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New Plans

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long layoff. I have been in several places where internet is sold at a premium price. Like I would pay 4 euros for 1 hour of internet service. Anyways, my travels have been pretty good thus far. Rome was amazing and huge. My favorite part of the trip still has been St. Peter's Basilica. It is huge and amazing. I also have video footage of me walking up the "Holy Steps" on my knees b/c that is the only way allowed to get up those steps. I also have scabs on my knees to prove it. After Rome came Florence and the worst hostel i've ever stayed at in my entire 25 years of living. I was the only one in this 2 bedroom hostel with 10 beds that spoke any english. So needless to say, Florence was a bit lonely. After Florence came Cinque Terra. It was absolutely beautiful. I did the 10km hike with 2 of my roomates who were Irish and female. They were quite hilarious b/c at some parts the hike was nothing but straight uphill and they proceeded to get mad the good ol irish way. From Cinque Terra I had to get to Pisa to catch an early morning flight at 7am. I got a late train into Pisa so I could just sleep in the airport and spare the expense of getting a room. Only 1 problem with that idea.....the pisa airport is closed from midnight to 4:30 am. Therefore I was stuck outside in the freaking cold and put on 5 shirts and 2 pairs of pants to stay warm. It was miserable! I left the next morning and ended up in Brussels which may be my favorite city so far that I have visited. Everything was so cheap and they have the best chocolates ever. Leaving Brussels, I came to Amsterdam and am leaving here tomorrow for Berlin. Amsterdam has been ok, if you like the 'everything smells like hash, servers in restaurants are jerks, and the strippers in windows are gross' type of atmosphere. I almost got beat up by a bouncer at a pub last night cause i refused to buy another beer, but I was still wanting to stay in the bar and watch a soccer match. He started yelling at me and I yelled back. I don't know what I was thinking. He would have killed me. I've never fought anyone in my life before and he supposedly does this for a living in the roughest city in the world. Anyways, I'll try to keep you posted on more stuff. Also, going on the 10th to see good ol' Larry boy in France!

Why I love my co-blogger

Scott - "I give my house number out all the time especially on credit card apps and stupid surveys online"
Me - "Why do you fill out online surveys?
Scott - "I'm a sucker for one's that are always like....win a date with so and so celebrity! so i think what the heck, if it happens it'll be a great story"

The British are Really clever!

Sorry for the recent inactivity on the blog. The past couple of weeks have flown by with work and getting to know the town a little bit better. Athens has been a good time and I'm not real sure if I've ever seen a town that likes to party as much as this place. I've probably gone out a total of 12 times and I think that i've seen the sun come up for 5 of those times. The crazy thing is....there are probably thousands of more people in bars as I make the walk back to my place. I've been able to make friends with 2 Greek guys and one of them is really funny. They took me to this bar where all of the "anarchist" hang out. I immediately feared for my life the 2nd I walked in the door and heard Rage Against the Machine playing over the speakers. People were moshing to music that the DJ was playing. It was good times.
On another note, I saw one of the craziest but ended up being the coolest thing to happen since I've been here. I was partying with some of the guests last Tuesday night. We decided to grab some beers from the store and drink them in "the square" which has a great view of the Acropolis. We are sitting there talking and we see this guy walk up and he's just minding his own business when all of a sudden, some stray dogs attack him (there are tons of them on the street). We all start yelling at the dogs and finally they leave him alone but he has been bitten and clawed really good on his arm. Me being the Public Healther that I am have some sanitary handwash in my pocket. We begin to talk to the guy and at this point he is in tears. He starts telling us that he has lived here for 4 years and hasn't really made any friends. BTW he is Chinese. He also tells us how his grandmom had passed away last week and that it had been really tough on him. He said that he likes to walk in the square at night b/c he gets really lonely and just likes to look up at the sky and think about things, but he said this night he was really depressed and didn't know what to do. Well needless to say, 2 Germans, 2 Indians, 1 Mexican, and myself start talking about life with this guy. It was one of the most amazing and humbling experiences in my life.

OK. now that the sad stuff is out of the way I want to go through some lingo that this one British girl has been teaching me.
Bacardigan- when it's cold outside but you are warm b/c you've had alot to drink(e.g. Bacardi). Last night I forgot to wear sleeves but I put on my Bacardigan and it kept me a little warmer.

Fox, Moose, Rhino- terms for girls in the bar(fox=hottie, moose=someone you'd take home, rhino=I'd rather hook-up with a man.) Rhino's are few and far between but if you seen one and get a picture with her doing the rhino symbol then she automatically gets a kiss.

Keys in a fishbowl-Apparently that is how swingers in Europe decide who is hooking up with who. But the Brits also use it to describe a probability of something happening. I'd like for bama to win the national championship but we'll just have to put our keys in the fishbowl.

Oz-Term for Australia

Those are just a few, I'll try to remember some more and put them up tomorrow.

Blogger Correspondence

Dear Scott,
Why is your life always so interesting? Please post pictures of our new abode/life for the blog world to see. How is football season on your side of the world?

Sincerely,

Your co-blogger

PS Geaux Tigers
PPS I'm hanging out with Julio Jones right now. Call me back...

