Pictures: Candles lit in the Monastery visited on Thursday, Beach view from the castle we explored in Napflia (sp?), Me on the top of the mountain, beautiful sunset at the Temple of Poseidon, and then us girls the first time we ran into each other (Sarah, Hannah, Me, Ali, Lauren)

I have been going and going and going like CRAZY since the last time I wrote! Friday night was my last night in Parikia – so sad! That place has become like a home to me – and today is really the first day that I’ve realized I’m not going back there. I have felt like this is just another side trip, and I still need to go back to Paros when I’m done with my parents here. Don’t get me wrong – I’m INCREDIBLY excited to come home and see everyone, and I am exhausted from the trip, but oh man, I’m going to miss this place!

Friday night we (Ali, Hannah, Sarah, Karlie, Lauren, David and I) went and ate at the restaurant at the windmill – BEAUTIFUL view, awful food. I got sick again that night – I had the WORST Kalamari in the WORLD.. Oh man it makes me gag just thinking about it – it was grilled (I think) and tasted like rubber. So yes, I got sick the first and the last night in Parikia. But, I would say it was worth it because the view and the laughter and the pleasure of enjoying my last meal with that group of people was one of my favorite parts about the trip. The people I met on this trip are some of the most amazing people ever! I will never forget them and the memories we have made!

Saturday morning, when I still felt like death, I finished packing up my bags and headed to the ferry with Sarah, Karlie, David, Ali, Hannah and Lauren. Karlie didn’t come to Athens with us because her parents were coming to Paros the next day, so she just came to see us off. I could have cried my eyes out when I said goodbye to Karlie – but I held myself together! I was so proud – ha ha! The first hour of the boat ride SUCKED, just because I felt awful. But as the next 4 hours passed, I started feeling much better. By the time I got to Athens, I was feeling about 95% better. I was a little worried about finding my parents after getting off the ferry, but right as I was walking off the boat I saw them! It was so nice to see them and it has been GREAT to have them here in Greece experiencing this with me. I wish EVERYONE could have come over here! I introduced them to my friends who were riding in the ferry with me, then we headed off to the hotel with Theodore as our taxi driver! He’s so great – he opens the doors for us and takes our luggage – Mom and I were joking that we’re going to be expecting Dad and Kyle to open the doors for us now and it will be weird having to do it ourselves! Ha ha!

Saturday night we went walking around the plaka and had another free glass of wine from that nice man that gave us girls 2 free glasses of wine when we were in Athens before! Then we met up with Pericles at the Hard Rock Café and had supper for Dad’s birthday. I was eating at an American restaurant, in Greece, and I ordered Chicken fajitas (Mexican). Weird, I know.

Sunday we went walking all around Athens and decided to go to the Parliament and the Tower of the Winds. We started out and had to stop so Dad could look at the map and all of a sudden I hear someone scream, “OH MY GOD! LEZLI!!!” I look across the street and see Ali, Hannah, Sarah, and Lauren all running towards me! It was SOOOO good to see them again – I was already feeling some separation anxieties – ha ha, just kidding! So we all walked around a while and went to the Parliament together to see the changing of the guards. We didn’t see them do the actual thing, but they did something – maybe just a little walk to stretch their legs – except it was planned out exactly and all – of course. After that the girls were headed to see the Acropolis because Lauren hadn’t seen it yet, and we were going to the National Gardens – so I had to say goodbye to them for a second time – like the first time wasn’t hard enough! We got some really cute pictures and had a great time together. Then Mom, Dad and I went to the National Gardens for awhile, had a little lunch, and decided to find the Tower of the Winds, which I was pretty sure I’d gone to on my first day in Athens. So we headed back there, doing some shopping on the way and munching on ice cream and drinking beer! We found another ruin site and looked at that, then got directions to the Tower of the Winds. As we were walking up the street to head there, I see Hannah walking straight towards me with the rest of the girls behind her. I just screamed and sprinted towards them! They were headed back to their hostel, so we chatted for awhile and had to say goodbye for the THIRD time. I guess the third time is the charm because I didn’t see them again after that, even though I know I WILL stay in contact with them and see them in the future! So the parentals and I went to the Tower of the Winds, then had some supper and Theodore picked us up and we went and watched the sunset in a town about an hour or so away from Athens where the temple of Poseidon is. It was gorgeous.

Monday we left for our 4-day tour of the Peloponesse Peninsula. On Monday, I am proud to say, my parents and I climbed a MOUNTAIN! Ha ha – it was HUGE, seriously, I thought I was going to die. Wait until you see pictures! While we were at the top it was thundering, so we decided not to take too long. We ate at a café in town and that’s when it started raining. I finished my food and went and held my hand out of the tent we were under and felt my first Greek rain! This all was in Ancient Corinth – where we also saw the “Lion’s Head” monument.

