I cannot believe that I have been here for only five days. I feel as if I have been here for a month. The lifestyle here is so relaxing and calming. No one is in a rush and everything should take its proper time: meals, talking, and any other aspects of life. I just don't want to waste any time here sleeping so I constantly wake up early and go to bed late so that way I can enjoy every minute.

The people here are so nice and friendly. They want to share anything that they have with us - even if it isn't a lot. They want us to make us feel like we are home. Where we are staying, Maria, the owner's wife, is constantly feeding us fresh vegetables and fruits that come from her garden and the seeds are from her grandparents or even older. She is like a Greek mother to all of us; chiding us when we do not eat all of the food on the table as well as doing small things for us that make us feel at home like grilling us a "typical" American meal for the Fourth of July and making us a homemade red, white and blue dessert.

Yesterday, we went to various places in the Southern part of Crete. The southern part of Crete is the closest part of Greece to Africa. There, we saw a Roman Temple where they did animal sacrifices to the gods as well as did singing performances in the amphitheater. We also saw an old Church in a little village where ten martyrs were killed. Matalia was a little beach town that had caves in the mountains and a gorgeous beach. The caves contained a Roman burial ground and were a place of refuge during WWII.

We also met the Governor of Crete! She was so welcoming and it was such an honor to meet her. She wanted our opinion on her idea of branding Crete worldwide for its food and cultural aspects in related to the Cretan diet. She was so nice to us and wanted to encourage us to speak our minds about our opinions of Crete so far and what we, as Americans, understand and see about Crete that makes it different and any problems we could have as tourists here.

Yiasas!

Crete, Greece is the most amazing place I have ever been. Even though I have only been here for four days, it feels as if I have been here forever. The locals are so friendly and nice and adjusting to the relaxed lifestyle here is simple. The first night here, all eight of us talked and we able to bond to become a close-knit group of friends. We talk as if we have known each other forever and its fun realizing that we have mutual friends.

I do have to admit that our first day of classes here was rough. It was just a reality check that "oh, I'm not here just for fun." However, after sitting in class, it was nice learning about different parts of history of Crete and Greece as well connecting them to things that we saw today. We explored a historical site and museums where we saw items dating all the way back to the 2,000 BC and then things that were here from WWII.

I cannot wait to continue exploring this amazing area and relaxing by the beach enjoying the gorgeous sunshine and weather.