March 4th-Rueben…Are you for scuba?

Yes…today I went scuba diving…the kind with full out gear. It was very surreal. Scuba diving was always something done in the movies and my opportunity just kind of sprung up. A meeting at school left students with the opportunity to go on a “Discovery Dive” with a local scuba company. I jumped on it, knowing I would be kicking myself if I saw photos of others exploring the Mediterranean coast.

20 of us got up at 9 AM and walked 5 minutes to the scuba shop. The man that met us…Yoti…not joking…reminded me of the fellow from “Along Came Polly”. For those of you who have seen this movie…you will know what I am talking about and have a chuckle. He had the long hair going, accent to match and just the general feel of the man in the movie. This was naturally a great start to the excursion. More and more instructors started to show up. The group was divided into the instructors’ cars and the drive to Halkidiki started. Halkidiki is the group of 3 peninsulas that lie west of Thessaloniki. This is the summer hot spot where all Thessalonians head to on the weekends and summers. It was a BEAUTIFUL hour drive.

Side note: Petro went to Halkidiki with a family friend the day before. He came back and naturally I asked him how it was. He immediately started to talk about the drive to Halkidiki. He spoke of colors….vivid vivid colors. I knew exactly what he was talking about as soon as we got out of the city on our drive. Maybe it was because Petro had put it in my head, but the greens, blues and browns of the countryside really did appear overly vivid. It was amazing. Oh, yeah, and Mt. Olympus was in clear view out the shotgun window. That mountain just does not look real. Again my love for mountains over took me here.

March 2nd—Where did February go?

We are now in the month of March….the month that contains March 31st which is the day I fly to Paris to see that lovely girlfriend of mine and some wonderful friends. Usually I take my days “day by day” but that date has always provided me with some strength and energy. Efforts to plan my spring break have taken full force. I have flights picked out, hotels lined up and plenty of anticipation brewing. If you can’t tell…I am extremely excited. Spring break is on everyone’s mind because we are all planning a trip that is beyond surreal. This is stuff we all dream of and are now taking steps to make it real. Crazy. That is all. And also, when I am making spring break trips…I often think about the epic trip back to Northern California. To this day, that family trip is been the time of my life…it was just absolutely amazing. I am soooo excited for that as well. Go Gus!!! Possible big foot sight?...who knows, we will see.

Alright, now it is just random thoughts for you.

I bought a computer speaker system (subwoofer and 2 small speakers). This was an essential purchase. You all know me and you all know I love to listen to music all the time and at loud levels. I love them and they make time at the apartment more enjoyable. I can get back to pretending my daily activities have a soundtrack. It’s great.

I tried going to a dance club last night with some friends. They denied me at the door because I had my rope sandals on. Ha! I thought this was great. I am glad it happened because this is not the establishment I want to be at. I will go ahead and say that is one downside to life here. People will actually judge you on what you are wearing. For me…that is just a ridiculous notion and there is not any place for it. Petro and I ended up running into two new local friends, Vasilis and Costas, and they invited us into the bozoukia literally right next door. Bozoukias have big stages with live performances with big bands. Everyone ends up dancing, including on stage and on tables. This is more my scene!

Classes are great. I find each one interesting and am learning a lot…contrary to possibly many of your beliefs. I love my literature class. The professor is absolutely great…someone to look up to. We read a piece prior to class…often times challenging…and then spend the class period discussing it. There is no pressure…we say what we think with no wrong answers…love it. The Greek language is coming very slowly but I am learning it piece by piece.

As always, I miss home. Family…you are in my thoughts. Madison…you are in my thoughts. I realize my attachment to UW and the city. I really don’t see any campus beating UW. I know I might be biased, but I just absolutely love that environment. Granted all my friends being there certainly does contribute to this feeling, but the city and campus are just perfect to me. I look forward to returning. The ONLY thing my campus now has over UW is mountains. I have taken quite the liking to my mountains here. We have a great relationship going…they let me climb and hike…and in return I give them a smile every time I see them!

