Me, Myself, and Santorini

Hello from Santorini! 

Paradise is not a place... it's a feeling. I found paradise in Santorini! After spending two days in Athens, I jumped on a ferry and headed to the islands of Greece. Of course I chose the one that was the furthest away but even after spending 8 hours on a ferry, it was all worth it. My time in Santorini was short and sweet and worth every second.

I chose not to book a room before my arrival because I read on many blogs that there are always men waiting at the port waiting to transfer people to hotels. Santorini isn't a huge island so I figured I would wing it and see what happened. I arrived at the port and low and behold, it was all true, however the blog forgot to mention the quality of the rooms that were available. Of course I forgot to ask the right questions and with my luck, I ended up in a historic 1000 year old house with a beautiful view of the sea. Not bad, but a mini lesson learned. Falling asleep to the sound of the sea splashing against the shore made up for my lack of luxury though.

Because Santorini is such a small island, many tourists rent four wheelers and ride up and down the coast. I was only scheduled to be there for one day because I had to catch the ferry to get back to Athens the following day. I was so scared! Although there weren't many people driving, people in cars were passing the four wheelers and it just didn't look safe. Plus, the roads weren't just township roads, it was the actual highway with a huge body of water next to it. All I could think about was jumping on the four wheeler and getting hurt in a foreign country or losing control and driving into the sea! Either way... I decided to live a little. I rented a quad for 15 euro and hit the highway. I was so proud of myself and the scenery was beautiful! Seeing the islands of Greece made me forget about the Persian war and allowed me to embrace the scenic paradise of a perfect country. Many people go to the islands for weddings and romantic get-aways. I assumed that after finding out that much of the scenic areas were "private." Maybe I'll be able to get some privacy one day!

Because of my timing and distance from Athens,  there wasn't much that I was able to explore in Santorini. I had a wonderful time during the hours that I was there. This place is beautiful and I will definitely go back.

My time in Greece has come to an end. I attempted to ask a Greek man to explain the situation about the Persian war to me however he responded with, "my English is not so good." I explained to him the bit that I had learned and he said, "that's about right" and avoided the conversation. I'm unsure if it were just him or if the war is a sensitive topic that many avoid discussing. My experience here has definitely rubbed my curiosity and I will  be doing some research on Greece.

Although this is a short post about Santorini, I'll allow the pictures to do the rest of the talking!

Thanks for the wonderful time Greece!
Until we meet again...

Besos

You came all the way to Greece, looking for English...

Hello from Athens, Greece!

The school year has finally finished and I am officially on summer break! I've been waiting patiently for this time of year to come around and it is finally here. I randomly decided to come to Greece because I had about a week to spare before I needed to leave for my initial trip. I figured... why stick around in Abu Dhabi... why not add more pins to my travel map? I hadn't done any research before coming and I booked my hotel room about 5 hours before I needed to board my flight. My procrastination is getting out of control. Please pray for me!

I arrived in Athens on Saturday. Luckily for me, Greece is pretty efficient with public transportation; there was a bus that took me from the airport all the way to my hotel. My hotel was quite a way from the city center so I quickly checked in and decided to hit the streets. Of course my first stop was for food and beer. I had a real Greek gyro. The thought of it brings up happy feelings! I can now officially say that I've eaten a gyro because anything that I had before doesn't qualify.

After I finished eating, I went to the Acropolis Museum. I'm glad that I started with a history lesson because I don't remember learning much about Greek history aside from Greek Gods and Goddesses.

Athens is full of many monumental statues, towers, and artifacts that were built thousands of years ago. There is a long historical story to be told about Athens, however what stuck from the museum was the effects of the Persian war. Good thing I'm not a history person because the history of Athens is quite confusing to me. I am hoping to speak to someone who is from Greece to explain what exactly happened here. Even while I was at the museum, I was reading the small descriptions of each artifact and who sculpted what but it wasn't sinking in. I need a real life narrator to help me to understand. In a nutshell, the movie 300 must have come from real life events because that movie reminds me of the war between Persia and Athens. If the movie is based on the wars, please forgive my lack of knowledge; my one day experience surely can't account for thousands of years of Athens' history.

Thousands of years ago, people used to build monuments and statues for important people. These statues were built of marble and were of great size. During the wars, the men were burning and destroying these monuments as they were trying to overtake Athens. Athens could not be defeated. For quite sometime, they were a very prestigious army. After the battles, they rebuilt a few statues and monuments however, after a few battles, they decided not to rebuild and to leave them as a significant remembrance of who they were. Interestingly, that is exactly what they did. Many of the monuments are holding on by threads. When I went to Acropolis, they were barking at people for even attempting to touch the columns. They say that when you touch it, the marble changes to a dark color and it doesn't shine as much. They are doing a wonderful job of preserving what they have left.

 At the Tower of Zeus, one of the columns fell down and they left it there! At another monument, it looks like piles of marbles with maybe one or two columns still standing. It is obvious that they have pieced together some artifacts and monuments however many of them are still standing.
It's an interesting thing to see such a pride in history. Many people travel from all over the world to see Athens and the Greek Islands. Athens is not much of a relaxing area however it is rich in history. I'm very happy that I made this trip.

Stereotypically, Greek people look very "Greek"; dark hair, tall, hairy, etc. The men are beautiful though! During my history adventure, I met Miss Rashida. She is from London. She was a solo traveler as well and both of us connected at the Tower of Zeus. She had a hammam bath and massage scheduled for the day so I tagged along with her. Shockingly, Mr. Arios was the MALE masseuse who had the luxury of rubbing her down for the day! She shared her experience and explained how during her massage, he started to massage her lips while saying, "this is extra special and only for you." LOL! Now... I've had plenty of massages and I have yet to have my lips massaged! Toward the end of the massage he was asking her where her hotel was located! I told her he wanted to give her the complete package! Not to brag, but during my massage experiences in Morocco, I had the luxury of having large and heavy handed women scrub me down while singing Moroccan spiritual hymns. Next time, I think I'll go for the Greek God instead... yes... next time.

