The Jenkins boys playing a little post-dinner football in the back yard.

Backyard dinner at the Jenkins'.

Annabelllla :)

Lunch in town with Annabelle, Wills, Currio, Alba, and Petra. Lovely to see them all!

Hey y'all!

I haven't written in so long and I feel so discombobulated. Where to begin?? I guess for starters, I'm back in California after a whirlwind trip across the world. I left carolyn and the jenkins at 8am british time and got to LA 7pm California time. Sooo 19 hours total? something like that. Whatever the case, my mumsie picked me up, got me dinner from chronic tacos, and drove me to the oceanside beach house to see jason, my dad, and jose :) it was so good to see everyone! Right now everything feels like a dream. Everything... from london to greece, back to london and then home again. It's like i got in a time capsule when i boarded the plane 6 weeks ago. Suddenly i've been whipped halfway across the world and back again in a time warp boomerang. thank goodness for pictures; i need proof it wasn't all just a dream. the truth is, I absolutely feel sick today. I can't find my footing and I'm dizzy as hell. I guess that's jet lag for ya.

Looking past my jello-ness, I'll try and report about my last week and a half in europe. After my last moody post we had a really interesting time in Volos, a city on the east coast of mainland greece abut halfway between Athens and Thessaloniki. The best night for me was when a few of us girls saw the local football team, olympiakos volos, play fk rad Belgrade. it was absolutely surreal to be in europe watching a soccer game with a zillion die-hard fans chanting and cheering. Other than that, Volos was a school trip designated to learning about greece's industrialization. Aka old rusty trains and brick museums. But the waterfront was gorgeous, and gab and I got to try a ton of cool sea food with the local drink, tsipouro. Strong stuff, but it made the brick museum a lot of fun!

After volos, we came back to athens and had a week until our final exam on thursday. Basically we all had to cram 200 years of greek history into our vacationed-out pea brains; not exactly what i had pictured. But it needed to be done, and the final proved to be toothless. That night we all went to Gazi, the major nightclub area where we danced our little hearts out until the metro opened again at 5.30am. the next day we dragged our hung-over carcasses out of bed and went into town to do some last-minute shopping and saw our goodbyes to athens. that night we all went to an incredible restaurant in Plaka that had a view of the acropolis all lit up. The food was amazing and the company was even better. I have to say, that night was bitter sweet. We were still feeling the high from the last few weeks but dreading the next day when we had to leave. So later that night I finally got to bed around 3.30am and the bus came to pick us up at 5am. it was awesome. Gab and I got on the plane, slept, and got to london. She had some issues with the next flight that finally got sorted out, and I met up with carolyn who took me to the jenkins' house.

It was SO awesome staying with the jenkins. They really feel like family to me. I stayed there for three-ish days but it felt like half a day. They took really good care of me... feeding me delicious food and lending me a big fluffy bed to rest in. The weather was beautiful.. so nice we went in the pool every day. They're all coming out to california in a couple of weeks. I'm so excited to see them again!

So now i'm sitting here at the beach, scraping my brain for remnants of what I used to know, of what used to come naturally. My fingers feel clumsy when i text and it feels foreign putting toilet paper down the toilet. But these are all little insignificant accents to the big story of it all. I can't say i'm the same person i was 6 weeks ago, and i'm glad about that.

Oh, and if you're wondering, I stopped looking for a face to label greece a few days after i wrote that last post. Getting stuck in the past blinded me to the living, breathing city that was right in front of my nose. Read into that last post a little more, and you'll see that I, Allison Van Vooren, am Greece. Straight up.

Thanks everyone for following me on this adventure around the world. I hope you've enjoyed my brambling, and I'll catch you all when I make my next journey.

Much love, Allison.