As far as the people I have met here. I can’t seem to begin to explain them. They are all wonderful and I think I will wait to talk to you to explain them all. It would take too much effort to try and put to words off the top of my head.

Feb.24-Meteora Monasteries

A large study abroad group visited Kalabaka this past weekend. This is the site of Meteora ("Suspendid rocks"). I remember looking up pictures of Greece before leaving for my program. I came across these monasteries perched on top of cliffs. To my absolute delight, the school arranged a field trip to this breathtaking panorama. That is truly all I can say about it.

We left early Saturday morning, stopped in Trikala for lunch and just a break from the bus. Interesting note, my Greek teacher was originally from Trikala so he was very excited to hear of our travels. Our tour guide, Dafni, wonderful middle-aged women, took those interested on a tour of the old city. Of course I did not pass that up. It was either the tour or wonder around and shop. We saw the old defense walls and climbed the clock tour to get a view of the city. The weather was foggy and didn’t allow us to see too much.

A two hour bus ride from Trikala put us in Kalabaka. We were taken directly to our little hotel. The rooms had the bare essentials. I was hoping for a decent bed but found one similar to the one in my studio. I really did indulge in buying my bed this summer. I am now use to a more luxurious bed….which was a mistake given the current situation. Anyways, most people took naps or headed out into the small town. A small group of us decided to head up into the mountains and see what kind of mountaineering we could get ourselves into. It took awhile to find an entry point but we did. The terrain was slick so we had to be careful but all of us really wanted to get some hiking in. We made our way a decent way up. It was just some good clean hiking fun. I hadn’t gotten to explore nature like that in a long time and I look forward to more of it.

Something did happen before we found our unfound hiking path. An elderly man made a “come here” gesture from inside his little gated garden. None of us were sure of how to proceed, but Nikos just started to walk towards him. The man opened a door to his basement revealing his collection of homemade clay scultures. These were of prominent Greek buildings, like the Acropolis and even the White Tower in Thessaloniki. This man had these beautiful art pieces in his basement. He just wanted to show them off…great little side not to my weekend.

That night ended with a great dinner and an early retirement to bed.

I was the first one to wake up…immediately got dressed and headed down to the breakfast that was included in our trip. It was a great spread. I found a table right next to a fire that was already going. The rest of the group joined me in the hall within minutes. The group was lively…we were about to head up into the “floating rocks”…I don’t know how one couldn’t be lively.

The bus ride up there resembled my trip along highway 1 in California or the drives up the rocky mountains on my family trip to Colorado. The roads were as narrow as possible and one slip would send us down…I know…gruesome. Dafni was constantly gripping the chair…she wasn’t a fan of heights. I had a front seat view of the drive. These tour buses provided great views but the best was from the front seat. Jah and I made sure to get it each time we got on that bus.

The ascend was a quick 10 minutes and we were at our first monastery. This was the first of two, although there were 8 total.

The rest of this story is been shown through pictures. I am working on setting up an on-line photosharing site. It will be up soon. The monasteries were just as I had seen them in those pre-departure photos I had looked up. This was a simple life where monks and nuns prayed for 8 hours, worked for 8 hours and slept for 8 hours. They were used to house refugees during Turkish and Ottoman invasions/occuptations. Today, they are big tourist attractions although the monasteries have managed to stay true. Women are given long skirts to put over their legs before entering. Very few modern technologies have been adopted. The only way to reach them is still a long and challenging hike up carved steps. Just take a look at the pictures. You will see (hopefully soon)

This has been the best weekend of my trip so far. I am just a sucker for landscapes.

Feb. 23-Night to Celebrate Harrison’s Bday

Two weeks of school are gone now. My classes are very interesting. I am taking a Modern history class that hasn’t shown me anything quite yet. I just think we haven’t gotten into the bulk of the class yet. It is all introductory stuff, so I look forward to the real content. My “Politics of the European Union” class is completely interesting. I am learning so much with many different viewpoints. I have taken a big interest in the EU and the integration that comes from it. Some Europeans are for it and some are not. I love to hear what people have to say on the issue. Greek 101 has not been too difficult yet. We have just gotten through the alphabet. I can read Greek now!!! That is not much good to me yet though. Now starts the task of learning the vocabulary. Finally there is my literature class. I have a superb professor. She gets everyone involved and is completely passionate about her work. Seeing her in her field is really inspiring. The professor track has become more and more appealing.

