It's All Greek to Me

Χαιρετίσματα από την Ελλάδα!!!!! (Greetings from Greece!)

Everyone might possibly be thinking that I have died from my various illnesses over the weekend because I didn't post an entry...but rest assured that I am well and better than ever! I needed a few days to really get better and rest, but I am back at 110% for the rest of the trip.

I am in LOVE with Athens! The first night I spent here I stayed with a girl named Magda and she let me stay in her apartment in Εξάρχεια, and Artsy district close to downtown Athens. Her apartment was so cute and her couch turned into an entire double bed for me. I was still sick this night, so I spent it eating crackers and soda and watching Bridget Jones Diary with Greek subtitles while she went to her bartending job. The next morning she had 3 more guest arrive...THREE! Two french canadians named Kim and MarcAndrae that she had hosted before and her friend Simone from Holland that she also hosted before. So I had to go...obviously she couldn't have us all there! I went to the apartment of a girl named Elena, who was another Couchsurfer friend of Madgas. She had a guest named Brian from Los Angeles staying with her as well. Athens is very active with couchsurfing because of all the backpackers. Anyway, I have been staying at Elena's place ever since Saturday. It is still amazing to me how couchsurfing works and how much people can trust complete strangers like they do. It really gives me hope for the world when someone I have never met before says,
"Use my kitchen, stay on my couch, use my computer and my phone and my things...here are your keys."
The couchsurfing community has become so large (even in Canada) and you can find a free place to sleep anywhere you go, if you only look. Anyways! So I haven't been getting to bed until around 5am - 6am every night since I got here, because that is the way the Europeans do it. Bars and Clubs in Europe don't even get started until midnight and they don't have to close if they don't want to. It is not uncommon to stay out until the sun comes up and then head back. I've seen the ancient ruins of the Acropolis, the ancient Agora, and seen the Temple of Zeus. The acropolis is the hill and surrounding area where the hub of Ancient greek life took place. It was the centre of political, religious, and social life. So I saw the Parthenon of course, the temple of Nike, the theatre of Dionyssus, and numerous other temples. How out of this world is it to see a building that was built 1400 years B.C. and imagine how the city looked back in that time? How this building stood while the world passed by for over 3000 years? Unbelievable. The ancient agora is the marketplace where greek people shopped and hung out. It's mostly ruins now, but pretty to look at. I did a bit of shopping that day....and I was given a counterfeit 20 Euro bill! That is around $35 CAD. I was ppiiiiiiiiiisssed. It was SO fake, but I didn't notice until I tried to buy something else with it. Seems that when the Euro was introduced, all European people had to learn exactly how to spot a fake bill, so they all know it's fake as soon as they touch it. The dude probably gives it to all tourists because they can't tell the difference. CURSES! Anyway, everywhere I tried to pass this bill off, people kept telling me it was fake and I was all like, "OH! REeeeeeeeeallllyy??" and then I was like CRAP, now I have to try again. Finally Elena, Me, Kim, and MarcAndrae went for dinner. We had all kinds of greek dishes, and then when it came time to pay, I put down the fake 20 Euro bill and we all bolted. It was actually super funny and we were all freaking out, waiting for the server to come running out, waving the fake bill and yelling in greek! It didn't happen though, and we just walked around Monastiraki for a while, which is the new market area. Athens has been fun, and I am glad I made the decision not to head to Crete or Corfu or the other islands. It takes such a long time to travel and I am just having too much fun with my new friends here in Athens. Tonight me and Elena cooked a Greek spinach pie for us and the new couchsurfing guest, Micheal from Quebec City. After that we are watching a movie because we can't imagine staying up until 6am again tonight. We have to sleep sometime! I am heading to Rome on Thursday night, so I will update after that point. I am hoping to find a host for Rome as well, but I am not having as much luck. The host I had set up before said I had to sleep in his bed if I stayed so I told him to shove it. hahahahahaha I love you all terribly and will see you in two weeks time!

Love Sar