A Day Trip to Santorini

Marty and Cathy planned a trip to Santorini today.  Paul was kind enough to make sure they had an early breakfast before they departed for the bus.  Marty even got to use the umbrella she packed even if it was for 5 minutes.  The girls walked to the Dolphin Bay Hotel where they were picked up by the tour bus.

A 90 minute boat trip later and they arrived on the beautiful island of Santorini.  A tour bus took them to Oia where they had an hour to explore the area.  They loved the architecture, the blue domes, the churches, etc. etc.  It was especially interesting to find out there were over 600 Greek Orthodox Churches and 40 Roman Catholic Churches on the island.  Many are small chapels built and owned by individual families.  The tour guide also mentioned there are several “Name Days (Feast Days)” celebrated daily and if you happen to see one, feel free to join in on the festivities and food because everyone is invited.”

The grape vines are nourished by the humidity.  The vines do not need to be staked and appear as bushes.  The harvest is plentiful and the wine is extraordinary.  The early harvest is for table wine and the late harvest is for wine used in Church for Holy Communion (Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic).

The next stop on the tour was at Thira, the capitol of Santorini.  The view of the Caldera was spectacular.  Cathy and Marty browsed the shops and discovered a refreshingly beautiful oasis where they enjoyed and savored Ice Cream (Marty) and Greek Yogurt (Cathy) followed by a glass of Santorini wine – excellent!

The last stop was at the Black Sand Beach at the far end of the island.  Our day in Santorini regretfully was coming to an end.

We arrived back in Amoundara and decided to have a light dinner at a local taverna.  After a delightful meal of dolmathes, fried zucchini slices accompanied by tzatziki and some more wine, we were fully satisfied.  As an extra treat, the taverna treated us to a plate of loukamathes and raki.  What a delightful  and unforgettable day! 

While the girls were on the adventure, Karl remained at the Hotel and spent his day in the library enjoying the peace and quiet.

Another day in paradise

After Marty completed her early morning walk (7-8 miles), the team settled down to breakfast.  The journal was messaged and the day followed.

The free time beckoned the girls walk into town; they bought some jewelry and had coffee on the beach.  Karl retreated to the library and reviewed a book.  The team rested-up for a well proportioned lunch, completing some lesson planning along the way.

A heavy lunch ensured.  Then more free time for lesson planning, reading and news updates.  The afternoons are delightful.  Karl felt brave and took a shower followed by a “short” nap.  Marty and Cathy prepared games for the students.  We were all ready for the kids…were they ready for us!  Or how many words drawn from “encompassed”, Leah and Gabriella were tied at 51.  In Scrabble, Anthony (the defending champion) faced a challenge.  After a hard fought contest, he retained his title –“Champion of the World”!

Following the session with the students, Cathy continued her nightly English lesson plan with the hotel staff while Karl and Marty conversed with Nikos and his wife on language and geography.

The discussion that was planned on culture will take place next week.

A Game of Scrabble

Marty set out in the a.m. before breakfast for a long, long walk – all the way to CarreFour  (4km each way).

Then the three team members met for breakfast and were later joined by Sam.  Karl read his journal. The team expressed their gratitude to Sam for a delightful evening at the taverna in town.

After breakfast, Karl retreated to the library, Marty worked on lesson plans and Cathy ventured out, taking a bus to CarreFour to get some euros.  She met Maria enroute who was kind enough to help out with a ticket. They rode the bus together and at the next bus stop, Sam got on the bus. One or more of us seem to keep bumping into Sam at a bus stop or on the bus!

The students arrived at 5pm.  Marty continued to tutor Alice; Rafaela couldn’t attend today.  Alice continues to amaze Marty with her ability to grasp English.  She is also teaching Marty Greek.

Cathy and Karl decided to work together with the high school students.  Karl interviewed Maria, using the matrix he developed for the other students.  Cathy created a game using the word “Gingerbread”.  The students had to write as many words as possible using the letters from the word gingerbread.  Gabriella won the game but it was a close call.

The competition continued with a game of Scrabble. It was competitive, animated and fun.  Anthony was the winner and tomorrow there will be a playoff to see if he can maintain his lead.  As an added bonus, Karl was introduced to the game of scrabble and we think he enjoyed it. 

After the Scrabble competition, Cathy tutored the hotel staff in English – a nightly event.  They are grasping English very quickly.  Karl and Marty tutored Maria and Nick.

All in all, it was a great day. 

The greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

The team met at 8:45 am for breakfast following another great night.  Sam joined us for the journal reading and “thought for the day”.

The morning included lesson planning, laundry and catching up.  Karl stayed in the “library” while the girls did their individual thing.  Both went swimming; chit chat followed, along with sunbathing.

Leah’s English skills are excellent, she thinks clearly and expresses herself well.  Sam has a daughter with good values and she should be proud.

