So for anyone who does not know and actually reads this, I have been working at Best Buy the last month and it is awesome.
Superbad - 9.2 - This generations "Can't Hardly Wait." Thats all I really have to say about it. If you haven't seen Can't Hardly Wait, then stop what you are doing and go see it.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Money
I just had to let you know that the Canadian dollar is worth more than the US dollar.
Oceans 13 - 8.9 - Not as good as the first but definitely better than the second. A whole load of fun. It hides a little bit as Oceans usually does, but it does it well. It's all around a great time. I recommend it. I'll get it if they come out with a trilogy pack or something.
Oceans 13 - 8.9 - Not as good as the first but definitely better than the second. A whole load of fun. It hides a little bit as Oceans usually does, but it does it well. It's all around a great time. I recommend it. I'll get it if they come out with a trilogy pack or something.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Week One Done
The first week of classes were actually pretty good, seeing as I didn't do anything. Every assignment was pretty much in-class, so I haven't accomplished much. I do need to get some books and read, and spend time in the ol' library because of some stupid reference books. Other than that I've been catching up on some movies.
Fantastic Four 2 - 3 out of 5 It was too short to develop the characters (only about 90 minutes long). They didn't show galactus. In fact I think the way the plot unfolded was pretty dumb. Of course I may be too close to the source material, but everything wraps up too neatly, just like with spider-man.
Spider-Man 3 - 3 out of 5 I constantly in flux about what I was going to give this while I was watching it because it got worse then better then ultimately horrible. They put too much into the film. Gwen Stacey should only play a big role or no role and since MJ was already with Peter then Gwen shouldn't have been in it. Topher Grace was bad at Venom. Venom's voice was horrible, it should have been deep and evil. They should have cut out the amnesia part and developed the rest of the story. The end was wrapped up way too neatly, much too fairy tale.
28 Days Later and 28 Week Later - 3.7 out of 5 I do recommend these movies. It takes a different spin on the zombie franchise with the rage virus. The first film is much more character oriented while the second is much more run and stay alive. I do like how they opened it up to a sequel.
Sunshine - 5stars This is from the same writer director team of 28 Days Later. This sci-fi film was great. Our sun is dying so a team sets off to restart it. It takes them months to get there. This is the second mission. It sounds like it might be boring, but with the mounting tensions on the ship and the fact that they find the missing first mission, it is actually very well paced with good action. If you like Event Horizon or Solaris then check this out.
Fantastic Four 2 - 3 out of 5 It was too short to develop the characters (only about 90 minutes long). They didn't show galactus. In fact I think the way the plot unfolded was pretty dumb. Of course I may be too close to the source material, but everything wraps up too neatly, just like with spider-man.
Spider-Man 3 - 3 out of 5 I constantly in flux about what I was going to give this while I was watching it because it got worse then better then ultimately horrible. They put too much into the film. Gwen Stacey should only play a big role or no role and since MJ was already with Peter then Gwen shouldn't have been in it. Topher Grace was bad at Venom. Venom's voice was horrible, it should have been deep and evil. They should have cut out the amnesia part and developed the rest of the story. The end was wrapped up way too neatly, much too fairy tale.
28 Days Later and 28 Week Later - 3.7 out of 5 I do recommend these movies. It takes a different spin on the zombie franchise with the rage virus. The first film is much more character oriented while the second is much more run and stay alive. I do like how they opened it up to a sequel.
Sunshine - 5stars This is from the same writer director team of 28 Days Later. This sci-fi film was great. Our sun is dying so a team sets off to restart it. It takes them months to get there. This is the second mission. It sounds like it might be boring, but with the mounting tensions on the ship and the fact that they find the missing first mission, it is actually very well paced with good action. If you like Event Horizon or Solaris then check this out.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
The Continuing Adventures
Well, if anyone reads this then great.
I have decided to continue in posting random blogs of stuff in my life.
I am seriously considering trying to go to Australia or maybe somewhere thereabouts for a work abroad program after I graduate.
For as dysfunctional as our study abroad group may have been, I miss every single person very much.
I want to get to NYC to see a few of my friends for a week or so, or maybe longer.
I think I will also resume reviewing movies like I did with my livejournal, but on here because I can't access my livejournal because I was using my ncsu account which is obviously not longer active. Anyway my first review.
The Simpsons Movie - 5Stars - This movie takes me back to the heyday of the Simpsons franchise. Everything about it is funny and as invigorating as the series used to be. If you have ever been a fan of the show then this is a must see. Period.
PS I am going to post pictures soon of Greece from other peoples pics, plus I am going to send other Odyssey people pics too.
PPS If anyone has any movie review requests, do not hesitate to ask. I will watch the movie for you even if it is in the theater. Expect more from the soon to be #1 New York Times Bestseller soon.
I have decided to continue in posting random blogs of stuff in my life.
I am seriously considering trying to go to Australia or maybe somewhere thereabouts for a work abroad program after I graduate.
For as dysfunctional as our study abroad group may have been, I miss every single person very much.
I want to get to NYC to see a few of my friends for a week or so, or maybe longer.
I think I will also resume reviewing movies like I did with my livejournal, but on here because I can't access my livejournal because I was using my ncsu account which is obviously not longer active. Anyway my first review.
The Simpsons Movie - 5Stars - This movie takes me back to the heyday of the Simpsons franchise. Everything about it is funny and as invigorating as the series used to be. If you have ever been a fan of the show then this is a must see. Period.
PS I am going to post pictures soon of Greece from other peoples pics, plus I am going to send other Odyssey people pics too.
PPS If anyone has any movie review requests, do not hesitate to ask. I will watch the movie for you even if it is in the theater. Expect more from the soon to be #1 New York Times Bestseller soon.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Final Thoughts
I've been back almost 2 weeks now, and I wonder how affected and changed I was by my time in Greece. There have been a couple moments when I looked at pictures or something that I missed it and wished I was back, which brings me to think what I want to do with my life. Obviously I want to be a writer, but where do I want to go?
I cannot say that I am particularly drawn to any specific place in the US. I mean that I do not have a specific place that I want to live. Sure, there are a few places I would choose over others, but not because I feel anything for the city or anything.
That brings me to my next thought. I truly do want to go to Australia or Japan. I have already begun looking at programs that help people to work abroad for various periods of time. While I would choose Australia over Japan, I would still love to go to Japan. I am almost certain I will try to do this unless a few small things that could happen in the next year occur, which include getting a very good job or meeting someone that would make me want to stay. We'll see.
I've caught up on a lot of stuff I missed while I was in Greece, and I've watched a few movies. I find it hilarious sometimes when there is a love plot where the two main protagonists who are strangers end up falling in love by the end of the film, which could take place in a matter of days or weeks. I know it is just a film but I still think its too much. This made me think of how much I knew about my fellow Odyssey students. I can't say I knew them too well, but I do like many of them. Will I keep in touch with them? I don't know. I think I've talked more to students from another program more since I've been back than students in my program. Its kind of weird. Again, I will have to wait and see how much of an affect they have had on me.
One thing I truly know is that I am too much into material things. I think that I could easily move overseas with only taking my laptop and some clothes (maybe my Wii), but would I be able to manage not having all my movies and books and my tv. I don't know. I can easily download most of what I get already, but there is something about having the physical objects themselves. I wouldn't actually get rid of them, but I wouldn't have them with me.
I'm going to try and catch up on some major reading this coming year.
And maybe I'll keep writing here.
I cannot say that I am particularly drawn to any specific place in the US. I mean that I do not have a specific place that I want to live. Sure, there are a few places I would choose over others, but not because I feel anything for the city or anything.
That brings me to my next thought. I truly do want to go to Australia or Japan. I have already begun looking at programs that help people to work abroad for various periods of time. While I would choose Australia over Japan, I would still love to go to Japan. I am almost certain I will try to do this unless a few small things that could happen in the next year occur, which include getting a very good job or meeting someone that would make me want to stay. We'll see.
