We got up and got out of our room, which apparently didn't really have a checkout time. Then we went and found a place for Jeff to hang out while I played for a bit on the ATV we had rented the previous day. (Information about the previous day and its adventures and outfit can be found here - once I manage to update it.) I'll tell you a secret...ssshhhh. Jeff was a little afraid of the ATV. Anyway, I tooled around for a bit and then returned the ATV so that I could go collect Jeff and we could get him some ice cream before returning to the hotel where the proprietor was supposed to take us to our ferry back to Athens. Begin classic example of Greek people/businesses/behavior/life. The hotel guy, Tony, was not at the hotel when we arrived for our ride to the port. The hotel lady, Tony's wife informs us that Tony has decided we don't need to go to the port until 4pm, not 2pm as he originally told us. Our ferry is scheduled to leave at 4:45. This makes Jenn nervous. Jenn and Jeff discuss possibilities of walking down to the beach and finding a place to hang out or staying at the hotel in the courtyard. We end up just staying in the courtyard attempting to avoid the sun which is 5 billion and 1/4 degrees. About 3:45 Jenn starts checking her watch. 3:50 Tony's wife says he's on his way. 4:00 Tony is still "on his way". 4:05 Tony shows up with busload of people he needs to get checked in before he can take us to our boat. 4:10 we're finally on the road and Tony is driving like a bat out of hell but assures us that we won't miss our boat because it has been delayed until 5 or 5:30. Mixed signals? We arrive at the port at 4:40 and our boat is not there. We find out it has been delayed until 6:30. Awesome. Timely Greek ferry boat. I paid extra so that we would arrive earlier and be on the faster boat. Money wasted. Boat finally arrives, Jeff and Jenn board boat and discover that although the tickets were purchased at the same time with the same credit card our seat assignments (which were non-existant on the first boat) are separated. As in one in one aisle and the other a couple rows up and over. Uhhhhhh...???? So we sit down thinking, well, it didn't matter last time. Boat ride from Santorini to the first island pick up was so bumpy that Jeff got motion sick. And stayed motion sick. With a little bit of motion sick showing back up tonight. Also at the first port a rude Greek couple boarded the boat and informed us that we must sit in our assigned seats because they need to sit down. Mind you this is just after Jeff has been sick and still looks green. So Jeff moves away from Jenn who proceeds to pout the rest of the trip (and maybe I slept a little). We arrive in Athens port at 12:20am, three hours after our scheduled time. Quickly we acquire cash and hop in a taxi. The taxi drops us off at the metro location specified by Jenn who thinks she has done her proper research to locate the hotel and printed out a google map so they can find it. (Google maps should burn.) Jenn and Jeff walk for about 15 minutes to arrive at the location of the hotel on the map only to find no hotel. Jenn pulls out hotel reservation and realizes that google maps has led them astray and they are quite far from their actual location. Hail second taxi cab for the evening. Jeff is still at this point feeling the effects of motion sickness. Greek taxis are not good for motion sickness. Second taxi cab drops Jenn and Jeff off near the cross streets of the hotel address. Which is another 20 minute walk and couple more questioning of street kiosk owners from where the hotel actually is located. 2:30am Jeff and Jenn check into hotel. Sick.
Today was a much better day. I left Jeff sleeping off the motion sickness at the hotel while I went to church. I left the hotel and immediately felt like I was at home. I walked to the metro and located the church building easily. I love church here in Athens. The members crack me up. They have no filter. They argue with each other and stop to ask questions during testimony meeting and they correct each others Greek while speaking. I met some cute little missionaries. And I got to see some of my favorite people from when I lived here: Gogo, Hawa Sankoh, Fatma, Marie, Babadi, Daniela... My heart was so full. I also met a girl named Diana, from Moldova, who served her mission in Greece as well. She lives here now. She told me that the Greeks won't give visas to American citizens who are coming as missionaries any more. The only people who can serve in Greece now are European Union citizens because Greece is part of the EU. I feel so lucky that I was able to get a visa 7 years ago and come serve here. After church I collected Jeff and began my walking tour of Athens. So far we've seen Hadrian's Gate, Zeus's Temple, Hadrian's library, and Mar's Hill. Tomorrow we'll try to hit the Parthenon and couple other ruins/museums as well as Plaka the market and hopefully my favorite restaurant. We're also going to take the sister missionaries out to dinner tomorrow. Yay!
If you made it through this whole thing, bravo sou! And as a reward, my outfit pictures from day 8 and 9.
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