March 31: Athens to Santa Fe!

 

Home Sweet Home, Safe and Sound... and Sleepy.

Everyone arrived slightly worse for wear but happy! After every trip, we ask the students for their takeaways from the trip.

Efrim: I learned how to communicate with people using International Signs or Gestures.

Kieran: I learned that it’s very important to be open and to try new things while you travel, you never know what you will like, especially with food.

Angelique: Comparing Greece and the US, I think that Greece has many more historical places, and they have a lot of good healthy food compared to the US. The US has too much sugar in its food.

Julian: The Greeks had a lot of great inventions that they came up with many years ago which was cool.  

Melinda: I learned how to use different kinds of transportation on this trip and how to get from one place to another place. I also learned how to navigate my way around town and different transportation stations.

Alex: Knowing that all cultures are different, and I had the opportunity to learn how to adapt to the ways of the Greeks and be respectful of their culture and not expect them to adapt to my usual ways that are done here in America.

Adrien: Bring backup shoes.

Jesus: I learned a lot on this trip. It was a new experience for me to try new food, see historical places, and be part of a different culture. I also learned that traveling requires a lot of walking to see different places and the time difference also made me tired for the first few days.

March 30: From Santorini to Athens & Fish Feet!

Today was our last full day in Greece! We looked around at local shops in Santorini. We went to a place called Dr. Fish Spa. All the kids sat in chairs above tanks of garra rufa fish and put our feet in the tanks. The fish nibbled at our dead skin cells and left our feet feeling smooth and silky. After that we ate our last Greek lunch and we all had gyros. We caught the van to the airport. We had a lot of trouble getting our tickets because the lady at the front desk looked shocked when she found out that a group of 11 people were deaf. She rushed off to inform the airline that we were deaf. We waited for about 20 minutes before she came back and informed us that the maximum group of deaf people to fly is 7 people. we found a loophole with some of us being hard of hearing, and thankfully, we were able to fly. When we arrived in Athens, we were escorted off the plane and to our baggage claim. The escorts stayed while we waited for our bags. We told them that we didn't need help, but they insisted on standing with us. When our bags came, we grabbed them and left, proving that we didn't need an escort. We had a van driver who looked like he didn't realize that we had 11 people, so we waited for another driver to arrive before we were able to go to the hotel. We dropped our bags off in our rooms, and we ate dinner at a fancy restaurant called the Greco Project.  after dinner we finalized our shopping for last minute gifts or souvenirs. We went back to the hotel and packed, getting ready for our flight back to the us tomorrow! (Post by Alex)

March 29: Boating around Santorini

We got up early and got ready for breakfast and then we took the van to our boat for our day cruise around the island. It was a very very windy day that rocked the boat. We visited four different places. The first stop was at the Red Beach where we walked to yesterday. After that, we saw the White Beach.  The white beach is the only beach on island that was not affected by the volcano and is full of marble, copper, and granite bits. The boat cruised by the Akrotiri lighthouse at the end of the island. It was so beautiful! We ate lunch on the boat and the buffet was full of yummy Greek food.  The last stop was the volcanic hot springs. We had to jump and swim in the cold Aegean Sea  to reach the hot springs. It was more like “warm springs” but it was awesome swimming in water heated from the volcano.  After swimming, we headed back to the boat and enjoyed smooth and warmer sailing back to the dock. We all were ready for a hot shower as many of us were still cold or shivering from the cold water! We were really excited to see the famous sunset from the town Oia on the island. It would be the last sunset that we will see in Greece by the ocean. It was beautiful. Tomorrow will be our last day. We will miss it here. (Post by Efrim) 

March 28: Santorini's Red Beaches

We got up early and went for breakfast before heading out to the Red Beach. We wanted to stop at the Archaeology Museum, but it was closed. We had to switch days because today we were supposed to go out on a day boat trip around the island, but that got changed to tomorrow due to the weather (the 29th). We switched our plans from the 29th to today but didn’t realize the museum was closed. So we just visited Red Beach, where it was so windy! After hiking to the beach, we got some lunch and went to Oia, a small town on the other end of the island. Oia is where the famous blue dome church is, and all those white buildings are over the cliff. This town is beautiful, and we enjoyed walking around the narrow streets and exploring the area. We took many pictures of the blue-domed churches and the white buildings.

We had a great dinner. All of us loved our meals. Julian and Adrien got freshly caught fish of the day (the whole fish was grilled, and they ate the eyes, too!).

We headed back to the hotel, and it started to rain as soon as we arrived at the shuttle. The gods and goddesses must have been watching over us! (Post by Angelique) 

March 27: A Hop and Skip to Santorini!

Today is March 27th. We woke up early to visit the deaf school again. We could tour the whole school this time. Last Friday we went to their special celebration and could not see the school afterwards everyone left early for their holiday weekend. During the school visit this morning, we could visit some classrooms and meet some students. We learned about the history of their Independence Day as that was what they were learning in their History class. We also had some break time outside with other students and played volleyball. After the school visit, we went back to the hotel and grabbed lunch before we went to the airport. We went to the airport to catch our flight to Santorini. It is an island south of the mainland. Santorini is famous for its blue-domed churches and white buildings. We were excited to see what it is like on the island.

Our flight was only 25 minutes, and we arrived at the island and got to the hotel. We ordered food as we got in late and didn’t feel like going out.  We ordered food from a local restaurant. Our hotel is by the water and is in a quiet place on the island. We went to check out the views of the water.  It was too dark to see anything; we look forward to see what the island will look like tomorrow.

 We are ready for bed! (Post by Julian)

March 26: Athens, The Acropolis!

   
We woke up early and felt super tired. It was because of daylight savings time. We got an hour less of sleep and we did not expect that. Anyway, we went got food from a place called Casba. It is becoming our favorite place to get breakfast. Then we went to the National Archeological Museum. It was huge and took us half a day to look around. They had lots of cool statues. After we ate lunch, we went to the famous Greek destination, the Acropolis! 

We climbed to the top and saw lots of cool buildings like the Parthenon and Temple of Athena Nike. It was a very hot day, but we didn't let that stop us. Later, we went shopping and lots of us bought many things. After dinner, we got dessert, and it was fried dough balls with different kinds of toppings. Finally, we went back to the hotel after the long day.

 Interesting facts for the day:

1) Parthenon has eight columns on the front and back and seventeen columns on the sides.

2) Parthenon was destroyed in a siege by the Venetians during the 17th century.

3) Scott Mohan, our beloved Director of Instruction, fell while climbing down from the Acropolis. He is suffering from a grievous injury, fortunately, he barely survived. (Post by Adrien)

Staff Note: Scott's injury was mostly due to a bruised ego. He is fine, we promise. His second fall at the airport on the 27th has us all questioning his ability to stay upright. Perhaps due to his Greek ancestry, the Gods are trying to tell him something. Help us figure out what! (and yes, he remains fine).