I've caught up on a lot of stuff I missed while I was in Greece, and I've watched a few movies. I find it hilarious sometimes when there is a love plot where the two main protagonists who are strangers end up falling in love by the end of the film, which could take place in a matter of days or weeks. I know it is just a film but I still think its too much. This made me think of how much I knew about my fellow Odyssey students. I can't say I knew them too well, but I do like many of them. Will I keep in touch with them? I don't know. I think I've talked more to students from another program more since I've been back than students in my program. Its kind of weird. Again, I will have to wait and see how much of an affect they have had on me.
One thing I truly know is that I am too much into material things. I think that I could easily move overseas with only taking my laptop and some clothes (maybe my Wii), but would I be able to manage not having all my movies and books and my tv. I don't know. I can easily download most of what I get already, but there is something about having the physical objects themselves. I wouldn't actually get rid of them, but I wouldn't have them with me.
I'm going to try and catch up on some major reading this coming year.
And maybe I'll keep writing here.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Pictures & Androids
Wow.
What can I say. Despite being told by my mom and brother that they couldn't see the pics I had posted I still thought they were up. They were. They were just marked as private. I guess iPhoto isn't infallible. Anyway, its been fixed and many more pics are up to be seen. Check em out.
At, the airport in Athens there were these advertisements about an android that were pretty cool.
"I can walk forever without resting,
you can enjoy the journey."
"I have perfect eyesight,
you can see something new."
It was hilarious. So I checked out the website and its all in Spanish or Greek, even though the commercial is in English, weird. Check that out, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtGoLhZ5Ve0
What can I say. Despite being told by my mom and brother that they couldn't see the pics I had posted I still thought they were up. They were. They were just marked as private. I guess iPhoto isn't infallible. Anyway, its been fixed and many more pics are up to be seen. Check em out.
At, the airport in Athens there were these advertisements about an android that were pretty cool.
"I can walk forever without resting,
you can enjoy the journey."
"I have perfect eyesight,
you can see something new."
It was hilarious. So I checked out the website and its all in Spanish or Greek, even though the commercial is in English, weird. Check that out, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtGoLhZ5Ve0
Friday, July 13, 2007
Santorini
I’m sitting on the airplane writing this thing up in Word because obviously they don’t have a connection on planes. I can’t believe how fast five weeks can go by. It seems like only a few days ago I was on a plane flying to Athens, and now I’m almost home. So many wonderful experiences, so many more things I could have done, but you know you can’t overextend yourself or else you can’t enjoy it. I have to say I’m glad that I will be back. There won’t really be any readjustment for me, maybe just gorging on some American food I missed. But anyway, Santorini.
Wednesday night / Thursday morning – We took a ferry as I said for 16 hours. Don’t ever take GA Ferries. Our ferry back was only eight hours. It was Blue Star. Those are the only two companies I believe. So we are on the boat sleeping in airplane like seats. We did lay down somewhat. There was a bunch of extra seats and the seats only had armrests at every two intervals so two of us could take up a whole row of six seats. It was nice. I slept as best I could till about eleven so I thought the ride wasn’t that long, but then the ride was late, we had to wait at the port for our ride to the hotel. You can’t walk because the road literally tacks back and forth up the side of the Caldera cliff. The Caldera is the big whole in the center of Santorini that was taken out by the volcano.
So we get to our hotel around 4:30 to 5, take showers, and proceeded to walk around and eat and do touristy things. Dinner was great. It just had a souvlaki plate, but it was so good. After walking through the shops and stuff, the girls went back to the hotel while I ran around looking for more stuff to buy and pictures to take. I found a good spot where the sun was going to set, took a few pictures. (I’ll try to comment on my photos for better associations of them.) I went back to get the girls before the sun set so they could come watch it, but they didn’t want to. And it was just as well anyway because there were a million clouds coming in. I saw some cool places. An interesting church and some random stuff then went back to join the girls.
Friday morning – We got up around ten ish to catch the bus to Kamari, where one of the black beaches is. Black sand is very hot. We only stayed for a couple hours, and there was no sand in the water, just a big rockbed. After me and Rachel were sufficiently burnt, we went to the end of the beach so I could go cliff jumping. It was outstanding. I was a little afraid at first because no one else was jumping even though that is where I was told to go. I eventually did it and I loved every second of it. It was also great because there were other people there and they started jumping with me. So you can say I’m a trend setter.
Back to the hotel, shower, go to Oia (pronounced ee ah, maybe ee uh, or maybe a mixture). Anyway, I loved the town. Its pretty small, but still has wonderful view. You can easily see both sides of the water at many places. This is the postcard town where many people see photographs and where Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its sequel (A couple of the girls in our group are extras in the sequel, I am how can I say it… jealous). Dinner on a rooftop. Though Phyllinga was not feeling the food, I thought mine was great. The sun was slowly setting for the two hours we were there, but we had to catch the bus right when it was to go under. So I was a little disappointed. On the bus ride back I kept looking out the windows to see the sky. Gorgeous. You had the red to orange to yellow combo going out from where it set, then a small hint of light green was the boundary to the great blue, but that’s not all. Looking out to the other sides the sky was becoming a dark purple in some spots and a pink in others. I wished I was on the highest point so I could’ve taken a panoramic shot.
Saturday morning – I got up early by myself to go to the red beach. Yes it was a nice red. I was gone for a couple hours, and I loved the alone time. Came back, chilled in Fira, then boat ride back to Athens. We got back just after midnight. The metro stops at midnight and restarts at 6. (they should seriously leave it on all the time. It would help out so many more people, especially going to the airport.) So we took a taxi back, and I met my new roommate Alex, who is actually a really cool guy. I didn’t find out until my last night there that we actually have a lot in common.
Anyway, more later. And pics in the next few days. I need to chill for a little bit.
Funny anecdote. At the Acropolis there are obviously areas you can’t go in. We saw these two foreign girls taking pictures and one of them hopped up onto one of the not allowed areas, and the other took a picture of her. So the guide got pissed, blew her whistle and ran over telling them to delete the photo. They didn’t speak English as a first language so they were saying, “The camera is naked, there’s nothing on it, its naked.” I will never forget that. (I doubt they actually deleted the photo, too.)
Wednesday night / Thursday morning – We took a ferry as I said for 16 hours. Don’t ever take GA Ferries. Our ferry back was only eight hours. It was Blue Star. Those are the only two companies I believe. So we are on the boat sleeping in airplane like seats. We did lay down somewhat. There was a bunch of extra seats and the seats only had armrests at every two intervals so two of us could take up a whole row of six seats. It was nice. I slept as best I could till about eleven so I thought the ride wasn’t that long, but then the ride was late, we had to wait at the port for our ride to the hotel. You can’t walk because the road literally tacks back and forth up the side of the Caldera cliff. The Caldera is the big whole in the center of Santorini that was taken out by the volcano.
So we get to our hotel around 4:30 to 5, take showers, and proceeded to walk around and eat and do touristy things. Dinner was great. It just had a souvlaki plate, but it was so good. After walking through the shops and stuff, the girls went back to the hotel while I ran around looking for more stuff to buy and pictures to take. I found a good spot where the sun was going to set, took a few pictures. (I’ll try to comment on my photos for better associations of them.) I went back to get the girls before the sun set so they could come watch it, but they didn’t want to. And it was just as well anyway because there were a million clouds coming in. I saw some cool places. An interesting church and some random stuff then went back to join the girls.
Friday morning – We got up around ten ish to catch the bus to Kamari, where one of the black beaches is. Black sand is very hot. We only stayed for a couple hours, and there was no sand in the water, just a big rockbed. After me and Rachel were sufficiently burnt, we went to the end of the beach so I could go cliff jumping. It was outstanding. I was a little afraid at first because no one else was jumping even though that is where I was told to go. I eventually did it and I loved every second of it. It was also great because there were other people there and they started jumping with me. So you can say I’m a trend setter.
