As of tomorrow, we will officially be in our last two weeks of school, and life, here on Paros. The realization that this is all coming to an end is beginning to hit me hard, and I’ve noticed that the only times I have cried here on the island are when I have thought about leaving it. I have so many stories that link all the fun and quirky characters living here, that make this place so unique to me. It’s hard to explain the connection I have here, but I’m sure you can understand why leaving will be so difficult.
Fall here is wonderful. The sunsets this November have been unlike anything I have ever seen in my life. Every day I go for a run up to the cliffs where I can watch as the sun sinks behind a distant purple island somewhere out in the sea. The clouds and the sky have the most brilliant shades of hot pinks, turquoises, oranges, purples, and deep deep reds. Now picture it behind a dazzling blue water with the sailing team practicing out in the bay. It puts any painting here to shame.
The weather is brisk but still beautiful, and last weekend I had a fun day with my friends when we decided to help out our director by picking olives from the trees in his orchards. Turns out, it was very difficult manual labor that we got “Tom Sawyered” into doing, but I think I can say that it was the best day any of us had ever had thus far on our trip. My friends Amy, Brooke, and Phil stripped every last olive off of the trees (mostly laughing while we did it), and finished just in time to watch the sunset from the roof of our professor’s house in the hills. The view was breath taking.
Things with school are beginning to get very very busy, but I am feeling surprisingly ready for the final show coming up on Dec. 5th. I have all of my final projects figured out and now it will all just come down to getting them done. All the local kids running around this town who I have come to love have been telling us about their big hip hop show they have been practicing for. A couple of us from school were invited by our little friends and their moms to come for the big show. It was held at one of the bigger bars that we all used to go to before it closed for the season. Watching a bunch of kids you love under the age of 10 dancing in a hip hop show was all you could ever imagine and better, but my friend Blen leaned over to me and pointed out that these kids looked way better than we ever did dancing on that floor. It was sad but true.
After the show we went to a friend’s BBQ where an older couple asked if they could adopt me. I was seriously considering it. But that’s not to say that they are better than my family at home. NO WAY. I think Thanksgiving is going to be really hard for me to miss (it being may favorite holiday and all). All that good food and even better family traditions…ugh. It makes me miss the cousins. I can only hope Petey still fits in his turkey costume from last years Halloween, that the girl cousin party is alive and well, and that everyone participates in around-the-world paddle tennis for me.
Speaking of family, the school had an excursion to go to the Tao Center (a zen meditation center and very good Tai restaurant). For the philosophy class we had to participate in a zen meditation exercise with one of the monks. We all walked into this quiet, calm, peaceful room and took our place on cushions on the floor. It probably would have been a really cool experience if I wasn’t so darn immature, but as soon as the lady monk walked in and banged on a gong I knew I was going to lose it. She spoke with a lisp and had very large buck teeth, and for some reason, her head was always pointed down to the ground when she looked at you and spoke. Sitting cross legged for more then 10 minutes at a time is way too hard for someone as un flexible as myself and I kept trying to squirm into more comfortable positions. Even though we were supposed to have our eyes closed, she must have been watching me because she kept insisting that we remain still. Then a fly came. And it kept distracting me and I kept swatting at it to get it away… and sure enough the monk says “even if a fly lands on your nose you must remain still.” I snorted a laugh, breaking the silence. I felt awful, but the more I tried to hold it in, the more I wanted to laugh. When we came to an exercise where we had to put our hands on each others backs and say “ohhhhhhhhhmmmmm” I lost it. I was shaking so hard from trying not to laugh my friend Amy next to me started to lose it too. All I kept picturing was if my family was in this room, and how ridiculous we would all be trying not to laugh. One fart and we would have been goners. Oh gosh, I was picturing Mike and Fain doing these meditation exercises and I just couldn’t stop laughing. We ended by having to put on blindfolds and dance around the room. Amy apparently refused to do it so she took off her blind fold and watched us, which we didn’t find out until afterwards, when she reinacted everyone’s signature moves. We like to bust those out when we go out at night now.
Anyway, only a short time left and so much still to do. Trying to swim as much as possible while the weather is still nice but I do have to spend a lot of time working on my paintings and stuff. It’s a tough life I tell ya. I feel like this place is Neverland, and leaving here means I have to come home and grow up…something I am not too thrilled about. But I will be excited to see my grandpa and grandma again!
