With a spinning mind!

And now, I present to all my loyal readers... the first picture taken on my camera in Athens, Greece!.....

Well done, huh?  But really, I promise it gets better. I'm sitting in Starbucks (how American of me...) across the street from my apartment using wifi... and wish I could upload every picture I've taken so far (I'm regretting uploading that one... 4 minutes to make a dumb joke...) but I will only share a few.

I can't even begin to describe how overwhelming the last couple of days have been! We arrived at roughly 9 o'clock Monday morning, moved right into our apartments, went on a walk right away (all alone!) and found the cafe where this bathroom was located for sandwiches and coke lite. We thought we were in Syntagma Square (the location of most of the demonstrations and riots heard about in the US) but we had actually taken a wrong turn trying to get there! Whoops! Just the beginning of the adventure of figuring out this city.

We walk through Syntagma each day on our way to school (a thirty minute walk at jogging speed) and have actually seen three protest groups in the last couple of days. With big decisions in legislation coming up, protestors are really getting busy. Today was a public transportation strike... so the metro, bus system, and taxis all were not running.

Protestors are really not so scary... they carry a sign and some have megaphones... but for the most part it's a just a huge group of people walking down the street, chatting and smoking cigarettes.

Monday we also went to dinner for the first time as a group at a taverna in Monastriki, the location of the Acropolis, two metro stops from our apartment. Walking out of the metro, this was our first view....

Pretty sweet huh! Dinner was AWESOME! Five courses, first bread, then a greek salad (no lettuce; the feta is INCREDIBLE!)....

Then some cheese dumplings and little spinach fritter things that I missed out on taking a picture of... then chicken, french fries, and delicious rice! WOOO!

Oh and for dessert... watermelon for two! Three chunks with two little forks, and you had to find a partner to share with. Pretty great.

The bathrooms at the restaurant were SO cool and I definitely think this will be a place I go back to with Mom, Dad and Toph when they come at Thanksgiving!

This is really getting to be a marathon post, but hopefully from here on out blogs will be a little more regular and I will be able to post on just one thing at a time! A few highlights... bullet points...

-We can't flush the toilet paper, we have to throw it out.

-We turn the hot water heater on 20 minutes prior to taking a shower, then turn it back off to avoid electric shock!

-Grocery shopping for the first time was HILARIOUS

-We bought cell phones for 10 euro (0030-6941679732 if you want to try to call me! but it'll cost you!)

-There are stray dogs EVERYWHERE and they're better at crossing the street than us!

-Everyone rides motorcycles! The other day I saw one motorcycle with a family of three on it!

-Internet is limited. We have wifi at school, and a computer lab, but for the most part we can't get it.

Anyway... that's all for now. I would say goodbye in Greek, if I could type in the Greek alphabet. Sound it out.... Ahdeeho sahs...