Let me take you far away...

I know it's been a while since I posted anything, but what can I say...the Greek summer got to me!! The weather is wonderful, the sea is warm, the food is fresh and the drinks are cool! Come all I tell you...we'll have so much fan lol

The thing is that, apart from all the above, the Greek summer offers you a variety of cultural activities that happen once in a lifetime, for example...the Scorpions concert in Xanthi! Scorpions came to my part of the world and it was a breathtaking experience! This time they didn't just come to Athens. They chose 3-4 different Greek cities and they...rock and roll-ed us!!!!

For all my fellow bloggers who are currently on holidays, I wish you are having the summer-time of your life. For those of you who are working I hope you have plans to escape for a while...if not..."let me take you far away, you'd like a holiday"...



Love and kisses
xoxo

Stage-A Theme Thursday Post

Irodio (ancient theatre located in Athens)

Source: www.gnto.gr (google image search)

Your heart is pounding so hard you can hear it's rhythm...your palms are all sweaty and you regret having to put all that make up on. Countless thoughts enter your troubled mind..."what if I forget what I'm supposed to say?" or "what if they don't understand me?"..."will they identify with me, will I reach them?"..."I mean can I do this?"...

But the time comes and you have to stand up there, reveal yourself and be judged by-what seems to be-a sea of colorful sets of eyes, looking, staring, 'hanging' by every word you'll say, monitoring your every move, sensing your anxiety and fears. They expect from you...to 'grab' their attention from the first minute. If they get bored you've lost them. If they like what you're saying and the way you're saying it they'll applaud you. If not they'll 'boo' you...

In the end you feel exhausted yet fulfilled. You know how you did by your audience's reaction. Some may come to you to talk, to clarify and discuss. Others choose to leave right away. You know how you did and you promise yourself this...no matter what, you'll keep on trying for the best. You may never reach perfection (is there such thing?) but tomorrow is another day. So you'll stand behind the desk...in front of your students and try to be the best teacher you can...for them...

This is how I felt the first time I had to go into a classroom and stand in front of all those children, looking, expecting, waiting for me to speak and set the tone. Did you think it was an actor getting ready to go up on a stage? Well that's how a teacher feels...sometimes (and I wouldn't trade these feelings for anything in the world:)

The following wonderful video was made by a YouTube user named kelanti. It's a great song about actors and acting. The video combines music and images perfectly plus it is subtitled in English for all of you to understand and...enjoy lol

Happy Theme Thursday and click here for other...'stage' players!!
xoxo

Blue Caves (Part 1)-A Late TT Update

I made it (sort of)!!!

I finally managed to upload part of the video I was telling you about. Blogger gave me a hard time and I had to re-edit and divide it into 3 parts. So I give you the first part, the one with the blue caves! Hopefully I'll be able to upload the rest soon. I'm sorry for the bad quality of this video but I had to change its quality in order for it to be uploaded...enjoy!



Have a great weekend you all lol
xoxo

Ghosts from the past...

Another Theme Thursday is upon us (in a good way:) with a topic that I found interesting and related to my...holiday (with a little imagination added:)!!

For me the word 'ghost' symbolises something that doesn't exist plus the fear of the unknown. So here it goes...

In Zakinthos I went for a swim in a place called "the blue caves". Blue because of the water and the way its color makes your body look...blue. The caves are holes, of all sizes, in rocks and you can even swim in them (my brave friend Maria went for it, I didn't). While in one of these caves the water still had its blue color only to be 'interrupted' by sades of 'black abyss', pieces of sea bottom where you couldn't tell what was down there. This image, enhanced by the sound of the water hitting the rocks and the deafening silence of the surrounding rocky walls, made the experience...ghostly awesome!

Of course every holiday isn't complete without a visit to a museum or two. One of my visits was to a museum in the island where you could find pictures and paintings from the Byzantine times, ruins that were salvaged from a big earthquake in the early 50s. Even though the church that was hosting these paintings doesn't exist, the walls were there to remind you that 50 something years ago they were part of a building filled with life...

My second visit was to the new museum of the Acropolis in Athens. Walking among the ancient statues and signs and reading the marbles that people used to write their daily activities on, had a...spooky effect on me. I always feel that every time archaeologists manage to find a part of past life is like we're searching among the ruins, chasing the ghosts of our past, trying to figure out who we truly are.

I have this little video to accompany the above words but blogger refused to upload it for me :( I'll try again later or I'll post it tomorrow.

Happy TT everyone! Don't forget to check out the other...Theme Thursday Posts!

xoxo

AWESOME-NESS (IS THAT EVEN A WORD?)

