By: Kristin from Jacksonville, Florida (JJVA) and a little bit from Miss. Texas aka; Whitney – St. Augustine, FL (SAVA)

Today we awoke at 4:30, yes A.M; I didn’t even know my clock had a five A.M. This is probably why our cabin fell back asleep and didn’t wake up until Janice came and woke us up. This scared us and we had to hurry to get ready. Not to mention it was like zero degree’s Celsius in our cabin. Okay, maybe not exactly zero, more like fifteen however it was extremely cold. Which made us move EVEN slower. Seriously though, who wakes up that early?!? It was actually only 9 P.M. in the United States. So it just wasn’t even fair for us to be up that early. Not only did we have to be awake, we had to be at the bus with our luggage at 5:15 and yes once again, I mean A.M. Then we slowly headed to breakfast which consisted of Cheerios (for Whitney) and some chocolate cocoa puffs (for Kristin) otherwise known as the usual. We then went back and did a quick walkthrough of the cabin and discovered nothing left behind. The minute we sat down on the bus we pulled out our ipods and proceeded to fall asleep.

After sleeping through the 90 minute drive, we arrived at the ferry. We then got off of the bus and grabbed our suitcases and boarded the ferry (or fairy as Whitney likes to spell it, her spelling skills aren’t the best.)  We put our luggage in a big room and went to find some seats. The comfortable seats were unavailable so we headed to the upper deck where the tables were wet and the seats left these funky little lines on your legs. We all sat down at one table and started a big game of Kent; which seems to be the game of the trip. Whitney and I did fairly well until Makayla and Taylor figured out our sign, but it was okay and we went back to one of your old signs which means…DOMINATION. Then we all went and go a snack which for a lot of us meant this funky frozen coffee thing called a froccacino (yeah, that’s spelled wrong, but you get the point.) And boy that coffee drink was a MAJOR mistake; it made all of us sick, not to mention…it was WAY over priced. So lesson learned; no frozen coffee drinks on ferries. Makayla and Taylor started to play Spit and Speed. Then they started playing Egyptian Ratscrew, more commonly known as ERS. I (Kristin) basically dominated at that game winning every hand. Taylor was getting pretty bad. Then Gabby, Whitney, and I bought a notebook which I am going to use to replace the journal that was wrongfully taken from me. Yeah, so maybe I’m a little vindictive about it, but only a little bit. That ferry took forever, 4 hours to be exact (three of the hours…Whitney slept).

We got off of the ferry and then got on the bus for a 10 minutes ride, most of it spent waiting for traffic to open up, which took us to the hotel. We are staying at Hotel Polos. It is pretty nice, I am rooming with Whitney and even she thinks the shower is small. This should tell ya’ll something. Our room is TINY but it’s cozy so we can’t really complain. After we get into our rooms a bunch of us got into our swimsuits and took a quick dip in the pool. We then went to lunch at a near by restaurant, which was pretty good. Then we came back to our rooms, got ready and headed to the beach. Well the water was cold, as per usual, however it felt really good once you got used to it. We all swam out to these floating docks in the middle of the water and decided to climb up on them and just goof off. We all started to swim around and then someone found a hermit crab we named Pierre. There were also quite a few more crabs but we won’t go into all the names. After a while of underwater pictures (which was a complicated process) and some horseplay between Mrs. Berini and Mrs. Martin (which was funny) we all decided to go back to the floating docks. Well that was another major mistake. We got onto the docks and we were all just goofing around. Well these two local guys about our age decided they wanted to climb up onto the docks with us. Well we start rocking it so that they couldn’t get on. Well one of the men gets on and starts pushing us all in, he was kidding around. Then we get back on and he does it again. Well finally we all just moved to the other dock. They followed us to it and started pushing us off as well. Well finally, I decided to push him in as well to get him back. Well he came up to push me in, but I was bigger than him, and we all started to goof off and I hit him and he hit me, it was all funny. He finally got the message that we didn’t want to be pushed in.

Then we got bored of the docks and decided to walk back to shore (leaving the two guys behind.) We played a little volleyball and then decided to head back. We didn’t do much; we played an intense game of Marco Polo in the pool. Also we took WAY too many underwater pictures. Then we all showered, and a couple of us went shopping. Then we all headed to dinner at 8:30 then we were all pretty tired and headed to bed. All in all it was a pretty eventful day. 

By: Meghan and Taelor from Jacksonville, Florida, Megan from B’ham, AL too

Our dearest Ave Yapud,

Today we awoke bright and early in the wee hour of five am.  After being ripped from our warm cozy beds and thrown into the cold harshness of the outside world, due to Meghan’s astounding ability to control the weather in our cabin, we then proceeded to wreak havoc upon the WC.  Dragging our luggage down to load the bus/attempt to remain somewhat asleep, our six little troopers of cabin 7A then trudged along to our final breakfast at the Loutraki Sports Camp.  The drive to the city of Athena was uneventful, as most of our group of fifty dozed on and off as the bus followed the twists and turns of the thin winding roads.  We then were astounded of the marvels of THE FERRY, which to JC’s lament was not an actual fairy.  Through Herculean efforts we managed to fight our ways to the luggage compartment; an event much comparable to pinball.  We only experienced five casualties…moment of silence. 

Once on board and settled in, our hunger began to overwhelm us and drove us from our wet benches down below deck into the abyss of smoke and body odor.  After passing the first two cafes, we found that the furthest one was the best.  Taelor had set us on a mission to acquire something delicious and nutritious that fell into the following categories: 1. no chocolate, 2. a Danish of sorts, 3. fruit must be involved, 4. not too fruity, 5. must be served by a hot waiter.  Our hearts were burdened with the pressure of satisfying Taelor’s hunger.  Could we do it?  Marion tested our theory of the delusional Greek man who claimed he spoke English when she inquired about a muffin, and he responded “it’s a muffin”.  After the further examination we discovered that it was a chocolate muffin, which could in no way satisfy Taelor.  As our arduous mission continued, the breakfast club finally spied with their little eyes a Danish, which contained no chocolate, no fruit, and was served by a sweaty man (who technically is hot by default).  We quickly made the 1,10 Euro purchase and sprinted back topside with the Danish in hand.  The bossy tyrant was dissatisfied with her Danish, casting it overboard in disdain, unaware of the trials and tribulations we had just minutes before faced.  As the four hour journey commenced, we learned that Goody’s would be served starting at 10:00 am.  Once again, JC was somewhat confused with the many homonyms of the English language, insisting that goodies were to be handed out as if celebrating the end of someone’s party, as opposed to a fast food restaurant being opened.  Finally our journey was coming to an end, as the “land ho” horn was blown.  We scurried downstairs, swords brandished, preparing for the final battle of the ferry.  Grabbing our luggage, knocking aside a few Greeks, we crawled out the underbelly and stepped into the bright Paros sunshine. 

It took 20 minutes to load our bus that traveled us 5 minutes down the road to Hotel Polos.  The teams scattered, journeying to the seaside, the poolside, and the bedside.  Cabin 7A was separated, Marion and Meghan, Taelor and Megan, Erin and Jen, but at lunch we were reunited over fresh pita, meat and rice.  More swimming, napping, and shopping, and flirting with the natives, was to be had by all.  Later that evening was a bountiful Greek feast consisting of more fresh pita, salad, eggplant, chicken and potatoes.  Now, here we sit, typing and missing you, Ave.  Think of us fondly, and try not to be too jealous.  WHAT THE HAYELL?!?  Love you, peace, bye