Weekly Updates

I've decided that to maintain my sanity and ability to keep up with my other work that I will be only updating on a weekly basis. I know it has been more than a week since my last post but I am a pretty good procrastinator so I have put it off until now.
This last week marked the first full week of classes since winter break began and I must say it was a busy one. Thankfully I have been saved by the mercy of my supervising principal who has agreed to pick my cooperating teacher and me up at a closer train station saving me about 40 minutes a day on the train. It is so kind of her to do it and I can now get up at 5:45 or even 6:00 some days to get to the train on time. What is even better about this arrangement is the stop we make at The Bakery. It is of course a bakery in a neighboring suburb that is impossible to get to without a car unfortunatly but the bread there is AMAZING. I have not always been one of those crazy bread people like some in my family but I could eat this delectable bread all day. The bread is sweet, soft and warm. It practically melts on your tongue. Unfortunatly I have been such a gluton that I have not been able to take any pictures of the place but I will remember later this week and post them.  It is like heaven on earth.
Speaking of other purchases it was the kick off of sales this week in Athens. It is something equivalent to their after Christmas sales but most of the stores mark up their prices a bit and then take the 70 % off which is still a pretty good deal. I went shopping on Friday with Gina after we had coffee with some of the other people at the school. We perused the lovely windows of Gucci and Prada but we ended up at a shop called Zara's where I ended up buying a sweater dress and leggings to fit in better with the all the Greek women who wear them very fashionably.
I also did a bit of shopping on Saturday. There was an open air market about a half of a kilometer from my house that George and I went to. There was all sorts of fresh produce to get I spent 5.50 Euros on 1 kilo cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions; 50 cents on 3 bunches of lettuce, and 1 Euro on 3 kilos of oranges. I left the market feeling triumphant with my big purchases. I brought it all home and Ana taught me how to make Greek salad "the Greek way" as she says it. Which is 1 tomato cut in chunks one baby cucumber cut in half and sliced 1 half of a red onion and 4 leaves of lettuce. On top sprinkle oregano and some sea salt, and pour enough olive oil and vinegar  to coat the mixture. It is important to only toss the salad before right before you serve it so the tomatoes don't break down. It is quite delicious and if you don't eat it with a giant plate of french fries like I have several times, probably very healthy.
Ana continues to make all sorts of Greek soups for me. With the weather getting much colder she says it is important to eat lots of beans and soup to keep you healthy. The temperature has been dropping here it was supposed to snow this weekend I guess I didn't make it far enough south to completely avoid the chill of winter.  Still I seem to be fitting in a little better now that I am wearing my coat around town. I think I have the Greek look down frizzy hair and earphones help me to not look so much like an American tourist. I have even had 3 people ask me for directions. I almost laughed out loud the first time someone asked because first of all I don't understand more than a handful of words in Greek, second of all I have no idea which way is up here, thirdly I am not sure I could navigate if I could find up. I have seen more of Dafni and Kiffisia I am looking for a nice tour to do through Athens to get the general idea of where is should be going and what I should be seeing. I will spend more time adventuring after that. It is hard to get out of the city without a car so this is the best option. Anyway I will update you on how this turns out for me in the next few weeks I have a lot of work ahead of me at the school so I will probably postpone leaving the city until after the majority of my work is complete.
I hope you are all staying warm and healthy.
Miss you all.

   Olive table in the market. I am not much of an olive eater but i might have to try a few of these.

This is the Greek salad that I made. It tasted like summer in the middle of winter.

The view from where I wait for the principal.
 Beautiful mountains.






Car parked on the sidewalk outside my apartment. Most Greeks walk in the street anyway.          

Alfie my landlady's cat came for a visit. He is part Turkish and part European. Ana says the Turkish part of him makes him feisty, he will take a swipe at anyone but we are still friends.