Just a little update, I got back from Greece last night and I shall be staying in Ann Arbor for a week before taking a trip to California. Then I'll be back for another week before my big trip to China.
Oh, and I do not have any pity for George the scooter-rental-man anymore. He charged me 70 euros for some tiny scratches to the scooter from when I fell. And he didn't even ask me if I was okay. The nerve!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
The case of the evil moto... or the paranoid Amanda?
So, I think my paranoia is bringing me down. Either that, or my scooter is possesed with an evil spirit. After I fell on Saturday, I was extremely paranoid and careful while driving yesterday (Sunday). I really took grandma-style driving to the extreme. I was SO nervous about falling... that I ended up falling three times. The first two times happened during the day, and they weren't bad. Neither the scooter nor I were hurt. But last night as Anna and I were coming home from getting ice cream, I fell for a third time on the same steep hill on the same sandy/rocky dirt road leading to the meditation center. That time, it was dark and I couldn't see anything, and when I fell, the scooter fell on top of me and I couldn't get up. It was a little scary. All the gas from the scooter came pouring out on top of me, and I first I thought it was blood! I managed to kick the scooter off of me, and Anna came rushing back down the hill to help me (she is used to me falling by now). So, today I am very sore and definitely a little scraped and bruised. I am not going to drive at all today, but I do want to try again tomorrow. I could just stop driving completely, or go back and get a version of Anna's scooter, which has much bigger wheels and is easier to handle in the sand. But if I did that, I will feel like my scooter defeated me. And I am not going to let the stupid scooter defeat me, goddamn it!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Furious George
I am convinced that George, the owner of the scooter-rental place, hates us. He has a pained expression on his face everytime he sees Anna and me. After seeing Anna try out the scooter for the first time, he was reluctant to even rent them to us. Then, there was the incident where the brake on my scooter was locked into place because somebody must have hit it. George suspected that I was the one who crashed it, even though Grandpa assured him that it wasn't me. Yesterday, we went to get Anna a scooter. Since she had been practicing on mine, she took mine because it was more comfortable and easy for her, and I rented a new one with smaller tires. That same day, we left our scooters parked by the grocery store. When we came out, the license plate on Anna's scooter was laying on the ground, bent and twisted. We had to take it to George to re-attach it.
And today yet another scooter incident happened to me. Last night, Anna tripped and hurt her foot. She didn't want to go out at all today, so I decided to drive along the countryside with my camera and try to get some good photos. Things were going great, I was getting some really beautiful pictures of houses and other things along the road. Then I saw a peach tree with ripe peaches on it, down in a ditch. I parked my scooter on the side of the road and waded down through the weeds to get to the peaches. The peaches were hanging off the tree, over a huge pile of big rocks. So I climbed up onto the pile of rocks to get a better shot. I was so absorbed in looking at the peaches, that I heard a small *clink* but didn't even think about at the moment. Then I realized that my key to my scooter was no longer in my hand. It had dropped down into the pile of rocks. I spent about 30 minutes digging a hole in the rock pile. There were strange things down in those rocks. There were snails, many eggs of different varieties, a huge white worm with black polkadots inside a crysalis, red bugs shaped like small dried rose petals, and even a yellow skeleton of a scorpion. After 30 minutes, I was exhausted. People were driving along the road, staring down at me, probably wondering what a girl in a sundress was doing hauling rocks around. Then I saw Grandpa drive by. I screamed at him to stop, and luckily he somehow heard me. He and I spent another 20 minutes digging through the rocks. Finally, we realized that it was hopeless and decided to go to George to see if he had an extra key for my scooter. As we were climbing back up to the road, George drove by. We flagged him down. He and Grandpa spent another 10 minutes digging through the rocks. We never found the key. George seemed to be quite unhappy about it. Luckily, he had an extra key though, so I took that one and promised to make a copy.
George doesn't know yet... but on the way home from the rock pile, I was so exhausted and stressed that when I took a sharp turn down a hill, the scooter slid on the gravel and I fell right over. I wasn't really hurt at all - just a few bumps and bruises. However, the scooter got scratched and one of the reflectors cracked and fell off. Oops.
