Having a great time with great friends on Aegina!
(I miss having a working ankle!)
Who won the Greek elections?
The Greek elections were on Sunday. It was an odd day, in terms of behavior. I got in a cab and the driver drove under the speed limit. I walked through the center of town and there was no one there. My bus driver stopped, and then sped away without letting any passengers on. It was like everyone was in a dream, floating to the ballot boxes without looking before they crossed the streets.
Phew! So happy to be back in Greece (HOME) for a month!
I did a lot of jet-setting this month, which was great, but I am so glad to be back in Athens, and I don’t want to leave for a long time.
I realize that I have made a home here.
It’s a really cool feeling.
Study Abroad Resolution #4:
Be a treasure box of happy memories.
This was a tip from Gretchen Rubin’s book, The Happiness Project, that I think works very well for study abroad. Sometimes being miles away from home will get you down. You will think about how you went through all of Easter Sunday not knowing it was Easter and how chocolate bunnies cost $7 and how your parents didn’t email you and all your study abroad friends were out of town and on and on and on.
Stop the spiral. Buffer your life with happy memories to prevent sadness from shaking you up so much. Collect happy moments in any way you can- in your mind, in photographs, in quotes, in decorations on your wall. Finding a way to preserve those perfect moments that happen while traveling is so essential to me. If I don’t do it, I don’t really process or appreciate them. Documenting the happy stuff in pictures and writing helps me when I am sad, because I can reread the journal entries and look through the photographs.
Be your own treasure chest of happiness. It makes being homesick a little less sickening.
Hi new followers!
I am sorry I can not follow you with this blog because it is my “secondary” tumblr. But I am reading about all of you study abroaders and your adventures! :) I hope you are having a great time (or getting ready to have a great time).
Above- Me at the Prison of Socrates.
Rebecca Rice, abroad.
