athens, 31 may

so i decided not to go to an island after all. and really, that's okay with me. instead i'm lounging around athens, taking in the city slowly and enjoying the off-and-on weather. i've made some tentative plans for today and tomorrow: today, go back to the flea market and buy some nice shoes i saw; go to the acropolis; walk to the top of the highest hill and get a nice view. tomorrow, get up early-ish; take the metro to the seaturtle recovery center; go to the beach. if it rains, i'll walk in the rain goddamnit. thursday my flight out is at noon and gets in at 4; 12 hours on a plane. yum.

i've met some really nice people here. my roommates (5 guys=stinky) are pretty cool i guess. two of them are brothers from new mexico, and i guess i've been hanging out with them most. jenny was cool, but she's gone now. ariel is from miami and now is in new york at nyu. lexi, who works at the hostel, is coming shopping with me today. i met a nice local guy yesterday too, so now i know way more history about the acropolis than i ever wanted.

the hostel i'm staying in has a roof bar. since it was so nice last night, costa (one of the guys who works here) opened it up and gave everyone a free "welcome" shot of ouzo (gross) when they came up, and they were only 50 cents after that until 9. beers and drinks are also pretty cheap here, at 2 or 3 euro. they had a stereo set up with an ipod connector, and people could plug their ipods in and costa would pick from them. almost the entire hostel, and most of the staff, were upstairs drinking and milling. the roof has a great view of the acropolis, and it's all lit up at night, which makes it look way better than it does during the day. i spent most of the evening up there except for when i convinced nick to come down to the corner souvlaki place and eat, since i was starving. it was a nice, chill, fun night. when people decided to go out to the bar, i snuck upstairs and went to bed, classic sai style.

this is probably the most poorly-written post that i've put up in a while. i'm tired, though, and a bit restless, so i'm going to excuse myself and not feel guilty. it'll be really nice to go home.