Day 24: back to athens

Cassandra and I woke up around 8:30, packed, and dragged all of our bags down to the port. Cassandra sat with out bags while I ran to an internet cafe to check on our flight. Unfortunately, it was already delayed 2 hours. I guess that was better than being canceled though. We got on the ferry and luckily found some comfy seats. Cassandra slept while I read for 4 hours. When we got to the port, we were the first ones off the ship. We walked towards the metro station and were bombarded by taxi drivers. "Metro not open. I take you I take you." We were bummed that we couldn't take the metro(closed because of the 48 hour strike) and annoyed that the taxi drivers wouldn't leave us alone. We were informed that the taxi drivers around the port are very dishonest and try to charge tourists a ton. So we walked down the street a ways and found a taxi. A bunch of the streets by our hostel were shut down due to the protests that were going on in the square across from our hostel so the taxi driver had to drop us far away. We didn't know where it was exactly so we walked a half mile, lost, with all of our luggage, for at least half a mile. We were relieved when we finally found it. We got to our tiny little room and put our stuff down then got on our computers. We hadn't eaten all day and it was about 5:30 so we walked(away from the protests) to a little pizza place. We were so hungry we downed a cheese pizza that was actually not very good now that I think about it. We shopped a little bit and then headed back to the hostel. We hung out with some girls from our program that were staying there for a bit. They had been up to see the protests and told us we really needed to see it. We also met some photo journalists from Italy that were shooting the protests. We decided to meet up with out teachers at the protest. It was so interesting to see. Glass was broken in, there was trash and rocks every where, stuff had been set on fire, and buildings had been chipped away at. I also got to experience tear gas, not fun. It does make you cry and it makes you sneeze and your nose run. If you are in it long enough, your face turns white. Our teachers walked us to an area with restaurants that locals hang out at. It was cool. We hung out and they ordered us some Greek dishes. (Em, I tried beets and I really liked them!) It was really good food. After, we went home and got semilost. We had to walk through the protest again. Apparently, while we were at dinner, it flared up again and then calmed down again. The streets were a mess and there were police every where. They helped us find our way home. Such a long crazy day! It was so awesome to experience, but I couldn't wait to be home.

Day 23: Goodbyes

We woke up and were immediately informed that we had to be out by 11 am! Not fun to wake up to, considering I was dreading saying goodbye. So, I frantically showered, packed, and got everything out of my room. Cassandra, Marissa, and I took our stuff to Marissa's hotel. She is staying on Paros for an extra week so she was nice enough to let us stay in her hotel. We then met up at Dodoni with the rest of the group for brunch. I was exhausted so I feel asleep on the couch at the cafe while the others walked around. When I finally woke up, I met up with the others and we walked around then went to a cute restaurant on the beach. We just got small appetizers and then sat in chairs facing the ocean. We then went back to Jimmy's where everyones luggage was being stored. Cassandra and I said our goodbyes to everyone and then went back to Marissa's hotel. It sucked saying goodbye. We all cried and promised to see each other again soon. Cassandra and I took naps and then when Marissa got back, we went and watched the sunset and walked around. We went to our favorite cafe, Dodoni, again. We got gelato and Cassandra got a really good crepe. We walked around a little more and then went home and went to bed early.

Day 22: last full day

I slept in until 2 since I didn’t go to sleep until 6 am. When I woke up, we headed to the beach for a bit. It was pretty much the first time I got to lay out since I had been in Greece. Needless to say, I had lost tan rather than gained it. Oh well, I have plenty of time to lay out at home! After, we went and hung out at a restaurant for awhile. Then, unfortunately, it was time to pack. We all packed and got ready then we had a potluck of all the food we had left. We then went out for a bit and I got to talk to Jake some more.

Day 21: Call from Jake

I woke up early to work on the last of the workshops. We then had our last creative writing class from 2-4. After, we went home and got ready for dinner. Our group of friends then went to this cute restaurant downtown we had picked out for our last meal together. It was such a good choice. The atmosphere was great and the food was even better. We then watched the sunset and met up with the rest of the group at Saloon D’or. We hung out and talked to our teachers for awhile and said goodbye to some of them. After, we went to Dubliner, but surprise! I got a call from Jake and headed home. I got to talk to jake for about 30 minutes before he went to dinner. I waited up until 4 am to talk to him again. We talked for about an hour and a half. It was so nice to get to talk to him and hear about how he was doing. He had a cold, pin eye, and was more than exhausted. Other than that, he is doing good. From now on, I get to talk to him every weekend. More than excited!