Yesterday when I was walking to school I started thinking. Like really thinking. Somehow I never have time to actually think when I'm at school studying, but I never have this consciousness until my thoughts come back to me. Yesterday morning for the first time in ages my mind was actually clear. I could challenge things and ask myself questions, groping my way through the chasm of swirling knowledge that my mind has become. The voice inside my head had me so captivated that I didn't even notice my friends had become silent as we walked. The interesting part is that my thoughts weren't even that profound. I was thinking about all the places I had travelled to, and how easy it had been for me to feel the national culture. For instance, in argentina the untroubled youth thrives off the sensuality of tango and the buzz of mate. The elderly muffle their past losses in coffee shops, criticizing the youth for their even tempers. I get it. There's a national food, a national people, a national vibe. For some reason, I'm struggling to come to conclusions about greece. This country has worn so many different hats that it's nearly impossible to decipher who she really is. In ancient times, Greece obviously boasted some of the greatest thinkers of all time in a world where democracy was budding and gods roamed the seas. So there's that greece. But then there's the greece that's Byzantine, devout to orthodox christianity, denouncing the paganism of the past. And yet again, there's the greece that's Ottoman, completely multicultural, eastern, 'backward'. And of course now there's the greece that was constructed after 1832, a fantastic rendition of the 'exemplary' parts of history. But how can you pick and choose? This nation has so much history that it has purposefully erased. The split from Turkey left the people so wounded and angry that they'll reject anything Turkish and try to make everything greek. Turkish coffee is the same damn thing as greek coffee. What's the point? I feel like greece is a three year old child going through the 'mine' phase. But ironically, this process of claiming a select history, adopting a people and morphing a culture has left me feeling hollow. Who is greece really? Obviously greece has the tourist attractions, the acropolis, the islands, gyros. But I want a face to associate with this country. Just a face, that's all I ask. I can create my version of her in my mind's eye, but that's just as bad as not having one at all. I guess at this point I'm at a dead end. My perception may be the only thing to rely on. But I still have 9 days and I'm determined. I'm going to discover what is really, truly, inherently Greek. It can't be a conscious decision. I have to feel it. It has to come from within me. I know it'll hit me eventually, probably more like a brick to the face than a feather on the cheek.

I'm ready. Bring it.

pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150261491149661.345679.732944660&l=ae4860387e&type=1

pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150261491149661.345679.732944660&l=ae4860387e&type=1

Kalispera guys!

It's wednesday afternoon and i'm sittin on my backside in Elly and Reem's apartment working on the readings. Actually, taking a break from the readings. It's insaaaaanely hot here in Athens right now... monday marked the beginning of their first heat wave and today it's definitely over 100 degrees. Insanity! So instead of romping around the city I'm sitting inside like a cow getting fanned by the air conditioner as is the rest of the country. So I don't feel so bad!

It's kinda hitting me that we only have ten days left in Greece. This weekend we're taking an excursion to Volos in Thessaly and we're going to be toured by one of Greece's leading experts in pre-modern greek economics. Supposedly on saturday (dad, you would like this!), we're taking an old locomotive up the side of a mountain near volos. Should be a good time!

Last weekend we had one of the most amazing weekends in recent memory. Gab, Reem, Ellie, and I met up with Jason and Lindsey in Mykonos! Mykonos is known for being one of the biggest party spots in the world, so I wasn't really sure what I was getting into. But I'll tell ya, Mykonos was swarming with beautiful people from around the world ready to have a good time and dance their little socks off. On the ferry over my friend ellie met a guy from south africa and he told us about a concert happening at paradise beach that night. So when we got on the boat we were on a mission! We found our hotel after waiting forever for a taxi, ate a wickedly expensive dinner at the base of the port, and headed out on a wild goose chase to Paradise beach club near the center of Mykonos. It cost 30 euros, and I really wasn't keen to go in (I'm becoming increasingly thrifty like my mumsie). But once we got inside we had the absolute BEST time!! Liana and I have been dreaming of dancing in a european club since like elementary school, and this was definitely it. I was bummed she wasn't there with me, but there is always a next time. So anyway, we got to see this DJ called AfroJack, a dutch DJ who is one of the best and most famous in the world. And for good reason! His mixes were amaaaaazing and it was so so so much fun!! He came on at 3am (welcome to mykonos) and by about 4am jason and lindsey had had enough and were ready to go. At that point, us girls jumped into the middle of the crowd and eventually made our way to the very front, right next to afrojack! You could absolutely feel the energy of the people in the crowd; quite literally the place was pulsing with every beat. About an hour later, afrojack busted out a bottle of champagne and sprayed it all over the people in the front few rows (ie. us) and we basically took a shower in champagne. Giddy with excitement, we danced until around 6.30am when we realized the sun had come up and we had better get home. Definitely a really fun night!

