I am finally posting on the blog! Yay! Here are the emails that I sent my family and friends during the rare few times I had access to the Internet.
Dear Family (and friends),
Greetings from Turkey!
This keyboard is very confusing. It’s all English lettering, but all of the punctuation are on different keys, and the letter i is where the quotation marks usually are. Come to think of it, quotation marks are nowhere to be found on this keyboard.
İ went to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia today. They were amazing. İt was very challenging trying to draw all those arches, from a difficult perspective. İ had to wear a scarf over my head to enter the Blue Mosque, but İ definitely saw a lot of tourist ladies not wearing any. The Hagia Sophia dome was being held up by something that obstructed the view, but it was still lovely nontheless.
New York beforehand was great, too. We went to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), the Onassis Foundation, and the Metropolitan Museum of New York. However, the highlight of New York for me was learning how to use the subway system. So much fun! I was tickled that we had to ride a subway in Turkey to get to our hostel. For some reason, I had a hard time convincing myself that I was going to Turkey. It was much easier to convince myself that I was going back to China, which would explain my excitement over the subway systems. I also was excited about the sushi restaurant outside of MoMA, which also didn’t help me overcome my delusion that I was going somewhere Asian. Now that I’m in Turkey, though, I feel more settled.
It’s freezing at night in Turkey. The floors are all tile, and they cool the room down considerably. I put a lot of layers on last night, and that still didn’t help. I missed my opportunity to go shopping for a new sweater at the Grand Bazaar, but I plan to do it tomorrow. The people here at this hostel showed us how to turn on the radiator, so the room is getting comfortably warm now. I’m rooming with Sara, Gwyn, and CJ. The highlight for today was not visiting the Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque, but it was with Gwyn getting stuck in the bathroom. The door has a hard time closing and opening, and she somehow managed to get it shut so tight that Sara eventually managed to pound it open.We all learned our lesson about that door.
The food is fine. I am able to order vaguely American food still, so I’m happy. Turkish coffee, however, is awesome! You would love it, Colleen. It’s simply very strong coffee.
I have yet to convert my money into lira. So far, I’ve been getting money for food from Joy, so if I keep buying cheap food, I should have enough money to buy that sweater that I want. I also want to get a scarf that is dark purple, but that can wait a bit longer. I hope that the China/Mongolia abroad has gotten me better at bartering. Certainly the lack of money will help me bring the price down a bit.
That’s about all I have to say for now. I love you all!
Love,
Ivy
P.S. My name pronounced with a Turkish accent is Avee, with a flat A. It’s almost like saying it in a southern accent. I found out the pronounciation when a few elementary school students came up to me and asked me what my name was, where I was from, how old I was. They were so cute.
Hello family and friends!
Since last I wrote, we have been up to quite a few delightful things. The day after I wrote, I went with Heather to the Grand Bazaar to do some shopping for her friends. I kept my eye open for possible Christmas gifts for family members but didn’t buy anything. We met a guy who was willing to show us around and haggle good prices for us. For any of you who have heard of my Mongolia trip: this guy reminded me of Toogi. He was a teddy bear.
That evening, we had dinner with our dinner dates. Half of us had been assigned the task of asking one person we didn’t know to dinner. It was a good way of getting to know each other, and I hope we get to do it more often. I ate with Johanna at a purely Turkish restaurant which was conveniently located right next to our hostel. The waiter flirted with Johanna a bit, and I think the main reason we got free dessert was because he liked her a lot. ‘Twas amusing.
President Obama visited Istanbul the next day, so the streets were barricaded near our hostel (we were located right next to the Blue Mosque, which just happened to be one of the few buildings he would visit) and shops and events that we wanted to visit were put on a standstill. It was a free day for us, so I spent much of my day at the Grand Bazaar, where I bought a few scarves and a dress. I’m still on the lookout for the perfect belly-dancer costume at a cheap price, though. That afternoon, Gwyn, Heather and I went to a hamam, or a Turkish bath. It was… interesting. The process required that we strip naked in a large steamy room, and allow someone else to bathe us. We had an elderly, no-nonsense woman scrub us down, so it didn’t feel awkward. I would love to go to another hamam if I have the time. It made me feel cleaner than I’ve ever felt in my life.
