Hi All!

Things are great, here is the latest:

I arrived on the island of Santorini just an hour ago, after being pummeled by a rainstorm today before we left Ios.

I've been traveling with my Italian friend for a few days and we picked up a very patriotic Canuck for the past day. This morning, we headed out over this narrow land bridge to a rock precipice on the coast before the rain hit. The wind was whipping us all around and the view was beautiful...

Ios was a very MTV-Spring-Break-prone place. Very good for meeting people, and I met some good ones, but I don't need a Senor Frog's in my life. That's not what I am here for.

Oh the girl who proclaimed she could not live on a Greek island for the simple reasons of a) no one to be fashionable for if you know everyone on the island and b) no mall. And she and her crew just walked into the cafe on Santorini. AHHHH! They are following me!! Uggh. So that is yet another sign that I am ready to leave the islands.

And the thing is, people are constantly badmouthing the States, partly on the ridiculous behavior of girls like these. What I am realizing is that it really is the American girls who bring hairdryers, who compare tans, who buy clothes at the Diesel store on a fricking island smaller than Loyal Heights.

For their own part, the islands seem to survive mainly from tourism, so when you are not seeing the natural wonders, there is no real culture to escape to. Laying on the beach doesn't do a damn thing for me, so I want to see and do! 70% of the Islanders are there with either a pasted on smile and an outstreched hand or an aloof shrug. I almost prefer the shrug, because I get the impression that that is the real Greek. There are a few old people that are genuinely open and happy. I'm having trouble infiltrating them with my traveling companions, but I will work on that some more once we split ways tomorrow evening.

Another interesting thing about the islands, is that I was under the impression that tourism was slightly slower during these months "shoulder season". On the islands, (with the apparent exception of this one) the majority of things are still closed! Every day you see stores opening and people preparing for the tourist onslaught. Interesting, but like I said, a testament to how much these islands depend on tourism. So, tomorrow I will rent a scooter and get the whole island in, and then I am back to the mainland. I don't know how exactly, but I am going to find my way perhaps via Corfu to Italy. I'm worried: Easter is coming and I have no idea where I'll be. This could get sticky.

Well, that's it for the moment. Until the next internet cafe....