The next day we woke up around noon after sardining-it in with four of us girls in a queen-sized bed. We rolled over to the beach, soaked up the sun, and totally enjoyed ourselves. It sounds really weird saying all of this, and I almost feel like it didn't happen. At around 8.30 we left the beach and got ready to go out for dinner. We ended up in the main center of town at an incredibly busy restaurant. We revived with some food and later gelato, and later ended up at a club called Space. We had heard it got busy at 1am, but when we showed up at 1 it was dead as a doornail. So we all hung out for a little and it eventually got busy around 2.30 or 3. Typical! I only had one drink so I had a really great time, but one of my friends had one (or in this case a zillion) too many and ended up shmammered. In any case, Reem had a friend from Saudi Arabia who was in the same club by chance, so we got to meet him and his friends. Later I danced with his friend from Jordan who was about 5 feet tall and reeked of grey goose. But all of them were really nice! Anyway, to make a long story long, we finished up the night with a chocolate crepe and got home in a taxi around 5.15am.

Our ferry the next morning left at 9.50am, soooo we were essentially sleepwalking to the boat. But the bright side was we were going to NAXOS!!! Now, for those of you who have yet to experience it's glory, Naxos is one of The most beautiful places on the face of the earth. It is the largest island in the cyclades and it largely still preserves its countryside. Definitely lest touristy than Mykonos, Naxos boasts gorgeous beaches, a quaint little town, and fantastic seaside restaurants that all look like little outdoor living rooms. Again, I wished liana could see this... there were naked lightbulbs around nearly every corner (necessarry in the liana allison utopia). Even though we were only there for one night, we celebrated Jason's 26th birthday, went to the beach, went shopping, ate amazing food and gelato, and had fat smiles on our faces like never before. Honestly, it was like a dream world. I looked into real estate on Naxos and it was incredibly affordable given the recent economic crisis. So I think from now on if anyone ever wants to give me a gift I'm going to ask for a donation to the Allison-wants-to-buy-a-house-in-naxos fund. It's that cool!

On Sunday we left for athens on a 7 hour ferry ride across the aegean. It was incredibly long but equally gorgeous. When we finally got to Pireaus, it was 1am and and we hopped into a taxi cab that ripped us off like no other and practically tried to kill us on the way home with his crazy macho driving. Lame.

The next morning we had class at 9 and I surprised myself with my bright-eyed and bushy-tailed-ness. After all, we had just had the weekend of a lifetime!

It got even better.... last night a few of us saw a modern ballet performance at the Odeon of Herodes Theater at the base of the Acropolis. I had one of those moments when you're smiling and you don't know why. Everything felt so alive sitting in that theater with the stars above us scattered across the velvety purple sky and the acropolis standing majestically behind us. The ballet itself was incredible too. I'm just in awe of how cool life can be.

I hope y'all are doing well, I'm sending everyone my love and good vibes.

Ps, I had some rather existential thoughts about greece this afternoon and i thought I would write a blog about it, so maybe that's to come!

xoxox Allison

Hey guys,

It's 7 o'clock in Athens and still 95 degrees. So I'm taking refuge in my shady room taking naps and working on the readings for the class. Today our class was about greece after the war of independence and gender roles in greece that dominated society before the 1950s. Since I took his archeology class in the spring, I had already heard this exact lecture, so I twiddled my thumbs and listened to my classmates as they laughed at the stories I had already heard. Then Gab and I got a gyro on the way home. Seriously, the greek food we have at home can't shake a stick at this stuff! It's a warm pita (almost too hot to touch), a fresh chicken kabob (or lamb), fresh tzaziki sauce with bits of cucumber, dripping red tomatoes, lettuce, and incredibly well seasoned potato slices. I'm in heaven! With our full bellies we came back to the apartment and I slept for a solid 2 hours. I'm trying to kick this everlasting cold, and I decided laying low is the way to do it. After, I talked to mumsie and since then I've just been catching up with laundry and homework. I found out today I got an A on my first paper, so no worries there! tonight most of our group is going to see the harry potter premiere at a theater in our neighborhood. I'm really excited to see the movie, but opted to go tomorrow instead of tonight because tonight they're showing the 2nd to last movie in the series at 9 and the new movie (the last in the series) at midnight in 3D at a normal theater. Instead, I'm going tomorrow with Gab and a few other people to an open air theater in a park down the street where we're watching it at a decent time in 2D. Much better :) So tonight I think Gab and I are going to have a date night at a tavern we've been meaning to go to at the end of our street. Tomorrow our class is going on an excursion around athens, i think to the national cathedral and a few museums about the city of athens and old houses or something. Should be good!