What else…futbol is a blast. We have a pretty good team. So far we have just had an inter-team scrimmage. From what I see, we should put together a strong squad. The coach assigned me to a forward position at one point in the practice. I don’t want it. Hopefully I will end up in the midfield. There is a great midfielder on the team and I think we can do well together…hopefully. The Athens trip is going to be a great time. We are staying at the “President” hotel. Look it up online if you would like. That is what I have been doing and it looks quite nice.

I have been looking up spring break information. Looks like I will fly to Paris on March 30th…stay there with Courtney and friends from back home until the 7th…then Courtney and I will head south to the French Riviera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow….I cannot wait to spend time with that girl. We are just going to relax and experience s. france for a week. Then she will come to Greece for a week. We are so blessed to have these opportunities. Trust me, we will not take them for granted. The bank will certainly take a hit, but it is something I must do. I have found some great airfare deals.

The search for summer work continues. I have gotten responses from some very exciting opportunities….but I have put myself in a place where person-to-person interviews are not all that possible. Not many companies are fond of phone interviews. This puts me in a jam. Let me know if any of you got ideas!

50 or so of us head to Meteora tom. For a weekend school field trip. Search the place on google images or wait for pictures from me. This place looks absolutely amazing. You will see. I am excited to just travel a bit…get to use that brand new backpack…shout out to Gus and Christie for that gift.

I miss Courtney, home, Madison, friends, ice cream, my stereo, my bed, Asian cuisine, everything…but I am growing fond of this place. Gyros truly are one of the best meals here…2 Euros for a pita filled with meat, fries, onions and ketchup. It is a fulfilling meal to say the least. Dido’s is two right around the corner. The young gentleman speaks no English and whistles tunes and jumps around while making the food. It is a great spectacular. I love the fact that I get to see mountains every day. That will never get old. Meeting people and learning about other cultures is priceless.

Until next time my family, friends and love. Have the bestest days, smile and say hello to me whenever you get a chance. Signs from home are so comforting to me here. Ya Sas!

Feb. 19—Tirnavos Pagan Fertility Festival

We got up at 6am to catch a 2-hr train to a city called Lorissa. From there, the 15 of us walked our way to the central bus station to catch a bus to the famed village of Tirnavos. The bus pulled up 30 minutes later…I must say pretty much to a ghost town. We were all looking for the costume parades we had heard about. (Melissa, a 2nd semester veteran, had found out about this hundred-year-old celebration) A two minute walk in a completely random direction showed us our first sign of fertility. There stood a group of four men standing outside a taverna…grilling octopus tentacles on an open grill. We walked past and the man controlling the grill literally waved a ceramic (excuse the vulgarity but it is the truth)….penis at us. This was the intro to the show.

The town of Tirnavos holds a festival to celebrate a superstition that apparently brings good fertility for the year. The festival is held shortly after Valentine’s Day and right before lent. The only meat served is fish…mostly octopus and kalamri. Ouzo and retsina are in every glass…men very passively taunt woman with clay male organs…speakers are set up throughout the village, playing the loud songs for everyone to get a groove on…kids throw firecrackers in the streets to strollers surprises…Tables, white table cloths, bread, food and drink are set in most of the open areas, for people to sit and watch it all in. Take a look at pictures and you will get a sense of what went on here.

Anyway, it was such an interesting day trip. I got a sense of what it takes to get to Athens via train. I saw a local village celebrating their uniquness( one of the study abroad students remembers learning about this festival in a Western Civil. Class). I got to know some of my classmates with the help of 6 hours of roundtrip public transportation. It was a long long day but I only have one class tom…so that ain’t bad.

Heard Mikey Drimel will be arriving in Thessaloniki on March 20th. He is bringing a friend. We will hang here for a day or two…then head south to Athens and beyond (islands!) I hope I can show him a good time.

