Good Morning!

Ach! My last blog just erased itself when my computer froze up. Anyways, today is a beautiful day! The sun is shining and I'm sitting on the communal balcony, which is not really a balcony, listening to Daughtry and eating stale bread. I keep forgetting that I have to be prepared to eat an entire loaf of bread in 2 days to keep it from going stale. Guess I'm just enamored by the fact that I can get an entire loaf of bakery fresh bread made just that morning for less than 60 euro cent. It's so nice to wear shorts again without tights. For the first time in three months, the weather is warm enough to wear them and a tank top! I was quite spoiled with Point Loma weather. It is a perfect gelato day.

Last night, I cooked spaghetti alla carbonara and cheesy potatoes with my friends, then we went out. I met an English rugby team! They were super nice and they hung out with our group of people. They were so relieved to hear people speaking English. Then, we went to the Murazzi and danced. The Murazzi is a huge wall that was constructed in order to hold in the overflow of the river in the winter when it floods. There are rooms there that were originally used to store wares. They flood along with the river and were made to withstand large amounts of water. But, recently, those rooms have been transformed into a bunch of dancing clubs along the river. They open as soon as the weather gets warm enough and the river is no longer flooding. The atmosphere is so thrilling! You get to meet many of the Torino locals there, as it's not a place frequented by Erasmus students. We got home around 4 in the morning and I woke up to the sun shining gorgeously into my window.

I decided not to go anywhere this weekend. I had originally planned to go on a Mediterranean cruise that was decently priced starting on Monday, but I was notified that I have a meeting with the authorities to get my official permit of stay this Wednesday, so that I'll officially be legally in Italy. But, I found out that it is really cheap and a short trip to Monaco, Nice and Monte Carlo. So, next weekend, I'll be on another train for a warm, sunny place!

Mykanos

Not a cloud in the sky, sand in my toes, and the sun shining. It was the perfect middle of my spring break. My roommate, Sarah, our friends Drew, Kelsey, and Katie joined me on Wednesday in Athens to finish out our last remaining days of freedom. The next morning we woke up SO early to get down to the port of Piraeus to catch the ferry to the island of Mykanos. The ferry ride was about 6 hours long including the stops at two islands before we got to ours. On the ferry, we took pictures for a bit, then promptly fell asleep for the next stop almost to the island. I tried this really good pastry on board called a cheese pie. It was like a flaky pastry with feta cheese melted in the middle. It was warm and melted in your mouth and was so rich that I had to share!
We arrived on the island and the lady who's hostel we were staying at picked us up! It was so lovely. Most hostels we're on our own trying to find. She gave us a little overview of her island and let us into the cutest little rooms we've ever had since being in Europe. And the view....I thought Point Loma had a good view! Just wait till you see the pictures at the end of this blog!
The first moment we got, we changed into beach clothes and headed down a few steps to the beach. It was too early to be tourist season so we practically had the island to ourselves. After freezing on the beach (the wind was quite strong, but the sun was still out) we decided to make the half hour walk into the main town. It took us about an hour because we kept stopping to take pictures and to admire the ridiculously pretty view. Once in town, we picked up some snacks and drinks, and perused the storefronts, only to find out that shops don't open unless it's late or if a cruise ship comes in. So, we went to look at the famous windmills of Mykanos and watched the sunset in their shadows. Then, we made the grueling, cold walk back to the hostel and ordered food in.
Day two was a bit better. The weather warmed up and we walked into town. We rented 4 wheelers and had a blast riding around the island. We all agreed it was MUCH better than walking. We picked up some food and had a picnic on a beach called Paradise Beach hidden away on the other side of the island. Apparently in the high season, it's a nude beach! Good thing we were the only ones there and nobody was naked. The 4 wheelers were definitely worth the money that we spent. We ate dinner at a lovely little restaurant and I had chicken slovaki which is basically a kebab stick. Then, we passed out early after playing a few card games in our rooms.
The last day of our trip, we returned our vehicles and went back to our beach and successfully got our tan on. We were sad to be leaving since the weather had become so warm. But, as 13:30 rolled around, we had to head back up to our hostel, check out and hitch a ride with the owner down to the port and wave goodbye to Mykanos. It was a sad farewell, but we have sunburns in memory of the beautiful island.

Hope everyone else's spring breaks went well :)

Spring Break!

I'm currently sitting in the airport in Athens, Greece waiting to pick up my roommate, two girls, and one guy and save them from discovering the city the hard way. I've been in Athens since Sunday, and I must admit, it is definitely VERY different from what I expected. In fact, just this morning on my way to the airport, the bus I was on got caught between a riot. Well, I didn't actually SEE the riot, but there were several roads blocked off and riot police with their screens were running through the street towards the parliament building.

I was expecting white houses and the ocean and donkeys. No such thing! At least not in Athens. It's quite dirty and a lot more scary to be out at at night. So, I hung out a lot in my hostel (which wasn't much better) and got to know the girls that I was staying with. Both of them were from Texas, one had been studying in Paris and they were just continuing on doing a Eurotrip. I tagged along with them my first day and we ended up on an island. The ferry was a lot of fun! Same with the different foods that we tried.

Yesterday, I said goodbye to the girls and headed out on my own discovering the Acropolis. It had such a beautiful view! Just to think that these buildings are still around today after thousands and thousands of years just blows my mind!
The plane is about to arrive and I need to get to the gate. I promise to post lots of pictures and blog a little more in depth soon.

Spring Break

It's been a tough couple of days for me, but things are looking up. 

I want to officially state that I'm making the rest of this trip a dedication to God and for what He's done for me in my life.  He's my one true love and always will be.  He's always got my back no matter what and His hand is always in my life.

Today begins my spring break and my first plans are to take a bath and watch a movie at once.  We'll see how that goes with our small bathroom!  The next couple of days, I'm planning on just hanging out in Torino with my next-door neighbor, Kelsey until I have to pack for my big vacation.  Tomorrow, something exciting is happening though!  Today, I got a request to do a job in which my voice will be recorded for a GPS system or English teaching material.  It pays 23 euros an hour, which is about 34 US dollars!  I'm planning on using the money to pay for a cruise that I'd like to take over Easter Break in the Mediterranean.  

This weekend, I'm headed to Greece to hopefully lay out on a beach and relax and not worry about life for a bit.  Maybe I'll even get my tan back!  Hopeful thought..lol.  I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance.  I have tons on my camera from the past weeks when my computer was broken!  They'll be the first ones on this new hard drive of mine. 

Technology Buzz

I found out this weekend/week that fixing a computer in a foreign country where you don't fully know the language is quite the hassle. My MAC hard drive failed last Thursday, so I've been computerless (except for this school lab) and without Skype. The second part is the worst because I miss seeing my friends and family during the little bit of time that I already have. BUT, today we got it into a shop to fix it up and it should be good as new in 5 days. Without any of my files on it that is...

I'm headed to see my roommate from Fall at Loma, Elissa Jackson in Florence, Italy tomorrow! I'm excited to see someone from home and see how she's been enjoying life so far in her city.

Ciao amici!