Just now my roommate leah is making pasta and the smell instantly reminded me of my dad's spaghetti. It brought a little tear to my eye... I feel like running down to the kitchen and sitting down with my parents to a plate of spaghetti. I guess no matter where I go I'll always have a little piece of home with me. Love you guys!

Eating freshly-made pizza in our apartment with Leah, Jason, and Lindsey!

Buying pottery in Plaka. Jason was a great help in making decisions :p

Eating lunch in Monastiraki :) So happy to see these two!

The main plaza in Tripoli

Lovin' me some pottery!

Lunch with Reem in a tiny village in the mountains of the Peleponnesos.

The view from our hotel in Nafplion!!

From the top of the Acrocorithos. I know, it looks like I have spider monkey arms.

Standing over the Isthmus of Corinth between the mainland and the Peleponnesos.

Buenos dias!

I'm sitting at my favorite coffee shop in Syntagma square right now, enjoying a fresh-squeezed orange juice and attempting to study. But instead I thought I would update y'all on what's been going on! This weekend, our class followed in the footsteps of the Greek War of independence. We drove on a huge bus from athens to the Peleponnessos (the massive chunk of land to the west of Athens). We first stopped at the isthmus of Corinth where incredibly skilled architects carved a canal out of a huge chunk of land. It was SO deep and the water was so blue! After that. we drove to a massive fortress in Acrocorinth. In all it's ling history, this fortress was never, ever taken by force. It was only ever conquered by siege. It was completely tourist-free (besides us) so it was really easy to see what life would have been like living and fighting up there. Gnarly stuff. The ground was littered with shards of pottery, and my professor slipped me a couple of small pieces for me to keep because he knows how much I love it! He said potentially after the class if I work with him more on archeology we can reconstruct the whole pieces of pottery from the tiny shards we collected. SO COOL!

After Acrocorinth, we drove to Nafplion, a tiny town on the south coast of the Peleponnese that was the first capital of greece. We stayed in an ancient fortress that had been converted into an amazing hotel. Our room had sweeping views of the sea and the town below. Gab and I definitely did a happy dance or two when we saw the view out our window! That night we toured around the city, saw an old mosque and a madrasa, and then walked to a restaurant up in the hills for dinner. It was run by a really nice family in their home. They invited some friends to come over and play live music for us, and after we finished dinner (which was AMAZING by the way... tender lamb from the local hills, incredibly fresh greek salads, and honey cake), we all got up and danced our version of traditional greek dance (in a circle, snapping a lot, and saying 'opa!'). We all had the silliest smiles on our faces, enjoying every bit of the night. Afterwards, we all went out to a club/bar on the water and danced our little hearts out. In short, Nafplion (and friday in general) was an incredible success. Definitely some of the best memories I've had on this trip so far!

On sunday morning we had a glorious complementary breakfast overlooking the pool and the ocean, got back on the bus, and drove to a tiny little town up in the mountains. The driving was pretty treacherous.... I held my breath a bit as our massive tour bus went over zillion year-old bridges made for donkeys and hand carts. But our driver was a master. He seriously could have driven that bus through an IV without a problem. We had a delicious lunch (I'm now realizing I keep track of my day by the meals I eat) and then drove to another little village to see some traditional mills. Since our class is also studying traditional greek life of 19th century peasants, this was a must see. There was a corn mill, a tannery and a gun powder maker-area all in the same place. And a bonus: the bathroom was literally a hole in the ground, and I mastered it like a pro :p

After that we drove to Sparta to see an olive oil museum. The drive was really long and the museum proved a bit unnecessary. But I busied myself with the amazing storage pottery they had at the museum. I was a happy girl! After that we drove to Tripoli but didn't do any touring around. we just had dinner, lots of wine, and a great nights sleep. I was really excited becasue the hotel in tripoli was playing Buena Vista Social Club at breakfast :)

In the morning we drove back to Athens! I met up with Jason and Lindsey, and went to Plaka and the Monastiraki flea market. It was really great to see them! I was surprised at my tour-guide skills after being here a short two weeks. Pretty soon I'm going to be a local! We had a great aftrnoon stolling thorugh the streets, eating gelato and buying pottery :) Afterwards, we all went back to my apartment and chilled with my roommates for a while. For dinner we went to a pizza place down the street where a dude made our pizzas by hand starting with a dough ball and then baking them in a wood-fired oven. It was delectable! We all hung out and chatted until J and Linds went back to their apartment.

