the conference continued. I attended all 4 sessions - in the morning spent 3 hours with the tech support team from Fairfax County, VA - and they gave me LOADS of fantastic ideas. And they put it all on a CD for everyone - wonderful! I attended the Do you know what Microsoft Can do? and Word Strategies. Then in the afternoon I attended Why is Math So Hard? this was more on theory than hands on activities I could use in the classroom. Then I attended Dr. Anna Sugarman's Leadership session. I attended some of her workshops last year - and she is just fantastic!

After a long but well worth it conference, my friends and I jumped into some taxis and headed over to the 9th Annual African Festival which was at the South African Ambassodors Residence. Not too shabby! There were many booths of different countries with food and African handicrafts. There was also live music. The weather this weekend was lovely, cool and breezy so it was lovely. My friend Miah's nanny Marien was there - see photo below.

Marien and Miah

And then this girl came up to me and was so excited to see me, however, I didn't know who she was. When I finally realized who she was, it was Christina from Uganda - she used to clean my classroom after schools. I always stay so late, I befriend the cleaning staff - and she spoke English. I cannot believe she recognized me.

Me and Christina

Then on Sunday afternoon, 7 of us went to Badminton Theater to see Evita. It was really great, although our seats were a little too far away for my liking.

Christy, Sue, me, Miah, Lacey, Lindsey, Kate, Lacey

Then some of us went to TGI Fridays for some good ol' American food!

What a great weekend! Next weekend, the island of Rhodes!

Birthday

I celebrated my birthday by attending a Cinco de Mayo party hosted by the PTO on Wednesday and then went out to dinner with Kate, Christy and Lacey. Some of my students knew it was birthday so I got a few gifts, such as, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, a Yankee candle, peanut butter, a note pad and of course some chocolate!

Today (Sunday) I celebrated with 7 of my girlfriends as we got dressed up and went to the Grande Bretagne for High Tea. We met at 4pm on Mother's Day and so I thought it would be really crowded - not another person there. Wow - any other place in the US it would be packed.

It was a lovely time with the ladies. Then after about 2 hours of drinking tea and finger sandwiches, scones and mini desserts, some of us headed to the roof of the Grande Bretagne for a cocktail and beautiful view of Athens.

Great time had by all. Thank you everyone!

Grandpa's Memorial

On Saturday, May 8 was my grandfather's memorial in Adrian, Michigan. Grandpa died in October 2009 and his ashes were buried yesterday.

I heard it was a cold day (49 degrees F) and windy. Yet I am sure there was warmth in the air from everyone's wonderful memories brought together of Grandpa. I heard that the VW's 21 gun salute and the playing of Taps was a nice touch. Gary read a reading:

To Those I Love and Those Who Love Me

When I am gone, release me, let me go.

I have so many things to see and do.

You must not tie yourself to me with tears.

Be happy that we had so many years.

I gave you my love, you can only guess how

much you gave to me in happiness.

I thank you for the love you have shown,

but now it's time I traveled on alone.

So grieve a while for me if grieve you must.

Then let your grief be comforted by trust.

It is only for a while that we must part,

so bless the memories within your heart.

I will not be far away for life goes on.

So if you need, call and I will come. Though

you can not see or touch me, I'll be near.

And if you listen with your heart, you will hear

all of my love around you soft and clear.

And then, when you must come this way alone,
I will greet you with a smile and "Welcome Home".

Thank you Kelly for reading my reading. I wish I could have been there to read it or share the memories with everyone. I hope I don't regret not flying back to the states for the service - I did regret it last night.