You all have a better one.

Feb. 16-First week of classes

Kalimera. It has been awhile but I have some moments before I leave for Friday’s classes. As I type, I hear a megaphone outside the apartment complex. Apparently, this person comes by a lot in the morning trying to sell things. I find that strategy insane. Anger people by waking them up and then try and make a sale. Soliciting is “welcome” anywhere. Anyone can walk into a restaurant and offer up to sell something. They are always discrete about it…but come on.

I am trying to recall the past couple of days. It has basically just been school. I have a wonderful European Studies class titled “Politics of the EU”. It has really highlighted my previous education’s inability to teach World history…as opposed to American history. I am learning some very interesting things from class. There is a variety of nationalities in the class…which makes for good viewpoints. My literature professor is great. She loves literature and tries to bring that out in the small 9 of us. My greek class is still intimidating. I have it first this morning and there is a sense of nervousness because I do not know the alphabet yet. We are not expected to know it, but that is what we are going over. Finally, I have a history class which should expand my European history “knowledge”. I am excited about that. Basically, I am just excited about the classes and school in general. That professor track is more and more appealing. I just really enjoy school.

Jameson was here last semester and we talked about becoming a professor as a career path. We are both in similar situations, except he is a philosophy major. Yikes, those discussions are just headaches. Anyway, we talked about this when we were at dinner. Paul(Georgia), Jameson(Kansas), Ozzy(Turkey) and Evo(Bulgaria) all went out to a taverna for dinner. I had the best chicken to this date. It was so moist…one of those dishes that seem to melt in the mouth.

Feb.11-Day before school.

Early Sunday afternoon here. I believe most people are sleeping. I got up early…compared to everyone else…to run and check my e-mail. I couldn’t wait to hear all about Courtney’s travels in New York City. I then walked around to try and find some food. I still don’t have all the essentials to make a decent meal. Most places…and I mean almost every place is closed on Sundays. I did find one of my favorite gyro places to be open. That was a nice surprise.

So then I made it back here to find the apartment complex pretty much dead. I am not so keen on the location of my room. It is on the first floor tucked in the corner. Most of the students are on the 5-8 floors. It is easy for me to miss out on little stuff that other students are doing. Oh well.

We all went salsa dancing last night. I was able to learn one basic step. It is something else to see an experienced couple dancing salsa on the floor. They literally move and twirl as one. I wonder if gus and Christie are at that stage yet. We then went to a big dance club right on the water. Harrison, my pal from London, knew the “bouncers and got us all in. The place wasn’t all that impressive. It was overcrowded and not many friendly faces I would say. I am not sure if that is the “cool club face” or general impressions by the younger population. I hope for the first.

I finally met Ozzy(Turkish) and Jameson(Kansas) at the end of the night. They were here last semester and had been traveling around a bit. Both seem interesting. They had some bob Marley loudly when I walked in. I hadn’t heard those songs in a while. It was nice.

Was hoping to play some futbol today with the guys. It is a tad bit rainy out so I am not sure how motivated the others will be. I just hope it doesn’t turn out to everyone just laying around in the apartment. I’ll find something to do. Adio for now.

Starting to jive and mingle

Feb. 6-first day with roommate

Roommate is great. He speaks excellent greek and is completely willing to help out anyway. We went to the Tuesday market and picked up some fruit, bread and a small pot used to heat water for the tea that I have right now. We are going to the school soon to hopefully play some soccer. We have to find a ball first and Z, the Bulgarian, tells me it is going to be tough to do…hope to prove him wrong.

Almost 1 pm right now. I am quite glad we got a good start to our day. I finally have a cell phone, which means I can set an alarm. Got to talk to the family and Courtney last night. Now that was the highlight of the trip so far. Adio.

Soccer was a blast. The field had a backdrop of two mountains and the bay of thessaloniki…come on…how nice? I am real excited to get back into the game. As expected, there is much more love for futbol here. I love it.

