brand new day

After yesterday's breakdown at the internet cafe, I walked out into a massive deluge of rain and decided to head back to my hotel to see if my room was ready.
Halfway up Nikis Street, looking I'm sure like a drowned rat, I literally ran into Owen outside his apartment; we got lunch at one of the little neighborhood grocery stores instead of braving the rain to find a restaurant, and then went back to the apartment to eat and hang out--since I had nothing else to do.

By 3:30 my mood had improved, although I was still feeling out of place. Finally able to get into my hotel room, I discovered that I had been lucky enough to score both air conditioning and a fridge-amenetities not granted to every guest. My bed was larger than expected and quite comfortable, so I tried to nap, but was interrupted by madre figuring out how to call my cell. Evan and Owen met me back at the hotel for dinner, and we wandered around Plaka and Monastiraki before deciding to get gyros take away and eat in Mitropoleous Square. It was a pretty good first meal, not my favorite place to get gyros, but accompanied by a box of Amita cherry juice and some pita bakes, it was excellent.

We spent about two hours walking around the city, just a ramble, originally took us to the famous gelateria in Psirri, then back up Ermou and eventually to the Nikis apartment. After a sit on the balcony, we settled in the living room to watch a few episodes of Rome, The Riches, and the Scrubs Season Finale.

I finally crashed back at the hotel around 3, and slept until the blinding sun woke me at 7, prompting me to close the shutters on my balcony and crawl back in bed. After a hot shower, I walked to campus in a much better mood, smiling under my huge sunglasses.

I arrived in this city yesterday, in a cloud of rain and depression, feeling as if I didn't belong here, yet this morning, as I walked to "work" in my skirt and sandals, laptop bag slung over my should, it felt completely normal.

I finally talked to Dina and figured out what I will be doing for my internship (which consists of hanging out in the office, doing stuff with Owen, and helping with orientation), and have been hanging out in the student affairs office since I got here at 11. Probably how I'll spend the next few days, it has been a great relief to finally have something to do.

Hopefully I'll get my wireless connection figured out tomorrow so I can post some of last night's city photographs, I decided to concentrate on that to take my mind off that unshakeable feeling.

Thankfully I'm feeling better today, and hopefully the mood will continue to improve.

For today, I'm going to say adio.

~RLM