I have been tagged by an awesome and dear fellow blogger, Brian Miller. Each of his blog posts is a journey that lasts a few minutes (till you read it) but the words stay with you! You learn and you laugh and you cry and you smile and you think...! Give it a...click and you'll see what I'm talking about!

So...it is awesome being a queen (thank you Brian)! I think-though-that there are pieces of that crown for 7 more people (only?!). OK there are some rules before I start handing out the pieces (and remember the central crown jewel is...mine! Heh heh kidding).

Rules
1. list 7 things that make you awesome (hmmm that is tough:)

2. Pass the award to 7 bloggers that I love (hmmm that's tougher...I love so many!)

3. Tag those bloggers to let them know they are now Queens too and link back the Queen (in this case a king:) who tagged you. (OK that's easy if I survive the first two:)

Get ready for awesome-ness lol
The seven things I like...about me (wait isn't this a song title...sort of?)

1) I like the fact that I managed to be surrounded by so many...awesome people. My family, friends and blogger friends are cool, honest, great, loving, caring people. So lucky to have that...it's awesome :)

2) I like the fact that I never betray a person's trust.

3) People say that I have a great voice and ask me "why don't you sing professionally?". I don't know...is that awesome?

4) I like the fact that I sometimes make people laugh with what I say. Laughter for me is what water is for the body. Essential :)

5) I like that people call me sometimes-during my radio show-to tell me a nice thing or a simple hello. Communication is such a great thing!

6) I love...to love! And love is awesome, ain't it?

7) I like the fact that I'm a rule breaker (they're meant to be broken after all). So if any one of my friends is reading this (the ones that know me in real life-or not:), could you fill the 7th spot? Oh and also could you verify facts number 2,3 and 4? Someone? Thank you lol

That's all folks! Now the hard part...tagging time. I'll try to tag people that I think haven't been tagged (if you have already been tagged, forgive me). If it was up to me I'd tag all the bloggers you see on my reading list lol So here it goes...

Subtorp77: Thank you for the awesome journeys subby!

Lisa: I love your awesome blog and the issues you raise!

Leah: The weather in...her blog is always warm, sunny and awesome!

The lair of the Silver Fox: Have you read his awesome writings? No? I think it's time to start :)

Mouse: The pictures, the quotes, the writing... they're awesome and beyond!

Liza: The company this blog keeps is...awesome!

Tom: This blog's awesome title says "[...] with a Twist", I say "on the rocks" because it...rocks!

This is it! Remember that for me...you are all kings and queens!
Have an...awesome week lol
xoxo

Fun-k(e)y...A Theme Thursday Post :)

"Oh my" for today's theme!

There is one thing that came to mind and I'm gonna share with you. Funky Jazz!! I love to dance, watch other people dance, learn how to dance and so on. It is a form of expression that really makes me happy...I have fun and the last time I checked 'fun' is part of the word 'funky', isn't it?

Take a minute to enjoy a 'funky jazz' choreography, performed by two wonderful dancers, Natalie Fotopoulos and Zoi Tatopoulos. The video is taken from the Greek version of the show 'so you think you can dance' and it was uploaded by a YouTube user (many thanks to badmintonwinner:)...



Happy TT
xoxo

I'M HOME!!

Hey all!

I'm back from my holiday! This is just a quick post to state that I had a lovely time (the proof will be posted later :) and to send each and everyone of you a big hug for the wonderful comments you left me the time I was away. It was so nice coming home and reading your words :)

I don't know where to begin really. So much has happened to me and around me these past 7 days! I guess that's life, things evolve and move on, even if you're taking a break! I will start organising things and a video-with some lovely images-will be up soon! I will start by reading your blogs, something that I missed a lot while away :)

View from a cafe in Zakinthos (just a little teaser :)

Take care! Glad to be back and missed you all lol
xoxo

Vacation Time!!!

Off to Zakinthos, a wonderful Greek island, to visit my friend Maria! I'll be gone for a week so CU all when I get back with lots of pictures and stories and...well you know what I mean :)

Dedicated to you and you and you :)



Take care you all!
xoxo

A...roof with a view

Food, Education, Health Care, Work, Roof. I would say that these five words include and sum up a person's vital needs and rights. The needs...one needs to fulfill in order for him/her to live a great life. A human and happy life...and then you start thinking...

This week's Theme Thursday made me think about homes and how important they are. How essential it is to have a roof over your head for you and your family. How a 2% of today's world population owns houses, when it is estimated that the number of people that own not even one house in Athens/ Greece is 11.000 and rising (I dare not to add the numbers for a worldwide example). How did a human right become an inhuman wrong?

