...in between clouds and dreams...

.. I made it back from Greece. I am now in central Canada - Alberta, Calgary - enroute to home, which has moved since our last chat. I am moving to BC - it's true. Got my stuffs all shipped out, and now it's just up to the final shuffle of things - finishing up my job - finding a new one - and getting myself settled. Wish me luck.

Sometimes life needs a little bit of shifting....

More to come
www.flickr.com/photos/stacious - for a picture story
xx

...turning wheels....

...welcome...

...so in the mitt of silliness I am here - rolling out of a crazy wet music festival weekend and into the workosphere...

About 3 and a bit weeks ago I materialized from my adventures in Greece, Italy and London – greeted by the ‘oh so charming’ Chris (who had flowers, it’s true, that I didn’t pay attention to because I was too excited – but will note to definitely noted how stoked I am about flowers the next time…Opa)

Arriving home we rolled into Stanfest – which gave us a lot of great candy for ears…. Quick trips to Pictou, Moncton, Tatamagouche, Lochaber, and beyond after that festival – then another trip to the freaking departure gate at that frigging airport (gripe)….

Moving on…Yes, so this past weekend held the Shoreline Music Festival – which had everyone graced by the tunes of Xavier Rudd (I am still spinning) and De La Soul (and oh so many more great musical artists) – the festival was wet wet wet but spirits were at an all time high – new folks were everywhere, and amazing times were had….

Now a week of putting the East Coast life into boxes and bags, looking for some new wheels, and chillin’ with pals – before Chris arrives again – we take in Evolve Music Festival, then beautiful Jenni’s wedding, and then… we hop in the wheels and move to the West Coast. Yup pals, I’m heading to Victoria… but not for long – work will have me back here by September. (no sweat)

So only 4.5 months left with this University gig and then I get something new, I am completely stoked…

I just wanted to throw down the latest and greatest news – I hope this finds you well – enjoy the pics
You can find all of my traveling pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/stacious....

Keep’er Real & Be Well

-S

Yasas, Kali Mera

Yasas Friends,

Another beautiful day brings me back to Kalamaki from a week spend at Gerakas - another nesting beach we have here in Laganas Bay - very remote and beautiful. A lot has happened in the last however long it's been... Last saturday I get my wallet stolen while waiting for a turtle spotting boat... congrats to the lad who landed 50 euros and a bynch of cancelled cards... could be worse, yes i still have my passport - but i have been scratching at twenty euros for the past 8 days... it's amazing how long it lasts sometimes... But i spent the week at gerakas - and after days with no phone, no email, and no money i feel lighter.... it's a great release to let those things go... you should give it a try...

a visa landed in my hands yesterday with the help of maddie... a wonderful woman who i got to know at gerakas. her and her partner yanis have started sea earth and sky foundation http://www.earthseasky.org/ they're amazing - i can't even begin to start on them and the community around gerakas.

Gingi... thank you for the mail! ENDLESS giggles as i opened the package with folks at the camp giggling because they knew what was inside (grr customs declarations) - news for you.... i made it to marathanisi, twice and will be there again on monday. amazing - first time i was there for a morning survey - got stung by a jelly fish (yup dad, i'm ok) got to see the sun come up on the bay... second was wednesday when i was on an all day yacht trip for Earth Sea and Sky, we did a stop to explore some caves... I was the first off the boat and the last back on - the snorkeling here is amazing... (no turtles yet)

I also got to explore the caves at Keri - quite impressive - but inside i got the earthquake jitters and had to aboprt exploration. i never thought i'd find myself swimming km's at a time (not since the crew of us used to swim to the bridge or jennifer's in canso) but it is sooo great... (flexing arm muscles) the water is so salty that it's hard to dive deep... it's hilarious... but so salty that my mouth dries instantly ...

taking loads of pictures, built a hula hoop, learned how to do pottery, had a shower :)

I am now back at turtle camp and we finally got our loo's -

ahyes - at gerakas i saw a monk seal; The Mediterranean Monk Seal is one of the worlds most endangered mammals... there are said to be around 80 here in greece and possibly only 400 in the world... it was amazing and huge....

