greecian beauty!

my my my emotions are high. (that was studdering and rhythmic). anywho, it's odd to type, feels like it's been forever.
what a break from reality and a glimpse into a different one the past 10 days have been. i took pictures of breathtaking sunsets on ancient greek islands (that eventually i'll figure out how to put on the internet.. ha), picked rocks with beautiful people from the beautiful beachs of rhodes, threw up on the Agean 1 (our dashing cruise ship that loved to rock), roamed one of the 7 wonders of the world in Turkey, made out with a hot british guy in a club in Athens, danced with Greeks, ate delicious (actual greek) and not so delicious(cruise/hotel) foods, rode a donkey to the top of a mountain that hosted the phenomenal city of Santorini, lost my voice, went to amazing museums, attempted to speak greek... need i continue?
i cannot seem to come straight out and say, 'this has been the best time of my life!', only because i'm just not one to call something the best/worst/whatever... but i can say that this has been, to put it in one word that we used oh so often, 'Awesome!!'.. Throughout the trip I kept feeling like I was gaining a global experience rather than just a Greek one because there were people from everyyywhere in greece and on the cruise.

wow. i have so much i could write about. the musing went on and on as i was introduced to new wonders my mind wandered. i wrote some poetry, drew some pictures, bought a crap load of crap (for myself and others)...

so i had never been to europe before this, but it was crazy for me to see how English really is such a global language. In every airport we went to (ones in germany, greece, and france) Everything was subwritten in English.. and in Germany and Greece espcially.. almost every-other advertisment/billboard was written in English. Yes, I'm just niave, it's not that astounding.. but it made me feel a little self centered. (not like i could help it or do anything about it).. but it just bothered me to know that the whole world knows my language and i know no one elses (minus my crappy attempts at spanish). Also, the majority of people i spoke to from other countries (greece, serbia.. okay, that was it) spoke english. So it really makes me want to if not learn other countries languages (because there are just too damn many to learn them all) at least learn about their cultures/histories etc.

at one point when we were at Santorini, Judy and I had gone back to "Lucky's" for our second gyro in about 30 minutes cause they were THAT good... and while she was waiting in line i ran to get my mom a greek cook book... and it was so crazy, as i was running back (we were short on time) i broke out into a laughing/crying fit because i couldn't get over how amazing and beautiful and free the place that i was standing in was. and when i got back, judy told me that she had just started to cry because the experience was so beautiful.

i jotted down a re-cap of what we did every day because we jammed so many things into one day i knew that i would never remember/keep everything straight. It's too much to re-write here, but i'll touch on some of the highlights...

in Mychinoes after walking around for a while, i stopped in a little gyro shop and was trying to ask a little old man in greek for a recommendation. he didn't know what i was saying but he was so nice.. he kept hugging me and fed me his fetta cheese from his fork!! hahaha.. it was funny. the people are just different... so layed back, so much culture, so much pride.
Ephasus (one of the 7 wonders of the world) was so awesome.. the tour guide was really smart and was feeding us all sorts of fun facts (that of course my brain-dead mind doesn't remember).. but we saw the original Nike statue and the doctor symbol with the snake..
I loved Patmos so much. Instead of shopping we roamed around the back alleys of beautiful colored houses and local greek homes picking delicious lemons and photographs and sun in our faces.
wow, it's so weird to be home.
Before we got off the ship for Rhodes, Alaina Paige and I were eating lunch and we befriended this guy named Steve from california.. he ended up roaming around Rhodes with us and we went to this awesome museum and then picked rocks from the beautiful beach for at least 2 hours. any average joe might have thought us crazy for sitting, legs spread, pants rolled up, filling our bags with assorted rocks.. but there was no where i would have rather been. it was beautiful and peaceful and perfect.
While we were in crete i really felt like i could see myself living there.. it was a very blue-colar-like city. kind of reminded me of baltimore, minus all the drugs (i'm sure they're there though)... that was another thing about greece.. i saw hardly any homeless people. i know they're somewhere, but they were hidden well.
**insert santorini/judy/gyros bit from above (i'm trying to do this is chronological order)
mmm...soft pretzles and pasteries and chocolate covered cherries. at a food break after departing from the ship and on the way to the Temple of Posidon i stopped into a little authentic greek bakery and it was delectible! (and the people who worked there were just so friendly) At the temple the wind nearly blew us off the cliff, but i thought it made the whole experience more memorable/interesting/fun. ... i really will insert pictures soon. as in within the next few days.
much greatness in athens but i'm getting tired.. so i'll maybe finish this tomorrow.

i feel so lucky in so many ways for so many reasons from so many perspectives. sometimes i feel too lucky, like why did i get to live this life when so many people don't have even the slightest bit of it? but then really, everyone has their highs and lows, their beauties and sorrows. including myself. everyone does. so i appreciate the experience that i had in greece and i know this is just the beginning of my travels. this world is amazing when you think that there is no radius because every center, every person, every being is infinite.

i have poems to post about travels and loves and lost feelings and even more.

perhaps since i got waitlisted to Northeastern i'll just work/travel in the fall and start in january. i mean, really, i'd have a great time.

what better is there to do than live the life you wish to live?

love to all corners of the world via internet-rach