my feet are red!

Day ?? in Santorini

Staying down in Perissa has started to feel like staying at summer camp. We’ve got a stretch of road that runs parallel to the beach with a few markets and 2 bars along it. Everything else is closed until high season starts here. For the most part, the only people around here are people my age (a little older- a little younger). Every day we walk along the road to the beach, or to climb the hill and check out the ancient ruins, or rent atvs or take the caldera tour. At night we all hang out in front of the hostel and drink and talk. After a while we hit up one of the bar or the saloon and then retire to our bunk beds. The woman who runs the hostel is the camp director and tells us where to go for each activity we can do here. Yesterday I climbed the mountain twice- once alone in flip flops and a mini skirt and once with my new Canadian friends from Vancouver- Shawn and Jimmy (degrassi, eh? Jimmy is even the ethnic one of the two!) Then I made friends with a brother and sister from Wisconsin and another kid studying in Madrid. We ate dinner at one of the two restaurants open now and then played pool at the saloon.

Hostel kids are the nicest kids ever. The first question we usually ask now is “Where are you from.” Last night we had Eugine Oregon, Upstate New York, Lexi and Joe from Sydney, the three boys from Alberta, and an Orange County in the pack. After we finished our beverages, we moved over to the bar, got our free shots and moved onto the beach. Eugine Oregon and I decided that it would be fun to go in the water so we ran into the freezing water in our skivvies. Not satisfied, we ran back to the hostel for towels and bathing suits and took a swim in the moonlight. Just like at summer camp, our clothing was stolen and towels moved, so we had to play nice with all of Canada to get them back. Unfortunately, one of my sandals was lost at sea.* I talked to one of the Canadians about music of the Canadian variety (Death From Above 1979) and ended up chilling out on the beach until 4am. Then it was time to go back to the hostel and keep everyone who had to be up at 6 for their ferries off Santorini company. Once they all left, I kept the 8am crowd of one company and watched the sky turn from black to pale blue.

I spent all day today at the beach getting some sun and reading, writing, and sketching. I’m glad I got stranded here for a couple extra days. Its funny to watch the new kids come in and then say goodbye to those who head out. Every day the old timers at the hostel change and the newbies carry on the social torch. This morning we lost Eugine to Athens and the boys from Alberta to Ios. I’m sad to see the North American presence decline, but without Alberta, we’ll have less hockey talk!

Tonight there’s a bonfire at the beach and tomorrow I’m going swimming in the hot springs. Then I’ll have one more morning here before heading out to Crete to see the Palace of Knossos.

Canadian word of the day:
toque (pronounced like the first part of toucan)
While it sounds like it would be something really interesting, its not. It’s just a beanie.



*but I found it buried in the sand today!