This morning I waslked to their place to get some free hotel breakfast and then we went to syntagma and had coffees together. It was a great time! Definitely nice to be around people you love :)

Okay.... I really need to study, so that's all for now! I hope everyone is doing really well, enjoying the beautiful California weather, and livin the dream!

xoxox Allison

Kali mera!

I'm coming back after a mini drought of blogging. Seems as though the greek lifestyle has swept me away, enamoring me with warm afternoons, wonderful friends, fantastic food, and surreal landscapes. My friend Elly mentioned the other day that Greek mythology makes a lot of sense once you're here. You sort of fall in love with the ocean, the sun, and everything in between, becoming enraptured with the incorporeal majesty of life. Even though the state of greece is in absolute shambles and the government is essentially blown, the natural beauty of the country and the spirit of the people breathe life into a dead skeleton of a system.

I got my first glimpse of this beauty on our walk to Lykavittos Hill where we saw a panoramic view of the city. But this weekend I think I truly got introduced to Greece. It's way more than antiquity, with all the ruins and important documents. Don't get me wrong, those are incredibly important and worth studying. But what I saw this weekend wasn't out of a textbook. I saw real people, real situations, real anger, real fear, real hope, and real unity. Screw what you hear in the news, the people in greece are living their lives the best they know how. They want the best for their families and children just like you do. We've began to look at political situations in a dehumanized way, and it pains me to think we've forgotten about the people involved across the board. We owe it to ourselves to end myopia.

Anyway. I'm learning.

But back to this weekend, we all had amazing experiences. Seriously, this weekend was one of the top 10 days of my life. Sorry for all the serious crap I wrote before this, I have no idea where that came from because I'm in a really good mood. Whateva. But anyway, Gabby and I have become insanely good friends with Reem and Elly. Literally, all four of us are so happy that we just smile our brains out when we're around each other. It's a beautiful thing. ALSO, some news for y'all, Gabby and I decided we want Reem to live with us next year, and she agreed! We're so happy :) Also in the news, last night Gab and I chatted with Professor Gallant and his wife Mary in the patio and he basically offered me a job to work with him. He didn't really go into details, but said something like "I was going to tell you this at a later time, but now that you mention it (I said something about one of his PhD students), I wanted to offer you a position as a fellowship/intern/stipend-given researcher". I didn't know what to say! His wife Mary bumped me and said, "honey, you can close your mouth now" (my jaw had dropped, apparenty). So, new things to think about. This is a major opportunity to work with Gallant as one of his protegees. He has major connections all over the world. And I know I enjoy archeology and social/ historical anthropology, but this wasn't exactly what I had planned for myself. Decisions, decisions. Regardless, I'm thrilled to even have the opportunity and some deep thinking is certainly going to ensue.

SO, getting back to this weekend, on Saturday we went to an island called Aegina (said "eggina") that is a less touristy island but is still near Athens. Ya'll have probably seen the pictures on fbook, but it was so so so beautiful!! The ocean was crystal clear and it felt like bathwater. Us four girls had the time of our lives tanning on the beach and swimming in the water. We all rented 4-wheeler quads and rode around the island for 2 or 3 hours into the interior of Aegina. One of the guys in our group rented a vespa, so halfway through I asked if I could drive it. It was so LEGIT! I can't even believe I rode around one of the most beautiful, traditional islands in the world on a vespa. I was smiling so big I got bugs in my teeth. It was one of those omg-pinch-yourself-you-are-living-in-a-dream moments. Later we got back on the ferry and watched the sun set over the mountains of the islands, a red ball of fire slowly slinking away. The water turned from crystal turquoise to fiery orange and red. I couldn't imagine a better ending.

On sunday we all went to the flea market in athens and saw some pretty cool stuff. I was expeting more reasonable prices, especially becasue most people at the market were greeks. Nevertheless, I found some good bargains on leather sandals and silver jewelry. In the afternoon, reem and I met up with her cousin who lives in Athens. She treated us to a beautiful lunch at the end of the flea market. Later, Reem and I meandered slowly back through the flea market, Monasteraki, Plaka, Syntagma and finally Pangrati where we live. With such hot weather you find yourself never in a hurry. I could get used to this :) Last night gab, Elly, reem, and I went out to dinner at Platea Varnavas and ate delicious food by candlelight. Can't complain!

Today so far we've had lecture (the first half I struggled hard core to stay awake but perked up after a greek coffee at the break). The only downside is I'm getting sick. Like the kind where it feels like you swallowed a thistle and it got caught in your throat. I've been ODing on vitamins and I hope to catch up on sleep this afternoon.

