Stolen Serifonian Day

Well, today I am stranded on the island. Really, I am. For those of you who haven’t been keeping updated with Greek news, there have been riots that involve tear gas and the stoning of police officers. On top of that, there is a 48 hour transportation strike meaning that flights, metros, and ferries are not in service. Although we were scheduled to leave Serifos today, there is no ferry so whoops, looks like we had to stay an extra day! How heartbreaking…NOT! Our only concern is that we don’t officially know when the next ferry is arriving. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that one will show up tomorrow so we can spend our last weekend in Athens and more importantly, be able to make our flights on Monday to head back to the states!

With that said, this last week in Serifos has been incredible (as always). Sunday night, a few of the girls and I went out to dinner and enjoyed octopus, moussaka, and other Greek specialties. For after dinner cocktails, we danced at Dimitri’s while the DJ played some classic rock songs including Elton John, Bon Jovi, Lynard Skynnard, and many others. The next day, my fiction class and I hiked up a mountain to venture off to a hidden beach near Sikamia. It was more a task of psychological endurance as opposed to physical but once we made it to the stone beach we discovered that there was no view more beautiful or more rewarding than the one we had at that very moment. After an hour or so, he we hiked back around the mountain and enjoyed a most satisfying lunch. Tuesday was another marvelous day at the beach and yesterday, my fiction class met for one last workshop. My class read in front of our entire study abroad group. For dinner, all of the undergrads had a feast while we dodged being attacked by giant dragon bugs! Once again, the night ended in dancing and belting out the words to American songs (I find it so strange that DJs play American music but hey, it makes it much easier to sing to!) Today, on our stolen day on the island, we took one last visit to the beach to soak up some sun. Right now, I am killing time until my fiction class meets one final time to enjoy a round of drinks and discuss some of the books that we have read over our trip. We have one last reading tonight by some of my classmates and I am very eager to hear what they have written during our time in Greece! Afterwards, we will head to Tooties for one last Serifonian gyro a very sad number 13. Hopefully, tomorrow we will board our ferry and arrive in Athens sometime tomorrow afternoon where (keeping our fingers crossed) we will be able to avoid the riots and protestors! Right now, I’m overhearing a conversation between Scott, our program director, and Pam that tomorrow night we will be enjoying a dinner with Athenian students! I can’t wait!!

Σ'αγαπώ

Kalispera everybody! This week has been pretty busy with reading and writing but I was still able to squeeze in a few Greek adventures! Let's see. Sunday night, my roommates and I went out and had the BEST pizza! We each ordered a different type (Greek, Meat, Veggie, and Bacon) and we were served bread with BUTTER (olive oil is great and all but every now and then the biggest butter craving will set in). From there, we returned to our apartment to find our entire MU seminars group engaging in an outdoor celebration where everyone sat on their balconies and sang, a mixture of songs echoing throughout the courtyard. Monday, my fiction class and I returned to Sikamia to swim and eat lunch where we played 2 truths 1 lie and drunk or child. Needless to say, we had a blast! Tuesday morning, our Greek class walked around the port and our teacher taught us how to read signs that we passed. Because of the extremely hot weather and the extent of how exhausted the other students and I were, she let us out early and we left to get breakfast. Of course, Jack joined us and the tiniest kitten danced around our feet while we ate. For dinner, Craig, his wife Aliki, their daughter and goddaughter invited us up to the Hora where we visited Aliki's home which was 250 years old and used to be a school house! It had white walls, seats carved from stone, and a balcony view that took my breath away. It was extremely windy that night so while we ate dinner, the restaurant howled and whistled while the windows and roof banged. It sounded terrifying but the food made up for any mild discomfort. After dinner, we adventured further up the mountain to have salami cake, or chocolate cake with cookie bits mixed into it. It was my first chocolate cake since being on the island and let me tell you, it was every bit of satisfying and delicious that I ever dreamed of! It was still very windy all day (and all night as my hair keeps blowing in my face while I'm writing this) which made laying out by the pool absolutely perfect! The wind kept us nice and cool against the heavy sun which is turning my skin darker but making my hair lighter! Pretty legit combo if I do say so myself! For dinner, we went down to the taverna and enjoyed Greek salad, saginaki, romethea (chick pea stew), taziki sauce, this olive paste, garlic potatoes, and this cheese/feta pie. We forced ourselves away from further festivities that include Greek dancing lessons so we could study for our Greek exam tomorrow. As much as we should be studying our Greek vocab and phrases, we are all congregated in the courtyard sitting on our laptops. Whoops! Tomorrow, we plan on waking up early to get some fresh bogatsa and hopefully study some more! Kalispera everybody, time for me to be a good student!

