June 27th, 2009- It starts...

Okay- so, I finally have a solid/ continuous internet access now that we are in Crete, so I can update the blog (!). But, since we've been here a week, I'm going to post in somewhat order what we have done so far. Each post is a day/ segment of the trip. Pictures will be posted when I get state side...I have no camera cord here in Greece. My apologies.

4:25am- Let the games begin! In order to get to my 6:20am flight, we have to leave the hotel at 4:50am, get to the airport at 5, go through bag check/ check in, and then security. We are about to leave at 4:50 when Dad tells mom and I to stay in the hotel room for a few minutes longer due to the arrival of what he would only describe as "grody gentlemen." We finally head over to the airport and my body is experiencing that tingling feeling under the skin because it is absolutely convinced that it should still be asleep and can't quite figure out why it is not.
5:03am- Plan stalls. We got my bags checked and look at the departures board and saw that my flight had been delayed until 9:13. There was a collective eye-roll/groan amongst those going to Newark. Instead of chilling in the airport, we headed back to the hotel and entertained ourselves with the "Jack and Elaine LaLaine Power Juicer" infomercial...you know the one-you shove a whole live fruit into it and suddenly you have juice, muffins, and salsa? Anyways, around 7:00 we began our journey again.

The plane arrived at Newark/ Liberty at 10:47am. The flight was relatively calm and uneventful and were given an explanation for the delay. Due to thunderstorms in NJ, the pilots got back to CLT late, meaning they couldn't get enough federally mandated rest to fly. Wouldn't it be great if the Fed mandated sleep for the rest of us?

Greetings Professor Trelawny,
We apologize for Ms. Archer's absence- she was prohibited from coming to class due to a lack of federally mandated sleep. Please excuse her for the day.
Sincerely,
Barack H. Obama

Anyways, while waiting for my 5:30 flight to Athens, I did a great deal of exploring and I came upon a Boarders. I proceeded to spend the next hour and a half reading. Also while spending time in the wonderful halls of Newark Airport (which is more like a mall than an airport), I have learned several things:

1)Child-leashes, while ridiculous, are something one would best have for no reason than without one and really needing it.
2) It seems to be a universally known and accepted fact that Jamba Juice is wonderful. I had my first at Newark (the Razzmatazz) and it was amazing.
3)Payphones, while seemingly simple machines, possess the emotional capability of lying, especially when it comes to what you can and cannot do in regards to hanging up and dialing again.

Because Newark is a huge international airport with people flying in from all over the world, there are many stores intended to leave the perfect first impression of the USA. Ladies and gentlemen unfamiliar with the Newark Airport, I give you America! (The Store)

**There will be a picture here, I promise!**

5:30 rolled around and finally we all boarded the plane. It is the largest plane that I have ever been on, and I got a window seat!! Yay! I met up with two other students on the trip in the terminal, but we weren't sitting together. Instead, I was sitting next to this woman named Estella, who was from Greece. We pull out of the terminal and then pull around to the side and stop. And then we sit. And then we wait. We do a lot of sitting and waiting (actually, an hour and a half of it) while flight control was deciding whether or not we were going to take the normal flight path or come up with a new one. In the end, we took the original flight plan and we take off for Athens.

I don't sleep much on the plane, mainly because Estella keeps invading my foot space, but also because we seemed to have a wild snorlax in our presence. Anyways, I did eventually get to sleep and when I woke up, I was over France. It was quite comforting to see land after being over nothing but water for so long.

At 11am- I got my first glimpse of Greece. It was absoulutely beautiful, and I don't think I've ever seen water this blue before.

Anyways, see you at the Hotel!