Sunday, November 11, 2007
I am thinking I should have brought some more winter clothes. I've adjusted to the heat so much that 60 degrees feels frigid to me! Charlotte and I booked our flight to Paris today, so I'm pretty excited about that. We leave on November 28th and come back early Sunday morning, so we'll be there for her birthday instead of Thessaloniki. I'm disappointed we can't see Margot and Jenna on her birthday, but the prices to fly within Greece are insane. For that much money, I feel like I should be seeing another country. So now I will be! :) Not too much else to report. Charlotte's sister is coming to stay with us over her Thanksgiving break. See you all in 40 days.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
random pictures!
this is me jumping off a cliff in lindos, me in front of a lighthouse in turkey, and part of my room. I'm trying to add more.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
I guess it's about time I updated this again. I finally went to Old Town to buy some Christmas presents, and booked my flight to Italy. Then found out I have $950 in my account. Which means I can't spend more than 10 euro a day, for the next 50 days. Oi. Actually it's more like 13 euro, but I'm trying to account for ridiculous ATM charges. I haven't booked my trip to Paris yet, and was planning on going to Thessaloniki for Charlotte and Jenna's birthday, but it looks like my bank account is going to bottom out before I get a chance to do either of those things. That really sucks.
I can't believe it's finally November. October felt like it was going to last forever. Although it still doesn't even feel like fall here. We had about a week of chilly/windy/rainy weather, and then it stopped. Now it's just a little hazy, and back to mid-70s. I'm missing New England fall, especially Halloween. Last night we dressed up and hung out in Jen & Becky's room. Costumes included: Medusa, Bob Dylan, 50s woman, Jackie O, a mummy, an m&m, an OC girl, Hermione Granger [me] and Maggie Sullivan-Charlotte dressed up as me. We got souvlaki, came back and ate candy corn and watched Harry Potter.
I can't believe we really booked the flight to Italy. I'm going to see Da Vinci's Last Supper in person. I'm a little disappointed we aren't going to make it to Rome though, but at least I'll see some of the country. It's ridiculous how expensive it is to get off of this island.
I haven't really been doing too much. Mostly watching a lot of movies and trying to look up cheap flights out of here.
I feel like I'm doing better in Modern Greek, but my Minoan and Mycenaean history and Hellenistic Rhodes feel like a lot of stuff I'm never going to use. I'm a little nervous about the papers I'm supposed to write, because some of the kids have background in this [History majors or general interest] but I don't at all.
I found out my guinea pig Stella died the day my mom flew home, that was really sad. But I'm almost glad I wasn't there for it, I hate watching them when they're sick or dying, it's awful. My dad wants to get a girl, since "Dora" is actually a boy. I hope they do, 2 babies would be so cute and I'd actually be home in time to see them be born.
Charlotte and I went to Kos and Turkey a few weeks ago. Kos is really pretty, and very tiny. It's only a 3 or 4 hour ferry ride away, depending on which kind of boat you take. We stayed in a nice, and pretty cheap hotel which actually had a tv with a channel in English! We caught the end of the Da Vinci Code. We got up the next morning, took a taxi down to where our ferry got in and bought a ticket for a boat that said it was going to Bodrum. Somehow, we ended up in Turgutreis, which is about 45 minutes from Bodrum. We couldn't figure out if the boat company made a mistake taking us there, or if they just lied to us, which happens sometimes in Greece. Some of them will do anything to get a sale.
So we walk over to one group of people, and some man with a clipboard is telling them that the bus to Bodrum is coming at 11:30 and if they want to come, to wait at a nearby restaurant. Charlotte and I decide we're going to crash this party, so we wait, and hop on these tiny busses. Our bus is full of people that I think are speaking German, but I'm not catching even small phrases of what they're saying. They drive us up to a point overlooking a harbor and we take some pictures, still not having any idea where we are or when we're getting to Bodrum. Our tour guide gets on the bus and starts speaking in what I think is German, but I can't understand him either. Charlotte is baffled that I took 3 years of German and can't decipher a word these people are saying. I try to explain Rogers and Frau Daly to her.
