Lots of Pictures/Updates Comin' at Ya!

So I'm pretty much going to briefly update by providing captions for lots of photos I have taken recently. :)



Will never get used to seeing whole frozen octopus like this...

All of the following are pictures (until the next caption) of the open air market that happens just down the road from my apartment every Saturday morning. You can literally find EVERYTHING there. Rugs, curtains, paper products, clothes for every season, shoes, and every item of produce/food imaginable.



























Dinner by Chef Emily enjoyed on our veranda. :)


The view from the Public (an electronics/books/misc store) roof restaurant.


"Will you take a picture of me in here?!"


Out for late drinks!




The before and after of Emily and I's pizza night creations!


Annie's! A little taste of home thanks to my amazing momma. :)




Enjoying drinks after an early evening of shopping!


Can't forget about our Sunday night's watching the Pat's game (which is happening in the afternoon back home!)







The above 3 pictures are from a fire that happened just two blocks down the street from us the other night! We were nosey and wanted to make sure our little supermarket was okay, so we investigated and then observed.


My little board of home right at my desk. :)






And finally... THESE ARE TWO KITTENS I SAW TODAY AND I COULD BARELY CONTAIN MYSELF BECAUSE OF THE LEVEL OF CUTENESS. They were both so tiny and SO freaking adorable, and the brown striped one followed Emily and I down the street/home and tried to come inside with us. I sooooo wanted to let it but I can't because my landlady has super bad allergies. :(

Lastly, I just want to be sure to update those following my time here that I am now officially the Coordinator of the ACS high school yearbook, and the Adviser to the middle and high school drama club! I'm starting to realize I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into, but I really love both activities and can't wait to be a part of them (and see how I like working with older kids!) I already bonded with a few high school girls and boys because of my awesome taste in music! Haha.

Well it's getting late and tomorrow is going to be a long Friday, so good night for now!

-Brittany

THE ONE MONTH UPDATE!

Well, it's officially here. It's been one whole month since I've arrived to Greece. It feels like it has been MUCH longer though! I think because we have almost entirely adapted so quickly. We travel around on the metro, go shopping, walk around Syntagma, go grocery shopping, make dinners, and go to work! 

I still think about home, my family, and my friends every single day though. I see what's going on at Wheelock through social media, and it still feels weird that I am not there. Things are so great over here though!

Everyone at ACS Athens is so helpful and friendly. I'm learning a lot about all the planning, research, and scheduling that goes into preparing for counseling throughout the year. I am loving the day to day experiences we get to have, especially going to the bakeries and produce stand so much that they know us now. :)

The only very recent things I am having problems with right now are:

1) My cold

       and

2) My bug bites

Between Sunday and today, I developed a very nasty cold that is currently kicking my ass. I had to stay home from school today because of how bad it has gotten. Because of this, however, I had my first experience of buying medicine at the pharmacy. I got a 24 pack of cold medicine with dosage similar to Sudafed for only 3 euros! I also found out that you can apparently buy antibiotics over the counter here. Haven't done that yet though.

Since arriving in Greece, I have had a fair share of bug bites. Only one was very concerning because of its size and appearance, but it has now gone away. Two days ago, I noticed two very close together on the inside of my right elbow/forearm that were very problematic. Since then, those have been fading away, but upon waking up this morning, I discovered two more large bites on that same forearm, just on different sides of the arm, and one VERY irritating one on the top of my index finger! SERIOUSLY? Where are these bugs coming from?!? And why does it seem that I am being attacked in my sleep? I am now very paranoid.

The only other issue I have been experiencing over here is the smoking... People smoke like freaking chimneys here! The cigarettes here are also less filtered with chemicals and such, so are much stronger, straight tobacco. They also only recently passed a law that prohibits people from smoking inside public places like restaurants and bars... so they don't really follow it because the police and establishments don't enforce it seeing how they also smoke themselves, and it's convenient for them to be able to smoke right where they are hanging out.

