Day One

Well, after a wonderful 10 hour sleep and a relaxing day, I am ready for field school to officially start tomorrow. Also, check out the photo stream I added on the right side of the screen!

Today started at 4:30 am when Gen arrived as she was part of the group who arrived on last night's ferry. I woke up for half a second and then went back to sleep, until I was woken up at 5:00 (and every 15 minutes thereafter) by the roosters and goats that live next door. Man are those roosters annoying!

Our simple but comfortable studio from the little balcony looking towards the front door.

I dozed until 8:00am, and then got up and joined my three roommates Em, Gen, and Julia. I know Em and Gen from UofT (Emily is a PhD in my lab and taught me many times during my undergrad; Gen was an undergrad who graduated a year after me and shared many many many hours of class with me; Julia is a new friend from Winnipeg). Em fixed us some delicious breakfast consisting of greek yogurt topped with almonds and drizzled with honey, and then we headed off to our favorite internet cafe so Gen could get something with a bit more sustenance to eat. Afterwards, we headed off on an adventure to explore the town!

Observe demon hill snaking up toward the main part of town.

First we walked up the monster hill toward the main part of Chora as we are living in a bay below the town. That hill is INSANE. I'm going to have calves of steel by the time I am home! Up overlooking the bay we found several neat restaurants, bakeries, and shops. We bought a few groceries, including some muesli to put on our yogurt, and then headed next door to the fruit and veggie shop. Emily and I bought some bananas and apples for snacks in the morning before we go up to the lab. Julia needed some money out, so we walked down the other side of the mountain into the bay where the 1 atm is for the entire island. We walked down 300+ stairs, all of which were varying sizes, through narrow alleys flanked by beautiful white houses with brilliant blue shutters. Then we walked back up the stairs (hard work) and around Chora before returning to our studio to drop off groceries.

After hiking up the hill! Chora is topped with some beautiful ruins I intend to explore this weekend. By my left shoulder you can just make out the site we are working on.

Who needs a stair master when you have these? This is only the top QUARTER!

After putting groceries away we headed to our favorite restaurant near the beach for lunch. We noted that rooster and goat is on the menu, so NEIGHBORS BEWARE: If you wake me up one more bloody time you will be eaten. Ha.

After lunch we went swimming in the beautiful ocean, which turns a wonderful teal color when the sun is up. Gen, Em, and I had a floating competition, and then we watched the giant private ship that came and harbored in the bay. It must be worth a couple million... redoinkulous. It makes the boat in the "I'm on a boat" music video look like a rowboat. It looks like it has sailed right out of a hollywood movie.

Anyway, tonight we have a welcome dinner with everyone from field school up in Chora, which will be nice. Virginia, a local from the island, along with her boyfriend and sister, are cooking for us every day but Sunday while we are here. I am excited to try a variety of local foods to see how I like Greek cuisine. So far everything I have had has been excellent.

Ill write tomorrow after our first day of field school!

Mileage Remaining: 5, 452
Days Remaining in Trip: 48