Back home.

Tat6/30

Had to happen at some point,unfortunately.

For those of you that knew more of our plan know that this post is a bit late, seeing as we were supposed to be home by Friday night. Instead, Ayla and I had the pleasure of spending 6 hours in the Toronto airport, waiting for our flight to arrive in Toronto. Due to "weather". Our flight kept getting delayed and finally, canceled. We were upset and exhausted, to say the least. We finally got out of the airport and to a hotel around 10:30, which is actually 6:39AM in Athens time- meaning we had been up and traveling for 24 hours.

The next morning, slightly more refreshed, we caught a flight to Cleveland at 3:10 by taking a stand-by ticket and camping out by the gate. Finally finding out we had seats on this teeny plane was the best news we had heard in two days, so we almost forgot we didn't actually want to be at home.

I would like to say that the end of this trip was bittersweet, but it was actually mostly bitter for both Ayla and I. Being abroad, backpacking from European city to exotic beach to small town, was a life-changing experience. The world is so big, and there are so many places to explore... It's safe to say that if we hadn't booked a flight home, we would be choosing our next destination.

The culture differs from every place we visited, as I've been trying to document.  Learning the cultural quirks of the people and their lifestyles is like a wake up call- once I started noticing these differences I  couldn't stop. Also, it makes me curious about American culture- why do we do what we do? 

The interviews I did were also a very indicative of health and lifestyle I each country, just from talking to one person! The information I was able to gather definitely gave me a little bit of insight into the medical attention given in each country. 

Also, foreigners were equally as interested in the study I was doing, as I was in asking them questions! 

Not only is there a culture difference in each country or city, but there is a separate traveler culture- backpackers. The nitty, gritty, adventurous people who bounce around from place to place, staying in hostels and hand washing their dirty clothes. It is usually a minimalist culture, where the main focus of the backpacker is to experience and explore, not caring about luxuries of more expensive travel. Most of these backpackers are younger in age, but there are definitely those who are older and still enjoy this type of travel! This was my first experience as a backpacker, and I absolutely loved it. The people that I met were probably the best part- everyone is so excited to be where you are, everyone is looking for adventure, and for swapping travel stories! Insight I've gotten from experienced travelers- it is addicting. Backpack once, spend the rest of your life saving and venturing, 

This trip has truly changed my life and made me more confident in my decision to integrate traveling into my career as a nurse, and just into my life!

 Its safe to say that I've been bitten by the wanderlust bug, and I don't plan on holding back.

Greece interview

6/27

Finding someone to interview for Greece was a teeny bit challenging, but I did talk to the owner of the hostel we stayed in while in Athens. She was a bit older and spent some time growing up in the UK, but is half Greek and half British and has been living in Greece for many years. It actually was pretty helpful, because she could give me some outside and inside input for Greek culture. Anyway, here we go!

1 + 2. What do you like about Greece that you feel is unique?

Greeks have a passion for life. The culture tends to focus on friends and family.

3. How much time do you usually spend with family? What do you do together?

My family is partially out of town, but my Greek family spends a lot of time together, eating, drinking, taking, drinking coffee... Greeks tend to spend 6-7 hours doing this.

4. What are your plans in terms of education?

I'm finished with education, but typically Greek basic education is very good. Most Greeks feel for university, they need to leave Greece and go elsewhere.

5. What is a typical meal for your country?

Gyros and Slovaki are the fast food of Greece, but real Greek meals are stews in the winter and lots of salads and stuffed vegetables in the summer. There are lots of vegetables and beans, but not a lot of meat. If there's meat, it will be lamb or chicken. 

6. Do you play any sports? If not, do you do anything for physical activity?

I go to the gym, but Greeks are generally into sports also. Gyms are full, and since Greeks are close to a beach, there is a sense of "body culture" here.

7. Do you have a regular doctor that you go to yearly? Is it common to do this in your county?

Yes, Greece has a state run health care, but even though it should be free, doctors and nurses look for bribes to provide care. Sometimes they will do things "pro bono" or if they feel bad for you, but they're really looking for that little envelope. There is also private health care.

(Later mentions that Greeks do go to the doctor for checkups, and this is more for if you need care, but it can still apply)

8. How often do you go to the doctor?

When I need to. Greeks do love the doctor though, they want the attention and they definitely love their pills. But if an operation is needed, people don't really trust their doctors because they need to be bribed on most occasions.

9. Do you smoke?

Yes. Smoking is very common, most Greeks smoke too much.