Back to the hotel, shower, go to Oia (pronounced ee ah, maybe ee uh, or maybe a mixture). Anyway, I loved the town. Its pretty small, but still has wonderful view. You can easily see both sides of the water at many places. This is the postcard town where many people see photographs and where Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its sequel (A couple of the girls in our group are extras in the sequel, I am how can I say it… jealous). Dinner on a rooftop. Though Phyllinga was not feeling the food, I thought mine was great. The sun was slowly setting for the two hours we were there, but we had to catch the bus right when it was to go under. So I was a little disappointed. On the bus ride back I kept looking out the windows to see the sky. Gorgeous. You had the red to orange to yellow combo going out from where it set, then a small hint of light green was the boundary to the great blue, but that’s not all. Looking out to the other sides the sky was becoming a dark purple in some spots and a pink in others. I wished I was on the highest point so I could’ve taken a panoramic shot.
Saturday morning – I got up early by myself to go to the red beach. Yes it was a nice red. I was gone for a couple hours, and I loved the alone time. Came back, chilled in Fira, then boat ride back to Athens. We got back just after midnight. The metro stops at midnight and restarts at 6. (they should seriously leave it on all the time. It would help out so many more people, especially going to the airport.) So we took a taxi back, and I met my new roommate Alex, who is actually a really cool guy. I didn’t find out until my last night there that we actually have a lot in common.
Anyway, more later. And pics in the next few days. I need to chill for a little bit.
Funny anecdote. At the Acropolis there are obviously areas you can’t go in. We saw these two foreign girls taking pictures and one of them hopped up onto one of the not allowed areas, and the other took a picture of her. So the guide got pissed, blew her whistle and ran over telling them to delete the photo. They didn’t speak English as a first language so they were saying, “The camera is naked, there’s nothing on it, its naked.” I will never forget that. (I doubt they actually deleted the photo, too.)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Greece Days: 26-?
Wow.
It has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. Reasons include me going to Santorini and the massive amount of work that always seems to pile up at the end of a term.
Tuesday – Did absolutely nothing because I knew I didn’t have class Wednesday, and we were leaving for Santorini Wednesday night.
Wednesday – Went to the Acropolis, finally. It was pretty cool. They have more than just the Parthenon. One thing to note is that they have been doing restoration on it since before I was born, so don’t be surprised by the scaffolding and stuff in the pictures I will put up later. That night We took the metro to Pirraeus, the port, and got on our ferry. It was a 16 hour ferry ride. (It was supposed to be 15 not that it really mattered that much) Not cool. I was able to get about 11 hours of sleep, but by the end I could feel my stomach being mad at me.
Thursday – We arrived in Fira, Santorini and proceeded to explore the town. It was only 3 of us so not too hectic. By the time sunset rolled around the two girls went back to the hotel and I ran around the town a little.
Friday – Kamari. It has one of the black beaches, but more importantly it has cliff jumping. On facebook my profile pic is me jumping. Money. Headed back to our hotel to shower to go to Oia that evening. Oia is the postcard town that everyone thinks Greece looks like, but is just in the Cycladic Islands. The Sunset was amazing.
Saturday – I went to the red beach by myself in the morning. The girls were not feeling it. It was great to go by myself and have some alone time. We took our ferry back but this one was only 8 hours long and only 3 euro more. Bleh.
Sunday – I can’t really recall doing much, though I probably tried to work on one of my papers, but didn’t succeed well. I did get a reflection done though that was due the next day.
Monday – Class in the morning. Reading and writing for the rest of the day for a six pager due on Tuesday. Up till 3.
Tuesday – Meeting with Dina for program evaluations, class that was actually pretty fun. We had a couple guest lecturers. Probably went to Plaka for some souvenir shopping then wrting my ten page paper till 4:30 in the morning. I had already done about four pages before that day, but it was an arduous journey.
Wednesday – Last American Realism class. It was only half as long, but we watched half a movie and left. I should have just handed in the paper and left directly. Was really lazy the rest of the day. I tried to sleep but it was too hot. Watched Zorba the Greek for our other class.
Thursday – My last full day here in Athens. Started the day off strong. Went to the Temple of Zeus at about 11 in the morning and then on to the Theater of Dionysus afterward. Ran into people on my way back to the apartment and went and got my housing deposit. Then a little nothing till class at 2. Another guest lecturer, which was great. Last minute shopping for people. We are going to have a big group dinner tonight, a drink afterward, then we do what we want. I will have to pack somewhere in there.
More indepth Santorini trip later.
It has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. Reasons include me going to Santorini and the massive amount of work that always seems to pile up at the end of a term.
Tuesday – Did absolutely nothing because I knew I didn’t have class Wednesday, and we were leaving for Santorini Wednesday night.
Wednesday – Went to the Acropolis, finally. It was pretty cool. They have more than just the Parthenon. One thing to note is that they have been doing restoration on it since before I was born, so don’t be surprised by the scaffolding and stuff in the pictures I will put up later. That night We took the metro to Pirraeus, the port, and got on our ferry. It was a 16 hour ferry ride. (It was supposed to be 15 not that it really mattered that much) Not cool. I was able to get about 11 hours of sleep, but by the end I could feel my stomach being mad at me.
Thursday – We arrived in Fira, Santorini and proceeded to explore the town. It was only 3 of us so not too hectic. By the time sunset rolled around the two girls went back to the hotel and I ran around the town a little.
Friday – Kamari. It has one of the black beaches, but more importantly it has cliff jumping. On facebook my profile pic is me jumping. Money. Headed back to our hotel to shower to go to Oia that evening. Oia is the postcard town that everyone thinks Greece looks like, but is just in the Cycladic Islands. The Sunset was amazing.
Saturday – I went to the red beach by myself in the morning. The girls were not feeling it. It was great to go by myself and have some alone time. We took our ferry back but this one was only 8 hours long and only 3 euro more. Bleh.
Sunday – I can’t really recall doing much, though I probably tried to work on one of my papers, but didn’t succeed well. I did get a reflection done though that was due the next day.
Monday – Class in the morning. Reading and writing for the rest of the day for a six pager due on Tuesday. Up till 3.
Tuesday – Meeting with Dina for program evaluations, class that was actually pretty fun. We had a couple guest lecturers. Probably went to Plaka for some souvenir shopping then wrting my ten page paper till 4:30 in the morning. I had already done about four pages before that day, but it was an arduous journey.
Wednesday – Last American Realism class. It was only half as long, but we watched half a movie and left. I should have just handed in the paper and left directly. Was really lazy the rest of the day. I tried to sleep but it was too hot. Watched Zorba the Greek for our other class.
Thursday – My last full day here in Athens. Started the day off strong. Went to the Temple of Zeus at about 11 in the morning and then on to the Theater of Dionysus afterward. Ran into people on my way back to the apartment and went and got my housing deposit. Then a little nothing till class at 2. Another guest lecturer, which was great. Last minute shopping for people. We are going to have a big group dinner tonight, a drink afterward, then we do what we want. I will have to pack somewhere in there.
More indepth Santorini trip later.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Athens: Days 22-25
I wish I had started a personal journal at the beginning of this trip so that I could write down all my thoughts I don't care to share with anyone (probably mostly complaining to myself because I feel the need to let it out and I don't want to complain to others). I'm too lazy now, but I think I will try to write a journal like that after the program is complete.
I miss the CUNYs already. I chilled with them the entire night on Friday into Saturday. We went to the Areopugus and sat down with this cool group of Greek kids maybe a little older than me. They had a few guitars and were singing, and Alexis played some and was really excited to meet them. We ate the homemade crepes with some ice cream, delicious. We shortly left and went back to await the time of leaving for the bus. We got to the bus around 5ish and while I was loading their bags the bus started to leave with me on it. I was like whoa, stop. Ah good times.