I also got to head a morning survey - which was wonderful and I am still stoked... unfortunately there were no tracks but was just asked to do it again.

FIRST TRACKS in the bay today, they were at Sekania... no attempt at nesting but at least we know they're preparing. Everyone is on their toes.... this week I have morning surveys galore (my favourite thing - being the only folks allowed on the beach - looking for tracks and watching the sun come up - it may be early but gosh it's peaceful) I am on a few all day boats, which are cruises around the bay snorkeling and doing more presentations, and more beach patrols...

I get to take another day off this week, as great as that sounds... I love what I am doing and don't feel like any day is like "work"

Melissa and James - hooray for your baby girl, I can't wait to meet her and smother her with love...

Now I have to head back to camp, I hope life is treating you all well....

Any of you in the nish, if you see a place for rent for july (cheap) please think of me and send me a heads up...

Be Well
x's and o's
Stacy

As allways please pass this along to anyone I may have left out (humble apologies)

...adventure continues!

yASAS!

welcome to another day in my time with Archelon. We are just beginning to get busy with tasks so my updates will now becmoe very limited. Nesting season begins in 5 days - today folks are putting markers on the beach so we can properly tag nests when they are dug.
I am learning more and more about the Loggerhead every day and am working on a presentation that I have to give to tourists telling them about the turtle and what Archelon does.

The camp is slowly coming. We are up to 24 people - and today we think we will loose all water again because of gypsys on the island. (?) Still no toilets on the site so the treck to the office in the morning is now part of the routine.

Yesterday Nico and I got newspapers so we could find out more about the riots in Athens. It is crazy because you folks in Canada seem to know much more then we do. It is, however, very interesting to read about the views on Iran from here. Being so close to Iran, the small island of Crete (south of the mainland) is one of US' possible locations for their main base. The US already has a base there and many Greeks are worried about this. The papers also state that Iran is desperately trying to arrange talks with the US but the wonderful Ms. Rice is saying that timeing is inconvenient - the papers say that the US is determined to begin conflict in Iraq, and will not meet Iranians halway to begin talks of resolution about the nuculear fueling facilities. It also states that they have (Iran) increased the useage of uranium BUT it is still no where near the levels needed to produce weapons. In athens there are signs all over that read "US stay out of Iran" "Don't bomb Iran". Nico is from Athens and has attended mant talks and meetings about this. I buy Greek papers and we sit down together and he translates for me. (They also have English papers) But being a bit of a vacation town Kalamaki and Laganas seem to carry more of the "Daily Star (National Enquirer)" type reads.

We are also learning about regional politics. Archelon works with 2 other organisations; WWF and The National Marine Park of Zakynthos. A lot of the protected land is owned by the WWF and there is a loop in protected lands stating that if the land is destrpyed due to fire, then development can begin. At one of our site Gerrakis - there was a fire last year - and as quickly as it happened, a major hotel chain moved in and began construction. It's not hard to see who is starting the fires. This also shows how we are viewed by many of the locals. On of the areas we monitor Dalphine, used to be the main nesting beach - this is where Archelon began 24 years ago. But because roads to the beach are now illegal and local people believe they have land rights to the area, we are not met with friendly "yasas". The beach has been pretty much destroyed, we do no relocations of nests here and we have to access the beach strictly by boat from Sekania, we hit the beach as soon as the sun rises - do a quick sweep for tracks and leave ASAP. There hasn't been confrontation in the past few years but we will not be taking any chances.

Today I am heading out on a turtle spotting boat. There is an outfitter here who works with us for tour. We monitor them (only one boat per turtle - no speed greater then 6 knots in the bay, no swimming with turtles, etc) we will also be answering tourists questions about the turtles. Tonight I have a presentation in Greek with Nico, and tomorrow another (in English) at a hotel. Archelon is grabbing at all of us for someone with PR experience to head PA on camp. I am jumping back right now, as much as I love it - I am here to do everything.