Tuesday through today we visited many other places. It will take too long to go through each day individually. Tuesday morning we were still in Corinth, and went to see a castle that’s on the top of the hill. It was awesome! We also went to Epidauros and saw that natural amphitheater which you can supposedly talk in a regular voice at the bottom and people at the top can hear you. We couldn’t try that because there were WAY too many people there and talking. I’ll be putting a bunch of pictures up on facebook, but maybe not until I’m home again – depends on how tired I am tonight and how much time I have. Tuesday night we stayed in Olympia at Hotel Europa – which is a Best Western chain… ha ha! It was the NICEST HOTEL EVER. Well, maybe not ever – but it was GREAT! There was a pool that we got a chance to sit by and relax and swim a little – sooooooo nice! Afterwards we went into town for more shopping. Wednesday we went to the original site of the Olympics and saw all the ruins – I even saw where they still light to the torch. We went and drove for awhile and had lunch right by the beach and listened to the waves come up onto the shore. Mom and I waded in the water a bit, but it was a rock beach and it hurt SO bad! We got some rocks and decided to get out of that water! Ha ha! After that we drove to Delphi and there was a Crepe place right across the street from our hotel. So we went inside to our hotel, relaxed a bit, and went and had a crepe. My foot has been bothering me since Monday afternoon, so I went back to the hotel after we ate and mom and dad went shopping a little bit.

Today (Thursday) we went to ruins in Delphi and saw the Belly Button of the earth, according to Apollo or Zeus…. I think Apollo – not positive though. We walked up to the top and saw another Temple of Apollo, another stadium and an athletic arena. We also went and saw some of a gymnasium, but missed out on the Temple of Athena. We went through the museum and then Theodore drove us to a monastery – which was beautiful! Then we stopped at some tavern on the side of the road and had some souvlaki, Greek salad, bread and beer for lunch. Now I’m typing this as we travel in the car back to Athens. It really hit me today how sad I am to leave, and also at the same exact time how INCREDIBLY EXCITED I am to get back – mainly just to see everyone. If only I had rich family and friends so they could come here and just live at Jimmy’s on Paros with me for the summer. Heck, if I were rich enough I’d pay for everyone to do it!

I’m going to go through my pictures and sort, separate, delete, and organize to decide what to put on Facebook and what to show everyone on the 4th of July and all of that good stuff. I’ll be putting this up onto the internet tonight probably – and I’ll be home TOMORROW!! Holy crap – this month went fast. And yet, at times, it seemed to be going to slow. But it has definitely been one of the greatest experiences of my life and I wouldn’t have changed anything about it.

Except the two times I got sick. Could have done without that. 

Love you all and see you soon!

Xoxo
Lezli

Two Days Left... :-(

Pictures: The first picture is some of us girls (our favorite waitress, Sarah, Karlie, Ali, Hannah, Me) and David, who we bought worry beads as a present for because he's always sharing his food with us and drinks and cooking for us.
Yes, it said "Farmacy" I thought it was pretty funny...
The next picture is Me, Lauren, Karlie, Ali and Hannah one of the last few nights that we cooked a HUGE supper upstairs and there was a BEAUTIFUL sunset. It was probably as close to a storm as I'll see in Greece - the wind was blowing a lot and it was humid all day and I guess it spit just a little, but no real rain... The last picture is me and my friend Hannah taking a break from dancing at a bar/restaurant near our school.


Wow – I can’t believe I haven’t written in 5 days – SORRY! I haven’t really been doing anything too exciting, so I guess I haven’t had too much to write about.

Since I got back from Santorini, we haven’t had any more “excursions”, so I’ve had time to finish up my pictures for my final project and print off the 6 that we need to present to class. I actually did my presentation this morning to a group of about 7 of us. There was a huge confusion because on our schedule that the students had it said that we had presentations today and tomorrow, but the professors had told us all that we just had presentations tomorrow, so we assumed we would have class today. Some of us decided to bring our pictures so we could present today, so that we didn’t have to be there for HOURS tomorrow. Well, then Dacy, one of the Photo students who has to leave tonight because she’s doing another program in Italy, got an e-mail last night saying that we didn’t have class today but she should come in for her presentation. The teachers didn’t e-mail anyone else about this so we were very confused this morning. Then, Dacy e-mailed her back telling her that our schedule says we have class at 10 today, so she’d plan on coming then, but they never e-mailed her back. We didn’t really know what to do this morning, so about 7 of us went to the school with our stuff and sat around for about an hour waiting for our teachers. Yuko, the wife of the program coordinator, got to school and called Sarah and Cameron (our teachers) and they said that they didn’t know we had class and what not……turns out that they had made an original schedule with no class today, given that to the teachers, and once they realized how many people were taking this class they decided they needed two days of critiques. Sarah also said that she hadn’t checked her e-mail to see if Dacy responded so she didn’t even know that she was going to be at school. It was kind of frustrating because we sat around school an hour waiting for them – that’s the ONLY complaint that I have about this program – it seems VERY unorganized. I mean, everything has gone very smoothly, but when we have to sit around for an hour it gets frustrating. So, 5 of us who were ready did our presentations today – and that took an hour. I think there are about 15-17 people in the class, so tomorrow is going to be a long day of presentations – not looking forward to it. But I got mine done, and it went better than I thought it would go, so I’m happy!