10. Do you feel that Greece is overall healthy?

Yes, the diet is healthy, the life expectancy is high, and the climate is good. The life expectancy of even my mothers generation is into the 90s even though Greeks smoke and drink a lot- her generation is made if steel tanks. Now, mental health has caused a higher suicide rate here because of the crisis. Anxiety and depression are higher, but that is in recent years. Overall, Greek culture is emotionally expressive- if people are mad, they yell, if they're attracted to someone, they say so. Greek children are very playful and wild, where in the UK they aren't as open about touching each other, etc. I think the open attitude of Greeks is very mentally healthy, and makes them a healthier people. They tend to think that family and friends are always going to be there, so yelling and getting mad is ok, tomorrow you will be hugging.

Mykonos

6/26

Our last official stop, unless you count the night we're staying in Athens only to fly out the next morning... But I don't.

Mykonos is more touristy than Santorini, in my opinion. Definitely purely a vacation spot, so food, etc is more expensive. Our hostel is also a pool bar, club, and is attached to the beach. I'm not complaining! Though, the house music being played at all times does get a bit old.

Ayla and I have literally been hanging out and relaxing. We did go into town, which was just little shops and restaurants. The first night here, Monday night, we went out on the town and the most surprising thing- half of the stores, restaurants, etc in town, are literally open all night. A little boy even was trying to sell us something at 4 in the morning. They definitely cater to the young crowd willing to stay out all night. Reminds me of a college town!

Definitely will not be renting ATVs here, the roads are really narrow, and walled in!! When there are tour busses rounding those sharp turns, I do not want to be there on a teeny ATV. Because chances are, I soon would be squished on the wall enclosing their roads. 

Also, you really can't walk places here. They have bus systems going from beach to beach to town, which is convenient, but I know this island really isn't too huge, so walking should be more a accessible than it is.

Anywho, tonight is our last night in Mykonos. We plan to head to Paradise beach, where young people dance their pants off, and watch the sunrise on the walk home. 

Santorini, land of lovers.

6/25

Sunday on Santorini goes down as another one of my favorite days.

We started off the day trying to find out if we could switch our ferry reservations from Mykonos to Ios... It was the longest debate. We knew we wanted to go to another island, and we would be leaving on Monday, but all of the tourists we were asking said Ios is such a good time, and to go there. Asking the locals, everyone said Mykonos is the better island and was more fun. We ended up trusting the locals, and are thus on Mykonos at the moment.

Anyway, santorini. We rented ATVs and decided to explore the island. It's really really easy to rent them , and about half of the people on the island are using ATVs or motorcycles to get around. There was really just a few main roads, so we decided to wing it and see where we ended up!

We ended up at a lighthouse at one end of the island. Driving around the island, we literally felt like we were in a postcard. It's hard to not stop every 5 minutes to take a photo, though I took a lot... What can I say, I'm my mothers daughter!

Next we found Red Beach.

So, so beautiful. Santorini is a volcano, so all of the beaches have volcanic ash and rocks instead of sand. Red beach, obviously, has red ash. There is also Perissa beach, which was right near our hostel, which had black ash. 

We enjoyed some grilled corn and followed the signs to Fira, the capital. We parked, and got some lunch. I tried a gyro! So, yes, I've been a pescetarian for 11 years now. But that gyro was seriously mouth watering. Hate to say it, but it's true, definitely the best meat I've eaten thus far (in my opinion).

We shopped and talked to th locals running a lot of the boutiques- they were mostly young girls. It was very easy to strike up conversation, because everyone is so friendly. We've discovered most Greek people are willing to help confused tourists, and are excited to share their culture with us.

That night, we went to a beach club playing live music with, well, basically our whole hostel. We started dancing to the band, starting the party for the older crowd to join in. Best part was the wonderful sea breeze that swept into the open club, cooling everyone off.

The next morning, the owner of our hostel was going to give us a lift to the port to catch our ferry to Mykonos. On the way, we picked up a 10 year old boy, and stopped to get some watermelons from a fruit stand on the side of the road. Guess he had some errands to run along the way!

Bari, Patras, Piraeus, and beyond.

6/25

So who knows when this post will be uploaded, Internet has been incredibly sketchy here.

For a brief overview of our hectic travels to Greece-

We took a train from Rome to Bari, and took a bus to the port, getting in around 1.Our ferry was leaving at 8 that night, and everyone was to board starting at 6. We hung out at the port all day, not wanting to walk around Bari with our huge backpacks in the blistering sun.

The ferry ride was interesting. It was just like this huge cruise-ship type boat, but Ayla and I had deck tickets. This means when it came time to sleep... It was time to pass out anywhere that was available. On the floor. There was this theater type room, with airplane seats in it. We started off on the floor there (my arm fell asleep but the rest of my had a really hard time). Finally, around 1:30, I found a singe airplane seat and snagged it. Finally, at 5, more than half of the ferry got off at the Igumenista stop, and I got a whole row to myself. 