We also got a call from the rescue center in Athens yesterday begging for volunteers for 20 days. I can't leave here without seeing Marathanisi, and seeing a mama turtle on the beach.. :)

Last night we went to a local Greek restaurant Michaelo's - The owner of this restaurant actually drove me to the camp last sunday (he saw me hiking with the bag and insisted). As I walked in he yelled "BABY! Stacy! Everyone, I drive her! Yasas!" kisses on the cheek, hugs - it doesn't take long to feel like part of a greek family here. The food was AMAZING... hummos, tzatki, cheese pie, stuffed grape leaves, zucchini burgers, ummmM!!! When we left the owner pulled me aside and made me promise that if i ever needed anything i would go strait to him....

The folks at the local bars make the effort in getting to know all of our names, and the guy at this hotel where computers are - greets me everytime with a grin and Yasas Stacy. It's great.

Walking in Laganas is crazy - 2 nights ago Sonja and i had to pretty much jump into a barb wire fence to escape a crazy driver - and last night Sarah and I had to keep to the ditches. The men have a weird way of showing their affection - they show off in their vehicles and almost kill you. It's pretty crazy.

Vikki told me a wonderful story this morning; back when the greek gods were present on the earth, the land was lush and many creatures roamed the earth. These creatures had 2 heads, 4 arms and 4 legs. The creatures were very happy - over time they began to fight with earch other, and grew angry. The gods asked the creatures what the matter was, and when told they threw lightening bolts onto then and split the creatures in half. For quite some time the creatures were happy, then again they grew weary. When asked again, with impatience, by the gods what the matter was, the creatures didn't quite know. With some thought the gods realized that they perfectly split the creatures in half - but the soul of the creatures was divided. The creatures now had a quest - whereas they had to now find their soulmates.

so nice.

I am now on hunt for a pillow. (Yes Chris, I know...)

I hope all is well
Love you lots
xoxo
Stace

Yasas!

Hello! I survived my first earthquake! Hoorah! Things are going well with Archelon - beautiful people - today we got the water running - and hopefully in the next few days we will have "loo's" (right now we use the loo at an office across the road)

I have to jet but check out my pictures
www.flickr.com/photos/stacious

-Stacy

Yasas!

Hello! I sit here in some hotel in Kalamaki, which is located near Laganas Bay - where I will be for the next few weeks. The weather is perfect - it is beautiful and I am now settled into my volunteer life at Archelon. Today 8 of us were selected to head to Sekania (map: http://www.therianos.gr/images/zakynthos-map-print.jpg) Sekania is the only area under complete restriction by the Marine Park. You have to have special permissions to go to the area and it is about a 30 minute drive plus a 30 minute hike (all down a mountain) to the beach. Once you hit the bottom it is the most georgous secluded beach around - with a prime view of turtle island (yes gingi - Marathonisi Island - http://www.zanteweb.co.uk/ A giant island that looks identical to a turtle. This island is completely owned by the Marine Pak and we can only access it by boat - more to come on that island when i actually set foot on it. At Sekania we were preparing the beach for nesting. This beach is the most dense beach in the world for Loggerhead nesting. The cleanup was done with WWF (www.wwf.gr) and the National Marine Park. Took a few hours and had me face to face with a very decomposing deer, and 2 syringes (yes folks i was careful) ... I don't think I will ever look at a plastic straw or glowstick in the same way...

Arriving at the camp was hilarious - we were there at the site for 3 hours - piled under a mountain of beer cans by the time any reps showed up - finally we set up camp (an olive grove under a mountain) Last night we went for drinks at a local bar, had too many shots of the all to tasty..somthing I don't remember....

Early am start - headed to Sekania - beach cleanup took about 4 hours... the climb back up the mountain took us about 50 minutes (of non stop steep climbing...) but the view and beach was well worth it.

We just had our first team meeting and we have a complete orientation at 8pm. Over the next few weeks I will be doing PA sessions at hotels, on day cruise boats - going on boat excursions with tourists for q & a, monitoring beaches, tending to kiosks, and doing beach patrols. The team we have so far is amazing. I have met kids from Holland, Belgium, England, New Zealand, Austrailia, one Greek, and a few Americans...

The company is great - the food is super and now my new pal Sarah and I are heading back to camp.