The last day we were in Istanbul, we took a boat ride along the Bosporus Strait. It was awesome! It made me want to buy myself a boat and sail the world. The buildings along the strait were designed specifically with water access in mind, so we got to see some really beautiful housefronts. After the boat ride, we chilled for a while and had dinner before we packed into a super-crowded bus. The driver wasn’t very good at his job, because he bumped into another car, nearly crashed into a barricade, and hit a speed bump so fast I hit my head on the ceiling. This last offense I forgave because (a) it was my fault that I chose to sit in the back seat, and (b) I’m used to it from the Mongolia abroad. Finally, there was water mixed in with the gas, so we stalled on the hilly highway a lot and often couldn’t go past 20 mph. About four hours into the trip (1:30 in the morning), we arranged to take local bus transportation, and our group split in half. I still didn’t sleep much, but at least I had free drinks and more leg space. We got to Kusadasi (near Ephasus) at about 9am.
One of the first things we did (well, half of us) was we went to the beach, because it was a much warmer day than in Istanbul. I was one of the daring few who dipped into the water. Nate had brought a wetsuit and some snorkeling gear, so he was good for about an hour or two. I think even his camera was waterproof. Crazy guy.
Today, we visited some of the sites of Ephasus. We went to the Virgin Mary’s last home, to the famous theatre and Arcadian walkway (There was a palace under excavation there with some beautiful Roman mosaics and Greek frescos. I wish I could work on that site!), the Artemisium (ruins of the temple of Artemis), and a carpet factory.
That’s all of the adventure for now! More to come later!
Much love to you all!
Ivy
Dear Family and Friends,
Well, it certainly has been a while since I wrote. At least, a lot has happened. After Kusadasi, we went to a small town called Priene. The pension we were at didn’t have very good Internet access, so I thought I would wait for an Internet Cafe. However, the day I had access to an Internet Cafe was the same day I only had one hour to get dinner. I hadn’t been eating much lately, so I chose dinner. Sorry. I hope you know I still love you all anyway.
Food in Turkey. Hmmm. Chicken’s great. The pizza is awesome. Breakfast is awful. Eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, bananas. At least there were oranges and strawberries. When we had to buy lunch for ourselves, all I saw were snack foods. I wish I could have indulged in the food that had to be heated up, but I had nothing with which to heat up the food. I got apples and carrots instead. It’s amazing how the only time I eat very healthily is on abroads. Amazing.
Priene was lovely. I was glad to spend some time in one location. The first day we spent drawing in town. A common mode of transportation there were tractors, I noticed. I found some parked and sat down to draw them. Catherine and Kayleigh were nearby. The ladies of the houses nearby came out with food and tea (the tea, by the way, was flipping awesome! I just always had to remember to ask for Turkish or Chai tea, rather than apple tea.), which was very sweet of them. One lady even offered for us to sit in her orchard back yard in the shade. We could not communicate in words, but the love was definitely felt. We got plenty of pictures with them.
The second and third days were spent at the ruins at Priene. It was great to have a place that we could spend at with no time limit, and that was close to home. I got my first pastel experience there, and loved every minute of the smudging process. Surprisingly, my face had no evidence of the colorful chalk in the end.
We spent a day at Miletus and another day at Didyma. I was very uninspired at Miletus, mostly because I wanted to keep exploring the huge expanse of well-preserved ruins rather than sit down and draw. I forced myself to sit and draw, though, which turned out to be a bad thing. I wandered for the last hour, and finally found the spot I should have been at all along. If I had waited just a few minutes before sitting to draw, I would have been inspired. But alas, that did not happen. I wandered a lot in Didyma, but I was inspired immediately by the friezes depicting Gryphons. I did an abstract pastel drawing of one. I wish I could turn it into a jigsaw puzzle. There’s enough color and uniqueness in each area to make the puzzle fun. When the day was over at that Temple of Apollo, we found an unopened resort and used it’s beach access. I had not known to bring my swimsuit, so I made do with my undies instead. The water was so refreshing! Salty, but wonderful.
