Summer

So again...time seems to have flown by!!!  Since I have last written a lot has happened, so I will try to recap all of it!

First, school ended.  Although I am always excited for a break, I was really sad to see my class go! :(  I had some great students and we had a lot of fun!!  Also, for a lot of my students it was their last year in Greece, so I won't have a chance to see them grow into young men and young women.  I am looking forward to the day I decide to stay in one spot and I get to watch my students grow up and see all the great things they choose to do in life.  It's weird to think that this next year will be my 7th year of teaching!!!!  Where has the time gone!!  Also, that'll mean that my first group of kids will be 10th graders?!?!?!?  I don't think that is right...maybe 9th graders?!?!?!?!?  Yes, I think it is 9th graders..Ek!!!

Next, after school ended, I hung around for 2 weeks and worked at ACS Summer Camp.  This summer camp was nothing like the summer camp that I usually do in Hawaii!  Instead of doing art projects, playing outside, catching fish at the Lily Pond, I was inside teaching English to some students who were fluent and others who barely knew any English. On top of this, the students were speaking in Greek most of the time and didn't want to be there!  I taught five sections each day and out of those five, one was good, two were okay, and two were horrible!!!  On the bright side, I did learn some Greek at camp!

After camp, some friends and I traveled to another Greek island Paros and near by Antiparos for the week.  I love Greek Islands!!  My friends and I rent four-wheelers or scooters and ride around and explore the island.  It is sooooo much fun!! Also, this time I brought my bike along so I was able to do some exploring by myself.  It was so relaxing and so much fun.

Next I did a triathlon in the Peloponnese.  This is a part of Greece that is full of trees, mountains, small villages, and nothing like Athens.  The race took place around a beautiful lake.  The day we arrived the weather was perfect and it was sooo beautiful!  However, race day was full of wind!!!!  In Athens, during the summers, it is more windy, but I guess it was unusual for that side of the country.  Luckily, the race was in the afternoon, so the wind started to die down a bit, but it was still a pretty windy race!

As far as the race went, I felt good about it.  It was another Sprint, so short and quick compared to what I have coming up in September.  I was the second girl, the girl that bet me is the Greek Champion and former Olympic athlete.  She is quite good.  I hope some day I can catch up to her, but as I mentioned before I struggle with training and traveling.  I feel like I have done a good job trying to maintain a balance, but both have to give in order for this to happen.  (more on this later).

Then after this, my sister came to visit!!!!  For those that know us, know that we are not a like.  This can make hanging out together challenging, but we both just have to remember that we love each other and that we want the best for the other person.  Although at times we had our differences, it was a great trip!!!  We got to visit Meteora, Greece where there are monasteries that sit atop varies mountain tops.  It was quite amazing to see.  From there we went to Skiathos, another Greek island.  And, you know how I feel about Greek Islands!!  It was fun being able to share this experience with my sister.  Skiathos is a northeastern island, so it was a little bit different than the other islands that I had been to before.  It still had a very touristy side, but as usual we were able to find less crowded and more beautiful beaches.  Next, we went to Croatia.  We were only able to visit Dubrovnik and Spilt, but on the bus between the two cities, I picked out my next destinations in Croatia.  Lastly, we spent two days in Athens.  It was fun walking downtown and seeing the sights here with her.  I felt very proud to be showing off the city to her.   :)

Now, this brings me to today, July 27.  My sister left this morning to go visit a friend from college in Austria.  I am excited for her to be seeing so many new places!!!  Also today, I said goodbye to two of my fellow Americans, Jakob and Shanna. :(  I am really going to miss these two!  They share a lot of the same values as me and they love to travel and explore the world!!  It was really sad saying goodbye to them.  First off, I HATE goodbyes.  I was thinking why do I move all the time since saying goodbye to people make me so sad. :(  It even makes me sad when my friends leave my house after a dinner party or something. :( Also, I don't seem to get better at them.  It is just so sad!!  I know that we will keep in touch and I will keep up with their new adventures and travels, but I felt like they made my life better and they were just fun to be around.  :(

So now, after having a full house (Caitlin-and Jakob and Shanna) I am all by myself.  Luckily, only for two and half more days since I am going to Hawaii on Wednesday for month.  I have been go-go-go for a while now, it is always so weird to just relax and be alone.  I am looking forward to my time in Hawaii with my mom and also with my friends there.  I am also very excited to see some friends that I haven't seen in a VERY long time at one my best friends from high schools wedding!  She is the first one to get married, so it'll be a lot of fun!!!!

