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.

I vote three day weekends

not that it is a competition, but if it was, adam would win. his pictures are spectacles all their own. thanks for posting bro. good to see you had a safe and wonderful trip.

well, i had a three day weekend last weekend (here i can propose the adoption of an international three day weekend with a four day work week. obviously i am not the first to think of this, but i might be its biggest proponent) and while it was not as productive as i would have liked, it was wonderful to be able to relax for at least one day of the weekend. So, for a brief overview, i went out with IT-dimitri on friday night for a couple of drinks with him and his girlfriend and then he and i continued on to a great little place hidden away in some back alleys to talk shop, drink good wine, and the such. on saturday i went with a few of my climbing friends to a place about 40 minutes west of thessaloniki called veria (nothing like adam’s experience except that it was limestone). there are only a few places to climb on rope near thessaloniki and this is the best one so far. that being said there are only about 15 routes, the bolting is atrocious and the tallest routs are only about 20 meters tall. it is nice though, there is a large variety and a small tufa section so i can't complain. i climbed pretty poorly; i have not been on a rope in nearly four months and i was with people who i had never climbed with before, both of which make for a scary experience. I did manage to haul myself up a 6c, the moves felt easy but my endurance is a bit lacking to say the least.

it always interests me when unfortunate events lead to fortunate outcomes. the car that we drove down in broke-down; more broke-down than any car i have seen in a long time. fortunately the cliff sits right on the road and the road empties right into a monastery parking-lot. so we shifted the car into neutral and rolled it down into the parking lot. We were promptly joined by two monks from the monastery. the conversation that ensued eventually led to the five of us climbers having lunch with a couple of super old monks; so amazing. Turns out the monastery dates back to the 9th century c.e. 4 times older than my country and then remember that Thessaloniki was colonized another 1500 years before that; crazy.

sunday and monday were not as exciting. i went on a couple of really good bike rides and slept and did some school work, so there you go all caught up. here are some of pics from the weekend.

My Favorite and A Good Question

greece has finally turned into the place that i love and cherish again. The temperature is in the high 40s to low 50s, it has not rained in nearly two weeks, and the cafes and bars are busy with people simply enjoying what there is to enjoy. until about one in the morning orion sits just above the building across from my balcony and the nights are crisp and fresh. every day is a good day to climb and i can open my windows in the class without the students complaining that they are too cold.

question: if contentment leads to laziness and want leads to greed, what leads to a happy existence?

more pictures soon,
peace love and happiness,
ian

Crazy Sweet Lab Glasses

the mountain from the elementary playground.

the girls gettin' their lab on.

i am going to get a prescription filled for these bad boys.

Happy B-day Adam

happy b-day adam. can't wait to climb.

It's Been a While

one of the major jobs for foriegn immigrants.


fun at church.


sunny days.


flatmates.


tree and moon at the citadel.


crow on the citadel.


crazy mural in the upper-town.


the crew.


dina and satia.


the man the myth the legend.


caty.


gianluca.


dead branch in tree.


i really like overexposed black and white pictures.


there was no quiet before the storm at the paok game.


the paok flag.


jumping the fence at the paok game.


a seriously cool egg issue that occured while making hard boiled eggs.


Lady with Ermine. this is a crazy portrait by leonardo da vinci. the portrait hangs above my television, it kind of freaks me out but it is still pretty cool.

so . . . ummmmm . . . i have not written in a while; sorry. i wish i had some kind of earth shattering news or that something truly amazing has happened, but unfortunately no such luck. I have been working hard and the weather until recently has been dismal (lots of rain and a bit cool). so now you are caught up until wednesday of last week. now for the fun stuff. on wednesday i went to the poak olympiakos football match, which is arguably the biggest rivalry in greece; fans here are a bit more rambunctious that those that we are used to in the states, thus there was a staggering 400+ riot gear clad police officers. The game went well, paok (thessaloniki's team)won, we had great seats, and fortunately no police were used. Wednesday marked the first of about six days of relentless sleep deprivation, eating, and friends. thursday i came home from school, cleaned my apartment, went climbing, and wrote a math test, at last falling asleep somewhere around two in the morning. on friday after a grueling day at school i returned home to find my guests taking up residence. A few of my friends flew in to town to visit for the weekend; caty and dina from england and gianluca from cairo. they stayed the weekend and we had a wonderful time; the extent of which was walking around in short sleeves enjoying the 20 degree weather, eating, sitting for numerous coffees, wandering the city, drinking wine, and more eating. it was a wonderful weekend and as they left on monday. the apartment now seems a little too quiet; but i am expecting an eventful spring so hopefully more stories to come.


the entrance.