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!!