Saturday was a super lazy day, but not so much a lazy night. The Odyssey girls that had not gone away cooked dinner, so I ate with them. I stayed there all night. Marc came back from the island because he had to catch his plane the next morning, so it sort of became a going away celebration for him. Fun ensued (girls fighting each other with beach mats, etc.). We actually stayed at their apartment in one of the empty rooms because we were too tired to make it back. He was supposed to be at the car to go to the airport at 6. There were at least 3 alarms and he did not get up until 6:15. Apparantly I woke up around the same time and said something, but I rolled over. I remember none of this. Needless to say, I missed saying goodbye to Marc, who I miss. The apartment is a little bigger without him, but hey, I took his room. Ha.
Sunday I really needed to work on my draft for my paper. I can't concentrate for anything. Me and a few girls went to the big flea market that happens every Sunday. It was okay. Got some shotglasses for friends. And I once again procrastinated like crazy on my paper. I stayed up til after 4 in the morning working on it.
Next day. My teacher proceeds to destroy my paper. It wasn't anything like it was bad because I did it so fast. It was more like she wanted it presented in a way in which I was never taught. That pissed me off to no end. I'm going to spend the next 2 days working on it most likely because on Wednesday night me and Rachel are going to Santorini. I cannot wait. I booked the hotel and got the ferry tickets and got a list of things we should do and it is going to be great. I might have some time to think about my paper too, but I am not bringing the lappy this time. I want to enjoy this break. Today we went to the Olympic Stadium and saw some international track and field events. Money. We hen proceeded to come back to Plaka and eat dinner stretching it into a 3 hour affair. It was wonderful. I will soon pass out. Good night.
PS Mom, what did you mean "was it a girl?" Did you mean was it a girl that made me want to move to Australia? maybe all the beautiful Australian girls, yeah. And the fact that I've wanted to go there for years.
I miss the CUNYs already. I chilled with them the entire night on Friday into Saturday. We went to the Areopugus and sat down with this cool group of Greek kids maybe a little older than me. They had a few guitars and were singing, and Alexis played some and was really excited to meet them. We ate the homemade crepes with some ice cream, delicious. We shortly left and went back to await the time of leaving for the bus. We got to the bus around 5ish and while I was loading their bags the bus started to leave with me on it. I was like whoa, stop. Ah good times.
Saturday was a super lazy day, but not so much a lazy night. The Odyssey girls that had not gone away cooked dinner, so I ate with them. I stayed there all night. Marc came back from the island because he had to catch his plane the next morning, so it sort of became a going away celebration for him. Fun ensued (girls fighting each other with beach mats, etc.). We actually stayed at their apartment in one of the empty rooms because we were too tired to make it back. He was supposed to be at the car to go to the airport at 6. There were at least 3 alarms and he did not get up until 6:15. Apparantly I woke up around the same time and said something, but I rolled over. I remember none of this. Needless to say, I missed saying goodbye to Marc, who I miss. The apartment is a little bigger without him, but hey, I took his room. Ha.
Sunday I really needed to work on my draft for my paper. I can't concentrate for anything. Me and a few girls went to the big flea market that happens every Sunday. It was okay. Got some shotglasses for friends. And I once again procrastinated like crazy on my paper. I stayed up til after 4 in the morning working on it.
Next day. My teacher proceeds to destroy my paper. It wasn't anything like it was bad because I did it so fast. It was more like she wanted it presented in a way in which I was never taught. That pissed me off to no end. I'm going to spend the next 2 days working on it most likely because on Wednesday night me and Rachel are going to Santorini. I cannot wait. I booked the hotel and got the ferry tickets and got a list of things we should do and it is going to be great. I might have some time to think about my paper too, but I am not bringing the lappy this time. I want to enjoy this break. Today we went to the Olympic Stadium and saw some international track and field events. Money. We hen proceeded to come back to Plaka and eat dinner stretching it into a 3 hour affair. It was wonderful. I will soon pass out. Good night.
PS Mom, what did you mean "was it a girl?" Did you mean was it a girl that made me want to move to Australia? maybe all the beautiful Australian girls, yeah. And the fact that I've wanted to go there for years.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Athens: Days 21-22
The Greeks are absolutely lazy as mess. But you know what. You really don't see that many fat Greeks. I love their laid back attitude. They just love for the pleasure of living, which is what I really want to do, eventually.
Thursday evening I had to say goodbye to a couple of the CUNY girls (City University of New York) who were leaving around 4 in the morning. It was a sad little moment, but they were cool, so I'm sure I'll talk to them on facebook. Thursday night I went out with the crew. We were supposed to go salsa dancing, which I really wanted to do. I just wanted to show off my moves, but there was a 10 euro cover charge so went down the street to another club. We had a great time, but the lights in the club were so strange. They would dim and brighten at random intervals, so once I sat down I actually had to cover my eyes. Then I started getting tired. I could have actually fallen asleep in the club even with the music, which is always loud. On the way into and out of Psiri (the area with all the clubs and whatnot) there are a million posters for all the different concerts going on in the near future. I think I'm going to have to steal one of them because it had a cool picture on it. We got back around 3-3:30 so people were only going to get about 2 hours of sleep because they wanted to get up and take the metro to the port in order to hop on the first boat to Poros. The metro starts at 6am. I stayed up until they left because I had to write a paper proposal and e-mail to my professor on Friday (this morning)(it was an extension), which I then have to write the draft for it this weekend. HA. I think I mentioned that one of my papers got cancelled and another got pushed back so this draft doesn't seem so bad now. Passed out in the heat after stealing a fan from the other room. I haven't used my comforter in a week it is so hot.
Today, well, I haven't done much. I'm hanging out with the other CUNY girls as I type. One of them cooked dinner, and she's cooking crepes (yummm). Always more later.
P.S. I think I want to move to Australia after I graduate.
Thursday evening I had to say goodbye to a couple of the CUNY girls (City University of New York) who were leaving around 4 in the morning. It was a sad little moment, but they were cool, so I'm sure I'll talk to them on facebook. Thursday night I went out with the crew. We were supposed to go salsa dancing, which I really wanted to do. I just wanted to show off my moves, but there was a 10 euro cover charge so went down the street to another club. We had a great time, but the lights in the club were so strange. They would dim and brighten at random intervals, so once I sat down I actually had to cover my eyes. Then I started getting tired. I could have actually fallen asleep in the club even with the music, which is always loud. On the way into and out of Psiri (the area with all the clubs and whatnot) there are a million posters for all the different concerts going on in the near future. I think I'm going to have to steal one of them because it had a cool picture on it. We got back around 3-3:30 so people were only going to get about 2 hours of sleep because they wanted to get up and take the metro to the port in order to hop on the first boat to Poros. The metro starts at 6am. I stayed up until they left because I had to write a paper proposal and e-mail to my professor on Friday (this morning)(it was an extension), which I then have to write the draft for it this weekend. HA. I think I mentioned that one of my papers got cancelled and another got pushed back so this draft doesn't seem so bad now. Passed out in the heat after stealing a fan from the other room. I haven't used my comforter in a week it is so hot.
Today, well, I haven't done much. I'm hanging out with the other CUNY girls as I type. One of them cooked dinner, and she's cooking crepes (yummm). Always more later.
P.S. I think I want to move to Australia after I graduate.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Athens: Days 20-21
Maybe not so hard after all. My teacher just said we didn't have to do our last paper in my art and archeology class. I still have to do the reading but thats fine. Plus we get to push back our other paper. On the other hand I have to write my proposal right now and then the draft for it is due Monday. Oh well. I decided to post instead for now.
Wednesday evening we went to Sounio. It is at the southern tip of the mainland of Greece. It is the home to the Temple of Poseidon. It actually mostly intact, which was awesome. It was supposed to have the best sunset in Greece. I'll post pics and you can judge, but I think maybe it depends on clouds and stuff. Still it was really wonderful. The rides there and back took a while so I actually got a paper done on the bus. While we were there me and Sumaiya climbed down this huge hill full of prickly bushes. It really took at least a half hour. But today we rewarded ourselves with ice cream and the banana ice cream I got was spectacular. It brings me back to my days at State when they served that banana desert that was money.