I love you all and hope top hear from you soon
xoxo
Stacy

...
Yasas!
Hello!
I hope this email finds you well. I am sitting outside of the bar at my hostel in Athens Greece. One of the cheapest hostels I have ever stayed in - and the location screams why. Outside after midnight you have to weave through prostitutes who are as young as 14 and through countless junkies. However, do not ever let that deter you from staying at Hotel Lozzi. The people here are top notch - as friendly as they come. A guaranteed way to meet people and to find out all of the hot spots to take in, get travel advise, etc. is to jump into the hostel's bar - which opens at 7 and closes whenever you're finished drinking (last night however we weren't finished - but they closed the bar anyway) When you first enter the bar you're greeted with a free shot of ouzo (an ainse infused cheap cheap drink mixed with grenadine...soo sweet) after that you can pave the way to a night of fun with cheap absynth (2,50 euro - a drink) yes with sugar and on fire... amstel beers and drinks that only go up ,50 when you double up. Last night many beers, much absynth, and a few shots of ouzo somehow came to a whopping 5 bones. All smiles here!

Getting here was an adventure in itself. Saturday I was enchanted by an amazing night of giggles and hilarity with Gingi, Kate and Shawn - a perfect sendoff - even though we were al a little slow moving Sunday morning. Sunday night's flight to London went alright - our stopover in St John's had one of the roughest touchdowns ever. it was so black outside and the plane slammed onto the runway. Seconds later we were greeted with, "well folks, in case you haven't noticed - we have just landed in st john's"

Spent the day in London - London is lovely. Everything is old and beautiful and the architecture is really fantastic. All of the buildings are tan, grey - which make everyone look vibrant and the greenspaces a huge asset to the city. I did all the do's - Big Ben, Tower Hill, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminister Abbey, St.James Park - etc etc. Spent the night at Gatwick airport, then an early am flight here - to Athens.

So for two days I have been on tour in Athens. When I first arrived - honestly - I found the city really amazingly dirty. With little vegetation and white rock everywhere... the route that the hotel gave me to get there had to be the worst possible way to get to the hotel. So after I checked in I went for a little stroll to grab some eats (holy tzatzki!). Got back to the hostel and met a fella named Ryan from just outside Big Sur in California - huge history buff. So he asked if he could take me on tour. Why not? We headed straight for the national park next to the parliment buildings. Being in the middle of a huge amazingly beautiful greenspace instantly changed my views on greece. Instantly.

From here we went to the temple of Zeus - which took 500 years to complete. This is the largest temple in Greece and the gianormity of it is definately breathtaking. We then toured around Syntagma and Plaka - just north of Anafiotika (Acropoli - where the Acropolis is). Peeked into a few Greek Orthodox Churches (most people here are Greek Orthodox - the rest of the population are mostly Jewish, Catholic, or Muslem) - these churches are really wee. Really tiny - but the artwork explodes over every inch of every wall. The age of it tells tales of years and years of people believeing and worshipping, quite humbling.

My favourite area of Athens is deifinately nestled onto the hill going up to the Acropolis. The closer you get to the site, the older things seem to be. Roads disappear and winding paths with nestled houses packed into such a small area - it is really just something wonderful. We had a bite to eat on a rooftop restaurant looking out over the whole city - across the city is a monastary resting on the top of a huge hill. At the restaurant, I had a greek salad. Yes Gingi, They ARE called greek salads. The olive oil here is so clean and so great..mm... The salad had a huge piece of feta (whoot - everythin's betta with feta) So..... by 2007 feta can only be called feta if it is made in Greece. Which is great for greece - but about 2/3 of feta made comes from outside Greece. hummm (now hum and rub your chin) . The feta in Greece is so pure and white because it is made using mostly sheeps milk (can have up to 30% goats milk). The animals in Greece, because of the low amount of vegetation, have to graze over huige areas. Which means that the feta is really low in fat - and it also means that the animal grazes on more then just one type of vegetation - both are better for the animal - and of course, effect the quality of the milk. The salad itself didn't have much lettuce. Hardly any at all and that is how it is done here. Lettuce doesn't grow much here, so they use it in a very limited manner, another cheap marketing ploy by your local north american restauranteur? (now that is the 'thing' that you will learn today.)