We got into Patras around 12:30, and split a cab to the nearest train station with 2 British girls who just graduated from Bath University. The cab driver was really nice and helped us with the right train stops, etc. once he left us, it was a little intimidating looking and signs and feeling like you're just stuck on Sorority and Fraternity row. Although I will admit- my knowledge of Greek letters did come in handy. And the locals were really friendly and helpful, though ,out spoke minimal English.

Once into Piraeus (port of Athens), Ayla and I found our hostel, exhausted and starving. We dropped our stuff off and turned right around to grab our ferry tickets, which was truly a struggle, seeing as we had been traveling for 36 hours by that point.

The next morning, we woke up at 5:30 to catch our 7:35 ferry to Santorini! Since we boutique tickets so late and this weekend is a Greek holiday weekend (who knew...) Ayla and I were forced to buy VIP tickets for this ferry. Safe to say we felt pretty important. And underdressed.

Our hostel was there to pick us up from the port, along with the others from our ferry. Finally, somewhere for more than a night.

Roasted Rome

6/20

Rome didn't like us. But really.

We took a 10:30 train out of Florence and got to Rome around 12. We found our hostel within about 30 minutes, and soon discovered we couldn't check in until 3, because there is a "room lock out period" from 10-3. Well, I hadn't slept at all the night before and Ayla slept for maybe 2 hours... We were ready to take a nap. We joined a few Irish girls feeling the same way in the hostel common area, and hung out until we got into our room, which turned out to be at 2.

Ayla wanted to shower and I was ready to pass out.

Little did I know, 15 minutes later I would be awoken by Ayla screaming my name from the shower- she had locked herself in.

We probably should have taken that as a hint- have you ever heard of anyone locking themselves in the shower? 

Anyway, after we got that sorted out and rested for a bit, we went out to see the Trevi fountain. We both made our wishes (like in the Lizzie McGuire Movie, of course), and then made our way to the Spanish Steps. In both of those places, people were gathered and just hanging out. Piazzas at night usually get pretty busy, with people socializing, drinking, and eating gelato. We enjoyed the people watching.

We walked back to our hostel, and met our roommates, Andy and Tom. Andy is a Chinese girl who just started traveling, and Tom is an Australian who has been traveling through the states and then through Europe. He was pretty entertaining.

The next morning, we all hit the town together.

We started at the Capuchin Crypts, which are made of 3700 different friar bones. Creepy! But very interesting. Tom has learned about the friars before, and said they believed pain was sacrifice; the first half of the building was a Capuchin museum that had all kinds of artifacts, including their whips and daggers used for pain.

Despite the odd feeling that you're looking at thousands of human bones, the crypts are quite artistic and beautiful.

Afterwards, we decided to just walk around the Vatican ( we weren't planning on touring or anything).

Poor choice! The entire mile radius around the Vatican was filled with tourist group after tourist group. We saw the area where the Pope speaks, and got lunch.

We then explored some ruins in the city (they are almost around every corner!), and saw the Pantheon. It was so refreshingly cool in there, we had to sit for a while.

Group photo! I think the highlight of that day was when a man asked Tom if he would take a picture WITH his wife, as in be in the photo. Apparently his wife liked Tom? Strange situation.

We walked from there to Piazza Navona, possibly one of my favorite spots in Rome. There are gorgeous fountains, artists, and one of restaurants around the piazza. Ayla and I also went there on our last night, where again, people were outside socializing and enjoying the atmosphere.

It was getting late, and we were exhausted, so Ayla and I headed back to the hostel. It was about an hour long walk... In total, we had literally walked from the Vatican back to our hostel, which is by the train station- across the whole city!

We met up with friends we met in Florence, the ones that go to University of Texas. It was their last night in Rome, so we enjoyed some pasta and bruschetta before they took a flight to Athens that next morning. We were (and still are) super jealous of their flight, because its going to take us two days to et to Greece, thanks to the inconvenient ferry schedules and long transportation times. 

Later that night, we all went out as roommates. Not a good experience... Got off the metro, couldn't find anything lively but a private gay party at Coyote bar. Plus, we ended up getting split into 2 pairs and having to meet back up at the hostel.

The next morning, we started out by saying our goodbyes to Tom. Hopefully he will be able to meet up with us in Ios (if we ever get there ourselves). Ayla and I set out for Trastevere, which is hands down, my favorite part of Rome. Small cobblestone streets, little boutiques and restaurants, flowers everywhere, and a beautiful park overlooking all of Rome- perfect!