I got a HardRock Cafe Athens shotglass today. I love it. It is the best one I've bought so far. The Greeks really don't know how to make good shotglasses. Maybe its because they don't abuse alcohol much. I've been either lazy or just doing homework these past few days. I'ma go out tomorrow and get some stuff done. We'll see.
Wednesday evening we went to Sounio. It is at the southern tip of the mainland of Greece. It is the home to the Temple of Poseidon. It actually mostly intact, which was awesome. It was supposed to have the best sunset in Greece. I'll post pics and you can judge, but I think maybe it depends on clouds and stuff. Still it was really wonderful. The rides there and back took a while so I actually got a paper done on the bus. While we were there me and Sumaiya climbed down this huge hill full of prickly bushes. It really took at least a half hour. But today we rewarded ourselves with ice cream and the banana ice cream I got was spectacular. It brings me back to my days at State when they served that banana desert that was money.
I got a HardRock Cafe Athens shotglass today. I love it. It is the best one I've bought so far. The Greeks really don't know how to make good shotglasses. Maybe its because they don't abuse alcohol much. I've been either lazy or just doing homework these past few days. I'ma go out tomorrow and get some stuff done. We'll see.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Athens: Days 18-19
Much harder than I thought it would be. I'm working on like 5 papers all for within the next week. People can't communicate or stop talking. Its like people talk but nothing comes into cohesiveness. So I'll probably end up going to Santorini with just Rachel T, but thats cool. I think it will be nice with just 2 people. I have to make a choice on whether to go to Meteora or a world athletic event at the Olympic stadium on Monday. I have a feeling I'm going to go to the stadium because then I will be able to get more work done here.
I don't think I did much on this past Monday, other than listen to a million people being disorganized. I think too many of them are followers and just do what others do, while I have to go to Santorini. That has been at the top of my list so there. But we had dinner and tried to have everyone figure out what to do and it was chaos. I'm staying here this weekend in order to do a few things in Athens I need to do and get some homework done.
Tuesday - I tried to get some homework done at an apartment that actually has air conditioning, and it worked for a little while until we had more than three people there. I eventually just ended up leaving and coming back in order to finish reading and putting down notes for my Iliad / Odyssey paper. I'm gonna write it after I hit post. I slept on the couch in the dining room (yes a couch was moved to our dining room) because it is the coolest spot in the house due to the fan overhead.
I just checked the weather and its 109 outside. It says high of 96 tomorrow but today was supposed to be 99 so we'll see. I can't to get this work done because it will be such a great relief. But I know once I hit post I have to write it, dang it. Okay...
I don't think I did much on this past Monday, other than listen to a million people being disorganized. I think too many of them are followers and just do what others do, while I have to go to Santorini. That has been at the top of my list so there. But we had dinner and tried to have everyone figure out what to do and it was chaos. I'm staying here this weekend in order to do a few things in Athens I need to do and get some homework done.
Tuesday - I tried to get some homework done at an apartment that actually has air conditioning, and it worked for a little while until we had more than three people there. I eventually just ended up leaving and coming back in order to finish reading and putting down notes for my Iliad / Odyssey paper. I'm gonna write it after I hit post. I slept on the couch in the dining room (yes a couch was moved to our dining room) because it is the coolest spot in the house due to the fan overhead.
I just checked the weather and its 109 outside. It says high of 96 tomorrow but today was supposed to be 99 so we'll see. I can't to get this work done because it will be such a great relief. But I know once I hit post I have to write it, dang it. Okay...
Monday, June 25, 2007
Greece: Days 14-17 crazyness
Okay, so the night before we left a few of us went to the Hill of the Muses for one last outing with Nedim. His friend brought a guitar and we sat around singing random songs. I had never done that before so I'm glad I went despite the few hours of sleep I got that night. What ended that night though was a spider. It was pretty funny. I was just staring off into Athens and everybody starts freaking out and jumping up. I on the other hand wanted to know what happened, so I sat there and they said a spider was right under my foot. But it was a big spider so despite my sense of calm I jumped up and proceeded to run around like a little kid. We go a flashlight out and looked at it. Yeah it was the size of my palm. I was pleased we left.
8am Friday morning. Bus ride. The temp was okay at this point but we were still getting hot. Our first stop was a random little stand in the middle of nowhere. I got a Pepsi because its hard to find Pepsi here and it was in a bottle. I wanted a Greek Pepsi bottle, but later the bus driver threw it away because I had only placed it in the back of the seat. Boo. Then we went to Delphi. It was pretty cool. There was the museum first in which we all went to and then there were two different sets of ruins. Everyone except me and Rachel M went the Apollo ruins while we went to the Sanctuary of Athinaia. Next was lunch. Everything was too much so I settled on a Greek salad (not the greatest) for like 7 euro, including bread and water. Its insane how much these people charge for the smallest things. Anyways we crossed a channel over to the Peloponnese even though there was the pimpest bridge right next to it. The bridge (pics up soon) does not extend to the bottom of the bed, but it floats. It was designed by a physicist and can withstand 10.0 quakes. We stayed in Olympia at what I believe is a 5 star hotel. We had a four course meal, swam in their pool, and looked at the stars. Loved it.
8am Saturday morning. Scorching. Reached 115 this day. First thing was breakfast. It was the best breakfast I had had in a long time. Pastries, sausage, milk, and other yummies. We went nearby to the original Olympic Gymnasium. They had some cool stuff; the Temple of Zeus, the spot where the flame is lit for every modern Olympic games, and the ancient track, which I ran on! We also went to a nearby museum, saw Hermes (he had a room to his self) and some other stuff that was beginning to blur into all the other museums I had seen. Then onto the bus where we proceeded to sweat nonstop for hours until this cool little mountain town named Lagadia. I saw these cool shot glasses the teachers were drinking from (it was something unique like walnut liqueur) and I had to get one, so I asked the guy if I could buy one and he said I could have it for free as a souvenir. I was pumped. The view from there was amazing. We then proceeded to Tolo. It was this town on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese where we stayed for another night. The food was okay this time. Buffet style, but not bad. The beach was not as cold as it was in Andros, but it was 115 outside all day. It was a nice time despite the apparently giant rock covered moss we found. Stayed up pretty late (mistake).
6am Sunday morning. Still hot. I got up for sunrise, but Josh didn't want to so I hurried to shut off my alarm and in the process slammed my right pinky toe into the bed. It got giantly purple. I didn't notice the blood until I got outside and awaited the sun. After that I got a few more hours of sleep had a slightly not as good breakfast as the day before and we went to a theater called Epidavros. It was cool for a little bit. I climbed to the top and the acoustics really are great. They still use it today. (This is getting long.) We had a break in Nafplio, and then went to Mycenae. We saw Agamemnon and decided not to stop anywhere else that day because we were all so miserable.
Back in Athens last night I went and saw the Vienna Boy's Choir sing at Herod Atticous Odeon, and the only way to get in there is to go see a performance. I managed to record the entirety of the performance with my skills at concealing my camera. They were absolutely wonderful. The lead boy was so small but his voice was awesome. Then I cam home and finished a book. Dang. This was quite long. Another post soon.
Oh and disorganization is our program and our groups name. Someone just needs to tell me what people are doing. Anyways pics soon.
8am Friday morning. Bus ride. The temp was okay at this point but we were still getting hot. Our first stop was a random little stand in the middle of nowhere. I got a Pepsi because its hard to find Pepsi here and it was in a bottle. I wanted a Greek Pepsi bottle, but later the bus driver threw it away because I had only placed it in the back of the seat. Boo. Then we went to Delphi. It was pretty cool. There was the museum first in which we all went to and then there were two different sets of ruins. Everyone except me and Rachel M went the Apollo ruins while we went to the Sanctuary of Athinaia. Next was lunch. Everything was too much so I settled on a Greek salad (not the greatest) for like 7 euro, including bread and water. Its insane how much these people charge for the smallest things. Anyways we crossed a channel over to the Peloponnese even though there was the pimpest bridge right next to it. The bridge (pics up soon) does not extend to the bottom of the bed, but it floats. It was designed by a physicist and can withstand 10.0 quakes. We stayed in Olympia at what I believe is a 5 star hotel. We had a four course meal, swam in their pool, and looked at the stars. Loved it.