Ohh..back to training.  So I am excited to head to Hawaii and get in some good training.  I made my ticket for Denmark, so now my 70.3 is even more real!!   I will be making the trip in September, but I still have a lot of miles to swim, bike, and run before then.  I have signed up for some races in Hawaii, which I am excited about.  Like I said before I am a bit anxious about my training.  I have been doing my best to keep it as consistent as possible, but still being about to explore the world and see and experience new things.

Anyways guys.  Thanks for reading and as always I'd love to know how you are doing too!!!!  Miss you all!!!!!

Here are some pictures..so I just realized that I left somethings out..but here are some pictures of them :)

 At the Sports Awards for our school.  Erin (swimming), Kevin (cross country), Shanna (school nurse), Jakob (basketball), and me (cross country).

Shanna and I during the wine tour.  

Wine tour in the Greece country.  

On the boat to Andros.  

Andros.

Shanna, Kevin, Jakob and I on Paros.  

Our hotel in Paros. 

Caitlin and I at Meteora.  

Hiking down to the beach in Skiathos.  

Our day trip to Montenegro.  This was one of the most beautiful hikes that I have ever done!

After climbing up 1,000+ stairs and then back down and then rushing to make sure we didn't miss the bus to the next stop!  

Caitlin and I in Split, Croatia. 

The Acropolis.  

Caitlin atop the Acropolis.  

Where does the time go???

Hi all!

So....it's been a while!  As I think about the last time I wrote, it was quite a while ago.  I will just quickly recap what I have been doing since then.

Istanbul, Turkey:  We had a three day weekend, so some friends and I jumped on a plane to Istanbul.  It was a pretty cool experience.  I enjoyed Istanbul, but again I was amazed at how many people there were there!!!  We got to see pretty much all the sites and it was nothing that I had every experienced before.  I had never been to a Mosque, so that was pretty cool to see and be inside.  Also, the call to prayer during the day was another different experience for me.  Also, we got to experience and learn about Agia Sophia.  Agia Sophia started out as a church, but then it got converted into a Mosque and then now it is a museum and it looks like a Mosque/Church.  It still baffles me how many fights and wars are because of religion.  I wouldn't say I am a religious person, but I try to live like Jesus would and to live a just and respectful life.  Anyways, tt was pretty cool to be able to see Agia Sophia and learn about the history of it.  Also, the Grand Bazaar was pretty cool.  I bought a lot of stuff and spend a lot of money-but when in Istanbul....:)  (I lived that saying up in Rome :) )

Spring Break:  A friend and I took a 10 day journey around Italy.  That country is pretty amazing!!!  We started on the Amalfi Coast in Positano.  This place was really quite neat.  The buildings and houses are all stacked on the hill side and it goes up the side of a cliff.  My favorite thing we did here was find the hike The Path of The Gods.  I love hiking!  I love being outside in nature and getting to experience natural beauty!!!  To get to the hike we rode in mini bus up the mountain, which was another cool experience, and then we hiked along the mountain and then back down the mountain.  The sea view was amazing!!  Also, during this visit we took a boat ride to a smaller island, Capri Island.  Although the boat ride was a little chilly, it was still a very nice day tour of the sea and the island of Capri.

After Positano, we went to Rome, which was another amazing city!  So many museums and amazing things to see!!  Good thing I had my Rick Steves' guide to help us know where to go and what we were seeing.  Also, we stumbled upon the Pope giving The Holy Thursday Service at the Vatican.  This also was pretty cool.  ;)

Then we were off to Florence for a couple of days.  I liked this city a little more than Rome because it was a little smaller and not quite as busy, although it was still pretty busy.  I also ran around the city and got to see different parts of the city that weren't as touristy-which is something I always enjoy!

Next, we went to Venice for a day.  My expectations of Venice were quite different than the realit of it.  I thought that Venice would be a small quiet city with not too many people, and boy I was wrong!!!  The city was filled and filled with people.  The only time I had the city to myself was at 7:00am during my run.

The tour around Italy was a great trip but I was also glad to back home and back to my daily life.  Although, I get tired of my routine-I really do like my every day life. :)

Let's see...what else has happened...

My first triathlon of the season was last week. It went well, although I felt like it should have been easier than it really was.  It was a sprint distance, but for some reason I was exhausted during it!!  I did train straight through the race, so this could have been a factor and also I am increasing my running milage from being injured for a month and a half-so this is probably another factor.

Although I won the race, sometimes I am not satisfied with a win.  Sometimes I would rather get second or third place, but know that I did my best and that I left it all out on the course.  With this race, I feel like I should have been more competitive and have given it more.  Until the next competition...