And today yet another scooter incident happened to me. Last night, Anna tripped and hurt her foot. She didn't want to go out at all today, so I decided to drive along the countryside with my camera and try to get some good photos. Things were going great, I was getting some really beautiful pictures of houses and other things along the road. Then I saw a peach tree with ripe peaches on it, down in a ditch. I parked my scooter on the side of the road and waded down through the weeds to get to the peaches. The peaches were hanging off the tree, over a huge pile of big rocks. So I climbed up onto the pile of rocks to get a better shot. I was so absorbed in looking at the peaches, that I heard a small *clink* but didn't even think about at the moment. Then I realized that my key to my scooter was no longer in my hand. It had dropped down into the pile of rocks. I spent about 30 minutes digging a hole in the rock pile. There were strange things down in those rocks. There were snails, many eggs of different varieties, a huge white worm with black polkadots inside a crysalis, red bugs shaped like small dried rose petals, and even a yellow skeleton of a scorpion. After 30 minutes, I was exhausted. People were driving along the road, staring down at me, probably wondering what a girl in a sundress was doing hauling rocks around. Then I saw Grandpa drive by. I screamed at him to stop, and luckily he somehow heard me. He and I spent another 20 minutes digging through the rocks. Finally, we realized that it was hopeless and decided to go to George to see if he had an extra key for my scooter. As we were climbing back up to the road, George drove by. We flagged him down. He and Grandpa spent another 10 minutes digging through the rocks. We never found the key. George seemed to be quite unhappy about it. Luckily, he had an extra key though, so I took that one and promised to make a copy.
George doesn't know yet... but on the way home from the rock pile, I was so exhausted and stressed that when I took a sharp turn down a hill, the scooter slid on the gravel and I fell right over. I wasn't really hurt at all - just a few bumps and bruises. However, the scooter got scratched and one of the reflectors cracked and fell off. Oops.
Friday, July 18, 2008
It's all Greek to me
Anna and I have managed to make some Greek friends here. One of them we went kyaking with today. I have also managed to learn a few Greek words such as:
skilos = dog, gata = cat, limoni = port, omorfa = beautiful, ef-haristo = thank you
Thats about it. The rest, well... as Anna and I say to ourselves... its all Greek to me.
skilos = dog, gata = cat, limoni = port, omorfa = beautiful, ef-haristo = thank you
Thats about it. The rest, well... as Anna and I say to ourselves... its all Greek to me.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Meditation and Snorkeling
Last night, Anna and I attended a Sanyas(sp?) celebration at the meditation center where we are staying. Since we are the granddaughters of a “mystic,” (which from what I gather means a meditation master), most people at the meditation center are surprised that we don’t meditate at all. But last night was a special occasion, because five people were becoming Sanyasins. I think this means that they pledge to live their life on the principals of meditation and of Osho (the figurehead of meditation). So, Anna and I came to the nightly meditation, after which followed the celebration. It was quite fun actually. Everybody dresses in white, and we listened to live music, danced, and then had silent meditation, then listened to a recording of Osho. Then, we formed a circle around the people who were taking their vows, and they danced. It was interesting to see how everything worked. I’ve always been curious about what grandpa does, and so this gave me a little insight into it.
Earlier, Anna and I both bought snorkeling gear, and today we had a chance to try it out for the first time. Anna has snorkeled before, but I had no idea what it was like. My conclusion is… I love it!!! It’s amazing! It’s beautiful! I feel like a fish! I can see underwater! We swam over to the cliffs, where there are many huge rocks underwater. Of course it is not as colorful as “Finding Nemo,” but we definitely saw some amazing things. There were black sea urchins, little bottom feeders with white whiskers, rainbow colored fish, and one huge school of thousands of tiny fish.
Well, that’s about all for now. The evening meditation tonight seems to be over, so I am guessing that grandpa shall be ready soon to go have some dinner. Tonight we are going to try some souvlaki. OH, and other news! Anna practiced on my moped today, and she really improved her driving. Tomorrow she is going to rent one too. This is good – it means we can get around the island by ourselves. Yay!
Earlier, Anna and I both bought snorkeling gear, and today we had a chance to try it out for the first time. Anna has snorkeled before, but I had no idea what it was like. My conclusion is… I love it!!! It’s amazing! It’s beautiful! I feel like a fish! I can see underwater! We swam over to the cliffs, where there are many huge rocks underwater. Of course it is not as colorful as “Finding Nemo,” but we definitely saw some amazing things. There were black sea urchins, little bottom feeders with white whiskers, rainbow colored fish, and one huge school of thousands of tiny fish.
Well, that’s about all for now. The evening meditation tonight seems to be over, so I am guessing that grandpa shall be ready soon to go have some dinner. Tonight we are going to try some souvlaki. OH, and other news! Anna practiced on my moped today, and she really improved her driving. Tomorrow she is going to rent one too. This is good – it means we can get around the island by ourselves. Yay!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Too much relaxing
Today, Anna and I spent the day eating, sleeping and swimming at the beach. It is quite isolated here, so that is just about all that we can do.
