Getting Ready

καλωσόρισμα or Ka-lo-so-ri-zo—Which means “welcome” in Greek!

I thought this would be a great way to display all the wonderful adventures I will be on this summer. To start off, I will be spending 3 glorious weeks in Greece. During this period of time, I will be traveling to Athens, Tinos, and Chalkans (I think). I know there is so much more out there, but these are the three dealt for this particular trip.

How did this happen? Well, I was sitting at my friend Meghan's table one afternoon as she explained about her upcoming trip to Greece and all they would be doing. And then she invited me to come along. And so, within the next week or so I bought a plane ticket and started the extensive packing list that comes from someone who not only has never been to Europe but also packs very much like a girl. How do I even begin to try to get all the stuff I may need or not need into a carry on bag---and now especially since I am flying out of Philadelphia, it is essential that I pack a carry on bag. Luckily, I can recommend the guys at www.onebag.com for any help you may need in the future. They were quite helpful.

So the current plans are to leave for Greece, spend a few days in Athens, hop a boat to Tinos, attend a wedding, a christening, and name day celebrations, island hop around if I can, sit on a beach, climb a mountain...or large hill, see all kinds of sights, eat lots of food, find an olive I actually like, and then go back to the mainland, and head home.

Now, while I am writing this, it is 11:58 pm here in Winston. That makes it 6:58am in Greece. I think that the first thing I may have to deal with is the time difference. The second thing is the language. The only foreign language I can even begin to work with is Spanish and it is NOTHING like Greek. The alphabet is even different. Louis, Meghan's husband, who happens to be Greek asked me one night at the dinner table what, if anything I would like to learn in Greek. I said, “Hello, my name is Shelley and I do no speak Greek.” He laughed and told me that would be quite evident seeing as how I have blonde hair and blue eyes. After several shots of Ouzo, I learned how to say “Wankers, I want you” in Greek. Louis assured me that I was ready for the trip.

In preparation, I bought a phrase book to use. While perusing it one night, I noticed that it was definitely geared towards Americans. Most of the phrases were about how to ask for certain hotel amenities or how to ask someone to fix something if it was broken. I just wanted to be able to say “hello, I would like a beer.” I can do that in Spanish quite easily. But in Greek, it is like speaking Greek. There is nothing else like it. Luckily, the word for beer is pronounced “bi-ra.” I think I can handle that.