I wish you all well and love you all. xoxoxo

Hey guy,

I'm sure you've seen the news that the protest in athens have escalated and violence has started in response to the votes today and tomorrow. They are in a serious state of economic crisis and the people are simply just pissed off. The union protests have been peaceful but there is a group of anarchists that intentionally stir up trouble by throwing rocks, bricks, and cobblestones at the police. They mix themselves within the crowd and essentilly make the place look like a riot. But i'm posting this because I want you all to know that we are all safe and completely removed from the violence. I have made a personal decision to completely avoid syntagma square where the violence is happening. Some of my classmates went into the protests yesterday and were tear gassed. But I want to assure you guys (especially you mom and dad) that I will not be anywhere near the violence and safety is my biggest concern. Although it kills me to stand on the sidelines while history is happening, I will not go near syntagma. We are in good hands and will stay out of trouble. I am safe, so please do not worry.

Gab, Ellie, Me, and Reem at Lykavittos :)

Me and my new friend Reem!

Athens and the Acropolis are AMAZING!!

Gab and I at the top of Lykavittos Hill overlooking Athens

Happy tuesday everyone!

Last night we had the most wonderful experience... we walked up to lykavittos hill to see the view of all of athens. Seriously, I felt like dropping to my knees and thanking the universe. It was such a spiritual place with such good energy. Plus, we've become good friends with two girls named Ellie and Reem. In short, I absolutely love them!! And actually, fun factoid for you, Ellie roomed in the same exact suite, room, and bed that I had last year! Super weird coincidence. Not sure what that means, but I'm betting we're soul sisters. So anyway, last night after we all trekked up to lykavittos we watched the sunset, took pictures, and waited for the city lights to go on before going back down. After that, we walked to the old city center to a place called plaka. We were all really hungry but we were totally digging the atmosphere of the city streets and our buddy nathan had told us about really cool restaurants in the heart of plaka. Plaka is sorta like a more snazzy version of Camden town.... as you can guess we all LOVED it!! Anyway, so we got to this cool restaurant, sat at a table on the street and got the most amazing lamb souflaki! I had never had lamb before, but i tell ya, this lamb souflaki is going to be hard to beat! For some reason that night was just the most magical experience. I'm not sure if it was the wine, the acropolis looming over us, the good food, the company, or a combination of everything. It was one of those experiences that you dream about... eating a fantastic meal in a great foreign city, smiling uncontrollably with your friends and just seriously digging life. In short, I fell in love with Athens that night.

Today we had our first day of class and I was a little too tired to concentrate. So I just did what the greeks do: grabbed a coffee at the break, walked up the street and chatted with my friends, and took a siesta when we got back to the apartment. I felt royally lazy sleeping in the day, but i think it was worth it. The class today was pretty good. Professor gallant is always an excellent lecturer, and I knew a lot of stuff already from taking his archeology class. We've been getting to know him and his wife, Mary, more and we're all really enjoying their company. They are both really bright, street savvy, and funny as ever.

To be honest, I just keep pinching myself that I'm in greece with amazing people learning about awesome stuff and having great experiences. If i hadn't before, I have definitely caught the travel bug :)

Tonight we had our first (of two) paid-for group dinners. I sat with different people tonight and got to know some of the guys pretty well. Who knew the most outspoken guys could be so sensitive? The food was delicious; greek salad (with tomatoes to die for), fresh feta, incredibly tender chicken, grape leaves (called horta according to gab), a couple other dishes, and juuuuuuicy watermelon for dessert. I was sitting next to some of the quieter girls in the group and I really tired to get them to open up a bit. Sure enough, they were really interesting. After we ate, an old guy with a guitar came around and sang to everyone and then asked for money. Should have expected that haha! Afterwards we went to Reem and Ellie's place and hung out for a bit, then joined the others downstairs and chatted. Then Karlo walked me, gab, and our roommate leah home. We finished off the night with some greek yogurt with honey & bananas.

Tomorrow we're pretty sure we're having class on-site tomorrow, but we may not becasue the general strike is still going on and some museums may be closed. If we don't go on-site, we'll just have class at the research center like we did today. Whatever the case, I can't wait for our new adventures :)

Love to you all, les mando besos y abrazos!!

Ale

Yassas!

