Easter

well, here are the much awaited videos from easter. the second and third are of the dynamite explosions on easter sunday. the explosions went on well into the night; eventually, it gets old and your ears ring real bad. the first is from midnight at the church. I was also hit with a firework while riding a scooter through town, pretty exciting.

Super Funny

so keith got me interested in ricky gervais last summer while i was home and if you have never heard his podcast . . . wow i would feel bad about myself . . . if i were you and you had never given it a listen. anyway, better still is his audio-book series. Look it up on itunes, there are five books so far. super funny.

Interesting Experiences

Adam and i were just talking about how we didn't like bloggers that wrote pretentious holla-balloo about their lives, and that all the reader really wants is to see cool pictures. well i am about to break that rule so . . . whatever it's my blog.

kalymnos is a rocky piece of land not much suited for heavy agriculture but there are a few small olive orchards and many small livestock operations on the island.

i rounded the bend on the rented scooter, it's underpowered two stroke whistling to manage the hill then breathing a sigh of relief as the road drops before me. a bewildered flock of sheep pace and tremble in the road ahead and i bring the little bike to a stop in the middle of the lane. as i ponder the best way to handle the situation i notice a squat local tumbling out of the hillside, "opah opah!" he calls as he jumps onto the asphalt. he is a short but stout older gentleman who speaks with what could be considered a cajun dialect of greek, a language that doesn't need extra help to be difficult. my astonished and perplexed look must have seemed inviting, for without hesitations the man jumps onto the back of my bike. "pameh," he calls; the smells of sweat, earth and stale tobacco swirl in my nose as i start the bike down towards the flock of sheep. "pameh pameh," he yells and slaps my right arm, "the sheep, the sheep!" As I open the throttle the two stoke whirs and i hear, "aristerah!" I cut into the left lane praying to the sheep gods that no unsuspecting driver is making the early morning drive into massouri. i accelerate into the mass of white as the man at my back begins a high pitched whistle. The sheep, now at a full sprint of organized chaos, break hard right back into the hills that rise just beside the road. "opah opah!" i bring the bike to a stop and a gruff hand pats me on the shoulder, "kala, kala, good boy." He jumps off the bike, "christo enesty!" he yells over his shoulder as he leaps off the road after his flock. I burst into energetic laughter as i race off towards the days climbing.

just one of many interesting experiences that adam and i have had on the island. we got to climb together today; it was great. adam is feeling better and i am getting in shape. only one more day.

Yes It Does Exist On Earth

well keith, i am here to extinguish any of your unfounded claims that adam and i are not on a beautiful island climbing on perhaps the best sport routes in the world. and yes that is adam in the photos on his blog, i was there and i helped him hurt himself shortly afterwords. he is still feeling our blunder; his wrist is still discolored and his butt is super sore. i feel really bad, but i will say that it is really nice to hang out with him. i think that it has been nearly three years since i have spent this much time with him. i have missed him.

it has been a really nice time, the weather has been ridiculous, sunny about 20 25 degrees with a consistent breeze. the climbing is fun and varied huge tuffas that you can sit on to deep two finger pockets that you lock off at your waist. i think it is easier to understand why we climb if you come to a place like this. (future travel plans, mom dad sarah keith adam leanna ian and . . . (if i'm lucky) all in kalymnos for two weeks). i have been climbing super well, i have onsighted a couple of 7a+'s and many 6c's, i am hoping to get a couple of 7b's and 7c's under my belt but i don't know if that will be possible, i am still not that good. only 5 climbing days left; crazy.

i head back to athens and then train it back to thessaloniki hopefully that will happen on saturday so that i have sunday to regroup before school, scary really, only 7 weeks left once i am back, i have a lot to do. then it is back to the states for a long stint this summer, a week in new york, a week at the new with a greek friend, and then 2 and a half weeks at home to get my motorcycle liscense. fun fun silly willy.