July2

I’ve been lazy at posting lately. I haven’t taken many pics either – oops! Here are few that I took: Punda Beach, the waves at Parasporos, and a view toward Parikia.



At work, we are waiting for the island directory books that we made to arrive from the printers in Athens. Once they arrive, my boss Yiannis and I will spend a few days driving around the island and dropping them off in every cafe and company on the island! That’ll be a nice change from sitting at the computer.

I think there is another heat wave going on. It’s soooooo hot!!! The beach is the only place to go after work because it’s too hot to do anything else. There are forest fires all over Greece right now too. I’m actually looking forward to rain and cold in Vic now (and once I’m in the rain and cold I’ll regret ever saying that!)

I’ve been hitting the gym a lot lately. It feels good afterwards. Although today, I’m not going; the air-conditioning isn’t on very high there so it gets very hot and not very fun to workout in.

The family that lives in the suite next to mine found a little kitten in the motor of a tractor and brought it home a little while ago. It was so tiny – about 4 weeks old. Now, it’s an outside kitten and my cat plays with it. There is another strange black cat that visits mine at night and they always fight. Sometimes I wake up to cats screeching so loud that it freaks me out! Pretty soon, I’ll have to start weaning my kitty to be a full-time outside cat because, when I’m gone, he’ll be outside all the time.

I’m looking forward to my Barcelona trip next week! I leave on the ferry on Aug 2 and come back Aug 8. Tony has only 16 more days left on the Army too! I remember us saying earlier in the year “can you imagine when there are only a few week’s left?” We couldn’t imagine it and now the end is almost here and he’ll be free again!

M

July

The last week or so has been pretty low key. I’ve been going to the beach a lot after work. I tried a kite boarding lesson last week and it seems like a lot of fun. I just learned how to fly the huge kite without the board so far. My boss’s friend Giorgios gave me a free lesson since I’ve created a bunch of advertising for his company. I joined a gym a few days ago too because karate is over for the year and I wanted some way of getting exercise besides swimming. That keeps me busy in the evenings.

I went to Punda Beach Club yesterday and on the way back, it was so windy that it was difficult to ride my motorbike. The gusts of wind nearly knocked the bike over so I had to ride very slowly and thought about just pulling over till it died down (which would’ve taken hours, so I didn’t). By the way, Punda Beach is a very touristy beach with a complex full of shops, a few bars, cafes, and a pool. I like to go there once in a while for a day to rent a beach chair (4 euro) under an umbrella and just read, swim, have a frappe, and relax. It feels like I’m on vacation at a resort, instead of on the island that I live at.

“Pirates of the Caribbean 3” is on tonight at the outdoor cinema so I think I’ll see it even though I’ve heard some bad reviews (I just like Captain Jack Sparrow!)

I’m looking forward to hopping on a plane and going to Barcelona in a few weeks and when I get back, Tony will almost be done the Army! I’m also starting to think about returning home and what I’m going to do when I get there. It’s about 2 months away, yikes! I sometimes look up job listings and apartment/suite prices just to get an idea. I hope I find a good job in multimedia and I sometimes stress about not finding one. It’s silly to think that way though; I’ll just have to figure it all out when I get there.

M

Trips Coming Out of My Ears

First off, Tony left yesterday so I have “missing my Tones shock" syndrome which I suffer from for a few days after he leaves for the Army - everytime. That was the last send off though! Next time I see him, he’ll be done for good! Here are a few silly pics from a visit to Molos beach where you can cover yourself with a full body mudmask. We took it a step further by adding a layer of pebbles and lying on the warm sand. Can’t tell where the sand ends and the person begins.



Now these pics are special. Tony decided to become a hairdresser for a while. What beautiful hair creations he can make! Hee hee…uuh..



OK, now, in other news, I finally figured out and booked flights for my remaining trips, which is nice so I won’t have to worry about doing it later. So this is what I’ll be up to the next few months till I come home in Sept:
- Aug 3-7: Barcelona
- Aug 10: Tony’s finished the Army (whoot!)
- Aug 17 – 20: Santorini with Tony and maybe friends Manolis and Annie
- Sept10: leave my Greek home for Prague
- Sept 15: leave Prague for London
- Sept 20: leave London and arrive back home in good ol’ Vic.

Sounds like a plan to me! I’m excited but time seems to be flying by. I can’t believe it’s July already. I have mixed feelings about going back home; I’ll be happy to see everyone again and be in the same city as Tony and get my own place, a new job, and start a new phase of life but I’ll miss so many things from here like my kitty, Tony’s family, the weather and lifestyle…and lots more… It’ll be an interesting couple of months that’s for sure!

M

My Greek Anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of being in Greece. Who knew that last year when I first arrived at Paros that I’d end up staying here this whole year! I’m glad I did.

The heat wave is finally over; Yesterday was the first time it actually felt refreshing outside because there was a nice cool breeze.

I had the whole weekend off and we did a lot. On Friday night Tony and I went out dancing with Manolis and Annie in Naoussa and had a good time till almost 5am. On Saturday, we went to a baptism (one of Markos’ work friends). On Sunday, we went to Parosporos (a beach known for its big waves when the wind picks up – so fun!) and then to Tony’s grandparent’s for dinner.

Tony leaves on Wed and his sister Sofia arrives from Canada on Tues or Wed for the summer. Linda has been in London the past week with some of her students and she comes home on Tues too.

Here are a few pics of Tony and I having coffee after the baptism and Markos and Tony checking out a homemade wind generator which Markos wants to make.



M