Lunch was delightful as usual, followed by free time and planning for the arrival of students in the late afternoon.

We received three students at 5 pm – 2 teenagers and 2 8 year olds.  Cathy and Karl joined forces with the two teenagers.  We followed a similar path Karl held with Leah in the morning.  We taught until 6:45pm then addressed the prospect of dinner in a local restaurant.  Marty held court with her two little gals.

The restaurant was exceptional – food, service, etc.  All was superior and worth another visit!!

- Karl

Begining of Lessons

Another splendid day dawns on Crete.  Following the breakfast buffet (oh, what is finer than to start the day with creamy delicious Cretan yogurt?) Sam led us in our team meeting.  We enjoyed Cathy’s journal of yesterday and her chosen quote.

Karl retired to the library, otherwise known as the pool patio to read.  Sam accompanied Cathy and Marty to a nearby travel agency to help facilitate their Saturday excursion to Santorini.  Success! It sounds like a grand day.

Reading, sunning, swimming, and catching up on laundry filled the morning hours.  Lunch was, as always, delicious and copious: Greek (well, of course) meatballs (keftethes), rice and fries delicately fried in pure olive oil, and oh, yum, Greek (most certainly) steamed greens in olive oil and lemon juice. The afternoon provided time to work on lesson plans.

I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that by late afternoon we were all eager to meet our students, to do what we had come to Crete to do.  At 5:00 the fun began, Karl and Cathy dividing up the group of teenagers (about 7) and Marty heading for the pool patio with 8 yr. old Alice and 9 yr. old Rafaela.  By 7:30 things were winding down, the teenagers heading out to other aspects of their lives and the little ones a bit restless after a day at school and then tutoring in English.  The atmosphere in the hotel remained lively ; Marty joined Cathy who was by this time helping Irene and Suzanne with useful hotel phrases, Karl conversing with Sam’s second oldest daughter, and Nikos plying Marty with frustrating riddles.

Dinner came along, as always delicious, this time more broccoli shreds (does that accurately describe this delicacy?) in olive oil and lemon juice, potatoes and (oh double yum!!) dolmathes accompanied by a fish entrée.  The lobby, which is truly more like a family’s living room, continued to be a lively place with animated conversations going on between  Dimitri, Terry, and others.    The youngsters, Alice and Rafaela, were given dinner, this after a full day of school, a couple hours of English tutoring, and homework.  In this atmosphere I think we all feel we have been graciously immersed in family life.

Life is Good

Our three member team met for our traditional Greek breakfast at 8:30 am. Our hotel hosts have been exceptional and we all commented on the pride they take in the facility.   All of us were well rested after our travels.  At 8:45 am, Sam, our Team Leader joined the group for a brief orientation.

There is no school today due to the Presidential Elections (voting took place on Sunday, May 6 and the schools have a holiday on May 7).  Everyone was anxious to hear the outcome of the elections but as of this morning, the results were not known.  Potentially, there will be another election if a candidate does not receive 50% of the vote.  With 36 candidates, a 50% majority may be difficult to achieve. 

Sam told us to expect two elementary 8 year old students and approximately 7-8 high school students.  The numbers could possibly change because there is more interest in participation.  Marty expressed an interest in working with the elementary level students.  Karl and Cathy expressed in interest in working with the High School Students.  All the team members are eager to work with the students. Sam indicated there may be another volunteer opportunity to work with battered women and abused children. Cathy was especially interested in volunteering for this group.  The Team members are flexible and eager to support all volunteer opportunities.

The team has a free day to explore out surroundings and to prepare lesson plans.

Karl retreated to the pool and continued to read his book.  The girls decided to venture into town.  First, they stopped at a travel site to find out about a trip to Santorini. Good news!  A great day trip to Santorini is available on Saturday.

As we waited at the bus stop, an attractive Greek woman appeared and I questioned her as to whether this was a bus stop.  The woman looked familiar and when she took off her sunglasses – behold, it was Sam!   Sam to the rescue!   She helped us buy tickets for the bus fare. We returned to the hotel and later enjoyed another feast which consisted of Greek Salad (fresh from Demetri’s garden) and pastitsio followed by fresh fruit.

Life is good!

- Maya

First Day

Our 3 member team arrived safely on Saturday and after brief introductions and diner fit for Vikings, everybody turned in early being exhausted from travel.

                                                                                      

No teachings on Sunday due to Presidential Election.  After breakfast orientation commenced, all gave a more complete introduction.  It was obvious we have a tight knit team.  After orientation, we enjoyed free time.

After orientation was free time.  The girls went to the beach.  Karl read.

In response to pleas, portions at dinner were less – but Sam has more work to do to get them down to size.  Conversation was lively. We were joined by Sam’s daughters, who are lovely.  Sam must be doing something right.

Some of the team retired; others awaited word on the outcome of the Presidential Election.