8am Saturday morning. Scorching. Reached 115 this day. First thing was breakfast. It was the best breakfast I had had in a long time. Pastries, sausage, milk, and other yummies. We went nearby to the original Olympic Gymnasium. They had some cool stuff; the Temple of Zeus, the spot where the flame is lit for every modern Olympic games, and the ancient track, which I ran on! We also went to a nearby museum, saw Hermes (he had a room to his self) and some other stuff that was beginning to blur into all the other museums I had seen. Then onto the bus where we proceeded to sweat nonstop for hours until this cool little mountain town named Lagadia. I saw these cool shot glasses the teachers were drinking from (it was something unique like walnut liqueur) and I had to get one, so I asked the guy if I could buy one and he said I could have it for free as a souvenir. I was pumped. The view from there was amazing. We then proceeded to Tolo. It was this town on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese where we stayed for another night. The food was okay this time. Buffet style, but not bad. The beach was not as cold as it was in Andros, but it was 115 outside all day. It was a nice time despite the apparently giant rock covered moss we found. Stayed up pretty late (mistake).
6am Sunday morning. Still hot. I got up for sunrise, but Josh didn't want to so I hurried to shut off my alarm and in the process slammed my right pinky toe into the bed. It got giantly purple. I didn't notice the blood until I got outside and awaited the sun. After that I got a few more hours of sleep had a slightly not as good breakfast as the day before and we went to a theater called Epidavros. It was cool for a little bit. I climbed to the top and the acoustics really are great. They still use it today. (This is getting long.) We had a break in Nafplio, and then went to Mycenae. We saw Agamemnon and decided not to stop anywhere else that day because we were all so miserable.
Back in Athens last night I went and saw the Vienna Boy's Choir sing at Herod Atticous Odeon, and the only way to get in there is to go see a performance. I managed to record the entirety of the performance with my skills at concealing my camera. They were absolutely wonderful. The lead boy was so small but his voice was awesome. Then I cam home and finished a book. Dang. This was quite long. Another post soon.
Oh and disorganization is our program and our groups name. Someone just needs to tell me what people are doing. Anyways pics soon.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Athens: Days 11-14?
For some odd reason my computer decided to display my blogspt account in Greek (not what I had written but all the tabs and stuff, but oh well). Its quite fun.
Almost fell asleep in class on Monday until break when I could get a coke (which tastes much better than in the states). Later that day me and Marc went up to Likavittos, the highest point in Athens. The entire city (of 4 million people) looks so small from up there. Even the Acropolis looks completely different from there. What sucks though is that as we were about to get someone to take our picture at the top my batteries died. But I have faith we will make it back up top (with extra batteries next time) and see the sunset from there.
Gyros are becoming second nature for me now, but I'm worried I'm gonna end up spending more money than I want to. I still have to get gifts for everyone and myself of course not to mention all the trips I want to go on.
Tuesday brought Dina back to the school after she had had surgery. She's super nice and talked with us for about an hour. I think a lot of people felt better about all the poor communication at the school once they had talked to her. We learned that there is going to be a world athletic event at the Olympic stadium on the 2nd so we definitely have to see that. I got some cool movie posters in Greek too. I just love how the alphabet looks especially with our movies. Went to the Hill of the Muses again. That spot is turning into quite the popular spot among the students. But I think the main reason we went is because we were able to see a space shuttle lifting off from America. It passed into our view around 9:47 our time and we saw the little lights moving smoothly and quickly through the air. It was pretty neat I have to say.
Wednesday everyone went to the beach except me because I was in class. I knew how to get there but I didn't feel like going. Besides tehy went to the worst beach in Athens. Rocks, no sand, trashy water. So I feel better. I wandered around for a little while. Went back to the national gardens, Hadrian's Arch. I tried to get into Zeus' temple but if I wait and get a combo pack for the Acropolis then I can get in free. Some Australian girls helped me out with that. It was pretty cool. I love they way they talk.
One of our roommates is leaving this weekend and becasue we are going to be gone when he leaves, we threw a little gathering here. After a little while the party moved out to a club, but I decided to stay in. We've gone out to these two clubs every time we've gone out so I was just tired of it. I have to say I think I had a good time nonetheless. I had a good conversation with my friend, Rachel (the one who convinced me to go on the trip in the first place). It was good.
I think classes aren't going to be as bad as I thought before so I'm going to try and take it easy. We have an excursion this weekend to Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, and another place with a bunch of stops elsewhere. Its going to be all the Odyssey and CUny students so about 20 of us. Its going to be crazy and I feel there may be more drama, but as for myself I'm just gonna chill.
We went to the Banaki Museum today for our Art and Archeology class. It was actually pretty cool except that I started getting lightheaded while we were there. I didn't know why. I was drinking plenty of water and had been fine the past couple hours, but whatever. Talked to my cuz for a few minutes. She's in Spain at the moment and I know she'll have a wonderful time.
And now here I am at my computer. I'm gonna go print some stuff, buy some postcards and do whatever I want now. So I'll post again after I get back. And I'll try to put up more pics soon.
Almost fell asleep in class on Monday until break when I could get a coke (which tastes much better than in the states). Later that day me and Marc went up to Likavittos, the highest point in Athens. The entire city (of 4 million people) looks so small from up there. Even the Acropolis looks completely different from there. What sucks though is that as we were about to get someone to take our picture at the top my batteries died. But I have faith we will make it back up top (with extra batteries next time) and see the sunset from there.
Gyros are becoming second nature for me now, but I'm worried I'm gonna end up spending more money than I want to. I still have to get gifts for everyone and myself of course not to mention all the trips I want to go on.
Tuesday brought Dina back to the school after she had had surgery. She's super nice and talked with us for about an hour. I think a lot of people felt better about all the poor communication at the school once they had talked to her. We learned that there is going to be a world athletic event at the Olympic stadium on the 2nd so we definitely have to see that. I got some cool movie posters in Greek too. I just love how the alphabet looks especially with our movies. Went to the Hill of the Muses again. That spot is turning into quite the popular spot among the students. But I think the main reason we went is because we were able to see a space shuttle lifting off from America. It passed into our view around 9:47 our time and we saw the little lights moving smoothly and quickly through the air. It was pretty neat I have to say.
Wednesday everyone went to the beach except me because I was in class. I knew how to get there but I didn't feel like going. Besides tehy went to the worst beach in Athens. Rocks, no sand, trashy water. So I feel better. I wandered around for a little while. Went back to the national gardens, Hadrian's Arch. I tried to get into Zeus' temple but if I wait and get a combo pack for the Acropolis then I can get in free. Some Australian girls helped me out with that. It was pretty cool. I love they way they talk.
One of our roommates is leaving this weekend and becasue we are going to be gone when he leaves, we threw a little gathering here. After a little while the party moved out to a club, but I decided to stay in. We've gone out to these two clubs every time we've gone out so I was just tired of it. I have to say I think I had a good time nonetheless. I had a good conversation with my friend, Rachel (the one who convinced me to go on the trip in the first place). It was good.
I think classes aren't going to be as bad as I thought before so I'm going to try and take it easy. We have an excursion this weekend to Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, and another place with a bunch of stops elsewhere. Its going to be all the Odyssey and CUny students so about 20 of us. Its going to be crazy and I feel there may be more drama, but as for myself I'm just gonna chill.
We went to the Banaki Museum today for our Art and Archeology class. It was actually pretty cool except that I started getting lightheaded while we were there. I didn't know why. I was drinking plenty of water and had been fine the past couple hours, but whatever. Talked to my cuz for a few minutes. She's in Spain at the moment and I know she'll have a wonderful time.