A highlight of my stay in Priene was watching the Prin soccer players attempt to beat the Turks in soccer. We were close a few times, but they always managed to do slightly better. Our team played five games during our stay in Priene. Go Prin!
Our ferry trip from Kusadasi, Turkey to Samos Island, Greece changed its departure time to nine in the morning rather than in the afternoon. We had to wake up at 6:30 am to leave Priene and get there in time to go through customs. The ferry ride was about three hours long. I sat next to a Canadian woman who had been to Greece before, and she told me of the differences between Greek and Turkish stuff. She said the tea would be awful, but so far it’s been better for me. Turkish tea was a bit on the strong side, but I am able to regulate the tea strength here. Mmmmm. There wasn’t much to see during the first two hours of the trip. The island wasn’t visible at first, but eventually it came out into view. As we pulled into the bay, I could see trash bags and other rubbish floating in the water. So sad. Neither Turkey nor Greece have very good waste disposal systems.
Once we landed, Dan, David, and Joy got the mini rental cars. They had to make two trips to the hotel to get us all there. The drive took about 25 minutes to get there. Lovely scenery, windy roads: I’m in heaven. The hotel is pretty awesome. We’re all like the Brady Bunch, because we have rooms all along one side of a building, and we’re often on the balconies doing stuff and talking above and below to people.
The second day in Samos, we all met Donia Lilly. She gave us a tour of the nearby town of Pythagoria, where Pythagorus is a celebrity. I am currently writing to you from an Internet Cafe on the harbor of the city. Apparently, the streets are very crowded during the summertime. They’re practically empty right now. Also, Tom Hanks supposedly comes into this harbor in his yacht sometimes.
Two days ago, we traveled to a place that was about two or three hours away. Dan rented a larger van so we all could go at the same time. The town was lovely, and we were practicing a technique that Donia Lilly is trying to teach us. We draw quick sketches, then later in the “studio” we remember the image as best we can, and emphasize the qualities that impressed us the most. For me, it was the clouds. The horizon line wasn’t distinguishable, the colors were subtle, and the clouds were soft and streaky. The watercolor painting I did yesterday overemphasized the color, unfortunately. Not many students on this abroad like Donia’s technique so far, but I love it because I often work this way anyway. At the end of the trip, we drove about half an hour to a beach. The waves were crashing, which was exciting. I have this fear about swimming in open water, but I am determined to overcome that fear. I did a pretty good job that day, except when I swam out so far that I couldn’t touch the bottom. I was trying to match Guy in distance from the shore, but I drew the line at that point. Slowly, but surely, I’ll overcome my fear of open waters on this trip.
Today, we went to Heraion, or a site dedicated to Hera. We are continuing our quick sketches, but unfortunately I was unable to concentrate while at Hera’s site. I was mostly looking at my feet and where I was walking. The area is generally a swampy area, so snails are everywhere. They aren’t all big like in America, and most of them looked like tiny pebbles. I thought the crunching sound was pebbles at first, but then I realized that I had murdered about a hundred tiny snails. Ewww. Needless to say, I was glad to get out of there.
The monastery we visited afterward was pretty cool. The church was situated strangely within the walls, but in a neat way. It’s difficult to explain, so you’ll just have to go there someday to see for yourselves. I got a sketch from there that I will work on in the studio soon. The studio, by the way, is just the upper floor of the dining room at the hotel. No one but us is there at this point, so it’s okay to leave our artwork there on the tables. After the monastery, we visited another little town for lunch. Gwyn and I ate in a little playground. A small boy came to us and started playing with us. We understood nothing of what he said, but he was very friendly. I got a few good pictures with Gwyn’s camera of him and Gwyn playing together.