I mean imagine a world that didn't sacrifice its basic human rights in the altar of consumerism and profit. A world where all people own a house, a regular sized one with solid foundation, secure doors and a roof that keeps nature out. With functional and usable rooms (not 30 bedrooms that no one will ever see their inside). And when I say all people I mean ALL people, no exceptions, no discrimination. And I start thinking again...how is it OK if one person owns a piece of land with a house the size of 5 (or more) houses when, at the same time, people live in a carton box? How is it OK to preserve endless fields for private use, like golf courses and 'hunting' areas, when at the same time there seems to be no place (a complete lie) to build a shelter? How is it OK for just 3 people to eat their 5-course meal in a room so big that they can't even see each other (!) when, at the same time, hundreds of people eat garbage, literally on each other?

Just thinking...just imagine...

The "Fiddler on the Roof" (musical: music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905) because the scene and the colors are unique.




Happy TT everyone and 'see you' all when I read your posts :)
xoxo

This past week...

...the case is that for us Greek teachers it is an exam period (as I'm sure the same goes for many other colleagues abroad:). So this means hours in front of the computer, trying to figure out the perfect exercises for my students (ones that are both easy and complicated, valid and objective blah blah blah). Then there comes the grading part which is hard, considering that it is summer time and you wanna go to the beach and drink a mojito instead! Surprise, surprise your students wanna do that too (minus the mojito, hopefully:), so they didn't pay much attention in class and now you gotta figure out how to grade a paper, so that the particular child will have...a nice holiday with the parents and not a "you're going to summer school!!" one...

Apart from all the work (which is almost over), the week went from great (over the weekend) to something I'm still trying to recover from, get over, understand, forgive (or not)...

Something, that I can't call "person", poisoned our 10 year old dog. Flox has been a member of our family, keeping company to my grandma in our village, protecting the house from strangers and above all he was a good friend. I still can't believe that this happened in a neighbourhood filled with dogs (in every house), where people are around all kinds of animals every day...

While reading some blog posts this week, I found a meme on Leah's wonderful blog, an "I love-I hate" one...it said something about "most hated person". Well it is needless to say that the person I hate most right now is the one that did this to our dog...

"The Scientist" by Coldplay, cause I feel like crying...



PS My fellow bloggers I'm sorry I missed out on Theme Thursday and haven't been able to read your posts! I'll try to catch up over the weekend and play along next week! Wish you all to have a great weekend!



Peace and love
xoxo

"Same Time, Next Year"-A Theme Thursday Post

Hello everyone! So today I noticed that this post is the 60th for this blog. Today's Theme Thursday is also "Clock" so I figured, 60th post+60 minutes (as in an hour)= important blogging moment :)

I thought about time and how we say it always passes so quickly or the opposite! Then two people came to mind. Two people that managed to 'fool' time and make it 'stop' even if it was just for two days, every year.

Of course I'm talking about my favorite theatre play (one of the many I enjoy). Its title is relevant to the theme, "same time, next year" (written by Bernard Slade). The 'people' I'm referring to are the heroes, George and Doris. Two characters living separate lives who, somehow, manage to make them parallel by meeting the same weekend of each year, in a hotel room.

The scene I found on YouTube (from the movie) is the reason I thought of this play for today. The fact that George's watch, when Doris asks the time, is "3 hours and 25 minutes fast"! Time is so relevant, isn't it? I mean would you wear a clock that doesn't work as it should? Are you obsessed with time or do you struggle to make time your friend?

The way I see it, one thing is certain. We can 'make time' by choosing what is important or not in our lives. Time keeps...ticking in that monotonous sound. However life is so much more than that and the sound is far from monotonous out there, in the real...clock!



Have a great day you all!
Peace and love
xoxo

Motocross or..."camera gone bad" (as in "fairytale gone bad":)

Have you ever been to a motocross competition-/race? Well my friend Helen convinced us to go this Sunday and I have to tell you...I enjoyed it (thank you Helen)!! So I'm all excited to be around all these motorcycles and people with helmets and all the adrenaline! Got my camera with me to capture the event's most memorable moments! They start warming up and I'm all like "OK let me take a few pics, warm up the...camera".

So I take this small series of photos...

...and then the camera's batteries go from low to...dead!

Of course I missed capturing all the good parts of the race. But hey, later on we went walking next to a river (after getting back to civilization and...batteries) and found an abandoned tree house...that should count for something right?





Wish you all have a great week :)
xoxo