Goodbyes

Well, the time is here. I'll be heading home in two more days and as it was with everyone else leaving, it's bittersweet for me, too. Though I've considered countless amounts of things I will miss about this city, this country and things that I'm looking forward to going home to, alas, when I sit in front of a computer, I forget most of them. So, here it is - my goodbyes to this country, city, school that has treated me so well for the last few months.


Goodbye, Thessaloniki. Until next year :)


The Top 10 Things to Miss about Greece...
1. Three hour coffee breaks.
2. Evening strolls along the waterfront.
3. Every day being a perfect beach day.
4. Harry's Spot. (Board games, coffee and alcohol, and club music.)
5. Almost endless free time.
6. Not being able to understand what everyone is saying.
7. Open markets.
8. Water, water, water.
9. Relatively efficient public transportation.
10. Siesta hours.


The Less Than 10 Things NOT to Miss...
1. Girls who have difficulties telling the difference between their lips and the open end of a vodka bottle.
2. Euros. (The exchange rate has become horrifying in the last couple weeks.)
3. Dog poop on sidewalks.
4. 50 Euro bills.
5. Not being able to understand what anyone is saying.
This list is short.


Ten Things to Look Forward to at Home...
1. Spicy foods :)
2. All the family(ies)
3. Limes. Grocery stores.
4. Pets. Furry, adorable little pets.
5. A real kitchen with useful utensils.
6. Wireless internet.
7. Bar-b-que.
8. Music....including Matt's band.
9. Family. (Yes, that deserves two spots)
10. "Normal" coffee.


Ανδιο, Θεσσαλονικι. Σ'αγαπο.

Week Seventeen: BitterSweet

Finals have come and gone and the study abroad students are packing up, saying goodbye. The week has been one of fulfilling "final requests" as though we were all on death row.

Beach.
Taverna.
Harry's Spot.
Beach.
Taverna.
Wine.

What a tough life having to bend to everyone's whims....

We went to one of the furthest beaches from Thessaloniki this week and spent a couple nights in a camper. It was the most beautiful beach and we had it almost all to ourselves. A couple modestly-sized campfires made from scavenged wood. Fire-roasted sausages and marshmallows. Reeses smores.

Sigh.


And now for something completely different....

Finals have come and gone! I am a graduate! No more pencils; no more books; no more teachers' dirty looooooooks!

Come one, come all! To the McGovern house on the 4th of July! There will be food, friends and merriment! A celebration of my joyous return to the States, my graduation, and my not-so-joyous entry into the "real world."

Be there or be square.


Smore-making.













Mousaka.













Kalamitsi beach.













Thessaloniki water front at sunset.













Kalithea.