On the other hand, I did have a mini-adventure today on the way into town. As I was following grandpa and Anna on their scooter, my scooter started puttering and slowed down. Grandpa zoomed off, assuming that I was being slow, and that I would catch up. Something was wrong with my scooter though, and no matter how high I revved the engine, it wouldn't go any faster. Finally, I stopped on the road and tried to see what was wrong. I waited for Anna and Grandpa to come back, but nobody came. I also had no idea where I was. So, I managed to drag the scooter in front of a grocery store. Some men came out and started helping me.
After going to the post-office, Anna and grandpa realized that I still wasn't there. They headed back and found me, and we got the scooter fixed. Apparently, somebody had hit the scooter while it was parked, which caused the brake to lock into place as I was driving.
On the other hand, I did have a mini-adventure today on the way into town. As I was following grandpa and Anna on their scooter, my scooter started puttering and slowed down. Grandpa zoomed off, assuming that I was being slow, and that I would catch up. Something was wrong with my scooter though, and no matter how high I revved the engine, it wouldn't go any faster. Finally, I stopped on the road and tried to see what was wrong. I waited for Anna and Grandpa to come back, but nobody came. I also had no idea where I was. So, I managed to drag the scooter in front of a grocery store. Some men came out and started helping me.
After going to the post-office, Anna and grandpa realized that I still wasn't there. They headed back and found me, and we got the scooter fixed. Apparently, somebody had hit the scooter while it was parked, which caused the brake to lock into place as I was driving.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Yassu from Greece!
Yassu means hello in Greek, as far as I know.
Well, things are good and I am in Lesbos at the moment, although getting here was a bit difficult. Anna and I arrived in Athens and found grandpa almost immediately. However, when we went to check into our plane from Athens to Lesbos, it turns out that they had canceled the flight without telling grandpa. Luckily, we rescheduled the flight for the next day, and grandpa had a friend in Athen whom we could stay with. So, we took the metro into Athens and spent the night at Moona's apartment. The next day we woke up at three in the morning, and took the flight to Lesbos. When we got to Lesbos, there was supposed to be a rental car waiting for us in the parking lot, so that we could drive to the city in which we were staying. We searched the entire parking lot, but the car wasn't there. Finally, after phone calls it turns out that the rental place had taken back the car, since we didnt arrive on time. So then we had to wait another hour for the rental service to bring back the car. Finally, we got on the road and headed towards Aerossos, the city where we are staying. A meditation center in which grandpa teaches is located here.
The city is gorgeous - it's all mountains and white houses with red tiled roofs, right next to the sea. The meditation center where we are staying is pretty too. Most people stay outside in tents and cabins, but there are some guest houses as well. Anna and I have our room and our own bathroom - a luxury here. Meals are served outside, and all meals are vegitarian. Yesterday, grandpa and I rented scooters so that we could drive around the town. Without them, it is about 30 minutes from the meditation center to the beach or to downtown. Anna is learning how to drive a scooter too, but I think she is a bit nervous about it. The beach is pretty but rocky. Tomorrow we shall go to one that has more sand. Apparently it is "bathing suit optional" there.... I think I shall keep mine on.
More updates later.
Well, things are good and I am in Lesbos at the moment, although getting here was a bit difficult. Anna and I arrived in Athens and found grandpa almost immediately. However, when we went to check into our plane from Athens to Lesbos, it turns out that they had canceled the flight without telling grandpa. Luckily, we rescheduled the flight for the next day, and grandpa had a friend in Athen whom we could stay with. So, we took the metro into Athens and spent the night at Moona's apartment. The next day we woke up at three in the morning, and took the flight to Lesbos. When we got to Lesbos, there was supposed to be a rental car waiting for us in the parking lot, so that we could drive to the city in which we were staying. We searched the entire parking lot, but the car wasn't there. Finally, after phone calls it turns out that the rental place had taken back the car, since we didnt arrive on time. So then we had to wait another hour for the rental service to bring back the car. Finally, we got on the road and headed towards Aerossos, the city where we are staying. A meditation center in which grandpa teaches is located here.
The city is gorgeous - it's all mountains and white houses with red tiled roofs, right next to the sea. The meditation center where we are staying is pretty too. Most people stay outside in tents and cabins, but there are some guest houses as well. Anna and I have our room and our own bathroom - a luxury here. Meals are served outside, and all meals are vegitarian. Yesterday, grandpa and I rented scooters so that we could drive around the town. Without them, it is about 30 minutes from the meditation center to the beach or to downtown. Anna is learning how to drive a scooter too, but I think she is a bit nervous about it. The beach is pretty but rocky. Tomorrow we shall go to one that has more sand. Apparently it is "bathing suit optional" there.... I think I shall keep mine on.
More updates later.
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