We ended the night over dinner with Rashida's friend Aisha. We sat around talking about our jobs and our experiences in London and in the states. Rashida is a lawyer, Aisha is similar to a social worker and of course I am the teacher. I talked about the interesting experiences that I've had from working with international kids, which turned into a conversation about abused and neglected kids, which turned into a conversation about people throwing themselves in front of trains because they can't handle their kids! No... just kidding, but they were saying how there are many purposeful deaths by train in London and both of them had witnessed at least one person committing suicide personally. My theory behind why so many people are sad and depressed in London is because there is not enough sun light during the year! They experience too many gloomy and cloudy days! Well Rashida had her sunny day in the hammam room in Greece so I'm sure she'll be just fine for the remainder of the year!

Because I did not plan anything to do before I arrived, on the second day, I decided to buy a ticket for the hop-on hop off bus. These buses take you on touristy tours around the city. The buses were leaving from the city center but my hotel was a little far from there. I got on a local city bus with hopes that it would take me to the center to buy my ticket. I started asking every and anyone, " which bus should I take... will this bus take me?" Every time I asked someone, I would get these blank stares because none of the people that I asked spoke English. After many failures, I got off the bus and jumped in a taxi. When I got to the center to buy the ticket, there was a guy that asked me how my day was. His accent sounded European. I started to explain to him how difficult it was getting to the center and how I kept asking people for help and no one spoke English. He sarcastically responded, "huh... you came all the way to Greece looking for English..." I guess I did sound silly!

Athens was great and now I am on my way to the islands. Santorini, Greece...

I'll be in touch soon!
Besos besos.

The mosquitoes in Greece are so disrespectful... I got bit in my FACE... twice!

Yummy morning treat!

Some columns have been pieced back together.

This is the untouched monument... looks like piles of marble.

One of life's most simple treasures is spending time with the ones we love...

Hello everyone!

I hope this new post finds you in good spirits. I've missed you all... I admit that it has been a little while since I last added a post to my blog but I think this post was well worth the wait...

My mom came to visit meeeee!

She was here for one week last month and I feel bad because I didn't realize how fast the time had passed. I remember preparing to write this post last month and here it is June and I'm just getting around to it. Wow... time flies.

I was thinking the other day and I realized that my mother's visit was actually a milestone in my international journey because she is the first family member to come and visit me overseas. I have had a few friends come, however my mother was the first of my family. What a blessing. I was truly excited about her coming to visit me here in Abu Dhabi and it actually turned out to be a wonderful trip.

 I arranged for us to go to Dubai and visit the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world. We did a desert safari trip and she was able to ride a camel while I did the quads. I've been on a camel quite a few times and I don't think I need to ride a camel ever again in life!! It's not an experience that I can say I "enjoy!"

I cooked dinner for a few friends while she was here and we all sat around and ate while we enjoyed each other's company. We went to visit the grand mosque and she learned a bit about the history of the United Arab Emirates. She was also able to come to my school and meet my coworkers and my students as well. My kids were so excited to meet her... especially Mahmoud who kept saying "hello Ms. Brown"... he is a bit mischievous but they were all excited.

One of my other kids, Ernesto, said "Miss Tiffany, your mom is beautiful!" I had already prepped them for her arrival so they knew that she was coming.

Originally, both my mom and my grandmother were planning to come and visit together. Sadly, a few days before their scheduled departure, my great-grandfather passed away. My Gramma had to stay behind for her father's funeral and could not make the trip.

Grandpa Aron Hearn was 95 years old and was blessed to live a long and prosperous life. I remember speaking with him when I was home last Christmas; he was joking and telling me that I needed to find and marry a rich man over here and get myself a husband! Even at 95 years old, he was still full of life. He was truly a wonderful man. Many people are not fortunate to meet their grandparents, let alone their great-grandparents so I am truly blessed because I was able to enjoy my great-grandfather's presence while he was here on this earth. I will cherish those memories forever. Interestingly, in one of my previous posts, I blogged about my great-grandmother passing away; she lived to be 99 years old. As sad as it is to lose loved ones, nothing but joy comes to my heart when I think about the memories that I was able to share with them. All three of my grandparents that I have lost will continue to live in my heart and in my stories that I share with my family and my own kids. My desire is to live a long and prosperous life, just as they did.

"One of life's most simple treasures is spending time with the ones that we love"... something so simply said but something that most of us take for granted. I am truly blessed to have shown my mother a piece of my journey; a piece of my life. Encouraging her to witness the things that are so precious to me that when I left home 3 years ago, I haven't looked back since. Talking about my experiences through my blog and sharing stories with family and friends doesn't describe half of my three year journey being overseas. I'm not sure that it justifies ten percent of it. For my mother to come and embrace a culture, meet my children, see me teach, and express how proud of me she is... is truly priceless.

I have completely accepted that I am the odd ball of my family because I went against the odds of what was "normal" to everyone else... and that's ok. The amazing part is that my journey is inspiring others to do things that aren't "normal" as well. The astonishing part is that one of the "others" being inspired is my mom. My mother came to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; not to be on vacation but to visit me. Now who would have thought that a small family from Dooley Drive would be spinning the globe and collecting passport stamps? I am truly happy and fulfilled to have spent that week with her. We have created some memories of our own that I will embrace and keep forever.

The end of the school year is near and I have about two weeks left before I head home. I have already began to plan my summer adventures and  there are many things that I am looking forward to doing... one thing that I won't forget is to spend time with the ones that I love...

Besos besos...