So, I got some bad news yesterday. My friend John Verly from Marshall (he’s a friend from FFA) has a brain tumor, and he just was moved from Sioux Falls to St. Paul and they are going to see what they can do and when/if they can operate. They have been giving him steroids and that has helped to decrease the size of it. Here’s his caringbridge website for more details: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnverly

I can’t believe that I only have two more days with these AMAZING people here! I HATE goodbyes. And it’s REALLY hard with these people because I don’t know when I’ll ever see them again! Karlie and I are honestly planning to go down to Maryland next May for Sarah’s wedding, because it’s really kinda been the three of us who have been communicating from the beginning and very close this whole time. We have this plan to all come back to Paros in 10 years and stay at Jimmy’s and have a big reunion – which would be INCREDIBLE. I definitely want to come back to this place in the future – it’s my favorite of the islands that I’ve visited and it really has become a home for me – and I love it! It makes me so sad to think that I have to leave in just two days, and at the same time I’m really excited to see Mom and Dad and travel with them and then to get home to everyone else!

Well, I’m gonna read some and burn the rest of my pictures to a CD and probably add more onto facebook – so check there for more pictures!

Love you all!!!
xoxo

Back "Home"

These are the picture of me jumping off the cliff - don't worry, I look closer to the edge than I actually was. They were taking the pictures from a weird angle. I might have some more to add later - one of my friends had her waterproof camera with us in the water by the cliff and she got some decent ones.

Yesterday morning we went to the Archeological Museum – very interesting! There was so much stuff that got preserved when the volcano exploded – even like food and paint/color particles. After that we went shopping for awhile, I got some more presents for people! Then at 4 we loaded onto the boat and headed back “home” to Paros. It’s interesting how easy it is for me to call this place home – I mean, after all I’m spending nearly a month of my life living here, so I guess it kind of is. I’ve made it home-y by putting pictures up on the wall and I have Makenzie’s artwork she did for me before I left next to my bed. And yes Mom, sometimes my room does get a little messy, just like home! Ha ha – but I clean up after myself.

Last night I made supper with Caroline and Karlie – it was fantastic! We stopped at the little market by our apartments to get some more tomatoes and some WATERMELON! I have been craving watermelon since I got here, and I finally got it! OH! And I’ve also been craving PIZZA since I got here and I got to have that for lunch yesterday – my two foods I’ve been wanting, both in one day! Fantastic. Ha ha, anyway – so we made some pasta and had watermelon for “dessert” and left the rooftop before the bugs could attack us anymore. Everyone thinks they’re awful here – but there not even as close to as bad as home some nights, and especially not as bad as Grygla! Ha ha – I’m used to this mosquito business. After that I came back to my room, talked to Kyle and Jeremy for awhile, and worked on editing some of my pictures for my final project. I hope to get some printed today or tomorrow – so that I don’t have to wait until the very to do it.

Well, I’ve added more pictures to my 5th Greece album and started a 6th, so here are the pictures from that:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27754&id=1278630039&l=826c95e06e

Love you all! MISS YOU!
xoxo

I'M IN SANTORINI!

Pictures: First one is me standing in front of the picture-esque Santorini! The second one is a picture of where I jumped into the water today - I'll have pictures later of me actually jumping! The next one is a view of the hot springs from the top of the volcano and the one after that is me jumping into the water. The last one is just a view of the town we're staying in from the side of the cliff - beautiful!

Today was ABSOLUTELY amazing! We woke up, had breakfast and then walked about 700 steps down, while almost getting trampled by donkeys, to get onto our “Pirate Ship” for our tour today. First we went to the Caldera (which is the center of the volcano) and walked up to the very top where you can see every part of Santorini from around it. After that exhausting excursion, we went to some hot springs nearby and went swimming!!! It was sooooo cool! The water went from cool, to warm, to hot the further you went in – very interesting experience! After that we went to another part of Santorini and had lunch. Then we went to the best spot EVER! If any of you have seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, it’s the spot where Lena jumps into the water while she’s in Greece visiting her Yaya and Bapou (gma and gpa) and then Kostas jumps in the water with her. I JUMPED IN THE WATER THERE AND WENT SWIMMING THERE!!!!! Absolutely incredible! I still can’t believe I was there! I jumped off a 15 foot cliff two times – very brave of me if I do say so myself! Ha ha! Then we walked up about 240 STEEEEEP steps to the top of Oiu and took the bus back to Firya (sp?) where we are spending these two days. When we got back I took a shower to get rid of all the salt on my body and in my hair, and then I went with my friend Dacy and got my first Crepe – a chocolate and strawberry one – DELICIOUS!