Yamas!

Thursday night, my friends and I decided that we needed to celebrate the long weekend. So how do you do that in Greece? You eat! We walked down to the taverna by the ocean and ordered saganaki (fried cheese), Greek salad, meatballs and fries. Everything was delicious! The manager sat and chatted with us while we defended our food from flies and beetles. In fact, one beetle got so aggressive that it decided to attack and flew in my face, hitting me right on the lips! EEK! Our new friend Jack, the most loyal and friendly dog on the island, sat and ate with us. Then, our dinner turned into an evening of music and dancing! We received a free half kilo of this rum and honey that smelled like old lady perfume but had a very sweet after taste. For all the Americans back home don't worry, I'll try to get the name of this so you all can have a taste! The manager let us plug in our friend's ipod and we sang and danced. Then, we left, started walking towards the Shark Club, ran into our teachers who were heading to the taverna so we decided hey! We should join them! So we walked all the way back while I chatted it up with Pam Houston. Well as it turns out, the taverna had closed in our absence so we turned right back around and a few of us left for the Shark Club where we started the dance party! We had a grand old time and I even got to bust out my Spanish and Greek while talking to a Brazilian guy! I felt so smart and talented until I remembered that people from Brazil don't speak Spanish, they speak Portuguese...whoops! Jack stayed the whole night and kept a look out for his new favorite owners. Jack escorted us back and slept right outside our door after we fed him some cheese and crackers. He's such a perfect dog :) We were woken up around 11am the next morning by Aliki asking us if we wanted to travel to Sikamia and visit a monastery! So, we gathered up some water and powerade, and forced ourselves into the rickety van. We arrived at a monastery that was built in 1400 and it was absolutely beautiful! There is one monk who lives there by himself who was very quiet but also very friendly. After roaming around for about 45 minutes, we left for the beaches of Sikamia at 12:30 and didn't leave until 7:30! During that time, we swam in the ocean, some girls went snorkeling, and we had a delicious lunch of stuffed zucchini, saganaki, and meatballs. For dessert, we were brought fresh from the garden watermelon! That night, I enjoyed my lucky number 7th gyro!! Don't think I'll ever get tired of those things! All in all, it was an exhausting but beautiful day!

The Beauty Process

Today, Pam had us do a writing exercise with only one instruction: tell a story through a list. Well, my list kind of, sort of morphed into a poem. So here you go, my list.

The Beauty Process

Date night.

7pm

Let the process begin!

Wash the body

Shave the legs

Curl the hair

Paint the face.

7:50.

Right leg in, left leg in

Squeeze on the pants

Then search the closet.

Red blouse with buttons

Or the deep blue V-neck?

Put on the red, take off the pants

A skirt for easy access makes more sense.

Stand in front of the mirror

Hand on hip

Purse the lips

No. Try again.

Take off the red.

Put on the blue and look once more,

Wrong again.

Shirt and skirt equals too much skin.

“You idiot, its winter!” my legs cry, “Take it off!”

Right leg in, left leg in

Put on the pants once more.

8:05.

Consider the date: Nighttime. Starbucks. December.

Can’t wear heels, can’t wear sandals.

Flats? Vans? Or boots?

Boots.

Uggs or suede?

Consider the weather:

Sludge.

Uggs.

Right foot in, left foot in.

Accessories.

Studs or chandeliers?

Jeweled bracelets or braided hemp?

From the rainbow of scarves, which one to pick?

Purple.

Gold.

Black and white.

“You fool!” I yell.

“Fuck you,” my closet spits.

Fine then. Purple.

Back to the mirror.

Hat? No hat? Hat? No hat?

