What's going on?

After another long pause I have found a few moments to blog. Last weekend I had a friend here from the U.S. She only visited for 4 days because she is traveling throughout Europe this month. We took her to a beach on Friday, although I don't think that she likes to swim very much. We had a great time, aside from figuring out how to dig MIL's car out of the sand. I can't say that I didn't see that coming. We were looking for parking near the beach when along came a huge patch of sand. Kosta saw it and stopped our car and MIL didn't see it at all. My friend rode with her and Iza and she knew that she was driving into sand but it didn't matter because she can't speak a word of Greek so even when she said "you're driving into sand!" it was useless. We went to the beach anyway and left the car where it was. Kosta left after an hour or so and said that he would figure something out. When he came back to the beach he had a smile on his face. Apparently he found someone with a jeep and a rope and the car was pulled out.

On Saturday I showed her around the peninsula. We had coffee in an adorable village, Athitos. The view was amazing. I FINALLY saw dolphins in the sea as we were having our coffee. I have been here off and on for 17 years and I have never seen dolphins swimming near us. I was really excited! I can't find a decent link for this particular village so I will share photos another time. After coffee, we took a long walk through the village. We looked through shops and then got into the car so that we could venture to the other side of Kassandra.

I took the wrong turn only to find myself driving through the center of the peninsula. Up and down winding roads, through the woods, we passed farms inhabited by goats and cows. It was pretty cool though. When I found the main road we stopped in Skala Fourkas for dinner. We found a taverna situated right near the sea shore and enjoyed a long dinner. I really hope that she enjoyed herself.

Sunday we met our Koumbaros(best man) in Thessaloniki and he took us to St. Dimitrios. Our tour of the church was a good way to end her trip. We dropped her off at the airport and then had dinner. The weather was crappy on Sunday, it rained and it got really cool. I am only complaining because I wasn't prepared for it to be so cool and I was freezing. I did grab coats and sweaters for the kids and Kosta, but I didn't put socks on the baby because it wasn't cold here. So I had a coat for the baby but no socks or shoes so I wrapped her in my poncho, therefore, I was freezing because I was wearing a sleeveless shirt. Although I wasn't prepared we were all happy that it had rained as it was needed it hasn't rained at all since we've been here, so poor Mother Earth needed a drink!

Our loan was approved yesterday and we went to Thessaloniki again today to take care of more paperwork. We also made our offer for the house and went to look at it again. It really is beautiful. It needs a lot of TLC but that's not a problem. The last house that we bought is over 100 years old and this one is nearly 30 yrs. old, made of concrete and marble, so we figure it's not such a big deal. Although it is great to have so many neighbors that are good to our children, I think it is time for us to have some quiet. I feel like a crazy woman every time that I have to discipline my kids here because all eyes are on me-from every direction. Of course, as I am in Greece, disciplining one's own children is virtually unheard of, because they are only children, they're all babies until they're 90 or some crap like that. A hunk of BS I'll save for another post.

So anyway, we are doing well. Alexandra has had 4 teeth come in since we've arrived, exactly one month ago today. It seems so much longer to me. She is also pulling herself up to standing and trying to take steps around the furniture. Izabella has made a lot of new friends and is very excited. Since the day that Amalia died she has been nagging me about what kind of new pet she wants. It changes every day. She wants a dog, a parrot, a canary, a duck, a pony and maybe some fish. And Foti, my poor Foti. He is so lost and my heart is breaking. He has been so naughty lately. I mean REALLY naughty. He is constantly pinching Iza, pulling her hair and/or slapping her around. The other day he bit Alexandra's toe while riding in the backseat of the car. My patience is running out and I am almost out of tactics. I am sure that once we move into our new house it will get better. I mean really, we went from living in a 3 story house with 2 kitchens to renting a 1 bedroom apartment for the summer. Plus, we almost never have family time, just the 5 of us. It is due time. I am coping because I keep reminding myself that this is all temporary and that things could be worse.