So, Mom was harassing me about being a journalism minor and using “awesome” and “amazing” to explain all of my Greece experiences – but there HONESTLY are not words to describe this place! It’s the most outstanding thing I have ever experienced and I am SOOO lucky to be here right now! I never thought I’d actually achieve my “Number one thing to do before I die” – but I did it! And I’m here! For another two weeks still – crazy to think about! I miss everyone back home like crazy, and I’m SO looking forward to Mom and Dad coming next week! Tomorrow we head back to Paros, and that’s the end of our trips for class – which will be kind of nice. It’ll give me a week to get all of my pictures together and to rest up before doing much more touring with Mom and Dad… which I’m sure will be cram-packed, but will be amazing!

Well, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to try to upload some pictures from today, and then relax and go to bed early – I’m SO tired! Tomorrow we’re going to an archeological museum that has remains from the big volcanic eruption that occurred 1500 BC – it’s what they claim to be the Lost City of Atlantis. Kind of like the Pompeii explosion, so I’m VERY excited to see all of it! Then we’re headed back to Paros.

Love you all! Miss you!
xoxo

New Pictures

Here's some new pictures - sorry about the doubles (if they're still there when you look at them). Facebook is being kind of dumb right now and I can't get them deleted. There's just an extra copy of some of them at the end.

Gonna go out on my porch and read a little and then probably go to the beach soon with my friend Lauren - everyone else is down there already, I'm just going to wait for her.

Love you all!
xoxo

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27388&id=1278630039&l=817b04ec2f

BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.

Today we went to Antiparos, the island that is right next to Paros. Most beautiful place I’ve been yet! First we just wandered around the town for a little bit waiting for our bus to come pick us up. I got an AMAZING ham/cheese/bacon pastry at this little shop in town for breakfast and then the bus picked us up and brought us up to a cave. We got to walk around the cave on our own for awhile – just beautiful, but HUMID! Oh man the humidity really got to me, especially once I got to the bottom and had to start walking back up. But the stalactites and stalagmites were worth the hike!

After that we went down to another port and got on this small boat that brought us over to an excavation site where people are currently unearthing ancient ruins – it was REALLY cool! We also had a really good small “lecture” I guess you could call it from one of our teachers. He just talked about how important this ancient civilization is in relation to the lives we live today. He talked about how concrete of a foundation they built and how the materials they used have lasted this long, and then we started talking and thinking about how this ancient stuff that’s there now is stronger materials than much of the stuff we use today. Which got us wondering how long of a legacy will we leave with what we build today? Will people thousands of years from now be able to learn anything from us or will all of our buildings and such just be gone because it’s not built to withstand the test of time. It was really interesting.

Then came one of the best parts of this ENTIRE trip! We got back on that small boat and went and drove around a small little sea cave. Then we dropped the anchor – and just jumped in the water in the MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN! It was AMAZING! Super cold right away, but probably one of the most fun and exhilarating things I’ve ever done in my life! It was soooooooo cool!! Afterwards we took the boat back and went and ate lunch at this AMAZING place right next to the water – probably one of the best meals I’ve had this whole trip too!! Ha ha, the bread was AMAZING and I had pork souvlaki (kebob) and some amazing fried potatoes. I love this place.

If you are EVER planning a trip to Greece you have GOT to go to Antiparos, if you have time of course. The cave is apparently one of the oldest in Europe!

Well, I’m working on uploading more photos onto facebook, so just look at that last link that I posted. It’s being kind of finicky, so I’m not sure if it will work right away – but I’m going to keep working on it. I also got Photoshop to work – all together now – YAYYYY!!!! I’ve been trying for the past week, and I’m so excited because now I won’t have to spend so much time on the slow, dinky computers in the school’s computer lab.

Alright – well, that’s all for now!
xoxo

p.s. I was going to add pictures onto here, but it's not cooperating with me, so just look on the facebook link!
Here's a link to the next album - I'll continue to add to this one, so keep checking it!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27388&id=1278630039&l=817b04ec2f

More pictures!

Hey guys, I don't have much time to write, or post a picture up on here - but I just thought I'd let you know that I created another new album on facebook - so feel free to look at it!

Here's the link!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27235&id=1278630039&l=3cc10a8cea

Also, my e-mail isn't working this morning, so if you sent me anything I won't be able to respond.

Got a phone card last night and got to talk to Mom, Dad, Kenzie and Kyle - it was SOOO nice!

I'll write more later tonight when we're back from Antiparos! WE GET TO SEE CAVES!

LOVE YOU!
xoxo