School is starting to wind down and I can't believe that my first year is almost over!!!!!  I feel like at the beginning, time couldn't move fast enough, but now it is moving too fast!!!  I am really going to miss my class.  They are such an awesome group of kids!  They are just great and I always enjoy seeing them and coming to school!!

So...Greece...There are still some things that I don't understand about this country-for example, the next two Fridays and Mondays we don't have school because of the Greek Elections.  So the theory is that they shut down the schools, because these are voting sites and they need to prepare for the voting. In Salt Lake, we had school and people voted at our school at the same time.  In Hawaii, they would shut down the schools that are voting sights, but here in Greece, they shut down all schools.  Our school is not a voting site...I mean I am a little glad to have a break, but at the same time there is always so much to do at the end of the year and now we have four less days to get everything done!

Speaking of school, I have enjoyed my first year at ACS, but I still miss my old school.  I miss the organization and knowing what to expect and what to do.  Even at the end of the year there are new things that pop up and I still feel as though I am in the dark.  I am hopeful that next year will run smoother.

So..since the next two weekends are four days weekend, some friends and I are going to Zakynthos this weekend and then next weekend we are going to Milos (some Greek Islands).  I am looking forward to these island trips, but I feel like I have so much to do for the end of the school year.  Hopefully I will just be able to relax once I get there :)

My summer plans are also starting to shape up.  School ends June 18, and then I plan on working the summer camp that my school has for a couple of weeks and then hopefully some of my old co-workers from Utah are coming to visit.  I hope they make it this year, but if not this year than next year for sure.  Then my sister is coming to visit for two weeks in July and then I am going home for basically all of August.  When I moved to Greece, I decided that I wasn't going to go home and instead spend my time traveling, but that idea changed.  One of my best friends from high school is getting married and I just can't miss that wedding.  I am so excited for her!!!  Also, it'll be nice to see my family and friends.  I am used to spending 3 months in Hawaii each year, but 1 month will have to do.  I am looking forward to my trip home and seeing all of my friends!!!  Just like my Utah life, I really enjoy my Hawaii life and also enjoy my Greek life!!!

Anyways, I think that's about it.  I have been struggling again with the training vs. traveling dilemma.  If anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them!    

Thanks for reading!!  I miss you guys sooo much, but thanks for keeping up with me :)

Carly

Some of the kids in my class.  We study hard and we party hard!!

Venice, Italy :)

Florence, Italy 

The Vatican, Italy 

Outside Agia Sophia, Turkey.

The Spanish Steps, Italy

Positano, Italy

Inside Agia Sophia, Turkey 

February already?!!

So..to think, exactly one year ago today I was in San Francisco trying to figure what my next step in life would be.  I had no clue that I would end up living in Athens, Greece for the next two years.  In that moment, I actually had no clue where I was going to be a year later..

I applied to ISS (International School Services) after a couple of years of thinking about it.  Ever since the winter of 2010 I had thought about teaching abroad.  I almost packed up my bags and left that winter as a quick reaction to a bad break up, but I decided that more thought should go into a big discussion like this.  However, three years later I couldn't put it out of my mind.  It isn't that I wanted to leave Utah, it was just that I was ready for a new experience and a new adventure.  I LOVED Utah, so much!  Even though I am not LDS, Utah was such a good fit for me.

So, back to the ISS job fair in San Francisco.  Prior to being there I created a list of places that I would like to go to, which turned out being around 20 different schools, ranging from Ecuador to Malaysia to Morocco and everywhere else in between.  My dear friend Laura, prepped me, helped me with my outfit, and my e-portfolio, which I never ended up showing anyone..oh well!

So let's go back in time to the job fair:

Day 1:  I dropped my resume off with many different administrators and went to many different presentations.  (I think I had around 40 resumes or something!)

Day 2:  I signed up for 5 different interviews (I had three)-all to no avail...

Day 3:  Discouraged, I went to the 2nd interview signup and was hesitant to sign up for anymore interviews..but I did.  I saw ACS, Athens there, a school that was on my list but that I hadn't seen the previous day.  "Oh," I thought.  "Well, I guess I should stand in this line and see if I can get an interview..well, maybe not the line is about 20 people deep...well I don't have anything else to do" I contemplated with myself.  When I finally got to the front of the line, the elementary school principal greeted me with a smile and gave me a time to meet with her.  With new hope I went downstairs and began to research the school and Athens, Greece.  The first thing I looked up was if Greece had gotten into triathlons yet.  Some may say that my priorities were a bit confused, but then that person wouldn't know me.  While being at the fair and having numerous interviews I had time to think about my needs and what would make me a happy and successful person/teacher and one of those things was being able to run, ride my bike and swim. If I am not able to do those things, then I am a grumpy, grumpy person!

