Out to Sea

This past Sunday we decided to make pancakes for breakfast. We searched for a recipe online and had most of the ingredients we needed, we were just missing baking powder. We couldn't go out and buy any because all the stores are closed on Sundays, so we searched for a recipe that didn't require baking powder. We were able to find one, however, another problem arose; we didn't have any measuring cups. We thought we could just wing it, but whether it was the recipe, the estimated amount of ingredients, or both, the outcome was not good! Pancake fail! We did come pretty close though. We tested out the batter by making one pancake at a time and then adding what we thought we needed, but our strategy was never successful, so we moved on to french toast!

After we finished eating our french toast, we got a call from Dimitrius. He invited us and Jay to go to the sea. Of course we said yes, and got ready to go. He picked us up about an hour later. His friend, "Crazy Nick" came with us as well. Crazy Nick's name is definitely justified. The first time I met him, he took the cigarette he was smoking, put it all the way in his mouth with his lips closed, then brought it back out. I wanted to barf, but apparently he thinks it's the coolest trick because I've seen him do it multiple times. He also says things, which I am pretty sure even Greek people cannot understand, then laughs to himself. We all got in Dimitrius' Mercedes and drove about 20 minutes to his friends house. 

We arrived to a little stone house, which was right by the sea. There were two blonde women outside doing yard work. One was in a black dress and boots and the other was in an all black outfit with a scarf and boots- what great outfits for yard work. I began to wonder just how good of a "friend" we were visiting. Both of the women were super nice. One of the ladies only knew a few English words. The other is an English teacher at an Elementary school, so she spoke English well. She is the second English teacher I have met- I also met a lady down at Eyenet named Mary who teaches at a school here in Lamia and said I could come visit her class! Both Mary and this friend of Dimitrius (wish I could remember her name) speak English pretty well, but are not completely fluent and still have thick Greek accents. Maybe I just didn't realize, but I am pretty sure my French teacher in high school could not only speak french fluently, but was also able to speak with a French accent. 

Chairs were set up under a tree in the yard, so we sat down and introduced ourselves. After the introductions, the lady in the dress continued doing yard work. She was having a difficult time starting the lawn mower, so Rusty started it and then mowed the lawn for her. She had her friend apologize to us  for the condition of her lawn, and explain that this house is just her beach house and that she hadn't been there in months.

Dimitrius asked if we were hungry, of course we were, so he called a restaurant and ordered food for us. He ordered fries, bread, one steak, and three beef- techies. Beef-techy is the most popular meat in Greece. It seems like a mixture of hamburger meat, pork, and spices. It's pretty gross, but Greek people love it. Dimitrius and Nick got back from picking up the food and we all went inside to eat. The inside of the house was pretty nice. It had animal print everywhere. I loved the cheetah print chair. 

After we finished eating, the lady who owned the house gave us a tour. Only the bottom level of the house is finished. She said she wants to finish the whole house, but it is too expensive. After the tour, we walked over to the beach. There were a couple of guys windsurfing. It was a beautiful day. The weather here has been really nice, about mid-seventies. We came back and chatted for a while- or should I say listen to them chat in Greek. Jay, Rusty, and I chatted, but we all hit a point where we were tired and ready to go home. We did get to watch Crazy Nick dance to Greek music, which entertained us for a little while haha. We finally said our goodbyes and headed home.

Dimitrius, Crazy Nick, and the lady who owned the house

The view from the balcony

Dimitrius set this picture up- he insisted I get one with the flowers haha

Fall Activities

Continuing with our Fall activities Rusty and I found and shared an apple fritter! I know, such a great "activity" right? But, anything apple flavored reminds me of Apple Hill, which screams Fall. Apple Hill is one of my favorite places in Sacramento. It's beautiful, has apple everything, and growing up, I'd go there at least once every Fall. My sisters recently went back home to Sacramento and were posting pics at Apple Hill. Of course their pics were the inspiration for this fall activity. The apple fritter Rusty and I found may not have been as good as Apple Hill, but it was delicious!

Hanging out in the center

One weekend while Rusty was out of town, I set out to find pumpkins for us to carve, so I went to the largest street market in Lamia, which is towards the center of town. Sure enough, I found some! Since I couldn't carry two, I bought one and figured we would come back when Rusty got back. I ended up getting a little lost on my walk back to my apartment, so by the time I got home and set the pumpkin down, my arms were shaking! The pumpkin didn't feel that heavy as I was carrying it, but my arms continued feeling shaky for the next 20 min...I'm thinking I should probably work out more haha. 

So when Rusty got back into town, and had just gotten back from morning weights, I hurried him along, so we could go look for another pumpkin at the weekly produce market that's right below our apartment. Although this market wakes me up every Thursday morning at 6am, it has finally proven to be beneficial! We started walking up the street and within 4 or 5 stands, we saw pumpkins. Big ones! My family claims they are gourds, and maybe they are, but either way, they looked carvable! Just to make sure they were the best options, we kept walking to the end of the street. Rusty found a small pumpkin he wanted to buy for decoration at another stand. The lady who sold it to us, asked if we were from Spain. We told her we were American and she got a big smile and tried her best to speak to us. She gave us two fruits that we had never seen before, but are popular here in Greece. They kind of look like a mix between a peach and a tomato. 