They take us to a Gold Center, which is basically a bizarre, super expensive jewelry store. We held $8,000 necklaces and they served us orange juice. There was a ball pit that I wanted to go in, but Charlotte told me I was too big. Killjoy. There we found out that we were actually in a Dutch tour group. They realized we spoke English, and we lied & said we were Canadien. We drank some Turkish tea, which is good at first but has a very bitter aftertaste, and then they took us to Bodrum and gave us a few hours to shop. It's got a huge harbor, there were literally hundreds of boats lined up. I didn't buy much, but it was a pretty entertaining day. We came back to Kos and walked around, ate awesome pesto pasta for really cheap, and went back to the hotel.
It was nice to get a weekend away from Soroni and from everyone in the house. I like everyone, but having time away gives us something new to talk about. A couple other people went to Kos last weekend, and Megan and Lauren are leaving tomorrow.
That's pretty much all that's new with me here. Oh, I washed my sheets. Ok, that's really it.
I can't believe it's finally November. October felt like it was going to last forever. Although it still doesn't even feel like fall here. We had about a week of chilly/windy/rainy weather, and then it stopped. Now it's just a little hazy, and back to mid-70s. I'm missing New England fall, especially Halloween. Last night we dressed up and hung out in Jen & Becky's room. Costumes included: Medusa, Bob Dylan, 50s woman, Jackie O, a mummy, an m&m, an OC girl, Hermione Granger [me] and Maggie Sullivan-Charlotte dressed up as me. We got souvlaki, came back and ate candy corn and watched Harry Potter.
I can't believe we really booked the flight to Italy. I'm going to see Da Vinci's Last Supper in person. I'm a little disappointed we aren't going to make it to Rome though, but at least I'll see some of the country. It's ridiculous how expensive it is to get off of this island.
I haven't really been doing too much. Mostly watching a lot of movies and trying to look up cheap flights out of here.
I feel like I'm doing better in Modern Greek, but my Minoan and Mycenaean history and Hellenistic Rhodes feel like a lot of stuff I'm never going to use. I'm a little nervous about the papers I'm supposed to write, because some of the kids have background in this [History majors or general interest] but I don't at all.
I found out my guinea pig Stella died the day my mom flew home, that was really sad. But I'm almost glad I wasn't there for it, I hate watching them when they're sick or dying, it's awful. My dad wants to get a girl, since "Dora" is actually a boy. I hope they do, 2 babies would be so cute and I'd actually be home in time to see them be born.
Charlotte and I went to Kos and Turkey a few weeks ago. Kos is really pretty, and very tiny. It's only a 3 or 4 hour ferry ride away, depending on which kind of boat you take. We stayed in a nice, and pretty cheap hotel which actually had a tv with a channel in English! We caught the end of the Da Vinci Code. We got up the next morning, took a taxi down to where our ferry got in and bought a ticket for a boat that said it was going to Bodrum. Somehow, we ended up in Turgutreis, which is about 45 minutes from Bodrum. We couldn't figure out if the boat company made a mistake taking us there, or if they just lied to us, which happens sometimes in Greece. Some of them will do anything to get a sale.
So we walk over to one group of people, and some man with a clipboard is telling them that the bus to Bodrum is coming at 11:30 and if they want to come, to wait at a nearby restaurant. Charlotte and I decide we're going to crash this party, so we wait, and hop on these tiny busses. Our bus is full of people that I think are speaking German, but I'm not catching even small phrases of what they're saying. They drive us up to a point overlooking a harbor and we take some pictures, still not having any idea where we are or when we're getting to Bodrum. Our tour guide gets on the bus and starts speaking in what I think is German, but I can't understand him either. Charlotte is baffled that I took 3 years of German and can't decipher a word these people are saying. I try to explain Rogers and Frau Daly to her.
They take us to a Gold Center, which is basically a bizarre, super expensive jewelry store. We held $8,000 necklaces and they served us orange juice. There was a ball pit that I wanted to go in, but Charlotte told me I was too big. Killjoy. There we found out that we were actually in a Dutch tour group. They realized we spoke English, and we lied & said we were Canadien. We drank some Turkish tea, which is good at first but has a very bitter aftertaste, and then they took us to Bodrum and gave us a few hours to shop. It's got a huge harbor, there were literally hundreds of boats lined up. I didn't buy much, but it was a pretty entertaining day. We came back to Kos and walked around, ate awesome pesto pasta for really cheap, and went back to the hotel.
It was nice to get a weekend away from Soroni and from everyone in the house. I like everyone, but having time away gives us something new to talk about. A couple other people went to Kos last weekend, and Megan and Lauren are leaving tomorrow.