I suppose I should make some mention about the food in Greece, since I spoke so much about the food in Turkey. I’ve already said how awesome the tea is. I’ve tried various things with feta cheese. There was a breaded zucchini that I had the other day that tasted like pumpkin bread. The pizza is amazing in it’s own unique way. I’ve tried squid and octopus. Both taste like crab to me, and therefore they are delicious. The octopus was rubbery, as expected. The squid tentacles were long, skinny, and purple. This last factor grossed me out a bit, but the taste was good. I am definitely eating better here in Greece. I’m also eating more chocolate, because they actually offer something other than Nutella, which I really don’t like to eat at all. There’s a candy place nearby this cafe where I’ve gotten chocolate covered almonds. My stash is hidden in my closet at the hotel. Yum.
I hope all is well with you. More news to come later!
Love,
Ivy
Dear everyone,
For the past two weeks, we have been busy with Donia Lilly’s art workshop. We had our final critique session yesterday, during which Dan or David mentioned that I am heading in the way of Dali abstraction. I enjoyed drawing that picture the most, so I guess I like that style.
We’ve continued to visit various cities in Samos. My only regret is that I never got to step into anyone’s home to see what they look like on the inside. The outsides are beautiful. Every Easter-time is painting time, so people paint their homes fresh white. Also, white decorations are painted on the roads. Often it was a simple flower shape. We also visited a few monasteries. The churches were usually dark on the inside, because there were only lamps in there. Kinda creepy and gloomy. My favorite monastery was set on a mountain top, painted white inside (so the light was brighter inside), and the windows were bright colors. It looked like a child’s bedroom color scheme, but it still brought out the feel of a holy place with the arches and domes and stuff. Another favorite church of mine was located inside a cave. Absolutely creepy, but in a cool way.
The Mediterranean water is so clear! I have found that my fear of heights applies when I’m in the water and can see over ten feet below me. I’m working on this fear, but decided not to go snorkeling today because of it. Today is our free day, and I had opted to go scuba diving so that I could be close to the bottom. Unfortunately, the message got messed up about the number of people going diving versus the number of people snorkeling. So… now I can do other things! I’ve got fifty euros that I can spend on anything! I could buy a fancy meal (Or not. I prefer Greek gyros, which are only 2 euros), get another dress (I’ve already bought three, so I probably don’t need any more), finally get that sweater that I’ve been wanting this whole trip (If only I could find it), or I could just hold on to it. We’ll see.
Our abroad group had a talent show a week or so ago. We all laughed so much that our faces hurt afterward. Nate did a dance with his soccer ball. Hannah, Hillary, Bronwen, Lauren, and Makenna pretended to be the Spice Girls. Johanna demonstrated a cool tongue twisting thing that only she is able to do (we all tried it with her, that’s how we know). Gwyn sang a song from Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai (the one with Icarus, so it had a Greek theme). Brook and Guy demonstrated their mind reading powers. Guy and Ricky did interpretive dances that my mom would be able to appreciate. Ricky accompanied a lot of people with songs and dances by playing his drum. Joy made up a rap about the group and performed it. David did a bit of stand-up comedy, which involved eating oil pastels at the end of his act. Carey and CJ pretended to be siamese twins and did a few tricks. Heather performed the Jabberwocky. Paul sang a song about meatballs. Catherine taught us cha-cha steps. Dan gave an art demo with Carey’s arms being his arms. Alicia, Jodi, and Kayleigh did a dance to Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise”. Sara did her cool face morphing trick while singing along to “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Donia did some animal sound imitations. And I quoted movies as I played the Links game. I chose to be bold with the “What About Bob” quotes and chose one of the Tourrets scenes. I lost it in the middle of it, but I made it through somehow. Everyone laughed, which was good. Johanna and I led everyone through a silly chant in the middle of the show, during which we managed to get everyone to admit that they were geese. Mwa-ha-ha….
That’s about all there is for now. We’ll be on a ferry for the whole day tomorrow, on our way to Santorini. Love to you all!
Love,
Ivy
Dear Family and Friends,
I am on the island of Santorini! We woke up by 6 am yesterday morning to take our ferry trips. The first ferry was huge and had plenty of room for semi-trucks and stuff. The second ferry was smaller, but much faster. We had stopped in Paros for a few hours. It was lovely, what we could see of it anyway. I drank too many cappucinos with ice cream in them. I thought I would be tired of ice cream after that, but the ice cream with hot gushy brownie that I had this evening was delicious. Ice cream will never get old.