I put it on, I take it off. Hat? No hat?

Hat.

8:20.

I sprits perfume.

Wrist, neck, then in front of me and step through the citrus cloud.

I’m early.

Suppress butterflies with a cig,

Prevent babies with a pill,

Kill time with a song.

Pace my room

Smell my breath

Check my mirror

Smooth my hair.

8:30.

Time to leave.

Arrive fashionably late

Receive a hug, a kiss, a gaze, a compliment.

“Oh this?” I ask, “Don’t mention it, I just threw it on.”

“Lies,” my outfit hisses.

Party at the Monastery!

Right now, I am sitting in the courtyard checking my usual favorite websites (facebook, hotmail, etc) when I paused to look up at the moon. The crisp white moon sends a glowing haze that illuminates the ocean which glistens off in the distance. Then I realized, the last time I saw the Grecian moon shine this brightly was Sunday night which I completely forgot to blog about! So here I go:

Sunday afternoon began with quite the adventure as we piled into a rickety old van and made our way up the giant hills of Serifos. We drove through the very narrow and windy dirt road while my eyes tried to soak in every aspect of the scenery. As we climbed higher and higher, my ears popped but I didn't care because the view of Serifos' numerous beaches, large patches of wild flowers, the low valleys and high cascade terrains were completely worth the mild discomfort (and slight ping of terror as we drove extremely close to the edge!) We arrived at this beach, ate dinner, and drank some white wine (pretty much the only thing we were able to communicate to our waiter as no one could speak English). After chatting it up and taking pictures next to the ocean, we drove to the very top of the island and arrived at a 15th century Greek Orthodox monastery to celebrate the Pentecost. The chapel was absolutely beautiful. Slim candles illuminated by worshipers lit the room and light flickered on this large golden altar that displayed images of the last supper, Jesus crucified on the cross, and his holy resurrection. It was the most beautiful and holy experience of my life. Then, my friends and I made our way inside this tiny room and scrunched ourselves onto this tiny bench where Greeks attempted to ask is if we had eaten anything. The only problem was, no one spoke English and no one could understand what little Greek we knew. Thankfully, the members who worked at the church graciously brought us bread, potato/minestrone soup, and the most bitter wine I had ever drank. It pretty much tasted like (and had the similar effect) of brandy. Being in that room, eating authentic Greek food, drinking authentic Greek wine, listening to authentic Greek musicians, and being surrounded by people who could only speak Greek, I felt like I was finally submerged in 100% Greek culture. As the night progressed, familiar faces from our group came into the room and sat by us as we all listened to the four men strum their guitars and sing. Around midnight, it was time to dance. I looked up and realized that this older man was telling a young Grecian boy to ask me to dance. "Ohee," or no, I repeatedly said. I tried and I tried but the Greeks weren't having it, they cheered and they begged for me to dance and so before I knew it, I was dancing with this Greek guy. I could feel my face burning up and turning red as I kept my eyes on the floor, trying to copy his steps (right left right, left right left) with our hands extended into the air. When I looked up, I realized all of the Americans were taking pictures and videos of us, laughing and cheering me on. It may have been my most humiliating moment while being in Greece but hey, I tried to make the most of it by laughing it off and pretending I knew what I was doing. Soon, we had a group of our friends dancing with us like that last scene in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," with everyone in a circle laughing and having a great time. The most eye opening experience of that night though was not my 5 minutes of fame, but discovering that there was NO BATHROOM up there! I asked an old man where one was and he said "There is no water closet up here. You must find a place with no light and go on ze side of ze road." Oh. My. GOD! EEK!! Anyways, after our group decided we had celebrated enough, we left the festival. Before arriving at our apartments, we stopped at this beach and walked across the sand and looked at the moon, it's reflection sparkling in the ocean. Waking up the next morning at 8:45am for Greek class after sleeping for barely 4 hours was extremely rough but completely and 100% worth every minute of sleep I lost by being up at the top of the Serifos mountain.