We ate at an Italian buffet for lunch (only €7- we couldn't resist), and it was actually pretty delicious! Or, we were starving, either one. I got gelato at Fior de Luna, thanks to personal suggestions from family friends. Then, Ayla and I walked the steep hill to the park to have a nice nap. Gotta love those park naps. 

Something different about Rome is that there are fountains everywhere! Not just the decorative kind, but you can actually fill up your water bottles and cool off a bit in them. It was definitely needed, thanks to the 90 degree weather we had every day we were there. 

We were hoping for more of the view in the background, but you take what you can get, right?

W headed back to the hostel and made dinner, and then tried to explore Rome nightlife for the second night. Lesson of the night- night busses do not take the same route after 12. Rome had duped us for the third time.

Wednesday, our last day in Rome, we toured the Coloseum. Very very interesting, when we could hear the tour guide. I had no idea that under the stage of the Coloseum, there were aqueducts that filled with water! Apparently the emperor liked to have water competitions. 

We trekked to Campo dei Fiori, which is the site of a daily market, selling flowers, pasta, spreads, produce, and some jewelry. We also wandered into a shoe boutique, where we failed to notice that the huge mirror in back was not, in fact, a whole other side of the store, and almost walked into it. Embarrassed and obviously damaged by the sun, we decided to head back to the hostel early and get out of the harsh sun.

After our break. We enjoyed a great evening in Piazza Navona, listening to jazz and watching mimes, and then going back to Campo dei Fiori, where people also gather to socialize. 

We packed up and left this morning, and decided to hit up the ATM. Too bad the ATM never spit out my €100 I tried to withdrawl, just a lousy receipt. And the bank wasn't open. And we had an 8:05 train to catch. You win, Rome, you win. 

Italy interview

6/20

I interviewed the woman who works at the hostel desk, and she gave me mostly general answers for the Italian people- I think she got the drift that I wanted Italian culture information, so I got her generalizations to share.

1&2. What is your favorite part of Italy/ what do you think is unique about this country?

People take it slow. Most Italians think about the present, not about what will go in in 10 years.

3. How much time do you spend with your family? What do you do together?

Most free time is spent with family- it is very important to Italian culture. Even for those that are working, vacations are spent visiting family. There is also Sunday lunch, where families sit and slowly eat together, could be 5 hours long. Also, soccer is shown on Sunday, so families watch together.

4. What are your plans in terms of education in the future?

(Done with education, didn't specify). Most Italians get degrees because they're obliged to by their parents. They know they need one to work, but put very little effort into education.

5. What is a typical meal for your country?

Pasta!

6. Do you play any sports? What do you do in terms of physical activity?(answered based off general Italian culture)

It depends on the region. I see people jogging, elementary school kids play soccer after school or go swimming, girls like to dance...

7. Do you have a regular doctor that you go to yearly? Is this common in your country?

Yes, a public family doctor. They're good and cheap (free). Hospitals are free here, but slow and bad. First aid is fast, but for appointments, it could take months or even a year. Private hospitals can take only one day, but it could be €200 to book the appointment and another €300 for treatment. 

8. How often do you visit the doctors?

Whenever I don't feel well. Old people go often, up to 2 times a month!

9. Do you smoke?

No, but it is common in Italy. Students will go to the bathroom during school to smoke.

10. Do you feel hat your country is overall healthy?

Yes, there is nice weather and nice food. Italians are a lazy people, but good people. 

11. Private or public healthcare?

Both (see #7)

Something else that was interesting- the other girl working the desk was from the Philippines, but has worked in Italy for 7 years. She commented that she would go back to the Philippines to get medical attention because it would be better and faster there.

In school, we learned a lot about Philippine Nursing, and how serious it is. It's actually very similar to the US's views and work ethic related to Nursing. I asked her about it, and she said a friend of hers was taking Nursing classes in college, and she was always studying, and could never go out with them... Sounds familiar.

Also, they have to pass a yearly exam to continue Nursing.

On another note, I talked to Tom a bit about Nursing in Australia, and he said the same thing as Daisy- they need them. But he did say they get paid more, $80,000 to $90,000 for experienced/ specialized nurses.

Some observations about Italian culture-

People really do talk with their hands.

Italians are very friendly, and the male population tends to be too friendly.

We have seen more couples intensely kissing in public than anywhere else.

Greetings are done by kissing each cheek, like what we saw in France.

Italians prefer their own food- pasta, pizza, bruschetta, seafood, cheese, meat. There weren't as many differently cultured restaurants.