Made dinner with Paul, Petro, Chaz, two new girls (I will know their names by tom.) and Harrison (student from London). Petro added the tortellini and sauce, we added corn and sausage, girls added wine and cookies. The sausage was around 4 euro for a kilo, which turned out to be 3 looong links of sausage. I think I found the meat of my diet.

Talked a lot to Harrison about London’s politics (mainly learned a lot), some about u.s. policy and then some about u.s. pop culture…I know this sounds…not sure the word for it…but the conversation (among 5 of us) went on forever and was really nice.

Watched two episodes of the office to end the night.

Feb. 4—Looking for food.

So today will be the day I actually buy some food and pots and start my greek culinary experience. I am quite excited and nervous. It would be nice to have someone that speaks greek to come with…but at the moment, it is not possible. I’ll just have to buy food and do what I can with it.

It is 4:30 in the afternoon. Greek time is o-so-real right now. Alex, a girl that was here last semester, invited everyone to Caaza, a dance club, for her birthday. I have not really been to a place like this. It is what I imagined though. Just a bunch of people “dressed up”, sitting around, sipping drinks. Around 2:30, lights get dimmer and the flashing lights begin and then people begin to nod their heads to the music. Some people dance, but it isn’t like the dance parties we throw down at 205 N. Frances St, Mendota Court or 1224 Spring St. I miss those. Anyways, we ended up leaving that club around 4, so I got to bed around 5, which led me to wake up around 2 in the afternoon. This is my morning…again bringing Greek time into light.

I am getting to know some new students as they arrive. Petro has not arrived yet though. I’m looking forward to that. Paul, the resident father in the group, has turned out to be a riot. He just has one of those suttle personalities but always funny. He is also the nicest guy. He is willing to show anyone around the city and offer up any help he can. The rest of the students are very nice. It is at that stage where everyone wants everyone to like them so I am interested to really get to know everyone…if that makes sense.

I am doing my best to avoid all of the second hand smoke. Smoking is ridiculous here. Everyone smokes…and chains them as well. You can smoke anywhere and the second hand is horrible.

I have got a couple of free days here before orientation. I plan on just getting out and seeing the city. Oh, speaking of seeing the city…we went to the Saturday open market. This was a market about three times the size of Madison’s farmers market. You can buy clothes, cleaning/bathroom supplies, produce, meat, olive oil, wine, cookware, spices, pasts…everything. I was a little intimidated at first and wasn’t exactly sure what I all needed. I did buy some pasta. So I got that going for me, which is nice. I plan on making more use of the market next Saturday, as well as Tuesday. A smaller version of the market travels to different parts of the city each day. It comes around here Tuesday.

I am off to see more of the city and see if I can find a couple essential purchases (i.e. soccer ball)…take care and wish me good adventures.

Phillip the 2nd's Tomb (Father to Alexander the Great)

A day of sightseeing.

I have seen the movie “Alexander”. I remember the actor who played his father…Val Kilmer. I remember what kind of man he was portrayed at. Well today, I saw the tomb that Phillip the 2nd (Alexander the Great’s father). This was insane. A museum was built around the site. He was laid to rest with the most ornate belongings. This is the stuff you hear about, but never seen. It was incredible. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures but I remember walking down the stairs to the front door of Phillip’s tomb. Big pillars and marble doors stood that ground for hundreds of years. We walked through a door from the main exhibit area…through that door, we walked down a flight of stairs. Upon entering the door, the face of the tomb was lit up. It was something special.

After the tomb, we all had another epic lunch. Wow do I love those. The tomb was in a little town an hour outside of the city called Vergina. The town laid at the foot of the mountains. Everytime I see the mountains, it is breathtaking.

We got a guided tour of thessaloniki later in the day. I am starting to love this city. It is a place where ancient ruins stand next to modern apartment buildings. The ancient walls that once protected the city still exist today…noble guards they are. We were driven up a bit into the higher elevations of the city. There are some breathtaking views up there. I saw that bus 23 can take me up into the mountain parts. I think that bus and I will become friends.

