Last day in Crete - by Ms. Sacchetti

Our morning began with a “last class” to round out the last requirements for their gr. 12 English credit. Our students valiantly worked through the temptations of the beach and sea-salty air that was already filled with the delicious smells of toasties and milkshakes yet to be made.

We then began our wait for the bus to the ferry docks. Students were creative in their last use of free time along the sea shore: hanging out in the lobby on their laptops, taking a last swim in the pool and lounging on the deck, walking into town to buy last-minute gifts for relatives and friends, eating copious amounts of gyros, crepes, baguettes and toasties (Kate P. and Brie were quite distraught over the prospect of a toastie-less Toronto), and sleeping on any and all flat surfaces that were vacant. Some students said one last goodbye to the beach (as did Mr. Downer, Mr. Reid and myself), and relished the beautiful weather and refreshing ocean waves. Also, a few of us paid a goodbye visit to George and Melissa, our friends at the Five Melleniums jewellery store in the lobby of the hotel, and Manolis at his Creta Natura olive oil/honey store, from which we’ve all purchased gifts over the course of our stay here.

It was sad to say goodbye to Agios Nikolaus, and a little sad to think that in a few days I’d be saying goodbye to my students.   One of the highlights of my day was extensive conversation with Fabio about the apparently stylish, lens-less, gold wire glasses he had cherished for a few days, but had discarded that morning. To quote Fab: “It turned out they were really ugly.” It was also fun to watch Sean wear his snorkel mask all day, including on the bus to the ferry, because he had “nowhere to put it!”

And even though Tyson left me hanging after he promised to carry my laptop case on board (thanks to Mr. Reid who stepped up), at least Mallory and I didn’t almost get run over by a motorcycle between the two luggage trucks on the docks. Again.

As ISUs were handed in and exam prep was commencing, all of us were happy with the work we’ve done and, I think, just about ready to go home to our families. 

Going to miss this lifestyle...

Monday July 23rd & Tuesday July 24^th

Being here in Crete is always very relaxing, though we don’t go a day without a couple surprises!  Monday started off normal with class at 8:30.  Then during the 15-minute break we run to the store just outside of the hotel to get probably one of the best milkshakes I have ever had.  Then with 3 minutes left till the end of break we run back to class hoping Ms. Sacchetti isn’t mad at us for being the last to show up in class.  We spend the rest of class working on our essays so we can make time for the beach.  Right after class a group of us get our bathing suits on and head to the beach; the good thing about a stone beach as appose to a sand beach is that you don’t get sand everywhere.  Although some of us would spend the whole day at the beach slowly turning into a tomato, others take a break and get another milkshake (they’re seriously addictive) and a sandwich for lunch.   This leaves just enough time for us to head back to the hotel pool to work on our essays some more before dinner.  Dinner as usual is amazing; every night there is a different themed food, which gives us all a chance to try something other than pizza, pasta, and greek salad, although tonight was Italian night.  After we have all finished dinner, a small group of us walk through town and do a little gift shopping and stop at a fish spa.  A fish spa is where you can soak your feet in a box filled with tiny fish and water that eat away the dead skin, though I wouldn’t recommend it to someone with ticklish feet.  We end the night with a dessert crepe and a milkshake (this is just getting ridiculous), and head to our rooms and get ready for bed.  Just before we go to bed we sit on the balcony overlooking the ocean listening to the musical entertainment coming from the hotel pool deck.  It is hard to believe we leave Crete in only a couple days although I know everyone is starting to miss their parents at least a little bit.

Katherine and Kate

A relaxing and successful Sunday in Greece

Everyday we spend on the beautiful island of Crete only gets better. Some of the girls took part in a belly dancing class taught by one of the teachers, Ms. Sacchetti. We had a blast and are looking forward to a few more days of this. With count down to the end of the trip beginning, everyone wants to take advantage of the sun. Many students spent their afternoon working on their ISU’s at the beach or by the pool. Evenyone loves Toodleokies for its amazing toasties! As exam time approaches everyone is busy studying and working hard in order to ensure strong grades. Not to mention that we will all be prepared for math next year because of all the shopping everyone has done. Overall, the food, the town and the people have been amazing and wrapping up our journey will be difficult to do. We are all going to miss the friendships we have made on this trip, as well as the delicious chocolate cake found at the dinner buffet; it might be the best cake ever made.

Elaine and Leah R

Saturday July 21 2012 Blog

Julia and Kayla

        On our fourth day in Crete we enjoyed a delicious breakfast varying in a wide selection of fruits, cereals, pancakes, eggs and meats. We then headed off to our morning class were we had spare time to finish revising our Julius Caesar essays and type out our good copies. We then took a short break to grab snacks and socialize with one another. After returning from our break we were introduced to Greek mythology and the idea of how stories told lessons in life. To finish off the end of our class we began reading our final novel, Oedipus the King, where we discovered unusual aspects of life that are very different from the way we portray modern day life. After class we all headed to grab lunch at local café’s. Some of us immediately headed off to the pool and beach to soak up the hot Crete sun while the rest joined Ms. Sacchetti at four o’clock for a belly dancing class in the hotel gym for an hour. As six thirty grew near we were all dressed up and ready once again for an amazing dinner at the hotel restaurant and a night on the town.

   

Crete continues to be beautiful

Friday July 20, 2012

Day 3 in Crete was another beautiful day by the sea. After a short morning class working on Julius Caesar essays, over half the students went for a day at the water park. The rest stayed back to continue working on their essays and sat by the pool/beach. The water park was full of steep slides, rushing water and of course, speedos. Everyone had a blast on the various slides and attractions. Some spent their day as dare devils, ripping around the park, while others sat in the sun slowly coasting through the lazy river. And to finish off another day in paradise, students and teachers sat down to a lovely local meal; buffet style. 

Some great pictures

Thurs July 19, 2012

We started off our morning waking up to the beautiful sunrise in Crete, it’s absolutely amazing. We ate at the breakfast buffet at the resort which varied from bacon and eggs to pancakes and fruit, simply delicious. Today class was extended until 1 because we had to miss class time to leave early for excursions. Before break we went over essay writing skills for our upcoming Julius Caesar essay and in the second half of class we watched 2 videos about Greek mythology with Mr. Reid’s class then we had conferences to discuss our final essay. After all the work, then comes the play. Everyone hit the pool and got some wicked tans and maybe even a burn or two….For lunch we headed down beside our hotel where there is a really good sandwich shop. Continuing on, we walked downtown looking at all the amazing and wonderful shops, the amount of jewellery makes us want to spend so much money! By this time we’re getting hungry so we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and go to BBQ buffet which was the theme for the night! We filled up quickly on corn, chicken, sausage and baby hamburgers. This wasn’t even the best part; dessert was J. We ate so many pastries with chocolate soufflé fillings, even took a couple to go. After dinner, we came back to our room to work on our homework and watch movies. All in all an excellent relaxing day and can’t wait for the water park tomorrow. J  

Brie & Rachel