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)