Day 16 -- A Lazy Day

Woke up at 5:40 to the sounds of chirping birds, cockadoodledooing roosters, bleating goats, and barking dogs or more accurately, woke at 5:40 because of the sounds of chirping birds, cockaddoodledooing roosters, bleating goats, and barking dogs. Ari woke up about 10 minutes later to the sound of... I told him he might as well come into the bedroom and go back to sleep on a real bed. I even offered to wake up with him for the day if he wanted me to. He climbed into the top bunk as I put in earplugs. The next thing I knew it was 7:50. Ari was in the living room playing with his tablet. We got dressed quickly and had a nice breakfast of eggs for me and a grilled ham and cheese for Ari.

The veranda where we ate breakfast

After breakfast we headed for the beach where Ari had a great time jumping in the waves until about one o'clock when we headed back for lunch with everyone, including the other guest family staying here (A children's book illustrator staying with her son).

At lunch I noticed something that I won't mention lest my wife take away my parenting license. As I sat talking to the adults after lunch Ari came running in because we had a Skype call from Andrea, Joshua, and Zachary. It was really nice to see their faces, even if the kids were too rambunctious to allow for a real conversation.

Ari with a view of Kalymnos in front of the house.

I forgot to mention one of the most interesting things from yesterday. Apparently, on Kalymnos it is customary, even though it's illegal, to celebrate with dynamite. Yesterday, we heard explosions echoing of the mountains. Yannis told us there that there had been the deaths and uncounted fingers lost over the last twenty years. Ari has suggested that we rent motorcycles. There are no helmet laws here. There's a reason I chose to put those seeming nonsequitors in a single paragraph.

Day 24 -- Last Full Day in Paradise

I slept until a glorious 8:30 this morning and woke up a few minutes before Ari appeared to tell me that my eggs were getting cold.

After breakfast, sunscreening, and changing into bathing suits Eleni drove me, Ari, and Sasha to a beach a little further away than Kantouni. Ari and Sasha played in the waves while I watched them to make sure that they weren't in any trouble and built sandcastles while I watched the bikini clad girls to make sure that they weren't in any trouble. We bought drinks, caught killer ants, played catch and Ari completely soaked his shoes in seawater. Hopefully they will dry because otherwise he's completely trashed three pairs of shoes in one trip and I have no spares and no time to find new ones.

Ari asked if we could go to a taverna for lunch and I explained that we were going to eat with the family.  Much to my surprise, he told me that he really wanted to go because he would miss Greek food and that he wanted me to learn to make it, especially tzatziki and stifado. I think his enthusiasm for Greek food is in part because he has been so happy here that it has intensely good associations for him. I hope that I can help him preserve some of the memories into his adult life.

Eleni picked us up and brought us home for a lunch of lemon garlic chicken, mashed potato, corn, green salad, beet salad, and watermelon. On the drive back, she said that she'd been reading my posts. She wondered why I hadn't mentioned the bikini clad girls in Kos to her yesterday and went on to say that Andrea must really trust me because there was no way that she'd trust her husband for two weeks alone. I pointed out that perhaps it wasn't trust, but a desire to be rid of me that motivated her. I didn't point it out, but perhaps Andrea just realizes that I'm unlikely to be attractive to Greek (or any other) girls.

After lunch Ari did his Greek homework and we worked on battleship. The progress is slow but we've now had the computer place its ships (though we haven't yet made sure that they aren't placed on top of each other).

After battleship it was time for a Greek lesson which was immediately followed by a trip to the beach, the pool, and the beach again with Sasha and Elina. Elina and I sat on the beach and then by the pool watching the kids, enjoying the sunset, and sipping fresh squeezed orange juice.

When we returned home Ari told me again how much he has enjoyed Greece and that he would miss it. These declarations were clearly heartfelt. I  told him that if he continued studying Greek I would find a way to get him to visit again.

Eleni and Giannis made a feast in honor of our departure. Souvlaki, both chicken and pork, cooked outside on the grill, served with pita, tsatsiki, tomato, and potato.  The kids played soccer until the meal was ready. We had music, talked, and ate until we we're stuffed. Eleni gave me the recipe for tsatsiki but couldn't come up with the word for vinegar. She kept saying it came from graves when she meant grapes. We had a good laugh when we figured it out.

Then Eleni brought out dessert, whipped cream with banana on a layer of chocolate, topped with dark chocolate shavings.

Ari went to bed at 11 something but when I followed him in I made him brush his teeth so he was up a bit later. while falling asleep he moaned and said that a mosquito was buzzing around his ear, so I stayed up writing this and guarding him until I killed a mosquito. I hope it is the only one.