I learned how to Greek dance…4 of them. They are so much fun and I cannot wait to show them off in a taverna or bouzakia. I let you know how they go.

Nap time. It has been a long orientation and I need some rest. Thinking about Courtney. She is in New York right now for a Vogue interview. You have no idea of the insaneness of that statement. That is like me getting a job as a National Geographic writer/photographer. It is crazy and I can’t wait to hear about it. Also, Valentine’s day is coming up and I can’t be there to make it a special day for her. Quite sadden by that.

Orientation!

Feb. 7—First day of orientation

8 am, making some tea before orientation. I am not really all that sure what will go on at orientation. I am excited to meet people and hear what the school has to say. I’ll let you know. For now, it is croissants and nutella. Yum.

Just got back from the first day. It was a long one. We were at campus for a good 5 hours talking about orientation stuff. I got really excited when the activities and athletics director spoke. First off, I plan on trying to play on the varsity team here. Hope to make that. Second, the varisty teams (soccer, volleyball and basketball) will be traveling to Athens for a tournament, taking on international teams. He mentioned the likes of Lebanon, Bulgaria, Italy!!! ACT is supposively also hosting a tournament. Yes! I also got very excited about the field trips. They are going to be amazing. I am so excited for the attack on Mt. Olympus. It looks like a favorite.

After the short campus tour, a bus (luxury) took us to a shopping mall. Great ACT, take the Americans to a shopping mall. All I can think of was that they thought we needed a place to shop…which we did…IKEA hooked it up with everything we needed for the apartment. Other than that, it was a poor choice for orientation activities. We did go to a restaurant and got the royal treatment. 5 courses with water, coke, wine, coffee and dessert to top it off. They were all huge tables and conversation was great…really starting to get to know some people.

Orientation left us quite tired. It is 914 right now and the bus will pick us up again at 1030 for another HUGE meal, drink and greek dancing. Everyone can’t believe we will be eating again. We are all not use to the Greek dining cycle yet. I love it though. Non-stop food and company…quite nice.

Listening to Kenny Loggins-Celebrate Me Home. I listened to this song a lot at home before I left. Theo and aris introduced it to me and I am in love with it. I have come to realize that music is my weakness here. I have such a connection to so much songs…and all of those connections are tied to good home Wisconsin.. I miss all of you. Family…it will be a while, but I know you are all good for the long haul. Courtney…I look forward to march 30th each day. That is one thing I am good at…looking forward to things. Friends….in no time at all…I know you are there….Greece is amazing and I can’t wait to try and let you all know just what I am experiencing here. Ya sas!

Feb. 5—I don’t know where the days go

Days are going by so quickly. I constantly feel like I am just waking up and then night time falls.

Highlight of today…going to aristoteleous square. It is a main strip downtown with many restaurants and shops. We got there just after sunset so the sky still had some color. All the buildings were very ornate and lit up to perfection. This was also our first real glimpse at the Aegean Sea. Mountains sat across the gulf from us. It is amazing and I can’t wait to get up into those mountains. I hope to make a trip there very soon. I need to get away from the city to forget the craziness of this entire situation. New students arrive each day. Just as I begin to feel comfortable with everyone, a new batch shows up. My roommate arrived today! I met him briefly…he was going out to eat as I came back. People are making dinner upstairs…family style. There seems to be more students in the upper levels than on the first floor. My room is tucked at the end of the hall so there isn’t much traffic coming my way. I usually have to go find it. All good though. There are a few rooms on the 7th floor that have breathtaking views. I could stare out at those and forget about everything. I try not to think about those views though. Mine will suffice. I’ve got a good imagination of what I would like it to be.

I got a cell phone today and phone cards for both the phone and public phones. I am really looking forward to calling home. I can’t wait to here the voices of back home. I figure I will call around 1 a.m. to catch people after work. Courtney, I can’t wait to hear your voice.

I went for a walk around noon today by myself. I headed in a direction I haven’t gone yet. I found many lamp stores. I consider that the lamp district now. It was good to get out and stretch my legs. I walked through a parking lot that people pay to park at. I think I upset the two men watching the lot. I think walking through is discourages. Not sure yet.

