Sunday - after we got up and had breakfast, we rented a red car and explored the island of Paros. We had lunch in a little fishing village called Naoussa. We had lots of good things to eat and then had ice cream. We drove around the island to a place called Golden Beach. It was really quite windy. We saw windsurfers on the sea. We took out the kite, we flew it for a little bit, not too high, I loved flying my kite. Then we started going back. On our way back we saw a helicopter land in someone’s back yard. It was amazing! I helped to find our way on the map. Before I went to bed, I called my teacher Mrs. Dominguez in Scotts Valley and we talked all about my trip and how the class is doing. I was happy to hear that Ivan is back in the class and that there are two new boys that joined the class. She said that she would say hello to everyone and tell them that I miss them. It was a very full day.

Monday – Today after breakfast our friend Anna’s brother named Manuel picked us up to go to their parents home for a traditional Clean Monday meal. It was great to see Anna and meet her family. Her mom and dad were very nice and welcomed us into their home. Their dog recently had puppies. There were two puppies left, and Hannah and I had great fun playing with them. The puppy that I liked best I really wanted to bring home. But I still love my dogs just as much and I’ll have to leave this puppy here.

Anna just finished building a beautiful home next door to where her parents live. It was fun to explore it and see the natural stones she chose for building her house. After a while, we sat down for a delicious traditional meal for the beginning of Greek Orthodox Lent. The Greek Orthodox people celebrate Easter one week after we do. So their Lent starts a week later. We had special bread that look braided, is covered in sesame seeds and doesn’t have anything to make it puff up. It was yummy. They only eat this bread one day a year, today! The table was covered with all kinds of good foods including Greek salad with feta cheese on it, olives, shrimp, octopus, calamari, yummy big beans in red sauce and olive oil, wine, beer and coca cola. Clean Monday starts off the 40 days of not eating meat. The next time they will eat meat will be on Easter Sunday when they will have barbequed lamb.

After dinner, we went outside to fly the kites. It was so windy that it was too tricky to fly them. So we went to a nearby village with a beach where the wind was way more calm. I flew my kite until it broke by crashing into the sea five times because it was so hard to control. I had a great time flying my kite. My sister had a kite that looked like a green jellyfish. She flew hers until there wasn’t any more string. We met a nice boy on the beach named Nathan who was on holiday in Greece. Anna is going to save Hannah’s kite for her in their basement. Mine fell apart after all of its flying! It was a great day. I had lots of fun!