The End of the Marathon

Another airport post coming at you!  Greetings from Greece!  I am here waiting for my first flight of three in order to get back to Rwanda after the most relaxing two weeks of my life.  I'm going to brag a little bit because this trip to Greece was not only relaxing but it was an amazing adventure I got to share with my boyfriend Will.  We spent a couple days at the beginning of the trip in Athens doing the typical touristy site-seeing.  We saw Zeus' temple, the Acropolis, and a lot of other ruins and historical sites.  It was fun attempting to remember the facts about Greek Mythology I once had been forced to memorize and realizing we were walking where some of the greatest thinkers in history walked.

After Athens we hopped on a ferry for 7 hours (7 hours on the Ageon Sea isn't too bad) and headed for the one and only Santorini.  Santorini has always been on my bucket list of places to travel.  The iconic views and photographs in movies and all over the internet have always caught my attention and so finally I got to see it first hand and let me tell you it was even better in person.  Our hotel was right outside of Fira right in the middle of the island along the water.  We had a perfect view of the iconic sunset right over the ocean.  It was basically the scene on every postcard.  We rented a quad and drove around the island to see all the vineyards and beaches covering the Island. Then we decided to make the hike from Fira to Oia.  Now, being outdoorsy and fit when the trek was described as a "hike" we kinda took that with a grain of salt thinking it was more to prepare the wide variety of travelers for a decent walk.  Well, it was definitely a hike.  It was about 7 miles there and then 7 miles back definitely not just a "difficult walk".  But the views were unlike anything I've ever seen.  It was definitely worth it even if our legs were  bit sore the next couple of days.  The next day we decided to take the quad up there so we could find Amoudi Bay and go cliff jumping.  It was the last thing I needed to do before heading to the next destination.  Well, even after driving over we still had to trek a little bit in order to get there but once we made it, it was so much fun!  It definitely brought me back to summers back home spending so many days out on the river or cliff jumping at our spot.  It was the absolute perfect last day on the Island.

Next we headed to Paros and found a really great deal on a nice hotel right on the water and the most relaxing environment which is why we ended up spending 5 days there.  Each day we woke up went to the breakfast buffet and ate too many pastries (well at least I did) and then proceeded to lay by the pool al day long reading and napping.  Yea, it was that amazing!  Then once the sun started to go down we would walk along the water to the little town for some food aka gyros since that is what we lived off of!
While I'm on the topic, the food in Greece, Oh My Gosh!  No shame, I'm returning with a few extra pounds than when I left and I've never felt better about it.  We ate so much feta cheese, gyros, and any sort of flaky pastry you can imagine.  I definitely over did it but that's what vacation is for right?  Back at the hotel in Santorini they also had a breakfast buffet that was to die for and they would always bring out a special traditional breakfast dish to go alongside the assortment of treats we were already binging on.  It was amazing.  I don't think there was a single restaurant we went to that disappointed, and more often than not they loved surprising us with a treats both sweet and alcoholic!  I could go on and on about the food and the hospitality we felt but it would take forever but overall it was amazing, relaxing and the most amazing vacation I could have imagined.


So, you may have noticed my title "The End of a Marathon" and be thinking well what does that have to do with her vacation?  Well I now only have three months left as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  It's pretty crazy to even think about.  In comparison to 27 months three is pretty much nothing.  Also, since I'll be running my 3rd and final 1/2 marathon here in Rwanda in a couple weeks I thought this analogy was perfect.  I'll never forget the end of my first 1/2 marathon.  I was already dead from having run 15 kilometers and those last 5 seemed like nothing.  I had run 5Ks so many times whether it was in high school cross country or a casual weekend run, 5K was an easy day, like how I'm initially thinking about these next 3 months.  Well, during that first 1/2 marathon that "easy" 5K was the hardest part of the entire run.  I kept feeling like it would never end no matter how much I kept forcing my legs to keep moving.  I know it's not going to be easy.  I still have a lot of work to finish up in my village, bittersweet goodbyes to say, and a lot of anticipation for what's next.  After spending 2 weeks with Will and now being apart again for these three months I know it's going to be even more difficult than before.  There's a lot I'm missing in these next few months like my brother's high school graduation, my friend's bachelorette party, and a lot of things I'm looking forward to that will test my patience.  Talking about this isn't me complaining, but rather identifying some of the big challenges that will definitely test me as I finish, just like during that last 5K every part of my body was tested whether it was my burning lungs, aching legs, or my sun burnt skin.  It took more than just my physical abilities.

This is how my entire service has been.  It's been a test of so many aspects of my being and it's been 2 years of lessons learned.  I can confidently say that I am no longer the girl who left 2 weeks after college graduation.  The woman I am now is the person I plan to bring back and introduce back to my family, friends and society and I'm so excited to work just as hard as I have throughout my entire service and finish this adventure strong and soar into the next phase.

Now, I'm headed back to Rwanda on full of determination and confidence.  I already have a to do list going with tasks for finishing up projects, a new personal workout  program in the works as well as studying for my personal trainer certification, and just simply enjoying the time left in Rwanda.

Many of you might recall me talking about my friend Emiliene.  Shes's been my village support person from day one.  Well, she recently has become unemployed due to some difficult circumstances.  But as always, she doesn't let that stifle her radiant smile and the love she shows for her son, her family, and pretty much everyone around her.  Since the day she found herself without a job she took action and decided that to continue to receive an income the best route for her was to start her own shop within the village.  As you would imagine starting your own shop isn't a simple task.  So I decided to help her in her endeavor especially since her main reasoning is to be able to continue giving her son a good life (a boy I've come to love so much) and to eventually put herself through university to study Social Work.  I've been helping in the planning, budgeting and overall organization of the business starting (who needs business school?).  Will has also started a fundraising page that you can easily donate to to help with some of the start up costs.  It's an investment not only in the lives of their family but in a women who is the definition of a strong confident, empowered and empowering woman.  Check out the website here https://www.generosity.com/fundraising/emilienne-s-business/x/16221521
Please take a look an consider donating even a small amount.  It really is for an amazing cause.

Now as I board my flight I'll leave you with this, even though I'm almost finished with my service I have a lot of posts I'm planning to make in that time so keep reading the best is yet to come!