I keep changing my mind about which place in Greece is the prettiest. That's how you know you're in a pretty place.

There's a website called couchsurfing.org for backpackers who don't want the expense or solitude of staying in hostels. People create profiles and allow travelers to stay with them in their homes, typically on their couch, free of charge and otherwise just accommodate them for a few days. I made a profile hoping to get some help in Spain, not just to save money but to make friends. If that sounds too sketchy for you guys, don't worry, NOBODY has responded to my couch requests. Easter, you know? But I met someone else in Athens, at least, who I decided to meet up with and go for a walk with.

 A walk up a really tall hill above Athens called Lykavitos. It was sunny, by the way, the picture is misleading. It's too bad the Acropolis isn't one of the Seven Wonders of the World. My classmates and I were talking about that over possibly the best pasta I've ever had, and we concluded it's because it's just not big enough. But really, when you go to Monastiraki and you see the Acropolis standing above the city...it's pretty incredible.

Man, I have learned so many lessons on life from living in Greece. From my trips to Corinth and Thessaloniki I was very reassured that if you're feeling uncomfortable, people WILL help you. Growing up in suburbia and going to school in a place only slightly bigger, I've just always retained that faith in humanity. It makes me want to go out and work so that I can actually afford to help people--offer them food, drive them somewhere. I suppose the least I can do is cheer them up with my experiences in crazy Greece.

I leave for Spain on Sunday. Planning that has been painful. To say the very least! I am a spontaneous adventurer, but that is not working out for this study abroad experience. I will never put travel-planning off again after this. But I'm really really excited to go. I get two weeks, and all of the study abroad students here are going off somewhere, whether it be another country, a Greece trip, or a Eurotrip. For me, my decision is the perfect one. I've never been outside the States for this long, guys, I'm tired. I need a break from the language I can't keep up with, and everything being late, and the public transportation situation. Not that romping around the entirety of Spain by myself is going to make me less tired, but I feel that it is a well-needed break from the culture shock that Greece has so graciously provided. At least Greece gave me Greek time. I have been perfectly comfortable saying, "I'm too tired to handle this right now," and doing it later. Try it, it works.

I have also learned that it's okay to be American. Following the credo of Montesquieu, "There is more than one way to be civilized." The very least I did was get out there. I'm traveling in order to be entertained, but I feel like I'm very slowly lightening up as a person, too. I'm not forcing things on myself, I'm slowing down and observing things openly and uncritically. I have absolutely nothing against eating fast food anymore (big step up. Maybe alcohol's next, haha). And I'm not criticizing myself for being American like I was when I first heard myself speak Greek. America's inability to learn another language is, in fact, cultural, in some twisted sense. That's another thing I've learned, is that things don't have to make sense or come to some sort of conclusion. Sometimes I've wondered if by coming here, I would just figure everything in life out and come back knowing exactly what to do with myself. And what I've found is that yes, I have identified the things that make me comfortable...unchanging bus schedules is one of them. But to also just take time to let things happen and not hurt myself figuring out why...that makes me feel better about my life.

Beauty of traveling.

By the way, I WILL be updating this in Spain, for the sake both of keeping a travelogue and for letting you know I'm safe. I am extremely excited about this, even though planning it has proven difficult. That's another thing I've learned: travel plans AAAALWAAAYS go wrong. But I'm still excited and feel that this will be an enriching part of my study abroad experience and my life as a whole.