“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
--Benjamin Franklin
Today was basically a fail plan. We began the day by taking on some difficult sites in terms of athletic ability and balance required. I, for one, did not have the appropriate attributes. At the first site, which was not the most difficult by the way, I managed to fall. On a piece of flat land. I have no idea how it happened, but the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on all fours right in front of my professor. Impressive, right? In the end, my right palm was scraped up a little, my left knee had a few scrapes, and the left knee of my pants had a big “T” shaped rip in them. They were new as of the beginning of the trip, but couldn’t withstand my first fall.
Our next site involved a difficult climb, where I was very cautious after my performance at the first site. We were told to wear pants for this site due to the undergrowth, but I haven’t decided if I am glad that I listened or not. By this point in time, the knee of my pants was ripped, so I was cut by a thorn through the hole. However, I only see a handful of other scrapes at the moment, whereas some of the girls who wore shorts looked as if they had been mauled by the bushes. It was probably a little more comfortable with pants, but there were still times when it didn’t seem like my pants did much to stop the thorns (at least based on how much I felt them).
On the way back down from the second site, Aleko reminded the girls of the pain associated with childbirth. While his point is valid that what we were going through was nothing comparatively, he still doesn’t have to birth a child ever.
The question was whether I wanted to be more miserable due to the scrapes or due to the heat. While I chose the heat, it was pretty uncomfortable. A large portion of the class brought a pair of shorts with them for after the first two sites, but I didn’t think about it. I wouldn’t have had enough time to change, since I was at the back of the group. The third site was still rather hot. Luckily, the day ended after the third site at around 11:45, and we returned to Myrtos by 12:30.
Adding to my misery of today was the fact that somehow, I kicked something in the ocean and ended up with a cut about a centimeter long on the side of my pinky toe. A couple of minutes after I left the water, I looked down to find some blood around my foot. While I was swimming, I remembered feeling my foot hurt but hadn’t paid any more attention to my toe. I could feel the cut as I was walking. I think part of my mindset was that I was miserable and hot and gross, so any little discomfort was magnified. Still, the cut on my toe is not exactly insignificant in its depth.
After the sites and lunch, I returned to the hotel to try to rearrange my travel plans. After Czech Connect Airlines cancelled my flight, I now have a bit of a quandary on my hands. I have no way to get to Athens, so we are probably just skipping it. We could still book another $250 ticket to Athens, but we would lose a good half a day in Athens. The flight that I had booked from Athens to London through British Airways: not refundable. It also costs either 70 euro or 70 pounds per person to change the booking ($100 or $113). The fact that the new flight would be less expensive: not important. It is so frustrating that British Airways is not customer friendly. In order to obtain all of my options, I asked my mom to call Expedia from the States. After her conversation, I called both Expedia and British Airways to get a little more information. I figured out a way through gmail to make calls to landlines for free (my favorite). I was sitting in our hotel’s lobby (more or less just an entranceway) with the door open and a huge truck driving by. Needless to say, I have no idea how I was able to hear or be heard during parts of my conversation. I am still figuring out the details of what I want to do and am crunching numbers to decide if it is worthwhile to change the flight or to just book a new flight on a budget airline and lose my $250 worth of a flight.
In addition, last night I couldn’t get my internet to work. The lack of internet made figuring out my flights that much more difficult. I gave up after about an hour last night. Someone performed magic on my computer for me today and somehow connected me to the internet. I still wasted a little time trying to connect to the internet today.
Basically, in the past 24 hours, I have failed any number of times. It is impressive in one sense, but awful in another.
On the bright side, we found a delicious Italian restaurant here, where we went for dinner last night and lunch and happy hour today. It was almost more fun to watch one of the girl’s face as she ate than to eat my own food. She was absolutely enamored with this place that made homemade pasta! The drinks were also fabulous and so fresh. Actually, everything at this restaurant was among my favorite—although I am excited to return to Greek food.
The water is also incredibly clear and beautiful. It is a charming little town, although my time here was filled with a few struggles.
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