The next game we played was this past Sunday against Ippokratis-Kos. They are located on the island of Kos, which means that we got to travel there! We ended up flying to the island, whichever as only about an hour flight, but not before the idea of taking a ship was tossed around. If we would have taken the ship, it would have been a 13-hour trip and we would have slept on the boat. I must say, I'm very happy our club decided to fly us there! We got up really early on Sunday to fly at 9:30, we got to the island at 10:30, headed to a local cafe for some coffee and sandwiches, hung out for a bit, played our game at 2:30, after the game went to dinner, then headed back to the airport for our flight back to Athens at 7! It was a long day, but it was a good trip, except for the outcome of the game. When we got to the airport in Arhens on Sunday morning, we had some time to kill before our flight was going to take off. We walked around the airport and I spotted some American candy at the Duty Free Shop. They had Snickers, M&M's, Mars Bars, a bunch of other chocolates, and Skittles! A lot of these candies, I hadn't seen since I'd been here. I asked my teammates if they had ever tried Skittles, to which they all replied 'No,' so I decided to buy a bag so they could try them! Most of the girls liked them, although a couple of the girls had pretty funny reactions. It might not seem like much, but it was fun to share with them a little bit of our culture. I think they enjoy experiencing what I know and I wish I could share more with them!
Before we left on Sunday, I got to meet up with a family friend from Columbia that was in Athens for business on Friday night, which also happened to be Valentines Day! Our family friend, Dr. Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes, is originally from Greece. He is a professor at the University of Missouri and was performing elvauations on the colleges here in Athens. His wife and my mom are friends, and I also babysat for their two kids many years ago. It was awesome to be able to meet up with somebody from home and get a little taste of Columbia! His nephew, Spyridon, also joined us for dinner. Spyridon was a student-athlete at Virginia Tech University, where he was a four time NCAA champion in the hammer throw! We had a really great conversation over dinner, which we then carried over to coffee and dessert! Dr. K also brought a little present from home that my mom sent with him. I was so excited to open up my little gift! Since we spent such a long time at dinner, coffee and dessert, Spyridon offered to give me a ride home on his motorcycle. I had never ridden on a motorcycle before and it was an awesome experience! I want to go on more rides!! Overall, I had a fantastic Valentines Day!
We had the day off on Monday after getting home from our game Sunday so Lykendra Johnson and I decided to go to the downtown area for some lunch and some shopping. She had also never been to the Acropolis so I made her go up there! We had a great time walking around up there and then getting burgers for lunch at the Fish Cafe. I don't know if you guys remember, but my mom and I ate there when she was here in November and I had been wanting to go back so I'm glad I could take Lykendra. Then we shopped all around the Plaka and down to Ermou Street. I found a necklace that I loved and Lykendra found some awesome leather purses! Overall, we had a nice day off. The weather being in the high 60's also helped out! I started sweating a little but on my way up to the top of the Acropolis haha.
Yesterday it was 75 degrees out. I opened up the windows and doors in my apartment and took a nice afternoon nap with the beautiful breeze! I was thinking of heading down to the beach but I think I'll wait till it gets just a little bit warmer out to do that. Right now, it's 65 and it's supposed to be in the mid 60's for the rest of the week. I hope the weather back home starts warming up soon!
Take care everybody and stay warm!
This picture is of me on the island of Kos. In the background, you can see Turkey! Kos is only about an hour boat ride from Turkey.
Here is a picture of me and Lykendra at the top of the Acropolis
And I got caught being a tourist here haha 
No comments:
Post a Comment