Ios

I’m on the isle of Ios and oh how I love it. Of all the 6,000 islands here, and the two I’ve visited, this one is my favorite! It’s the tiniest island with only one village, called Chora. Homer was buried here, well, he’s got a tomb.. I’m a little pre season, but in the summer Ios is like the ‘Cancun’ of Europe; it’s THE party island, where the streets are swimming with people and it takes 45 minutes to walk down the road. My guidebook actually used the word ‘debauchery’ to describe a typical Ios experience and I can already picture it! But right now everything is quiet, much like the calm before a storm.

Our ‘Fucked Up Family’ spent its last days here before finally parting, but in that time we met some cool Colombians with whom we partied at night and spent the days laying out on the beach. Trevor and Rachel have since gone back to Seattle, and Ariel has gone off to Italy. I got to spend a few days just with Ariel and man it’s so good to hang with a guy from back home. We clicked perfectly and really hit the town (the only town), SoCal style. I’ll miss you, homie.

Alone again. I inquired around town for work and ended up finding a job at my hostel bartending. I was supposed to start the following week, but a day before I was replaced by a woman with bigger boobs. SOL, man, that was the shortest job I’ve ever had… but, I spent about a week at the hostel as ‘part of the staff’ and really got to experience Greek Easter, hanging with the family (dancing with the cute daughter). We went to church with candles and then had a meal at midnight (after they’d all been fasting) where we ate a lot of weird authentic Greek stuff like: liver soup, souvlaki and a weird honey-tasting alcohol that was homemade.

It’s a bummer, man. I thought I had work but it was snatched away. I really like this island though, and I think if I’m gonna find work it’s gotta be here. So I’m not giving up. Money is tight but I’ll make it. Keep your fingers crossed.