That's pretty much all that's new with me here. Oh, I washed my sheets. Ok, that's really it.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
My mom left on Saturday morning, which was way, way more sad than leaving her & my dad in the airport. I cried the whole taxi ride home, which was probably very awkward for the driver. We went to the beach down the street from my house, into Rhodes city and Old Town and found the doe and the buck at the entrance of mandraki harbor, drove around the island and stopped at tsambika beach and lindos so she could jump off the little cliff, and watched all 4 Harry Potters. An excellent visit, in my opinion.
Her leaving definitely made me a bit homesick. It's gotten a little worse because the stupid time difference makes it really difficult to talk to people when I'm not really tired & they're not at work & whatnot. Only 66 more days. Margot and Jenna left for Thessaloniki today which was really sad. It's definitely going to be a lot quieter/slightly more boring without them around. The boys and Joanna left Saturday afternoon. We're already planning for them to come back for a weekend in the beginning of November, and Charlotte and I are going to Thessaloniki the first weekend in December for her & Jenna's birthday.
The semester has officially started. I'm taking Rhodes of the Hellenistic Period, Minoan and Mycenaean History and Modern Greek 1. My schedule is
Monday: Rhodes of the Hellenistic Period 9-10:30, Modern Greek 1 5-7
Wednesday: Minoan and Mycenaean History 9-12
At some point during the week I'll have another 2 hour Modern Greek class, but it will probably change week to week.
So now I'll have more time to be on-line to talk/Skype if anyone wants to. Monday nights [afternoons for you guys] would be good for me, I can stay in the internet room late since I don't have class on Tuesday. Or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights.
Charlotte and I have plans for pretty much every weekend. This weekend we're taking a ferry to Kos where we'll stay overnight, and then take a day trip to Bodrum, Turkey. Lauren, Erin, Megan, Nick, and April went to Marmaris, Turkey a few days ago, they had a decent time. Next weekend we're going to Santorini with Erin. The first or second weekend in November, Margot and Jenna will be visiting, and whatever weekend they don't come we're going to visit Rome and Florence. The next two weekends Charlottes sister will be visiting, and the first weekend in December we'll be in Thessaloniki. Then we're going to Paris to stay with Casey Sullivan, and then it's the last weekend before we come home! Thinking of it like this helps me not be so homesick.
We've been getting text messages from Athena, our roomate who is now in Athens for the semester and the news has not been pretty. Her and Kerri got there Saturday morning to an apartment that was filthy, had no beds, no furniture, no silverware, and Joanna's room wasn't even built yet [Kerri, Athena, Michelle, Lena, and Joanna were planning to live in 1 three bedroom apartment]. Thankfully, three of the girls have family in Athens and they stayed with them the first night. Kerri and Athena slept on the floor of the apartment the second night and ate food Kerri's grandmother had sent with them. Last night after 11pm, they finally got beds. There's no internet, they aren't getting bus passes even though the have to take a 25 minute bus ride to get to and from their classes. Their cafeteria where they're supposed to eat is in a sketchy neighborhood and has terrible food. The representative for Paideia Athens wasn't even in Athens the weekend they got there.
Margot, Jenna, John, Carolyn, and Sondra were all planning on leaving today and taking the ferry/plane to Thessaloniki. Elias had known their plans for at least a week, but he e-mailed them all on Friday and said they needed to drive back into Rhodes city to try and get a refund [on their non-refundable tickets], buy plane tickets for a flight to Athens that leaves the next day and be in Thessaloniki by Sunday. Un-freaking-believeable. None of them did it [as nothing he said to do was even possible]. He said they couldn't miss that much class. He seems to be forgetting that Margot and Jenna don't HAVE any classes, because they're not offering the classes they were told they could take and now have to take classes directly through Aristotle University. Elias didn't sign them up for any, so they have to show up there [with no idea of where to go], try they get into classes they need, and then pray they're taught in English.
Kosta, Elias's 28 year old son, our "representative" [a pretty pathetic one who, for the first three weeks, constantly ditched us because he was dating one of the 18 year old girls in the program] also forgot to take the boys to the airport on Saturday and they would have missed their flight if one of the other boys hadn't still had his rental car.
This entire program is just so disorganized and ridiculous. I have to go to the hospital for a tuberculosis test and chest x-ray, and pay 150 euro [a little over $200] so I can renew my visa and actually leave the country.
