Yassas (hellos) from Greece!

We made it to Athens! An extremely smooth and uneventful travel day, just how we like it! I definitely felt growth in action on this day. Being relaxed enough to sleep on the flights, letting go of the potential for delays or other issues, and reading, journaling, and listening to music for 20+ hours… not something I would have been super comfortable with at the start of our trip. Or maybe I am finally just giving myself credit? Either way, we made it and have been loving Athens!

We found a park nearby where we’re staying that we’ve been walking and running in, trying to get our cardio back up for our upcoming trek! Yesterday we clocked 31,000 steps between a morning 5k run and walking around the city all afternoon and night. The architecture and history are incredible here. Tomorrow we fly to the island of Crete, where we will rent a car and stay for about a week. We plan to hike, beach hop, and road trip around the island.

We also “blend in” for the first time in all our travels so far. It makes me think about my students who come from other countries or backgrounds and enter an entirely different world with a foreign language and assimilate seamlessly. It gives me perspective and a deep respect for them. I also think about my ancestors, who most likely had an “O” attached to our last name (O’Geary) and chopped off the “O” to Americanize a bit. Our camouflage is short-lived when people approach us speaking Greek, so we have to blow our cover immediately. But it’s nice while it lasts!

We are definitely building stoke and excitement for our Peaks of the Balkans trek. We should be getting a more detailed itinerary in the next few days from the travel company. Our trek is self-guided, but we did opt to have a company apply for and arrange our visas, trail permits, and accommodations along the way. We also think this way we will meet more people going in the same direction with relatively similar itineraries. It feels like this will be a victory lap of sorts for our trip. I’ve been waking up the last few weeks a little braver than before, a little more ready to enjoy every single moment rather than analyze or “fight or flight” my way through. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for! It only took 4 months. Again, maybe I’m not giving myself enough credit.

We’re currently tied to our accommodation, as our room key powers the electricity for our place. We didn’t think much of it and started a load of laundry this morning, not realizing it would lose power when we leave. So we’re doing some planning and Greek practice. I laughed this morning, as the sentence I was prompted to practice was “The avocado is pink.” Not sure how functional Duolingo will be for us here.

It’s possible we will wear our tailored clothes around today since the weather is beautifully sunny and 70 (after we are able to leave lol), which will be a nice change from the same 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants we’ve been wearing! I will definitely be re-evaluating how many clothes I have and need after this trip. I can definitely downsize a bit.

That’s all I’ve got for now! Off to live out my Mamma Mia dreams, dancing and singing among the whitewashed, beautiful buildings of Greece. Ciao! (Wait, that’s Italian).