It's siesta time right now over here, and it would be a perfect time to call y'all but it's 6 in the morning CA time! So instead gab and I are going to go for a jog around the city before we all meet up again at 7.30 to go for a hike.

So far today we went as a group to the National Research Institute where we are going to be taking classes. Professor gallant talked to us about the econ crisis right now in greece, and apparently there is going to be a major historical vote tomorrow night. The classroom is pretty nice, except there aren't any windows, meaning we're in a beautifully sunny mediterranean city and we can't see the sun. But now that I think about it, maybe it's better that way so we don't feel like going to the beach!

After we walked to the grocery store and bought some breakfast foods, meet &chesse, fruits, and paper for the house. It was a pretty interesting experience since we couldn't read any of the labels. Even though we felt like lost little children, we still got some food and had fun.

We then walked back to the apartments and had some food on the patio and prof. gallant and his wife joined us. They are such nice people! He started teaching us some greek and it was pretty hard. But I really want to learn so I can actually talk to people instead of just smiling and giggling when someone says something in greek to me. Hooray for greek!

Anyway, just a quick update before we go on a run.

Love to you all! xo

The apartment above ours. So beautiful!

Our patio where I'm writing this right now, listening to gypsy kings and Brazilian lounge. Livin the life!
Gab on the left, I'm on the right :)

Olive trees!
Athens from the road

Hey everyone!

We landed in Greece!!! It's absolutely beautiful here, especially at our apartment. We landed around 12.10, met up with the group, and got on the bus! About 45 minutes later the bus driver dropped us off pretty much in the middle of the road and we all walked for like 15 minutes to our apartments. We are in an apartment right off a terrace that is BEAUTIFUL!! There are lemon trees and a little circle of black patio furniture. We each have our own bed but the apartment has an open plan and I'm living with Gabby, Leah, and Eden. They're all really nice! The kitchen is beautiful and there are really few shelves. It's super gorgeous!! We are all going to meet up in a few minutes and go over some basics with gallant. We met gallant's wife Mary and she is super sweet too. Can't wait to go see Athens!!!!!!

xoxo

Whew, what a day!

We just got back to Cindy's place after a really long but really awesome day. First off, we were planning to wake up at 8.30 am, but after staying at eric and sally's until 2am, we figured we had better sleep. So we woke up at 10.30ish when alba called me (thank goodness she did, we would have still been sleeping!). I got ready to go, and while Gab was showering, I met Anneka (sp?) and chatted with her for a bit with her. What a lovely girl! After, petra called and said we had better not go to wimbledon because people were already camping out for tomorrow's tickets, and today's were long sold out. So instead we decided to go into london and go to all the places we had missed. We ended up at Westminster Abbey at around 2pm. Even though I've been a few times, I still really enjoy it! Gab was so cute... she almost started crying when we walked in. I walked over to the cloister thingie and pretended I was princess Kate walking down the aisle. Corny, but true :)

After westminster, we hauled booty over to the British museum. We only had like an hour there, and we each ran around the museum separately. I saw cleopatra, the rosetta stone, and lots of greek pottery like the ones I studied in archeology las year. It was super cool, but after 5 hours of museum-ing and walking around we were pretty pooped. So we took the tube over to covent garden, got some paella and watched the crowds.

Then we remembered we hadn't gone to Buckingham palace where the queen lives! So we decided to walk there, but it was A LOT farther than we had anticipated. By the time we got there our feet and legs were so tired, we practically collapsed at the gates like people on a pilgrimage falling who had finally reached their destination. I got a picture of us at the palace before my camera died. We caught a taxi back to waterloo station, and took the train to Guildford to meet alba, her boyfriend, and her friend Marieta for dinner at a portuguese restaurant in town. It was really really good and we had a great time. At one point, an aventura song came on, and marieta and I started dancing bachata in the middle of the restaurant! hahaha it was so much fun :) Then we all walked back to the train station and waited for the train. When it was time for us to go, gab and I had to run to make the train. We said our quick double-kiss goodbyes and hopped on the train... and marieta and alba came running after us, waving and laughing! It was so much fun!! I had a really great time with them, they are all such great company.

Tonight we have to pack up and get everything ready to catch a taxi at 5am for our flight tomorrow at 6:50am. Super early, but I'm just hoping we can get some sleep. It's been such a great trip in england, I can't wait to see what greece has to offer!!

xoxox

Hey yall!