Anyways, from my thirty minute research about Athens, ACS Athens, triathlons in Greece, and what Greek men looked like (:)) I figured that I could live in Greece for at least two years!  Luckily I was offered the job and accepted within the hour, not fully knowing what I had gotten my self into-but luckily it has succeed what I had imagined!  

As I sat at work today, thinking about where I was 1 year ago it is amazing.  I wouldn't have imagined that I would have actually gone through with not only applying with ISS, but also registering for the job fair, and then finally accepting a job!!!

I have really enjoyed my journey so far and I am excited about what else is to come.  Life really isn't too much different over here.  I feel as though anywhere I would go I would find my niche and what is comfortable to me, and that is what I have done.  Sometimes when I am sitting in my apartment alone, I get a bit sad but I don't regret my choice.  The only way that I was going to get this dream of mine out of my system was to actually do it.  I am not sure what is going to happen after my two year contract is done, and I find my self getting anxious about thinking about, but I need to remind my self to enjoy the moment.

In two weeks I will be traveling to Monemvasia, Greece and the week after that I will be on my way to Istanbul, Turkey for a long weekend.   I am trying to figure out how to balance my traveling and my training, which too can become a bit stressful, but I am trying to take it day by day.  It also doesn't help that I am unable to run right now, something with my lower abdominal muscles-I have taken a week off from running, so hopefully soon I'll be back on the road.

Miss you guys and remember to follow your dreams and live your life to the fullest!!!

This is the only new picture that I have...my first selfie in my bathroom :)  

Happy New Year!!

Welcome everyone to 2014!!  I have a feeling this will be a good year :)

So where to begin...I had a GREAT Winter Break with my mom!  We wandered (not wondered) around Athens for a day and got to see all the great sites here and then we packed our bags and adventured into Paris!  Upon our arrival the city, metro, street, everything was packed with people!  So many people!  I don't know where they all come from!  But she had a good plan and we got to see so many sites and with our Museum Pass we didn't stand in line for too long :)  The Louvre had a wait for 2:30 hours, but with our Museum Pass we went straight though into the museum.  I would highly suggest getting one of those.

I think my favorite thing about Paris was knowing what we were looking at.  I had my own personal audio tour (my mom and her Rick Steve's guide book) :).  It was great!  I learned so much about the different paintings and French history.  I remember some of it, but I'm not ready for a quiz :)

After Paris we were supposed to do an island tour here in Greece, but the travel compony didn't pick us up.  Apparently there are two different Tymfristous in Greece...although only one in Halandri.  Anyways, I got my money back and it rained the day we were supposed to go, so it probably all turned out for the best.

The next day my mom left and it was so sad :(  I think the saddest part was not knowing when I will see her again.  It also made me think of all my friends in the States.  I feel like I am missing out on their lives being here in Greece.  Although I do enjoy it here and I have made some incredible friends, I really do miss my friends in Salt Lake and in Hawaii.  I don't regret coming, but I just get sad every now and then about it.  Hmm..this usually happens when I am not too busy...since school hasn't started yet and my friends aren't back I have a lot of free time on my hands, which apparently is not a good thing for me :)

So for the new year I haven't made a resolution, but I want to continue to keep in mind what is important to me and to make sure I focus my time and energy into those things.  Also to remember that I only have control over my choices and my life and that I can share my opinions but in the end what they do is up to them.

Thanks for reading my post and friends please keep me updated on your lives!!!  I don't want to miss out!!!!


Our arrival in Paris!!!  We are already for our adventure to begin!!!!!

 Got to see April in Paris!!!!  So nice :)

Atop the Arch de Triumph in Paris, France.  Great view of the city!

This was part of the Parthenon in Athens, now it is in the Louvre in Paris.  I liked the Greek history there..too bad it isn't in Greece...   

After waiting in lines...

We got a little stir crazy after walking around soo much!!!  Versailles, France 

I had always wanted to go to the Eiffel tower!  We went in the late afternoon so we got to see it during the day time and also during the night time...I would suggest this. 

The Seine River and I. 

 

Ready for our Athens adventure to begin!!!  Mom is all bundled...love the hat!!!  :)

I think this is Hadrin's Library in Athens.  Of course we went to the library :)