I apologize for the lack of posts after Greece – T-Mobile roaming in Cyprus was spotty at best!! I have returned and wanted to get the newlyweds their pictures as soon as possible. Thats about all I have the energy for tonight! The wedding was in 3 parts; the traditional bridal dressing ceremony at Maria’s aunt’s house, the Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony at the church, followed by the reception and dancing. It was truly an incredible event!

We are on our way back to Athens after our two day stay on the beautiful Greek Isle of Aegina! We had a fantastic stay! We discovered that the house wine is not only the cheapest option, it is also quite tasty! We spent yesterday morning at the beach followed by the afternoon on a scooter exploring the island. Unfortunately our hotel had gave us inaccurate bus times this morning, so after a bit of a panic, we called in and changed to a later flight. Today is a day of travel via all means available! Bus, ferry, train then plane – but when its all over, we will be in Cyprus where Maria and her family await. We catch up to my parents tomorrow. Looking forward to relaxing a bit on Cyprus, and very much looking forward to Maria’s wedding!

Katty and I just finished our whirlwind tour of Athens and loved every moment of it! From the excitement of seeing th Parthenon for the first time, to the bustling cafes of the Plaka district, it is an amazing place! History surrounds you wherever you go, its impossible not to run into an ancient historical relic! Our hotel even had the wall that they had excavated while building it on display! Now we are island hopping in the Sardonic Sea. Time to relax a bit and eat some fantastic seafood!

After feeling great about figuring out the metro sysem in Athens, it turned out that we were on the opposite side of the city from our hotel! Google Maps had pointed us wrong before we even left! The weather is gorgeous, mid 70s and just a few clouds. By the time we found our hotel we were sweaty and exhausted! Then they told us they were overbooked! (thanks Orbitz!) Thankfully they had arranged another room at a better hotel! Now we have a balcony with a view of the Acropolis! Time to explore!

Just got off the plane and onto the Metro in Athens! The 10 hour flight was exhausting, as its currently 1:20am Chicago time. Neither Katty nor I got much sleep, but Im stoked about the day that lies ahead! The train doesn’t leave for another 10 minutes – sorry I don’t have a better picture! But I will, no worries!!

Just about to take off from Philly! Had just enough time to enjoy a cheesesteak sandwhich – and a quick stint in one of their many rocking chairs! More from Greece!!

test post

I have plenty of excuses for not posting – realistically, I could have made time to do so, but I just had way too much going on! The last two weeks have been non-stop! Youth Technology Corps‘ Mexican counterparts were visiting the first week of May. We had a computer competition, where the kids had to build computers from spare parts – ala Iron Chef. We had a few professors from Devry as well as Chicago’s alderman of the 12th ward, George Cardenas, on hand to oversee and judge the competition. Our video crew filmed and had a live feed for the rest of the audience. I played many roles as head judge, MC, translator, lead techie, A/V… etc… it was quite exhausting! But overall a total success!! Each team consisted of four Chicago Public school kids and two Mexican students. They were given 3 cases that they had to build into computers and 3 computers that had been sabotaged. 30% of their score was for the computers they built, 30% for those they troubleshooted, and 40% for teamwork. I was amazed at how into the competition the kids were! The “audience” was also quite enthusiastic! Overall a great event!

sigh

Filled up the GTI for the first time in 2 months – over $40! Yikes!

On another note – should we be awaken by earthquakes in Chicago?! That being said, I did find the USGS website to report activity for the quake. Good stuff.

At least the weather is nice!

Marcia convinced me to sign up for a 5k run a bit over a month ago. The last time I remember running any kind of distance was in High School because we had to run a mile. I was a bit skeptical of being ready within a month. I got new running shoes, as my old ones were falling apart, and we figured out what mornings I would train. This “training schedule” was impeded by Chicago weather, my trip to New Orleans, and coming down with pneumonia. Lets just say I got two training runs in the week before the race. Having my Polar HRM was key to pacing myself as I overexerted myself running without it. I was never a long-distance runner, always a sprinter, so pacing was new to me! I did manage to get just under 3 miles in on my last training run, so I felt that I could at least complete the 5k.

The race itself was much different than I expected! May more braved the 34F temps that I had imagined.There were all sorts of people running; families with kids in jogging strollers, older couples, young kids – it was fascinating! I had forgotten to prepare my MP3 player, so I just listened to the goings on around me. At one point a woman said “Somebody cheer for Lisa” and everybody in our area let out a loud “GO LISA!!” The camaraderie surrounded us all! Running into Wrigley and finishing just after exiting underneath the sign was fantastic! I did opt for the timed race and the results were posted yesterday.

Not horrible considering the lack of training, but the sense of accomplishment made it totally worth it! Now to figure out which will be my next run! (bringing my GPS next time to track the route!)