Our hotel here on Santorini is located right next to the many switchbacks leading to the ancient Hellenistic/Roman city of Thera. It was quite a hefty hike. We stayed at the ruins for about four and a half hours to draw. I couldn’t make myself go back to using a pen after having spent two weeks working only with pastels, gouache (lovingly provided by my art buddy Kayleigh), and watercolors. I played with pastels. Mmmm…. I got plenty sunburnt while I was there, and have some pretty amazing tan lines. I kept my tevas off, so my feet at least are monotone.
As you have probably deduced from the title of this email, I walked down from Thera barefooted. Why did I do that, you ask? I did it to toughen up my feet so it wouldn’t be so painful for me to walk on the pebbly beaches we’ve been encountering. I want to run into the water, not step gingerly up to the shore. So, I made it back to the hotel after 23 switchbacks, 3 offers from strangers for a ride down, and a good variety of pebble, cobblestone, and cement paving. Yeah. My feet feel a bit raw, but I am able to walk around comfortably when I wear my nice cushy hiking shoes. It felt amazing to wash my feet in cold water. You have no idea.
I bet you’re wondering what I did immediately after my previous email. Well, I spent that afternoon shopping. I found a place that sold books! Yay! I bought three books in Greek: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (I was actually looking for the first one, but that was the only one they didn’t have. Oh, well. The third book was the best anyway.), Twilight, and something for my mom for Christmas. Um, I can’t tell you the title of the last book because this email happens to be going to my mom as well. Obviously. Anyhow, I’m pretty sure it was the books and all of the clothes I’ve been buying that have made my luggage unbearably heavy. I need to find a way to send some stuff home right now.
I will be visiting Io tomorrow, which is where all those amazing white buildings on many Greek postcards are. I’m very excited about that. I hope the buildings are just as pretty in real life as they are on the postcards. I will be in Santorini for a few more days, so I should be able to send one final update before I go to Crete next.
Love to you all!
Love,
Ivy
Dear Family and Friends,
Santorini was lovely, but I’m glad to be away from the crowded touristy streets. That isn’t to say Iraklio and Chania aren’t touristy. Santorini catered a bit much to the tourists, whereas this island still has a homely Greek feel.
On Santorini we went to Oia (pronounced EE-ya), which is a city that is often pictured on postcards. We watched the sun set there. It was gorgeous. The streets were crowded with people watching, and we all clapped when it had set. Another place we went to was Fira, which looks a lot like Oia. From there, people can take donkey rides down to the coast (I didn’t do it, but others in our group did), and boat trips to the caldera just off the shore. It was a hot day when we hiked the caldera, and I was glad when the boat took us to a “hot springs” area (which wasn’t very hot) to swim. We jumped straight off of the boat and swam to the opening leading to the lukewarm area.
We took a two hour ferry to Iraklio, Crete, where we spent two nights at Hotel Kastro. This hotel was probably the best one we’ve ever been to. It was air conditioned, had wireless connection, showers with curtains (a major plus), and warm sheets. For breakfast, there were delicious cakes and cereal as well (usually it consists of just bread, eggs, same old, same old…), and MINT tea. Oooooohhhh. So good.
While in Iraklio, we went to the art museum, where we saw a few ancient frescos and pots that we had seen pictures of in our art history class last quarter. I even saw the bust of a Roman lady that I remember looking at a picture of in a history book in middle school. I remember thinking when I first saw that picture: “someday I will grow my hair long enough to do that to my hair.” Speaking of hair, I had been thinking about cutting it lately, because it’s been getting so unmanageable. However, the shower at Hotel Kastro was so wonderful (no need to hold the showerhead, it’s already hanging!), that my hair finally got fully clean. It made all the difference. It felt so soft and smelled so good, I reconsidered my decision to cut it.
We also went to Knossos, where the labyrinth is. Gwyn and I went on a search for David Bowie, and found him in the form of a peacock just outside of the site. We weren’t allowed to go into the labyrinth, on the first floor, probably because they were still working on getting supports and stuff down there. It was really cool, though, what we did see of it.