Pinatas, Foreign Languages, and No Benadryl

Hello my blog reading friends!

I have arrived safely in Athens, Greece but I was met with some difficulty getting here. First off, in Atlanta I get on the plane and am sitting in an aisle seat but it's in the middle row. The guy beside me is not a big dude, but he is from Copenhagen. He had been attending a funeral in Huntsville, AL of all places, and was pouring his heart out to me. I was basically this guys shoulder to cry on. He is recently a father of a 3mo. old in Denmark and I feel like his life was just a little overwhelming for the guy at the time. P.S. this is all before takeoff. As the guy is schpilling his guts out to me, I'm looking for empty seats b/c I don't know if I can take this for 11.5 hrs. While looking around, something peculiar strikes the corner of my eye. I look and it is an 11yr old girl carrying a pinata onto the plane. I have seen some crazy things in my day being boarded onto a plane (tv's, dogs, birds) but this takes the cake. The pinata is seriously no joke 2ft tall by 2ft wide. My first thought is how did this get past the security check point? It couldn't have fit through the conveyor belt, therefore is should not have been allowed on the plane. Needless to say, it was. Then I see her brother beside her with a boogie board from the beach. Once again, something that would not fit on the x-ray machine. Finally everyone is seated except these two kids and their mom b/c they are trying to find a place to put these ridiculous things away. Nothing is found and the mom had to sit with both of the items in her lap for the majority of the flight.

In Paris I boarded my plane to Athens and it was a much better flight. I had an entire row to myself to stretch out. I knew right then things were looking up. That was until I got off the plane. The airport is kind of far away from downtown and central athens, which is where my hostel is. I find someone who speaks english and tells me that I need to get on a bus to so-and-so station, then take the metro to blah blah blah. Fanfreakingtastic! The guy tell me the stations in English but each stop is written in Greek. I decide to stay on the bus, and just try and guess a stop. That is until everyone gets off b/c we are at the last stop for this bus line. I wander around this stop and what do you know I see the metro in the distance. Not real sure which way I need to go and it's so late at night that the only attendant working this station doesn't speak english. I pick a train and by the grace of God it was the right one. I get off and walk around for 1hr and 15mins before finding my hostel 1 block away from where I got off the metro.

Anyways, things are going really good except for the fact that they don't sell Benadryl here and I have a really bad skin itch, and can't sleep at night.

Love you guys,

Scott

Dry Spell

To our faithful readers,

Sorry that our blog has been inactive over the last few weeks. We are currently in an awkward phase of our lives. As Scott and I begin new and separate chapters of our lives, we expect to have experiences and life lessons that will be useful to you. Hold on to the rails because the ride is just about to begin...

Vasu or Tito

Is it Tito Jackson or Vasu in the pic to the right? You be the judge. BTW the beer can is not photoshopped in.

He's Iroquois

If you are interested in booking this "real Indian" for your classroom, please leave a comment. Ohyoyoyo-ohyoyoyo!

She's Cherokee

I spent this past 4th of July with my family at the Lake. I had talked to Vasu a couple days earlier and invited her to come down. I told her that she would experience the 4 F's(Food, Family, Friends, Fun) when hanging with the Thomases and the Etheredges. Needless to say, Vasu said she would think about it. When I arrived at the Lake house on the 2nd I told my Mom that a friend of mine might be coming to spend the 4th with us. I told her that she needed to be on her best behavior and please try not to tell too many stories of how when I was little that I didn't like to wear pants and that certain days of the week I was permitted to go shortless. So my mom asks, "Who is this friend that might be coming down?" I reply, "Her name is Vasu and she went to UAB with me." My mom looking a bit puzzled by the name, says to me in her 6th grade teachers voice, "That's a very unique name." My response to her is that Vasu is from Baton Rouge and her parents are Indian. The conversation ends, and I proceed to ride jet-skis for the rest of the day which results in the sorest sartorius muscle ever. However, the next day at lunch my cousin's 5 year old daughter asks me when my ohyoyoyo-ohyoyoyo (Indian noise) friend is going to get here. I'm a little bit puzzled and I ask Olivia what she is talking about. She being 5 years old, has no response except ohyoyoyo-ohyoyoyo (x10). I ask my aunt why Olivia is making that noise, and she says to me and I quote, "Your mom told us about your Cherokee friend coming over for the 4th and Olivia is soooooooo excited to meet a real Indian. She's got her camera ready to take pictures so she can show her friends when she gets back to school."

Right then and there I lost it.

Try this tomorrow

When you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and tell yourself “(your name), today is going to be a great day!” It’ll change your life.

Indian Girl runs away from Thong Song

Wise words from Scott:

"Just because someone signs you up for a karaoke song and promises they will sing with you, doesn't mean they will...make them sign a contract."

To give you a preview of whats to come...

"What are the standards for the blog?" - Vasu

"I kind of want to set them low so we don't fail. That's also how I view my relationship with girls." - Scott

LULZ...

This is my first blog post. Vasu and I will post little nuggets about life on here everyday. If they worked for us then they can work for you! 

Here's our first little pearl of wisdom straight from the lips of Vasu aka Plato(because of her deep intellectual insight) :

I don't like to cry and doing it in the shower makes it seem like its not crying.