This has been really difficult for me because I have found that I have a hypersensitivity to the smoke here. I think it's a combination of the stronger smoke here, and just how often people smoke everywhere. It has made enjoying myself while out with my friends very challenging, if not impossible. :(

But I still have 9 whole months to figure out a way to deal with it and enjoy myself to the fullest here! After all, this entire thing is one big learning experience, isn't it?

That's all for now!
-Brittany

MISC. & ACS Athens Update

Just a little brief update for you all!

The weather is finally cooling off here and it is feeling so much better! But it has also started raining a lot, after none at all this whole time. On our drive home from IKEA Saturday, our surrounding neighborhood and area was completely flooded. The skies tore open and it was absolutely down pouring! Here are few pictures, attempting to show how crazy it was!

Not too much to write about in regards to my counseling experiences so far, because it has been a lot of finalizing/updating registration, class rosters, and arranging specialists for students who need them. I can't do much with all this because I do not know the students yet, and I do not know or have access to the system used for it. But I have been helping prepare folders for the teachers to learn about their students, and I've been going to a lot of meetings with the counselors and Student Affairs... so I get to sound official with my meetings! Haha. Here I am in my office, at my desk and then with my professional teacher bag that my lovely mom got me! :)

Tomorrow, the counselors (including me) and Office of Student Affairs are having a citizenship assembly with the HIGH SCHOOLERS. We all have to be a part of it. I am with two other counselors, speaking with 105 tenth graders about what citizenship means and what respect is... for an hour. So that should be interesting!

Finally, here are a few more pictures of the last couple of days! To sum up, I LOVE the produce here, I LOVE the views here, and I LOVE the sunsets here! Oh, and I love the random moments/people. Figured I should give some positives after my last homesickness post. :)

That's all for now!

-Brittany

Homesick

Well, it is almost two and a half weeks into my 10 month stay, and I am officially experiencing my first serious case of being homesick. I've been fortunate enough to be able to see and talk to my family almost every day (in some way, shape, or form), and even many of my friends, but I guess with my school year starting up, and seeing everyone else's school years starting up back home, things are finally really setting in.

The majority of my time here so far has felt like a vacation. We arrived, were shown around, had time to relax and settle in, but were also immediately kept fairly busy with new teacher orientation and sight-seeing. It felt similar to the service learning trip to Barbados I went on spring break of my junior year of college. So much to see and do, but also doing service work and observing in the schools. It is only now really setting in that I am here to stay in Athens for more than a vacation/break time span. I know this must sound crazy, because you have all known for some time now that I knew this was going to be a 10 month program... but it has just taken time for me to even believe that this opportunity is real, let alone that it is actually happening.

Last night and today have been particularly difficult for me for many reasons...

First, because I discovered that my younger brother (can't say little anymore since he was beginning to tower over me) was going to be the quarterback, safety, AND kicker for the Cape Cod Tech JV football team... AS WELL AS being the punter for the VARSITY team! And he's only just begun his freshman year there! This, as you can tell, has made me so insanely proud as his big sis, but it also is making me miss him and home terribly. Knowing that I won't be able to see him in any games, or be there in person to pry details of how everything is going out of him (because it is IMPOSSIBLE otherwise) is starting to really upset me.

Also, seeing and hearing about how the Cape is finally slowing back down now that all the crazy tourists are leaving is making me miss it a lot. The times right before and after summer were always my favorite growing up there because the weather was still so nice but it was usually only the locals, enjoying their town and homes before and after the madness occurs/occurred.

