Wow... It's been a week!

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to post again... I've been meaning to for a while, but I've just been so busy with everything here, that I haven't had time to! I am truly sorry for that! I will try to be better for the rest of my time here! I have to start out by saying that I absolutely love it here! I am having such a great time and I'm meeting so many great people, that I don't think I will ever want to leave! It actually kind-of seems like I've already been here for months, when I've actually only been here for a week! I've even gotten into a new routine, where I do almost the same thing every day. It makes me feel really happy and satisfied!

So, as you can imagine, Monday through Friday, I have been occupied with my internship. Right now, for my main task I've been going through their inventory of pamphlets, posters, and what not that they have all over the office (you would be surprised how much stuff there is hidden if this small office! It's pretty astonishing to see!). So I have to count, package and then stack/sort all of the leaflets. There are even some that I need to cut...All in all it's a lot of work! But, I also get assigned all the odd jobs for people, like typing up English emails, proofreading, and translation from English to Greek! So much in such a short amount of time! I will soon be doing my own project... Starting on Monday!

One thing I've noticed is that it's interesting to see who comes in to office, on what days and why. For example, one of my coworkers is getting his Master's degree now, so he leaves early on Tuesday and Thursday for school. Another owns her own store that she opens on Monday and Wednesday nights, so she leaves early then. Another coworker lives an hour and a half away by bus and she is always one of the first people in to the office every day! But, also, the bosses all went to a conference in Napoli on Sunday, and just got back last night (Thursday) so I don't expect to see any of them in the office today (Friday). But, time really does just fly in the office.

So... What have I done in my week other than work at my internship...

Well, as I said I met a really nice girl, Elina, from Sweden the other day in Monastiraki Square, and we have been going out a lot, going out to dinner, sightseeing or just to hang out. It's been a lot of fun! We've gone out to a couple tavernas (as well as other places for her to eat) for dinner, and also this past weekend we hung out all day Sunday. (We were going to hang out for a bit on Saturday to, before we went to dinner, but we both got kind-of busy. She had schoolwork and I slept!) On Saturday night though, while we were walking to a taverna we stopped for a minute and saw these fireworks that just started going off in the middle of the square. We were unsure of why, and still kind-of are, as it seems that no one knows!!!

On Sunday Elina and I went off sightseeing! We started by going to the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, as Elina hadn't been there yet, and wanted to see it. I was fine with going again. I thought it would be fun to see it not by myself but with someone else! So we took lots of pictures there and then started to wander.

That's Elina!

We went to the National Gardens and wandered in there for a while, seeing the miniature lakes (in comparison to those in New Hampshire at least) full of turtles as well as the zoo in the center of the gardens. We then wandered the garden talking and saw all the cute little archways and other ruins in the gardens.

That bird is standing on a turtle! So funny!

We made some new friends at the zoo!

We then walked up to the Olympic Stadium, even though we couldn't enter the actual stadium without paying a fee, we still went there and saw the stadium, and took some pictures outside of it that we can show. There were some pretty crazy statics that were cited outside too.

I hope you can read those!

Then we decided to walk to the National Observatory. But, along the way Elina got distracted by loud noises coming from a nearby church, so we walked back down the hill (which we had just walked up) to check it out. When we found out what it was (just a busy Sunday church service I think) we had to walk back up the hill... That was fun!

The National Observatory is where I had been told you can see the Acropolis (and most of Athens) from a different view than normal and it's very beautiful. Well, that is true. It was truly beautiful and something not normally seen!

I even tried to hold the Acropolis... That didn't work so well though... :)

Afterwards we walked through the Flea Market near Ermou Street, looking at the wares all the vendors were selling. It was VERY busy and I had to keep hanging on to my purse to make sure I didn't get stolen from! I didn't, so that was a relief! When we reached Monastiraki Square we decided to get some Pita-euros for lunch (I think I'm spelling that right). That is kind-of like an open flatbread sandwich... But it was absolutely DELICIOUS! (I even ate the onions and tomatoes in it!) We sat in Monastiraki Square and ate our lunch while talking and watching the people walk on by! (We also checked out the changing of the guard!)

More friends!

We saw the coolest street performer duo! They were playing with this puppet of a guitar player, and he was singing and playing in time to the song! It was great!!!

Around 4pm we parted ways and said we would meet up later! I returned to a nice, clean office (the cleaning lady had come while I was gone) and then walked around Kolonaki (my area) for

a while. Little did I realize that everything is closed on Sundays! =P

Then, around 7:30pm, Elina called and we met up in half an hour again for some food and good conversation. We went to MacDonalds, so while Elina ate, I drank my Sprite having a great conversation! We talked about so many different and fun things!!! We were interrupted though, but a Greek homeless man, who wouldn't leave us alone, so we ended up trying to make him go away, but ended up just giving up and walking away ourselves. We then walked over and saw the changing of the guard for a few minutes, continuing our conversation. All in all, I had a lovely weekend!

Then my routines started again! Except, on Monday morning, before work, I had to go to the pharmacy to get some anti-itch cream (I have some bug bites) and advil. I found a pharmacy easily as there are about 7 within like 10 blocks from my apartment. So, it was all good! Then, on my way home I bought an amazing Greek breakfast pastry and munched on that for breakfast (along with my Greek yogurt and Orange Juice that I have every morning). Shortly thereafter, a new person was at the office. A woman named Nina, who's from Belgium, is volunteering for the week! She is visiting her Greek boyfriend, so she's only here for a week and is staying with him, but it's nice to have another set of hands around to fold and count everything! Again, after work, Elina and I met up and had some fun talking and eating again, as we have in the past week. We also sat on the steps in Syntagma Square for a bit, just talking and watching the people walk by. It was very fun and relaxing!

Well that's pretty much everything that I've not written over the past week! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long! I'll try to be better in the future! We'll see what I end up doing this weekend! Who knows?! Maybe I'll do something super duper exciting! I'll be sure to let you all know what I do!