The drive to Chania (the “c” isn’t spoken) took a few hours. About midway through, my bladder filled up to a painful extent. I was so glad when we finally stopped an hour later, but it was very difficult to find a spot to relieve myself. There were plenty of places away from the highway, but the other darned students were within viewing distance at the cove that they decided was a perfect place to swim. Grrr. In addition, there were a lot of prickly plants in the otherwise perfect spots. It wasn’t this difficult in Mongolia!
Finally we reached Chania. We woke up at 5:30 the next morning to catch a bus to the Samaria Gorge. It was about 14 kilometers of a hike downhill, so I and a few others decided not to do that. Instead, Joy, CJ, Makenna and I took a ferry to the other end of the gorge, and hiked in a ways to the most famous part of the whole trip, where the walls nearly touch each other. I sat there for a while, enjoying the view. The guide had estimated that the entire hike would take from 9 am to 3 pm, but imagine our surprise when we saw Gwyn at the end at 11:45! Dang, she’s fast!
The rest of our stay in Chania basically involves us working on our independent projects. I don’t remember if I told you in earlier emails what my project is, so I will tell you again now. I’m creating a graphic novel about the gods of Greece. I’ll be finishing up ten full pages, and the other pages will be sketches ready to be inked in. I’m trying to keep the project short enough to finish before the quarter ends, but I keep getting more ideas that make the project even bigger. Grrr.
On the abroad, we have had two “date nights” so far, with our third coming up tomorrow. Basically, we have dinner or lunch with just one person, and have a pleasant conversation. Otherwise, we’re in large groups and not getting to know individuals very well. My first date was with Johanna in Istanbul, and my second was with Lauren in Samos. Johanna asked me the first time, and I asked Lauren the second time because I didn’t know her too well. Lauren and I are a good deal alike, especially in terms of music tastes. We want to exchange iPods sometime on this trip, but we have yet to do that. Tomorrow, I’ll be dining with Dan. Should be fun. I also like the music he listens to. He played some rock classics on some long drives in Samos. My favorite is the one that has “Are we humans, or are we dancers?” in the lyrics. I’ll have to get Dan to write me a list when we’re on our “date.”
That’s about all for now. I don’t think I’ll have a chance to update again until I reach Athens next week, because the next place we’re going to in Crete is quite remote. I don’t remember the name of the place, but one fun thing we’re going to do there is have a water ballet contest. I think my group consists of Hillary, Nate, Gwyn, and Sara, but I’m not sure. I’m almost certain that someone will film it, so I may be able to refer you to a link on Youtube!
I’ll write to you later!
Ivy
Dear Friends and Family,
So much has happened! We went to one of the most beautiful places on earth after we visited Chania: Elafonisi beach! We stayed in some villas that were so comfortable and open! My villa housed Hanna, Cat, Jodie, Bronwen, and Lauren. I felt almost like I was in a dorm. There was a beach nearby that had pink sandy beaches, very clear waters, and very nude people. I would rather have done without the last item. At the beach, if you stand still for long enough, little white fishes nibble at your ankles. It was interesting, but also quite creepy at the same time.
It’s a wonder that we managed to focus on getting our independent projects done, with such a beautiful beach nearby. But, the place was so remote and quiet, we did manage to focus well. I managed to crank out two to three pages of my graphic novel per day, which was good. On the ferry trip to Athens (after about a week at Elafonisi) I managed to finish it overnight. I’ve never been comfortable sleeping in public areas like on that huge ferry. It wasn’t too difficult, then, to stay up all night working on my project.
Athens was okay. It was a bit too touristy for my tastes. When we visited the Acropolis, for example, I felt like I couldn’t get a good sense of what it must have been like long ago because there were so many people around with cameras, and saying such ignorant things like “will we be going to the Colosseum later today?” Oi. In case you didn’t know, the Colosseum is in Rome, Italy, which is an entirely separate city and country than Athens, Greece. The botanical garden in Athens was lovely. There were peacocks! So pretty. At one point, we found a quiet place where we could have our Wednesday meeting.