I also made the mistake of going through MANY of my pictures on my computer (some of which go way back to around 2005) to compile a folder of pictures of home, Boston, Wheelock, family, and friends to turn into my screen saver collage. While I am happy I did this, and enjoy watching them all go by on my screen, it really got to me just how crazy, scary, and amazing this new chapter in my life is. So many of the pictures came from folders such as, "Summer 2011", "Summer 2012", "Christmas 2009", "Christmas 2010", and "Wheelock freshman-senior years." All of these have been constants in my life, something that would happen every year... everyone else growing and changing, but nevertheless together to celebrate. Even Wheelock, once being a new, exciting chapter, became a steady constant in my life. Going through all of these folders of memories really made me realize how new and intimidating this brand new chapter in my life is. Such a different chapter, that it is actually interrupting old chapters such as Christmas and Wheelock.

Finally, while it is already 9:30 pm here in Athens, my best friend since childhood is getting married right now back home. This has proven immensely difficult for me today. I was asked to be one of her bridesmaids all the way back in December of last year, right after she got engaged. I was so excited and thrilled to be asked to be a part of her special day that I didn't even hesitate to agree. I had no reason to! Then this opportunity of a lifetime came up out of the blue in January. For so long, it seemed just like a slight possibility. An option in a sea of endless options. Then suddenly it became REAL. And the very first thing I thought of and realized is that with the dates they provided us, I would have to leave before my best friend's wedding. I wouldn't be able to be home for it. This absolutely crushed me. I was devastated... and even worse, I was going to have to share this devastation with her. Nothing was more difficult than telling her (after going dress shopping and everything) that I was no longer going to be able to be in her wedding because I would be halfway across the world. Like the true best friend she is, she was nothing but completely supportive and encouraging.

Today, she was able to take time out of her busy morning of preparing to Facetime with me so I was able to still be a part of her big day, in some small way. It is nothing like I dreamed and wish it could have been, but it meant the world to me that I was able to see her and wish her the best of luck. I couldn't keep myself from choking up and crying, then after composing myself and finishing the call, completely losing it. And now, I find myself tearing up yet again... but I will be fine. I am so completely happy for her, and although I will always be disappointed that I could not be there, I will remember that I got to see her and be a little part of her wedding day.

Well now that I have rambled on with my emotion-packed writing for some time now, I am going to call it a night soon. Hopefully some sleep will do me some good.

Sending my love to everyone back home. xoxo
-Brittany

POROS... and a little bit of Parliament

The following pictures are from my incredible weekend getaway to Poros this past weekend. For those that know me, you know how much I love the beach, islands, flowers, palm trees, and gorgeous blue water (and cats, haha). So this was a perfect, relaxing weekend that was much needed before things kick into high gear this week at ACS! 

There are captions related to some of the pictures below, then there are some pictures from our stop at Parliament on our way home from the port. Our sweet, old taxi driver was giving us all a history lesson and told us we had to check out the guards on the way. It was TERRIFYING! They had just finished changing their posts/guards, and then were slamming their guns into the ground when we came close. Apparently this was because they had not quite finished and we had to wait. The third guard fixed the other one's uniform and then we could go up for pictures. It felt really awkward!

Thursday is the first day of school at ACS and things are FINALLY kicking into gear! Things seem to be happening pretty last minute there, but we are realizing that this is apparently how things normally go. None of the teachers were surprised that the four of us girls didn't really have specifics on what exactly we were doing yet. And a lot of the teachers JUST found out where their classrooms were and began setting up today! That blew my mind, especially only a year after my full time practicum where I showed up a week or two in advance to help my teacher prepare the room for the year! But it is all interesting, to say the least, to see how things are done and how they fall into place here.

That's all for now!
-Brittany

Paradise!

Enjoying my "Sex on the Beach"... on the beach!

Where we stayed the night.

The Dream Team out to dinner!

Paradise: Day 2.

This is a kitty we named Earmuff because a piece of the tip of his ear was missing. He was SO sweet and affectionate.

Just call me Cat Lady!

GORGEOUS sunset.

Amazingly fresh, delicious watermelon for dessert!

Clearly, I hated it. ;)

Poros at night!

Quite the outfit they have, right? Our driver kept telling me to get closer but I was too scared after being yelled at by the other guard right before!