After the first full day

Feb. 2—late night after the first day

I saw and experienced much of the city today. I saw my campus. It is EXTREMELY small, literally two buildings. It is a little different than UW….ha.

Lets see…I got a good feel for the bus system, which I will be using. I can buy a pack of 10 tickets for 5 euro. During the day the buses are crowded. Thessaloniki is FULL of shops selling everything. I had a fantastic gyro with Paul and Chaz. They put the French fries and ketchup right in the pita. It was great. Paul was here last semester and is pretty much our guide and such a nice guy. He is willing to help anyone out. Chaz is from UNC-Charlotte, a soccer player, slight southern accent and really nice guy.

So about 15 of us went to dinner in downtown thessaloniki. It was amazing. Simply said. It is how I was told the greeks do it. We had dolmades(stuffed grape leaves), fried mushrooms, salad, bread, soulvaki(shish-ka-bob), sausage and fries and red wine, family style all the way. We sat in an enclosed outdoor seating area, watching greeters try and smooze passer-bys into the restaurant. There were 4 restaurants that created kind of an intersection of traffic, therefore with 4 men trying to convince others to enter the restaurants. Our guy did it with great efficiency. He managed to fill tables, then sit on a stool outside and sip wine while the others struggled. We chose the right place. I figure that is a good way to tell what restaurant to go to. Go to the one that doesn’t have an orator spitting its greatness. Also got to watch a street performer right outside our seating area. He spit and swallowed fired then did a hand stand on three chairs stacked on each other. He made it so simple but thinking about that feat is just insane.

Went to the supermarket to see what they had to offer. To be honest with you, it was a beer run. I bought 6 different bears, one each, to try…ended up only trying one tonight.

I am excited to try and learn what Greek I can. It is a great feeling seeing a greek person’s face light up when they see you as an American attempt their language…it’s a look of surprise and gratefulness. I have had so very few of these occurrences but I hope for more. My word of today is pronounced “sig-no-me”. It means “excuse me” or “sorry”.

Paul, Chaz and I watched 3 episodes of “The Office”. The show is simply hilarious and it brought me home for a little over an hour. I would always watch The Office with taylor and Courtney…good great times and I miss them dearly.

Find myself writing again right before I go to sleep(2:30 AM)…again things just go later here in Greece but I find myself somewhat awake. I miss home dearly at night. Nighttime is the time to be with the people closest to me…hanging with beautiful Courtney, watching the basketball games with the family back home or niptuck with tay, mart and courtney, watching movies or playing video games with the roommates…just being around people I love. I miss you all dearly.

Tom. (paul, chaz, me and two other students who just arrived) plan on going to the huge open market that is held on Saturdays. There, I am told we can get anything. Chaz needs to buy soccer shoes so we will try and do that tom. 20 or so new students are arriving so I will be attempting to get to know them. It will all be crazy. And I hope to find internet and call home. I miss home and everything that has to do with it…but today made me feel more comfortable. As days go by, it will be easier. Have a good one ya’ll.

Darwin

p.s….zurich was amazing. The city is absolutely beautiful. The coffee is great. I had two cups at two different cafes. I had a meal of vegetables with cream sauce over what essentially were really buttered hash browns. The restaurant was in the university district and the waitress spoke English. She was very gracious and helpful. A trio of students also ate a meal and chained smoked through out it. What is up with that.

The city was absolutely beautiful. The airport and the train station cannot be given justice with words. They were enormous and beautiful. There were no huge skyscrapers in the city….just old beautiful buildings. Trams filed through the city streets. I hobbled onto a cobblestone area that rose up and down creating this beautifully multi-elevated, village like, shopping area. I felt like I was in Europe….lame as that is.

I walked forever with my heavy backpack on. I think I seriously walked too much and injured my legs. They still hurt today. I just wanted to see so much.