In between stays in Athens, we traveled north to Delphi by bus. Have I mentioned how much I love using public transportation? We took the subway to a bus stop, where we took a bus to the main bus station. Public transportation means I don’t have to focus too much on traffic (because I’m not driving), and that way I can look around. I also rarely get the opportunity to go on a subway, seeing that I live in a small town of 7000 people within a rural environment. Anyhow, enough of that. Delphi was awesome! It was great to have a museum housing artifacts from the site right next to the site. I got so excited when I saw the Charioteer, and then saw the place where it was found about half an hour later. After the tour was over, I spent about an hour or less at a spot and started my last drawing. I hurried through it, though, because there was one place that I’d been dying to see the whole time that was just off of the main site: the tholos of Athena. You’ve probably seen it on postcards or on any brochure or something that represents Delphi. It’s a circular base with stubs of columns coming up from the outer edge. Only three columns are complete, and have part of the frieze (?) on top of them. There are mountains surrounding the site. So pretty. The tholos ended up being much shorter than I had imagined, but it was still very cool!
Our last day abroad was fun and sad at the same time. Fun, because of the awards ceremony we held at dinner. Sad, because it was our last time all together. The seniors were the most teary of the bunch. I cried some. It was awful. Anyhow, awards ceremony! We each drew names for the person we would give an award to. I drew Ricky’s name, which couldn’t have been more fun! Ricky did a lot of pranks, and was often the life of the party. Having done some research on Greek gods, I knew that Hermes was the god of tricks and good luck, as well as communication (Ricky knew quite a few languages, and had a very easy time getting into conversations with strangers). I found a small statuette of Hermes, and gave it to Ricky like it was an Oscar, or something. Ricky, as only he is able to do, turned the award into a joke, saying I “gave him Hermes,” which sounds a lot like I “gave him herpes.” Augh. That man.
I got the “Most Endearing Swearer” award. For the talent show, I had quoted movies, and one of the quotes involved a man faking tourette syndrome. I had a hard time getting through that one, because I was laughing so hard. Everyone else was laughing because swearing was so uncharacteristic of me. That’s how I got my award. CJ gave it to me.
At five the next morning, Paul, CJ, Bronwen, Heather, Jodie, Kayleigh, Johanna, and I hopped into two taxis and went to the Athens airport. We all flew by British Airways to London, where we split up into four separate groups. CJ and Kayleigh flew on to Texas, Jodie stayed because she had a job lined up for the summer, Johanna got a flight to California, and the rest of us flew on to Chicago. I never managed to get a seat next to someone I knew, which was sad. However, I did get to sit next to a man who had been living in Turkey since last August, and we had a good conversation during the flight. I also had fun watching movies during the ten our flight from London to Chicago. I saw Life is Wonderful (I strongly recommend you see it), Memento, and part of Ferris Beuller (did I spell that name right?). After we got to Chicago, Heather and I flew together the last few hours to St Louis, where we got picked up by friends in a convertible. That was my first convertible experience, and I loved it! It was like a one hour long roller coaster ride, in terms of wind blowing through my hair, that is.
I was at Prin for about a week before graduation. I enjoyed having the opportunity to simply relax on the campus, as opposed to all of the other times when I’ve been stressing out about projects and stuff. I had finished all of my Greece abroad projects prior to arriving on campus, so I was free.
Graduation was okay, but I couldn’t help but be depressed by it all. It meant that we were all saying goodbye, and I wasn’t really able to hang out with friends because we were all being distracted by our families. I was quite grateful when it was all over with. My family and I flew back to California on Monday, changing planes in my favorite airport (Phoenix, because they have certain stuffed animals in a store that I love so much) on the way. We got to our home before evening, which was great because that meant I didn’t have to go strait to bed upon reaching home, unlike all of the other times traveling from Sacramento to St. Louis, or the other way around.
Pretty soon, I will be moving in with Colleen. Yay! I’ll also be looking for a job in Chico, and then… I don’t know. The rest of my life will begin, I guess.
Thanks for traveling with me through Greece! I hope you have had as much fun as I have! Ya sas! (Greek for hello and goodbye)
Love,
Ivy