Ashley Gets Lost

Apparently it’s October now?! WT actual F?! Last week really got away from me somehow. I ended up having to go to town almost every day, which made the week feel exceptionally busy, even if I didn’t really accomplish that much. I did accomplish getting Cong neutered and a scooter purchased, which we don’t actually have yet as it’s illegal to drive on the highway, and there are no backroads that get you all the way here.

I attended my fourth week of writing group, which is such a lovely experience! Technically there is one man in the group, but he’s been away visiting family, so the last two weeks have been a group of women from various parts of the world. All different ages and walks of life, and it always ends up being such a vulnerable and raw experience. I was too scared to read what I wrote out loud during our first get together, but since then we have all committed to reading what we wrote. It’s uncomfortable and heartbreaking yet also somehow joyous and beautiful and healing.

I’m going to miss this week’s group as I’m going to drive Olya and this fella to Heraklion, where he will fly away to Germany to live his best life. And no, that is not my beloved Conglomerate, this is his best friend Tofu, who looks a lot like him!

After a much cooler week, Sunday was supposed to be hot again, so Joshua and returned to our new favorite beach on Akrotiri for some much needed sand and salt and sun. The weather was changing again that night, so it was a bit windy. However, we were very impressed with our ability to figure out how to secure our umbrella better this time. It involved yarn and rocks. Afterwards we drove up to Stavros to look at the beach there, and it was so cool!

I do not know what the deal is with these rocks, but I am here for it. It looks like some kind of post apocalyptic alien planet terrain. We very carefully climbed up on the rocks, which look like they were made from lava. They were very very sharp. We most definitely did not want to fall on these babies! The first picture is from when we were on top.

There were these beautiful little pools scattered around.

There were also these fun little salt deposits from when the tide goes out and the tiny pools evaporate. I decided to give one a try. Salt is one of my favorite flavors after all! It was uh, very salty, and it had some sand in it for extra crunch!

Dog and kitten negotiations are going so well. We no longer separate them when we leave the house! And they choose to snuggle. I’m calling this one “Friends who lick together stick together”.

I thought you might also enjoy the fact that you can buy bananas straight off the branch here! That’s pretty cool!

All of our house neighbors were here at the same time last weekend! Then the French neighbors who have been here for a very long time left, so we’re back down to 3/4 capacity. We went out for dinner with the British couple next door and the Israeli couple who own the apartment upstairs on Monday, and it was a very nice evening. Neighbors who don’t suck are great, but having neighbors you can be actual friends with is awesome!

We are apparently “out of food” again and these people in my house expect to eat every day, so I need to plan a grocery list and go back to town AGAIN for my big shop. I can totally get everything we need right here locally, but I like going to Lidl for discount groceries. They have great prices on coffee and sandwich supplies, and I live in a house where sandwiches live in terror. I think we all end up eating at least one a day! I also hear that JUMBO has halloween stuff and I’d love to see what halloween supplies look like in Greece.