long overdue

Today we went on a little expedition to the other side of the island. The shanty stick-shift jeep that Scott rented for the duration of the program struggled over Serifos’ mountainous topography (Noteworthy is the fact that he reserved a 2009 vehicle and they messed up his reservation- unlike Baron Areshian, who purposefully arranged our travel in the crappiest vans in all of Armenia -so that he could pocket the extra cash money). The roads are unpaved, narrow, and windier than I have ever encountered. Our first stop was an old Byzantine tower, which, in English is called the “White Tower.” There is minimal evidence of the Byzantine Empire’s rule over the Cyclades, and (I believe) that this is the only Byzantine structure left on Serifos. We then traveled to the Cyclops Cave, which is the place at which (insert story here). Scott bought us a phenomenal lunch at a tiny beachfront taverna. We feasted on calamari, goat, traditional Greek salad, and tziziki (much like the cucumber salad that Sarah makes at the lake house). Needless to say, everything was delicious. We took a different route home, completing a circumnavigation of the island. We winded atop cliff-front roads that dropped hundreds of meters into the Aegean. As isolated as our village (Livadikia) is, today revealed that the rest of the island is considerably MORE rural.

My failure to post daily has been a result of both the shanty Internet connection in the pool bar/reception area and the absence of exciting things to relay (I think it would be a tad redundant to repeatedly describe the natural beauty). We spent the weekend getting acclimated, laying on the beach, and of course- writing.

Surprisingly, our time on the island has crept by (which -at least for now- is a good thing). It’s got to be the fact that there is virtually no structure to our day (which makes today’s adventure a nice surprise). Marco (our ‘chimney of a’ Greek teacher) had some sort of emergency, so he’s not teaching us at all this week, but will be rejoining us on the island next Monday. I was convinced that it was impossible for us to learn much Greek in a full month, and now that we are taking this week off – this whole attempt at Greek instruction is positively absurd. We’ve all really enjoyed having all morning to sleep and beach.

Island bugs have been a bit of a ‘paradise interruption.’ We are all eaten alive by mosquitoes. It’s possible that I am literally loosing body mass in this battle. It’s rather sick(nasty). Fortunately, this is not a malaria-infested region, and, quite frankly, I am just glad I’m not getting chewed on by those scorpion-spider-hybrids that were night-raiding me in Armenia. Relatively speaking, this is nothing.

We always find something fun to do in the evenings. Two of the nights we spent at bars watching the world cup. Last night, Scott made octopus for my group (the travel writers), and tonight is my roommate (Meredith’s) 21st birthday so we are having a big party at a taverna.

No major complaints from the Cyclades ☺
Missing You (yes, all of you) (this means you)
And the lake, and eddie, and *light* beer