Needless to say, I am counting the days until I come home right now. I miss you all very very very VERY much. See you in 66 days!
Her leaving definitely made me a bit homesick. It's gotten a little worse because the stupid time difference makes it really difficult to talk to people when I'm not really tired & they're not at work & whatnot. Only 66 more days. Margot and Jenna left for Thessaloniki today which was really sad. It's definitely going to be a lot quieter/slightly more boring without them around. The boys and Joanna left Saturday afternoon. We're already planning for them to come back for a weekend in the beginning of November, and Charlotte and I are going to Thessaloniki the first weekend in December for her & Jenna's birthday.
The semester has officially started. I'm taking Rhodes of the Hellenistic Period, Minoan and Mycenaean History and Modern Greek 1. My schedule is
Monday: Rhodes of the Hellenistic Period 9-10:30, Modern Greek 1 5-7
Wednesday: Minoan and Mycenaean History 9-12
At some point during the week I'll have another 2 hour Modern Greek class, but it will probably change week to week.
So now I'll have more time to be on-line to talk/Skype if anyone wants to. Monday nights [afternoons for you guys] would be good for me, I can stay in the internet room late since I don't have class on Tuesday. Or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights.
Charlotte and I have plans for pretty much every weekend. This weekend we're taking a ferry to Kos where we'll stay overnight, and then take a day trip to Bodrum, Turkey. Lauren, Erin, Megan, Nick, and April went to Marmaris, Turkey a few days ago, they had a decent time. Next weekend we're going to Santorini with Erin. The first or second weekend in November, Margot and Jenna will be visiting, and whatever weekend they don't come we're going to visit Rome and Florence. The next two weekends Charlottes sister will be visiting, and the first weekend in December we'll be in Thessaloniki. Then we're going to Paris to stay with Casey Sullivan, and then it's the last weekend before we come home! Thinking of it like this helps me not be so homesick.
We've been getting text messages from Athena, our roomate who is now in Athens for the semester and the news has not been pretty. Her and Kerri got there Saturday morning to an apartment that was filthy, had no beds, no furniture, no silverware, and Joanna's room wasn't even built yet [Kerri, Athena, Michelle, Lena, and Joanna were planning to live in 1 three bedroom apartment]. Thankfully, three of the girls have family in Athens and they stayed with them the first night. Kerri and Athena slept on the floor of the apartment the second night and ate food Kerri's grandmother had sent with them. Last night after 11pm, they finally got beds. There's no internet, they aren't getting bus passes even though the have to take a 25 minute bus ride to get to and from their classes. Their cafeteria where they're supposed to eat is in a sketchy neighborhood and has terrible food. The representative for Paideia Athens wasn't even in Athens the weekend they got there.
Margot, Jenna, John, Carolyn, and Sondra were all planning on leaving today and taking the ferry/plane to Thessaloniki. Elias had known their plans for at least a week, but he e-mailed them all on Friday and said they needed to drive back into Rhodes city to try and get a refund [on their non-refundable tickets], buy plane tickets for a flight to Athens that leaves the next day and be in Thessaloniki by Sunday. Un-freaking-believeable. None of them did it [as nothing he said to do was even possible]. He said they couldn't miss that much class. He seems to be forgetting that Margot and Jenna don't HAVE any classes, because they're not offering the classes they were told they could take and now have to take classes directly through Aristotle University. Elias didn't sign them up for any, so they have to show up there [with no idea of where to go], try they get into classes they need, and then pray they're taught in English.
Kosta, Elias's 28 year old son, our "representative" [a pretty pathetic one who, for the first three weeks, constantly ditched us because he was dating one of the 18 year old girls in the program] also forgot to take the boys to the airport on Saturday and they would have missed their flight if one of the other boys hadn't still had his rental car.
This entire program is just so disorganized and ridiculous. I have to go to the hospital for a tuberculosis test and chest x-ray, and pay 150 euro [a little over $200] so I can renew my visa and actually leave the country.
Needless to say, I am counting the days until I come home right now. I miss you all very very very VERY much. See you in 66 days!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Charlotte's making me risotto right now and if I'm not back soon she won't give me any, so this will be short. I can't figure out why I can't seem to post pictures now. This site is annoying. It actually rained today! For about 20 minutes. Mostly it was just a lot of thunder, but now it's sunny again. I hate 8am classes. Mom comes Saturday :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)