The Hitchhiker's Guide to Amaliada

Time. Fucking. Flies.
It is now my third saturday in Amaliada and I have been enjoying everything so much I can't even stand it! Every night as I sit out on the porch, talkin shit with the girls by candlelight over a few beers I can't help but freak out that another day has passed. It is the FIFTEENTH of august! I have been traveling for ELEVEN months? Where the hell does the time go?
Every day is exceedingly more awesome than the next and a prime example of this is our free rides into town and to the beach every day.
Coupla painters finishing up work let us roll into Amaliada and give Amanda and Hanna cigarettes and of course offer to buy us all souvlaki, Mom and son duo who were super cute and practicing his english, pouty twenty-something dudes coming home from the beach too late and "EUUGH IM HUNGRY, ditch these girls, they aren't going to give us any" " Dude that one speaks greek, she knows what you're saying" "I DONT CARE. HUNGRY." Sweet smelling beautiful greek woman on her way to work at the grocery store, nice old guys chatting Amanda up about this and that, guy with two kids but crammed us in anyways and offered to buy us ice cream. The guy who pumped up the electronic music he himself made, and yes "unfortunately I'm engaged" but that doesn't mean I cant pass a joint around and give you all a ride right up to the beach and give you a free electronic candle(so useful too-at night on the patio-score!). Two cars bumpin the michael jackson, a twenty second ride just to get us closer to Amaliada from the beach. And of course my personal favorite. The guy who picked us up right in front of the farm after only waiting for maybe thirty seconds, immediately handed all three of us bunches of tiny, sweet purple grapes and cigarettes for those who wanted them, took us all the way to the beach closest to the outdoor movie theater(which we had wanted to go to that evening!) and told us he could give us a ride every day around this time and to go to this taverna on the beach and have some ouzo there cause thats where his wife works. AMAZING. The greek people are so kind and welcoming and treat you like family when you've been in their presence for ten seconds. I will always remember the amazing hospitality, welcoming nature, and just pure awesomeness of getting free rides to the beach and back. And I am totally going to pick up hitchers and do it myself when I get home.

So...this week we actually started crunching it hardcore with the farm work. We pulled onions, hoed some beds, picked some tomatoes, watered some trees, cut and laid out hundreds of tomatoes for sundry-ing, vaccumed, mopped, cleaned bed bug infested mattresses, sprayed sulfur, made more lamps, picked (and ate) figs, cut mad grass,etc.
Also I invested in a paddleball set and daily our practice is getting better and better, but we still suck wayyyy harder than every single greek person on the beach.
Also we went to the outdoor cinema again and saw the Hangover. Hilarious. And ate two boxes of chocolate cookies. And were given a ride home to the farm from Harolyn, an awesome lady originally from Seattle who lives up the street from Jen and who DROVE the car, said bad words, and her husband cooks the food. I much prefer this senario.
Ive also been running again. Needless to say no one could talk this much about food without seriously gaining it and boy have I. After five years of veganism this shock treatment of milk and cheese and sweets and everything forbidden continues to expand my waistline. And though I know I won't live or eat like this forever, I feel like a chubba lub who does the truffle shuffle nonstop. So I've been running. A few days I went around the farm, through the glorious lonely country roads past vineyards and cute little churches. But then I almost got attacked by dogs. And that was the end of that. So now I'm baywatching it out by jogging on the beach in the afternoons. Which is a wayy better situation. I dont worry about dogs, I get a "tan", I can jump in the sea whenever I get too hot and its sooo enjoyable. The sand and the sea... ahhhh. just LOVE IT.
Also the figs are ripe. Ripe ripe ripe. I've eaten so many fresh figs in the last week it would make any normal person explode. But since I've been in sugar training I'm doing aight.
I will either turn into a tomatoe, fig, or loaf of bread by the time I leave Greece. Three way tie. But they are truly delicious, and who knows when again in my life Ill get to have fresh sweet figs daily. Get it while you can I say.
Also a little Berger shout out. He's currenly in CHINA, for a little all paid working holiday and in three days we'll have been together for four and a half years. Bam. And He still puts up with all my bullshit. Props baybe. Happy Anniversary.
In other news today Hanna, Amanda and I woke up, hungover as shit from way too many Amstels, chocolate cookies, leftover pizza, crunchy biscuts, fresh figs, weird dancing and singing on our porch last night, etc. Sat there for almost an hour trying to get the strength to drink tea, then hoed the shit out of the potatoe field till the sweat poured down... Then we got a ride to the beach and spent the gloriously warm Greek day swimming in the salty sea, playing paddleball, eating greek salads, fresh hot fried potatoes, warm bread and tzaziki, and some beer- hair of the dog style.