AGISTRI for the weekend

In typical Greek fashion, Emily and I had a little getaway weekend to one of the Greek islands this weekend! We went to Agistri, and despite the rain upon arrival, and the constant winds/clouds, it was still gorgeous.

The woman who owns/runs the hotel we stayed at, Nontas Hotel, was beyond cute and the absolute sweetest. We wanted her to be our yia-yia (Greek grandmother). She had her son pick us up from the port and drive us the 5 minute walk to our hotel the night we arrived because our ferry was late/it was dark, and because it was raining. Then she had him drive us back that way after dropping off our things to bring us to an open restaurant. Finally, today when we were paying and getting ready to depart that afternoon, she insisted on staying as late as we wanted (I requested a late checkout because of our ferry time) and she gave us homemade apricot and nectarine marmalade that she made herself. It was SO sweet.

Because the weather wasn't fully beach weather, Emily and I enjoyed walking around the area. During our travels, we met an adorable dog who was so friendly and sweet. We named her Scrappy and she followed us/walked with us for a good half hour. We simply seemed to be animal magnets this weekend, which is a pleasure/torture for me because I love them all but then want to feed them and take them all home. We had kittens at our dinner the first night. Scrappy and another dog the next day, then more dogs and cats along our travels today.

Other than eating out and walking around, Emily and I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and it was amazing. We just opened the window and doors to our room and enjoyed our view while reading good books. The following pictures pretty much speak for themselves:

Of course our first night there, 5-6 kittens found me at the restaurant and effectively distracted me for the rest of the meal.

This is Scrappy! The sweetest pup ever.

                                         

On our second night, we heard and saw this site running around in the waves on the shore... Yup, that's a lot of ducks.

Another kitty friend! Emily told me I need to make a "Cats of Greece" calendar by the end of this experience. Haha.

This beautiful site is the Church of Agioi Anargyroi in Skala, Agistri.

Yup, those are octopuses (octopi?) drying in the sun for people to cook and eat for dinner later.

DELICIOUS pineapple and mango smoothie and blueberry pancakes!

Another puppy friend saying hello/goodbye as we prepare to leave.

Bye Agistri! Stay beautiful!

Off to go get ready for tomorrow, and watch the new episodes of Bones and Once Upon A Time! (Being half way across the world won't stop me from watching my favorite shows! Haha.)

Until next time,

-Brittany

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