Glimmers

Yesterday, my fiction class and I traveled to a beach on the other side of the island. After we packed ourselves into this rickety van, Pam told us that our assignment for the day is to write three glimmers during the course of our trip. Pam describes glimmers as extremely vivid moments we experience. This is how most of her stories are written: a collection of glimmers. Here are the three that I wrote:

Glimmer 1

The loud screech of the brake pads thinning makes everyone wince at its painful whistle while our driver slows our rickety van down the steep cliff. The van bucks like an outraged stallion and the tires thump against each divot in the rocky terrain. A sharp turn around the bend sends passengers smashing into each other, pressing one unfortunate student against the window. One finger at a time, I attempt to crack my knuckles but I cannot get even one satisfying crack as this ritual repeats every five minutes or at least every time I’m able to relax my muscles enough to release my frightened grip. I focus on slowing my heartbeat by breathing deeply and keeping my eyes on the passing scenery, anxiously awaiting our target destination - the beach.

Glimmer 2

Stepping stones wobble underneath my weight as I walk across them, tiptoeing across them one stone at a time. Weeds and other prickly plants bite my ankles as I head towards the blue wooden door. Entering, I wonder how many people pack themselves inside to attend service, how tight the air must get, and feeling your neighbor’s hot and heavy breathing when the townspeople gather inside to celebrate the feast day of the church’s honorary saint. The faded scent of perfume lingers on the ashes of what used to be incense that sends my mind traveling to Easter mass back home. The gold décor that contrasts the building’s architectural humbleness combines into the beauty of true Greek authenticity.

Glimmer 3

Floating, I am experiencing weightlessness and serenity, feelings I have long since experienced. Extending my arms and my feet flapping against the gentle waves, I move with each rise and dip that the ocean carries me. The cool sea water splashes my face and salt seeps past my grinning lips. I’m smiling at the sun that illuminates a red glow against my eyelids which I have shut to accentuate the directionless current that rocks me to and fro. I glide my arms and stride my legs, still remaining afloat as my hand grazes my hair that swirls in the sea below me. My mind is set free, my worries are inexistent, and my only thought is one of imagining myself as an angel, gliding through the clouds of heaven in an eternal bliss.

Not breaking laws but the same cannot be said for Mirrors

Yasas everybody! For those of you eagerly waiting for new posts, let me recap the last few days! Taking my first shower in Serifos Thursday morning was pretty interesting as the shower head is a hand held device as opposed to being posted on the wall. At our first Greek class on the island, we learned how to say ass (yga-thar-os) and then a few phrases such as “excuse me, I need the toilet,” and then we learned how to spell our names. My Greek name is: Βανέσσα. Pretty, isn’t it? After class, a few girls and I sat by the pool side to catch up on our readings before my fiction section led by honorary author, Pam Houston who had some great insights to a short story I submitted. Sabrina and I were then locked out of our apartment because class let out early so we decided to do a B&E! The bathroom window was unlocked so I climbed right on in! Needless to say, I felt like quite the little badass. The two of us waited for the rest of our roommates to come back before we headed back to the pool where I sipped on a lemon daiquiri while listening to Slightly Stoopid and other reggae bands off of Emily’s ipod. The weather on the island is absolutely perfect tanning weather. Most of the time, there aren’t any clouds in the sky and it is a comfortable 80-85 degrees with a gentle ocean breeze reminding me that I am indeed, in paradise. That night, after listening to Pam Houston read from her story that has not yet been released to the bookshelves, the girls, Shane, and I went to the ocean side for dinner at the ONLY Italian restaurant on the island! We were hoping to dine at a seafood place but shrimp pasta with baked cheese was just as satisfactory. While we dined, a herd of cats surrounded us, meowing and begging for scraps so I tossed a few shrimp heads their way. After dinner, we walked along the strip, got some gelato, and headed back. However, this time it was Emily and I who were locked out of our apartment. So of course, what’s my first reaction? Time to break in again! Except this time was not as graceful as previously that day. I crawled in, set one foot on the sink, the other on the toilet, and propped myself up on the window and mirror. Well guess what went crashing down? The mirror of course! I fell down and made the loudest ruckus as the mirror slammed against a cup holder that thankfully prevented it from crashing onto the ground. That goodness I wasn’t hurt (although I do have a couple battle wounds in the form of bruises). The mirror was held on by one latch as the other broke so I propped it up with the trashcan and our Greek books. “Ohhh the memories” I think as I now look back and laugh. I was worried about having to explain my tomfoolery to maintenance but when we returned from the pool where we drank Malibu and 7up (new favorite cocktail) the next afternoon, it had been fixed. My roommates and I sat on our balcony, drank Mythos (a Greek beer), and chatted it up. Sabrina, Emily, and I then went to the market, grabbed a couple Smirnoff Ices, and sat by the pier before doing some souvenir shopping. That night (last night), we cooked our first Greek dinner! We made pasta, sautéed vegetables, and experimented with spices while our friends contributed a box of wine. After dinner, Sabrina, Emily, Austin, Minh, and I then had our first Greek Yacht Club experience and for those back in the states who have ever been to a yacht club, you can bet your ass that the Greek kind are just as snooty. The drinks were outrageously overpriced and we had the rudest service. After some issues with the bill, we left. The group split in half and Sabrina and I walked back to the market to talk with our new friend, Matina – the nicest, sweetest Greek woman on the island. It was an early night but a desperately needed one. This morning, I made my first pot of Greek coffee that involved boiling water and dumping Nestle coffee powder into it which ended up reminding me of a 6^th grade science project as boiling water volcano-ed over the pot and spilled everywhere. All in all though, it tasted pretty good! I discovered that despite not having internet service ANYWHERE on the island, all I need is the one and only Ethernet chord in the court yard of our hotel so this morning I posted the last of my pictures from Athens onto Facebook. This afternoon has been pretty mellow as we’re saving our energy to try out some of the clubs on the island. Hope everyone has been entertained by my blog thus far, I’ll do my best to post more often! For those of you who would like a more frequent response, feel free to email me at vmwrmd@mail.missouri.edu which I check about once a day. Yasas!!