And now here I am at my computer. I'm gonna go print some stuff, buy some postcards and do whatever I want now. So I'll post again after I get back. And I'll try to put up more pics soon.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Andros: Days 08-10
Wow. I guess I should title it Greece Trip now.
Greek islands are beautiful. We went to the island of Andros by way of a 2.5 hour ferry. So it wasn't very far away but it was a little big. It was 26 km from Batsi (the town we stayed in) to the main town of Andros Town, which I only went to on Saturday for about four hours.
We immediately hit the beach when we got there. It was pretty good, a little chilly, but a fun time nonetheless. Got a little burned, but it will help me tan and then I'll be a Greek god. Our town only had two clubs, so we went to the one we knew of called Nameless. It was pretty good. They took requests and had an eclectic array of music. All eleven of us went (that is a lot by the way, I would have preferred small groups) but it was okay. About half left earlier than the rest. So I stayed and made sure everything was cool. At one point I was wondering about the time so I asked Julia. She pulled out her watch and it said 6:51. I was freaking out (on the inside). about 20 minutes later we found out it was only 4:30. She must have pressed a button to show an alarm. But it was still late and we went to the only other club there. We had met a couple guys and they had been advised to go to this other club, so we went. After about 15 minutes there I'm thinking something is wrong. There was this weird vibe in the air not to mention just my observations of the other patrons. My thoughts were confirmed when this drunk Greek guy came on to me and tried to put his arms around me. I had to stop him a few times. (Vanessa could tell you all about it. Her expression was priceless, but she saw everything that happened.) So me and the few other American guys huddled up and were like "Oh crap." Yeah, we went to a gay bar. Needless to say we left quickly, went to the beach and hung out for a while. I heard the roosters crowing and the light coming up on the horizon at about 5:30 so I went to bed.
Bam, I wake up 10 to 10 in order to get my free breakfast, which was basically like a continental breakfast, grabbed my stuff to go anywhere and a few of us took a taxi to Andros town. We saw some cool stuff (you'll see in the pics soon). We went to this cool modern art museum, ate at Heaven Cafe, and looked through Plaka (a shopping district, you can find Plaka in every major city). They had these cool sandals I wanted to get, but they were 42 euro, so that was a big no. I'll see if I can find anything like that here in Athens. The rest of the day was just chilling out, checking out the sunset, and going to dinner. Oh, the previous night we went to a Chinese restaurant. this night we went to a more traditional place. I didn't go out this night because it was too much, but I still stayed til about 3, hanging on the beach just having some good ol' fashioned fun. Oh and Socoke is amazing.
Chilled the next morning for a bit until we had to catch the ferry back. Thats pretty much it. I don't know if it sounds as fun as it was, but it definitely was. I hope to have mucho more fun in Santorini and anywhere else we go. I have to go to Le Klavidos now so bye bye.
Greek islands are beautiful. We went to the island of Andros by way of a 2.5 hour ferry. So it wasn't very far away but it was a little big. It was 26 km from Batsi (the town we stayed in) to the main town of Andros Town, which I only went to on Saturday for about four hours.
We immediately hit the beach when we got there. It was pretty good, a little chilly, but a fun time nonetheless. Got a little burned, but it will help me tan and then I'll be a Greek god. Our town only had two clubs, so we went to the one we knew of called Nameless. It was pretty good. They took requests and had an eclectic array of music. All eleven of us went (that is a lot by the way, I would have preferred small groups) but it was okay. About half left earlier than the rest. So I stayed and made sure everything was cool. At one point I was wondering about the time so I asked Julia. She pulled out her watch and it said 6:51. I was freaking out (on the inside). about 20 minutes later we found out it was only 4:30. She must have pressed a button to show an alarm. But it was still late and we went to the only other club there. We had met a couple guys and they had been advised to go to this other club, so we went. After about 15 minutes there I'm thinking something is wrong. There was this weird vibe in the air not to mention just my observations of the other patrons. My thoughts were confirmed when this drunk Greek guy came on to me and tried to put his arms around me. I had to stop him a few times. (Vanessa could tell you all about it. Her expression was priceless, but she saw everything that happened.) So me and the few other American guys huddled up and were like "Oh crap." Yeah, we went to a gay bar. Needless to say we left quickly, went to the beach and hung out for a while. I heard the roosters crowing and the light coming up on the horizon at about 5:30 so I went to bed.
Bam, I wake up 10 to 10 in order to get my free breakfast, which was basically like a continental breakfast, grabbed my stuff to go anywhere and a few of us took a taxi to Andros town. We saw some cool stuff (you'll see in the pics soon). We went to this cool modern art museum, ate at Heaven Cafe, and looked through Plaka (a shopping district, you can find Plaka in every major city). They had these cool sandals I wanted to get, but they were 42 euro, so that was a big no. I'll see if I can find anything like that here in Athens. The rest of the day was just chilling out, checking out the sunset, and going to dinner. Oh, the previous night we went to a Chinese restaurant. this night we went to a more traditional place. I didn't go out this night because it was too much, but I still stayed til about 3, hanging on the beach just having some good ol' fashioned fun. Oh and Socoke is amazing.
Chilled the next morning for a bit until we had to catch the ferry back. Thats pretty much it. I don't know if it sounds as fun as it was, but it definitely was. I hope to have mucho more fun in Santorini and anywhere else we go. I have to go to Le Klavidos now so bye bye.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Athens: Day 07
Well, we went out last night and had great fun what can I say, though, I was wearing my new sandals (Yes I had oiled them up earlier in the day) but I was still breaking them in, so maybe not the best choice but still a fun time. I don't think I'll be bringing them to Andros.
I would like to say I'm getting in to the swing of things, but I still feel like I'm not doing as much as I can. I still want to go back to Zeus's temple and up to the highest hill. Maybe next week. My easy course of Art and Archeology is being called Greek Life and Society for graduate students. We have to read Iliad, Odyssey, Antigone, Poetics, Zorba the Greek and write three 6 page papers. I think its too much to ask for a 5 week course. I think I'll have to skip it on the 4th of July week so I can get a 6 day weekend and do something super fun. I thnk we have to read those books because the 2 grad students added it, so I feel really guilty about that. This was supposed to be an easy (I don't mean that in a bad way) course. I thought we would be touring the city and museums and landmarks to see art and archeology related stuff like classes did in the past, but no. Yes I know I'm complaining, but I just needed to say it.
As for today. Super lazy. I think I'm finally getting the feel of gyros. But I can't say I've done much today. Maybe I'll put up some pics in a minute and then pack. Viele pictures when I get back for Andros: Days 08, 09, & 10
I would like to say I'm getting in to the swing of things, but I still feel like I'm not doing as much as I can. I still want to go back to Zeus's temple and up to the highest hill. Maybe next week. My easy course of Art and Archeology is being called Greek Life and Society for graduate students. We have to read Iliad, Odyssey, Antigone, Poetics, Zorba the Greek and write three 6 page papers. I think its too much to ask for a 5 week course. I think I'll have to skip it on the 4th of July week so I can get a 6 day weekend and do something super fun. I thnk we have to read those books because the 2 grad students added it, so I feel really guilty about that. This was supposed to be an easy (I don't mean that in a bad way) course. I thought we would be touring the city and museums and landmarks to see art and archeology related stuff like classes did in the past, but no. Yes I know I'm complaining, but I just needed to say it.
As for today. Super lazy. I think I'm finally getting the feel of gyros. But I can't say I've done much today. Maybe I'll put up some pics in a minute and then pack. Viele pictures when I get back for Andros: Days 08, 09, & 10
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Athens: Days 04 & 05 & 06?