I am always surprised when people ask where we are from, which happens quite often. I just assumed once people heard us speak, they would know we were American. But, my mom was right, I should never assume! And I guess it makes sense considering Americans do not come to Lamia very often, and that people speak English in other places. The other day an old lady at the grocery store asked if I was Dutch! I was thinking do I even look the least bit Dutch lady?! haha But I love that when I correct people, they are always excited to hear I am American. 

So anyways, the produce market was a success! Rusty wanted the huge, tall pumpkin and was able to talk the guy selling it down one euro (leave it to Rusty to get a cheaper price) haha. We got home and tried the fruit the lady gave us. It tasted a little like a peach. It didn't have as much flavor, but it was really sweet. Now that we both have pumpkins, I am excited for the carving to begin!

Like a kid on Christmas

The Goods

New Car

We finally got our car! The volleyball team promised us a car when we got here, but it took a little while because apparently they were replacing the battery. Dimitrius, the team vice pres, said to call him about going to get it, so the next day, we called Dimitrius and met up with him down at Eyenet. He had just come from the gym. Surprisingly enough (because I never see people jogging or working out, not to mention people give me weird looks when I go jogging), he said he goes to the gym everyday. We wanted to check it out, so he took us up to his gym, which is called Home- imagine our confusion when he told us he was working out at Home. It was about a 10 minute drive and led us to a more rural part of Lamia. It was cool to get out of the city for a little bit. We got to the gym and waited for about 10 minutes, so a girl who spoke English could show us around. It was a really nice gym. The picture below shows the outdoor pool. The membership costs 50 euro per person, per month, so needless to say, we won't be joining haha. 

  

After we left the gym, we went to an auto shop to pick up our car...a super nice (not) ;) green Fiat Punto! The car is manual, as almost all cars are here, but both Rusty and I don't know how to drive manual. We practiced once with my dad, and Rusty was able to pick it up fairly quickly, but is still learning. We followed Dimitrius back to our apartment. Rusty was driving and he only stalled a couple times! We had to parallel park it on the street, which proved to be pretty difficult, so Dimitrius parked it for us and said, "tomorrow lessons" haha. 

The rest of our night was not too exciting...Rusty went to practice, I went for a walk around town, we went out for dinner, and then watched Revenge. Here are some more pics around town...

How Greek do these women look?!

This one is for you Kris- it's a school!

Dinner at our usual chicken and gyro place

Stroll Through Town

Rusty had the day off, so we went for a walk. I decided to take him on the route I usually jog. I brought along our camera for pics, and it's a good thing because as we were leaving we ran into a meat truck- the driver was delivering meat to the butcher, how sick it that?! 

Apparently all of the gyros we have been eating have given Rusty super-human strength

I have been missing Cornbelly's...if you live in Utah and haven't been, go. It's basically a huge fall fest. There's a corn maze, haunted houses, corn guns, where you shoot ears of corn at objects, and more! Since we have no Cornbelly's I found the next best thing during our walk: A small section of corn stalks (or wannabe corn stalks). 

We got back to our apartments and ran into Dimitrius and his friends. I find it interesting that men here are always hanging out together. I hardly ever see groups of women out to dinner or at coffee shops, but groups of men hang out at all hours of the day... I wonder where their wives are. Are they just at home? Shouldn't they go out with their friends too? I used to wonder if the men had jobs, but I have come to realize how weird peoples' work schedules are with the mid-day break. A lot of places don't even open back up, which means they are closed for the day at 2pm. So anyways, we ran into them on our way up to the center for dinner. Costas offered us a ride. 

We got in his little silver Mazda, which was playing the song I can't Believe It by Flo Rida. Costas is in his late-forties and doesn't speak any English, so his music choice made me laugh to myself. He took us to the front of a restaurant, pointed to it, said something in Greek, then dropped us off. Although the people in the restaurant starred at Rusty and I like we were such foreigners, we're always up for new restaurants and this one seemed nice!  

This lovely art work was hanging on the wall in the restaurant. Can you find the part of it I thought was funny, but so fitting for Greece?

After we finished eating dinner we decided to eat some more! We went to Fresco and got a waffle for dessert. It was sooo good. It had Nutella, chocolate sauce, caramel, and cookies n' cream ice cream. Greek people put tons of sauce and condiments on everything. If you get a club sandwich, they lather on the mayo, if you get a gyro with any sauce, they put two huge scoops of sauce in it. Rusty and I decided dessert is the only area their over-saucing is enjoyable. We finished our waffle and basically rolled home to watch a Halloween movie. Since I don't like scary movies, we have been thinking of as many non-scary Halloween movies as we can. So far we have watched Hocus Pocus, The Addams Family one and two, and Fun Sized...if you have any other suggestions, let me know!