I'm the daughter of Poseidon! Watch me make water!

Greece continues to surprise me! The food is never anything less than scrumptious and I am finding myself become a more experienced wine drinker! Last night, my group attended a wine tasting after a day of class on the rooftop with the most gorgeous view of the Parthenon. We tasted 6 different types of wine, 4 white and 2 red and as it turns out, I prefer reds more than white. We coincidingly snacked on meats, cheeses, olives, and bread. Afterwards, the undergrads and a few others traveled to a couple bars, the first of which had the most beautiful, colorful, and extensive liquor collection I had ever seen! We stayed for one drink and then moved onto an outdoor bar/garden. Trees were decorated with twinkling ligthts and i even got to sit on a swing as I enjoyed more white wine and shots of ouzo. We became a group of chatty cathys and a couple hours later, we decided it was time for gellato...which we never got. We ended up at a taverna near our hotel and drank some more ouzo as we chatted with other fellow American college students. Then this morning, we mustered up whatever energy we recovered after a very short night of sleep to pack up our things and leave Athens. A bus picked us up and took us to the pier so we could board the speed runner 4, my very first ferry ride that took us to the island of serifos!! I am staying in a 4 bedroom apartment complete with a balcony and a view of the hills. After settling in, we ventured to the beach and swam in the Mediterranean sea. The water is so clear and beautiful, but colder than I expected. Once we finished enjoying the beach, we walked through the town, got a gyro, and did some grocery shopping as we will be cooking most of our food here on out in our very own kitchens! We then had a poetry reading followed by dinner at a restaurant on the beach. We feasted on Greek salad, tzansiki sauce, fried zucchini, chickapea stew, beef, rice, potatoes, chicken, and then finally grapes soaked in honey for dessert. All of it, delicious!! Now, my friends and I are sitting at the pool side with a gorgeous view of the ocean under our first starry night. The one plus to only having wifi at the pool is forcing me out of my apartment to enjoy the the moon that lights up the night sky. Tomorrow, I am having a short story of mine work shopped by my fiction class after spending the morning learning some more Greek! Kalispera!!

Kalimera!

