Farm on Lesvos

George, the owner of the bar we're sitting in, and Kostas, our host (the one who looks like a pirate)
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So we are finally in Greece!  The trip we took to get here was ridiculous and long!  We had to take a 4 hour train from Rome to Ancona.  Then as we said we got stuck in Ancona for a night cause they were sold out of ferry tickets. Then we took a 21 hour ferry which was 2 hours late to Patras, Greece.  Then we needed to take another 4 hour train which turned out to be one of the  most stressful and confusing experiences ever to Athens.  Though we got into Patras at around 3pm, we didnt get to Athens until 11pm (certainly a lot more than 4 hours later!)  Luckily we met some really nice girls from San Fransisco on the boat and we were able to travel all the way to Athens with them, including sharing a taxi to our hostel that night.  Because we were so late, we stayed in Athens for a night, but our hostel gave our room out since we didnt get there until 11pm.  So we had to wait until 3am until someone else left before we could sleep!  Then we spent the day in Athens and went to the Archeological Museum, before heading to Pireaus to catch another 12 hour boat to Lesvos.  This boat was not nearly as nice as the first one, even though we had "seats".  It was not a fun experience, but we got into Lesvos around 10am.  Then we had to wait to catch another bus at 12pm to go to Skopolos, a city near our farm. And then we had to wait for a while before some came and picked us up. And then finally we made it to our next farm, Toumba (http://www.toumba.gr)  This farm is pretty amazing, though we are having a bit of a hard time adjusting to it.  The farm had 12 wwoofers all working there when we arrived.  There was Eduardo from Spain, Fergie from England, his girlfriend Natalie from France, Fokion from New Jersey, Ciara and Patricia from Ireland, Mikhailes, little Kosta, and Vangelis from Greece, Sophie from England, and our boss, big Kosta.  Plus a bunch of kittens and dogs and friends of Kosta's.  It was a zoo when we arrived.  Everyone was really amazing and friendly and we fit in immediately.  The hard to adjust part was that we are staying in an abandoned village at the bottom of a big mountain.  We have a nice little room, but it is really dirty and sorta smelly.  Plus we eat in a small "cafe" where everything is so incredibly dirty, I really don't know how we aren't all sick already.  I don't think anybody knows how to really wash the dishes and even if they did, all the selves are covered in dirt that it doesnt even matter!  The other hard part is that we don't get much to eat.  it is mostly bread and tomatoes and sometimes cheese.  We were lucky apparently because we showed up when they were having a big lunch, and then the next night there was a really big party for the full moon, and there was tons of food, but other than that there isn't much food.  Also we have to climb up the huge mountain at 8 am to go to work, and it is really really hot!  The nice part is definetly all the cool people, and the surroundings.  We are up on the top of the mountain when we are working, and you can see the sea and Turkey!  Its really really beautiful. It feels like being on the end of the world.  Basically our day is like we wake up at 7:30am, get some coffee and bread if we're lucky, work for 5 hours doing things like raking, sweeping, weeding, etc...eat lunch somewhere, sleep for a few hours, and then hang out in the cafe with everyone until around 2 am. Then do it all over again.  It is a crazy lifestyle.  Greeks don't sleep at night.  Though they are definitely more friendly than Italians.

Trish and Ciara, the two Irish girls
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RIght now we are in Mytilini, the big port town of the island because we have both Saturday and Sunday off.  We are having a great time so far because we are hanging out with all the locals, and last night we were out until 3 am!  And the night was not even close to over for most Greeks.  Tonight we have a nice hotel room, and we're about to go chill at the beach for the afternoon. Then we are going to go back to Toumba on sunday, and work monday, and then probably leave tuesday morning so we can take a trip to the other side of the Island before we catch our ferry back to Athens on wed night at 10pm. Though this is going to be a really quick stay...it was worth it I think.  Lesvos is definetly one of the most beautiful places we've been yet.