Well Monday was my first day of class. It looks to be a little difficult, seeing as I need to start my research for my final paper now, but I will get through it as I always do. it was 4 hours long 9:30-1:20 on Mondays and Wednesdays minus the 4th of July. Apperantly because Rachel and I are the only ones who have experience navigating the library databases we have to help everyone else, 3 Greeks, a Dominican, a Kazhikstani, another American (though she will be fine I think), an American turned Greek, and a Chinese girl (she too might be ok because she works in the lab). All in all a fine day. afterwards. I don't know if I really did all that much. We tried to get some of us to go to the beach but people are being difficult. I don't think they understand yet that we need to make plans and stick to them. That night some drama happened, but I have decided not to talk about people or anything like that. We are in Greece to have fun, so I think a few liberties are allowed, but whatever. We like to spend time on our roof, which is great. We have the best view and our place is very accommodating. I like wine.
We got another class approved for a graduate course so I am once again taking 6 hours. Its basically supposed to be an easy course about going around and seeing the sites but I think I'm gonna have to read some lit. stuff like Odyssey and Iliad. We'll see though.
Tuesday. Tried to get our trip to Milos planned, but that fell through. The ferries were booked. Got some more ideas of how to get around the area. I am great about that now. Went back to Philopappou to see the sunset, but failed to catch the sun by like 10 minutes. I'll go back later. Had to write a one page paper too.
Wednesday. After 4 hours of sleep went to class. I need to work on that because I later took a nap and that made it so I couldn't go to the best hill. And I doubt I'll be able to go until Monday because of weekend trips. We got tickets for an island called Andros. It is supposed to be not very touristy, so I think we'll have a good time. I need to buy stuff for people. And on the islands you really only get one chance. I'll talk more of that when I get back. I got my handmade sandals today. I need to put some olive oil on them and start breaking them in. Other than that we'll see what happens tonight. I might just try to read this book. Tomorrow we have our first class in that Greek life and society course.
I'll try to update again before I leave for Andros.
We got another class approved for a graduate course so I am once again taking 6 hours. Its basically supposed to be an easy course about going around and seeing the sites but I think I'm gonna have to read some lit. stuff like Odyssey and Iliad. We'll see though.
Tuesday. Tried to get our trip to Milos planned, but that fell through. The ferries were booked. Got some more ideas of how to get around the area. I am great about that now. Went back to Philopappou to see the sunset, but failed to catch the sun by like 10 minutes. I'll go back later. Had to write a one page paper too.
Wednesday. After 4 hours of sleep went to class. I need to work on that because I later took a nap and that made it so I couldn't go to the best hill. And I doubt I'll be able to go until Monday because of weekend trips. We got tickets for an island called Andros. It is supposed to be not very touristy, so I think we'll have a good time. I need to buy stuff for people. And on the islands you really only get one chance. I'll talk more of that when I get back. I got my handmade sandals today. I need to put some olive oil on them and start breaking them in. Other than that we'll see what happens tonight. I might just try to read this book. Tomorrow we have our first class in that Greek life and society course.
I'll try to update again before I leave for Andros.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Athens: Days 02 & 03
Woke up late on Saturday around 12:05-12:10. My roommate and I were supposed to be in front of the school at 12 to begin our walking tour of the city. We rushed gt there and our guides had not even come yet, but hey the tour was okay. Saw some cool stuff like the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, and the first modern Olympic stadium (Pictures of those soon). The tour lasted a lot longer than anticipated especially since we took the metro to a cool 5 story supermarket. I was supposed to go to a piano recital that night, but all the girls had dressed up super nice and I had yet to take a shower (not my fault) so I decided not to attend and instead take a nap. I couldn't get teh shower in time because someone stole it from me, but whatever, I heard the thing was boring so I'm glad I didn't go. Besides we all met up afterward had a nice dinner and went dancing at a couple clubs. All in all it was good, but the girls aren't too fond of technoish music, so yeah, but they still had a good time. Apparently the clubs change their music genre every night. We tried to make it to a nice hill that night but couldn't find the way, got seperated with a few people, my roommate got lost for 3 hours (He's okay), but we went to the hill I mentioned earlier(still need to get that name). It was pretty fun I have to say.
Sunday, hmmmm, went to the Hill of the Muses, aka Philopappou. It was spectacular. There is really only one higher point in Athens. This hill was amazing. I took a million shots so I can make a panorama of the view. We tried to get in to the Acropolis because it is supposed to be free on Sundays but some jerks were running the gate. It really all depends on that person. They can be nice somedays and others just say, ohi (no). But all in all it was a cool adventure. We found a closed down vineyard, ate some of the grapes, very sour. We had a nice family dinner, and a fun night. What more can I say. I can't wait to get to an island.
Pics up soon.
Sunday, hmmmm, went to the Hill of the Muses, aka Philopappou. It was spectacular. There is really only one higher point in Athens. This hill was amazing. I took a million shots so I can make a panorama of the view. We tried to get in to the Acropolis because it is supposed to be free on Sundays but some jerks were running the gate. It really all depends on that person. They can be nice somedays and others just say, ohi (no). But all in all it was a cool adventure. We found a closed down vineyard, ate some of the grapes, very sour. We had a nice family dinner, and a fun night. What more can I say. I can't wait to get to an island.
Pics up soon.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Okay Day 01 For Real
Endachsi (Okay), it was my first time stepping off a plane using the steps outside. But it was fine. Got through customs and got our baggage quickly, but then we had to wait for about 3 hours for other students to arrive (we were all going to take a bus together). One girl missed her flight, which delayed our leaving the airport for an hour because we didn't know she had missed it, but she made it that night so all is well.
Driving - Never attempt to drive in Athens. It is absolutely insane because the city was built long before cars existed, making the roads narrow and short. There are always many turns to make on a road unless you're on a main road but even so it is still quite crazy. Drivers cut people off constantly but there are no worries. Everyone does it and it works somehow. There are motorcycles everywhere. They drive in between the cars and down the streets. People walk in the streets and the bikes barely slow down to pass you.
Why I said "for the most part" in my e-mail was because they dropped my mask making course. Apperantly there were only 2 people signed up for it even though I know at least 2 other were and others in my group said they were going to take it. The thing is we don't even sign up until Monday. So there is some bad communication here at the Athens campus.
I don't know how much you know about Greek life, but people eat dinner late, like 10-11 o'clock at night and then go out partying. 11 is very earlier to start the night. I myself only stayed up to about 3 (early), but I blame that on being awake for 35 hours. I tried some Ouzo, but tastes like black lichorish, and yes I did know that, but I had to say I tried it. Prolly won't have that again.
I did walk around a little, which was amazing. A lot of my pictures are taken from one hill. I'll get the name of that later, but it was absolutely wonderful. There is another hill (or mountain) that is the tallest point in Athens. I'll go later. You can get a 360 view from up there.
Anyway, that is a broad look at day one. More pics coming soon of day two.
Driving - Never attempt to drive in Athens. It is absolutely insane because the city was built long before cars existed, making the roads narrow and short. There are always many turns to make on a road unless you're on a main road but even so it is still quite crazy. Drivers cut people off constantly but there are no worries. Everyone does it and it works somehow. There are motorcycles everywhere. They drive in between the cars and down the streets. People walk in the streets and the bikes barely slow down to pass you.
Why I said "for the most part" in my e-mail was because they dropped my mask making course. Apperantly there were only 2 people signed up for it even though I know at least 2 other were and others in my group said they were going to take it. The thing is we don't even sign up until Monday. So there is some bad communication here at the Athens campus.
I don't know how much you know about Greek life, but people eat dinner late, like 10-11 o'clock at night and then go out partying. 11 is very earlier to start the night. I myself only stayed up to about 3 (early), but I blame that on being awake for 35 hours. I tried some Ouzo, but tastes like black lichorish, and yes I did know that, but I had to say I tried it. Prolly won't have that again.
I did walk around a little, which was amazing. A lot of my pictures are taken from one hill. I'll get the name of that later, but it was absolutely wonderful. There is another hill (or mountain) that is the tallest point in Athens. I'll go later. You can get a 360 view from up there.
Anyway, that is a broad look at day one. More pics coming soon of day two.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