I must be sounding like a broken record, but we're just back from Eric and Sally's and we've had a wonderful day in London! Today we got up a bit earlier (around 10.30) and went into london to meet Petra. Petra was such a wonderful tourguide... she took us to all the non touristy places I had never been to! It was great to see her too, after all these years. So we went on a double decker bus to Camden town, this really cool, funky place where everyone is not afraid to demonstrate their own style. We got amaaazing indian food from this little stand and sat along the river with our feet dangling over the side. Honestly, i think I found heaven in Camden town with my two lovely friends! We later went and spent our inheritance on clothes and what-not in the markets. It was a blast! Afterwards, we walked (or rather, hiked) to Primrose hill. At the tippety top we could see an amazing view of london and the whole skyline. And on top of that hill we sat like locals, looked out, and really "soaked up london" as cindy had advised me to do. Absolutely lovely :)

After that we took a black cab to kings cross station where they have the famous platform 9 and 3/4 in harry potter. It was totally bunk... not even close to the real thing! So instead we walked up to around where petra lives in london and went to a really nice pub on the camden river thingy that runs through town. Steve met us there, and it was really nice to meet him. What a nice guy! Afterwards, we took a bus back to waterloo station, hopped on a train, got back to woking, jumped in a cab, got back to cindy's, practically threw our stuff inside the house and ran to eric and sally's for dinner (we were already late). We had a fantastinc dinner with eric and sally (they always treat us like royalty those two). Now it's 2 in the morning and we've supped on wine and good food with even better company.

Off to bed and then early rise for another full day in london!

xoxoxox sending my love

Thanks Alba and Gurrio for being such great tourguides! London wouldn't have been as fun without you :)

Gurrio, Alba, Gabby, and I in front of the British Museum in London. We all had a great day together!

We just got back from a wonderful day in london, Alba and her boyfriend gurrio were really nice and took us around the city. It was really nice to see Alba today!! She's such a good old friend of mine, and we hadn't seen each other for ages. But once we got together it was like no time had passed!

We walked almost the whole day around london. We went to the british museum for like ten mins (becasue it closed). we'll go back tomorrow though! And we saw big ben (alba kept calling it big bang), parliament, and a lot of really cool markets, shops, buildings, rivers, people... you name it! It definitely wasn't the london I remembered when I came here as a kid, but nevertheless it was still awesome. Just the smell and the people are so different than they are at home!

We got a coffee from mcdonalds (alba and her bf work there so we got it for free ha) and walked along the river thames. It was so beautiful, but really cold! I borrowed a leather jacket that was on a coat hanger downstairs (i still don't know whose it is!) but it kept me warm. hopefully i can borrow it again tomorrow!

At night we walked around lots of the famous squares and ended up in china town and soho, and somehow landed in a bar to drink. After we got in, went to the bathroom, and walked up to the bar, we noticed there was a picture of a naked man on the wall, and the whole room was filled with very well-manicured looking men. It was a gay bar! We got a beer anyway, and stayed till they closed... about a half an hour. Then we walked to the underground/metro and took it to the major train station and caught the train to woking where cindy lives.

Now we're here counting our change, looking through pictures, and trying to get tired so we can sleep and wake up for the 11 oclock train in the morning to go back to London!

Hope everyone is well, I miss you all, and wish you could see all this!

Love

HEY GUYS!

Me and gabby are in London!! It was a really good flight, good food, and I got in around 9.30 am, waited for gab until 12 pm, caught the bus at 12.50, arrived in woking at 1.45 and Petra came and picked us up in her little car! We are now at cindy's house deciding what to do. the weather is terrible... it feels like winter! We are rather exhausted but happy to be here. More later!

:D

From 37,000 feet up in the air.... On the plane to New York!

I'm super stoked there is wifi on the plane. Of course it cost me an arm and a leg, but totally worth it! I'm flying business class for the first time, and lemme tell ya, I may never go back! My big comfy chair has a leg rest and a ridiculously huge amount of leg room. The flight attendants have been really cheery serving us water in little plastic wine glasses, hot towels (are those for your face?), a breakfast menu and then breakfast. Oh breakfast! I got scrambled eggs with bell pepper, jack cheese, and little potatoes, plus a warm biscuit and fruit (actual real fruit!). And, of course, all of this was served on a transportable table cloth and we were given silverware. How did I not know about this before?!

We've flown over the grand canyon and some snowy mountains in colorado (didn't know mountains could still have snow in june!). So far it's been really pretty :)

Can't wait to see New York!

Oh, and happy summer everyone. It's official!