The first week seven hours ahead 9.9.08

Hello all, 

Andres hassled me last night to post something here because that's what this is for. So here it is, Mr. Millan.

The first week has been fantastic, the transition has been much easier than I expected. The fellows are all finding their close friends among the group and still everyone is getting along very well, how long the uber-friendly phase will last is yet to be seen, but we are still safely in it for the time being. Greeks are a wonderfully welcoming people who love to hear silly American girls try to speak their language what what I'm sure can only be described as brutal accents. I've been trying my best with the language, and I'm picking up a couple of words

 a day. Still limited to the bare basics, of course, but I did manage to tell a friendly cab driver that "I want two gyros, please," unable to provide them, he still laughed an said "excellent."

This past three day weekend we all went to Naxos, an island in the Cyclades range which is known for the white washed houses, blue shutters, teal seas. It didn't disappoint. We spent at least seven hours everyday at beaches, swimming, climbing rocks, and I finished a couple hundred pages of East of Eden. The perfect weekend. 

Back at school today, we met the Psychiko English Department teachers all of whom are young and excited to have some native English speakers around. Classes begin Thursday after the state required Holy Blessing of the school year which I'm looking forward to a lot -- wouldn't exactly have flown at Deering or Kenyon. Overall, the classes seems like they'll be a lot of fun, and I will probably also be working on the literary journal, and perhaps with the French club -- vying for the annual trip to France! 

I'm sending some stuff in the mail later this week, so send me me your address and I'll send you some Greek love notes.