Good morning! It is about 11:30am in Athens and about 5:30am back in Chicago! Today we had our first Greek language class where we learned a portion of the alphabet along with common Greek phrases which would have been useful yesterday when we visited the Acropolis where we saw the Parthenon and the Erechtheion temple of Athena. We strolled through the plaza and hiked up the ruins where I saw the most breathtaking view of Athens (pictures can be seen on my Facebook). After touring through the ruins, sipping on frozen lemonade, and making friends with a tiny stray terrier puppy who begged to play fetch with a stick three times his size, we visited the Acropolis museum where we saw ancient artifacts that were discovered at the Acropolis. A group nine students, including myself, ate dinner (our garson called it lunch) around 5pm where I had my first frape and croquettes (baked cheese). Children approached us with accordions and guitars and begged for money. It was the cutest and yet saddest thing but after one of the women from our group got pick-pocketed after giving children euros, we had to decline. After lunch/dinner, we toured through the Athenian plaza and browsed through shops. We then spent the evening on the rooftop sipping cocktails and wine, watching the sun set, and making friends with other tourists (one of which got behind the bar and poured our friend Rebecca a glass of red wine into a martini glass because it gave him "power." He later lost his wallet. Needless to say, he was a lil out of it aka DRUNK!) Well, as my roommate just said, it's time for us to leave because we have a long day ahead of us as we will be visiting the archaeological museum, plaka, monastiraki, roman agora, byzantine churches of plaka, the ottoman bazaar, and the modern bazaar. Hopefully I'll get kissed by the Greek sun and get some color :)

Arriving at the Attalos

Well I have finally settled in at the Hotel Attalos after a very extensive trip from the airport. First off, let me describe the flight. It was long...very long! They served a surprisingly scrumptious dinner of chicken parmesan and pasta while we watched the Adjustment Bureau (excellent movie). After dinner, I took some Nyquil and spent the next four or so hours "sleeping." It was very difficult trying to get comfortable sitting in coach with the AC blasting. When I woke up, we had passed over the Atlantic Ocean and had about two hours left of the flight. They served us fruit and a toasted croissant for breakfast and a cup of coffee helped me perk up, but only momentarily. After meeting up with others taking the Writing Workshops in Greece, we bought our tickets for the metro, stepped outside, and we were greeted with the fresh scent of an ocean breeze and flowers. This pleasant feeling soon depleted once we boarded the metro. It didn't take long for it to become jam packed and the sound of children playing the accordion for tips made my jet lag come back in full swing. There were so many people scrunched onto the metro that I was surprised it was able to leave the station at all! At one point, I'm pretty sure my head was smashed into some guy's armpit, thank God I was wearing a hat! After the metro, we arrived in downtown Athens. It's like no city I've ever seen! It's busy, loud, and full of shops. Trees with purple blossoms brightened up the sidewalks. Right now, I'm sitting in my hotel room at the Attalos that I share with two girls named Sabrina and Rebbecca. We've given up on trying to figure out how to work the AC and decided relaxing sounded best. Pretty soon we're going to have our first Athenian lunch experience! After, I'm pretty sure recovering from my jet lag will be top priority. I can't wait for our orientation dinner tonight! I'll need to make sure I rest up before our tour through Athens tomorrow!!

 *~*Later*~*

We just got back form the most amazing dinner ever! we were served fetta with veggies, fried cheese, dandelion leaves (weird and not that tasty), some meat with awesome potatoes aka french fries, and lamb. SO GOOD! I got to try red and white wine which were both delicious. I also made new and awesome friends while wine tasting. We drank ouzo, a liquorish sort of drink that you dilute with water and ice, then got some delato at a bar closer to the hotel. I can't believe how cheap and delicious everything is here! Tomorrow we go to the Acropolis and I am ecstatic!

T-Minus 23 Hours Until Takeoff

" Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar, and you'll love as you've never lived before." -Erich Fromm

As I pack up my things and prepare to leave TOMORROW, I can’t help but imagine the new people, places, customs, and experiences that I will come across. I can’t wait to travel to Europe for the first time and visit the ancient ruins, cities, and beaches that Greece has to offer. I hope that living on the island of Serifos will be the most beautiful and inspirational place to write fiction. I can’t wait to start writing!

I’ll be keeping family and friends updated with pictures and highlights from my trip so expect to read a new post shortly!!