Day 20: ATVs

We had class from 11-1 were we did workshops. It was my day to go. It was weird sitting in silence not being able to respond to people’s comments about my writing, but at the same time, it was kind of cool to see how people felt about my writing. After workshop, we went home and grabbed lunch real quick. Then, we headed out to get atv’s. We tried to rent scooters, but they wouldn’t let us if we did not have experience. I am kind of glad though, atvs felt much safer. There were about 7 of us on 4 atvs. We drove to Naousa, a town about 15 minutes away. It was nice being able to drive along the country side enjoying the view. In Naousa, we shopped a bit and then stopped at this cute café for lunch. After, we drove back to our town, Parikia, and explored on our ATVs It was pretty awesome. We drove to the other side of the cove and got to see an awesome view of our town. It was such a fun day. That night we made pasta for dinner and then went out.

Day 19: workshop

I slept in again and then went to my favorite café to work on the workshops while I had a sandwich. We then had class at 2 where we talked about each person’s piece. The workshop process was kind of long and boring but it was actually pretty helpful. We had workshop the next day at 11 so we worked on that and then Cassandra and I watched Bachelorette and went to sleep. It was nice to get a good nights rest.

Day 18: Paper due

I slept in a bit and then woke up to finish my paper. I went to my favorite café right by the school where I worked on my paper for a little bit and had a really good turkey sandwich. It was nice to sit by the water and relax. I then had a meeting with my teacher about my paper. I met with him for about an hour then I stayed there and edited my paper and watched gossip girl on my computer until it was time for class at 4. At 4, we turned in our paper for workshop and then did a sample workshop. After, we went home and worked on the workshops that were due the next day. We did 4 students per day. We read each story, took notes and wrote comments, then wrote a letter to the writer. Then the next day we go over each piece and talk about our comments. So I worked on that a bit and then we made pasta for dinner again. After, we hung out on the roof for a bit and then went out.

day 17: free day!

We woke up around 9 for our free day. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but a couple days into the trip, I found out that my credit card number had been stolen in the states. Someone in Iowa or something had gotten the number and had used it at walmart and a sporting goods store for large sums of money. Just my luck, right. But luckily, I was able to immediately contact my bank and get it canceled. I called my dad and told him and he got it all taken care of and thankfully I am getting all of my money back because it was a glitch in their system that caused it. Anyway, I did not have a credit card after that but I had a lot of cash. I finally had run out of money so my dad wired me money. So on our way to get waffles, we stopped and picked up the money. Thank you dad for all of your help! So we went to our favorite café, Dodoni, and got waffles, which are our absolute favorite. They have ice cream on them, I mean lets be real. Then we pretty much shopped allll day. I am not joking. I got a ring and a rug. I was so excited about my rug because that is one of the main things I had wanted and I got it for a really good price. After shopping, we went back to our favorite café because we found out they had chicken nuggets. They were shaped like sea creatures and were amazing! After lunch we shopped a little more and then went back to Jimmys (our apartment) and hung out, and worked on our papers. I wasn’t feeling good but I decided to hang out on the rooftop and go dancing with the group but I came home pretty early to get some sleep.

day 16: back to class

Even though we loved Santorini, we loved going home to Paros. It was nice because we really felt like we were home when the ferry landed and we were in a familiar place. None of us could stop smiling as we walked home. It eased the homesickness for a little while. In the morning, I slept in for awhile and then worked on my ACC presentation. We had our presentations at 12:30. There were a lot of cool presentations. Mine was unique and maybe wasn’t as intellectual as others, but it was me. That was the last ACC class. It was actually kind of sad. Our really awesome teacher told us how much he enjoyed teaching us. We all learned so much from him and will never forget him. Thankfully, creative writing was canceled so we walked around a bit and then headed home. We hung out for a bit and then I hung out in my room and wrote my paper.