Going to a restaurant in Greece you pay a seating fee - usually 1,50 - this covers your table and the bread they give you. Usually when you are looking for a place to eat the owner of the restaurant will stand on the street and try to lure you in. Very sneaky.

So on return from our meal - we winded down the hill back to the hostel, past shops owned by J-Lo, Kelly Osbourne, Bvlgari, Marks & Spencer, Dolche and Gabana (you get it) in the middle of these shops, in the middle of the street were glass coverings where you could look down and see old ruins of the city below - pretty neat.

Got back to the hostel - hit the bar. Met Mark and John - Aussie brothers heading to Zante to work just a few mins from where I am staying. I met Mathchia from France, a guy who left today to work on a sailboat, and 2 guys from Canada (who quickly disappeared when 2 cute Aussie girls came out).

Today I mostly wondered about Athens taking pictures, I am holding off going to the Acropolis until Kate get's here. I spent a long time in the park - doing a bit of Yoga and reading. This evening I ate at Eden (www.edenvegetarian.com) A veggie restaurant :) (yay) Veggie Mousaka, holy yum! Heading back I stumbeled upon a protest/concert. Met 3 wonderful ladies who loaded me with stickers (yes John, one has your name on it) and gave me the low down. The European Social Forum is happening for the next few days in Athens - http://www.fse-esf.org/ "The European Social Forum (ESF) is an open space where civil society groups and movements opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism, but engaged in building a society centered on the human person, come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, to formulate proposals, to share their experiences freely and to network for effective action. " The concert I went to was to support immigrants who were living in Greece, to protect the kidnappings of immigrants from Palestine in Athens, and as an anti-racism movement. Bands from all over the world were playing - people were dancing, waving flags... I then met a lady who was telling me more about the forum - a guy, Jeff, heard me speaking and asked about me being from Canada and in Athens... Jeff is the national spokesperson for a coalation in the US of vetrans from the war in Iraq. He was telling me about the 13 months he had spent in Iraq and how the only thing he can do now is focus on turning everything negative in his mind, into something positive by speaking to people about the war, and how horrible it is.

Really amazing. So now I must give this computer to someone else - but I wanted to update all of you. Tomorrow I head to Zante, where I will be for the next 6 weeks.

Friday I start my volunteer work with Archelon. (which, I just found out over a beer with Mark and John, has been the location of two "small" earthquakes last month - just 5. that's all. Why that isn't on the Greece websites, i don't know...)

Parakalo Be Well, Tread Lightly
Adnio,
Stacy

...a quick ditty...

friends.... pals...people... i will write updates later - but for now you will have to be content in checking your email, this blog, and this link www.flickr.com/people/stacious

Be well,
Stacy

Chris, Myself and Gingi - happy kids...not so happy hangove the next morning.... 

I plea Peel Pub..... 

bring it.... 

...and then we end up at the Peel Pub... lookie lookie... 

Gingi and Andrew at the quiet and reserved Fireside in Halifax 

In flight skipping... 

Nicole and Pierre - battle it out... 

Fetch... 

Chris n Al.... 

Pierre and Nico.. 

Alex contemplates getting crafty... 

Alex gets a mullet! 

One sexy boy... and yay he's mine! 

Lovely ladies three - Me, Nicole and Kat 

Yay Belly Laughs! 

Pierreasaurus takes in the love... 

i LOVE nicoleo!! yay! 

Nicoleo contemplates eating in a barrell 

picture chris here - scotch in hand - cigar and morning paper... 

le view... 

The cottage from upstairs.... 

...and getting back from bahamas and bermuda i got a visit from the wonderful superist Chris :) I had to go away for a meeting and for his birthday we got a cottage near oak island - here i am answering a call from pierre on the crackberry... oh i hate crackberry 

I love this girl - Jacquie you are a ray of sunshine... I had such a wonderful time south with you! Thank you! Brobecho!!!! 

Kevin and I - This guy is a gem! He took Jacquie and I on tour of the roughest areas of the island, and took us to an amazing Thai restaurant - the next day we went to the pickled onion and then got VIP treatment at Splash!... thank you thank you.... 

Double Fistin' at Splash! Hooray for Free Drinks! Cheers