Athens and Ohi Day

Happy Ohi Day!!!

Ohi (Greek for NO) Day is when Greeks celebrate saying no to Italians during WWII when the Italians tried to invade the country. Every year there is a big parade in Thessaloníki...which I went to today. It was very different from US parades...no floats! and no flying tweety birds!! There were lots of flags, and LOTS of military and armed forces in the parade. At the end helicopters and planes flew overhead. All the forces made me think about war and how sad it is (I watched too much World CNN this weekend), but I can see how supporting troops and having a military is something to be proud of...especially for Greece.

Anyways, more important to me than the parade was the fact that we got a four day weekend!!! Two of the girls from the American Farm School in Thessaloníki and I went to Athens for the weekend. It was AWESOME! My favorites sites were the Acropolis (or course!!), but also the Temple of Zeus (which has 15 columns 30 feet high still standing). We also went to other archaeological cites, through the markets, ate gryos and pastries, went to the port, went to museums... The weather was beautiful and I loved just staring up at the Parthenon from wherever I was in the city. We also got to stay at our own apartment that the farm school had, so we could relax in the evenings and watch TV. I really enjoyed Athens as a city, and also just having time away from life here. The company was great too, and Amanda and I got along really well.

So now Im back here! I had time to catch my breath, and examine my jobs situations. I talked with my director today about some of my frustrations, and he agreed that it would be better to not do so many things and say no to the "man eaters" at this school who ask you to work and work and work for them. I think learning to set boundaries is a really good skill that I need practice with....

all for now!
~allie