The language barrier was so frustrating. It always will be. Even though most people speak English…I hate to have to ask them if they do…I find myself feeling very bad about doing so…I am in their country and should speak their language. This timidness makes communication rough

The layover was very long and I think I got done what I wanted to accomplish….try swiss coffee, food and beer, shop(bought a green shirt from H&M because I did not pack another shirt on my carry on), see the city, watch people, ride on the eurail, see the alps. It was a successful layover. I could not ask for a better start to my trip…except for somebody to share in the experiences with.

Moments after arriving in Thessaloniki

Feb. 2-thessaloniki, first night

What am I doing here? The flight from Zurich to Thessaloniki went so quick. I got my baggage, Dausus picked me up, we talked for a little bit in the car on the way to the apartments. He showed me up to my room, showed me how to turn on the water heater (Not nearly enough water for even one short shower), he told me the plans for tom., handed me the keys and said “Ya sas”. So now I am lying in my single bed. I showered with barely enough hot water. The bed is made. The room is bare. I’ve got my thoughts and music to keep me company. I am just hoping I can fall asleep quick. Wo, the light in my room just went off but luckily it was just me hitting the switch behind me with my head. Close one.

I have no idea where I am. The apartments are tucked away in this village part of the city. The balcony looks out into a small parking lot-like court yard with 3 other buildings reaching up. Gyro Island already flyered the place. I thought about going to find it to eat but I thought I better just stay in tonight.

I had to partially unpack one of my suitcases to get sheets out and that meant finding a picture of Courtney. I immediately got sooo sad and lonely. Where are you babe? I know it will get better with time. I just think, if I hadn’t chosen to do this, I would prolly be right next to her right now. I know there is a bigger picture to it and plus we will snuggle down in no time. I love you babe.

What else, everything is just so new. I need to get out and get familiar with SOMETHING. Like I said, I am just hoping to fall asleep soon and start tom. out. More people will be coming tom. and I just think about back in the dorm days. I never felt lonely because everyone is looking to make friends. I think it is just the fact that I am the ONLY one in the building.

That is it for now. I will get to my day in Zurich tom.

Zurich 10-hr layover

Feb. 1-Zurich, Switzerland

Well, I have made it hear in Zurich and have been wondering around for two hours. The language barrier is a huge task. Talking to people is not all that difficult, but signage is where it kills you. I stopped to rest my legs at a café and got a coffee. I am use to big, Americanized coffee cups but received a small espresso for around $4.00. It was very good though. Have to get use to the smoking here. Everyone does it. I am not sure why because signage is all over the place blatantly stating the outcomes of smoking. Oh well. I am at a place called the “Crazy Cow”. It is in the university district. The waitress speaks good English and they even had an English menu. Great! Got a beer, bread basket and a vegetable dish. Soooo filling.

What else…the city is extremely expensive. The meal above will cost me around 25 franks, which is about $20.00. I am just rolling with it though. Holding back got me in trouble because I ended up just walking around looking for a reasonable meal. Soon my legs started to cramp up intensely. I just decided to spend the franks.

What they say is true about the fashion. Everyone is dressed up all “fashionable”

Zurich airport is amazing. Everything is so nice. Getting from the airport to the city was incredibly easy. I just hope it is as easy to get back. Oh, and the main train station or the “Hauptbahnhof” is amazing as well.

I see “zoo” on a bunch of the trams so I think I am going to check that out. I have still have a couple of hours to spend here.

Oh yes, the plane flight was very nice. I am pretty sure I slept in and out for 4 hours. I woke up and saw the most amazing sunrise. We were above the clouds so those morning colors sprayed out everywhere. I also got a glimpse of the alps. They peeped through towards the end of the flight. Sat next to a lady from Germany, very nice. She makes the trip back home once a year. She ended up moving to an open seat so I had two seats on the outside to myself(window seat!). It was nice to just have some more leg room.

Not sure if I have anything else for you all. I am trying to come up with things as I type. Hope this gives you an idea of what I am doing. I head into Greece late tonight and suspect I will be testing the late nightlife when I arrive. Who knows. We’ll see.

Love all of you guys and have wonderful days. Let me know what’s going on in the homeland.