The Christmas week

Hi! Long time no see! Almost two weeks has passed since my last post, but it feels like months! This will be yet another diary-like blogpost that at the moment feels so unnecessary to do since "nothing special has happened", but that I know that I will appreciate a lot in the future. So bare with me... This is what I've been up to since the last time I wrote!

Basically on the week before Christmas everyone around me started to get positive results from their rapid Covid-tests, and it has kept on increasing since then. I have tested myself many times since then and so far I'm still negative. So I walked by some of my friends who were in quarantine with some saffron-buns, gingerbread cookies and other small gifts to make their time at home a little bit easier. 

On Monday the 20th I walked with Pauline through the Christmas market as well as some stores to get the last Christmas gifts for my friends with whom I would celebrate Christmas. Later that day I went on an evening walk which has now become more or less a daily habit and something I'm really looking forward to every day. It's a great way to deal with thoughts and emotions, which I seem to have plenty of recently. 

On the Wednesday the 22nd I took the metro by myself to IKEA and Lidl to get some things for our apartment and to see a new area of Athens in the south. It felt good to do it alone, and I felt proud that I was able to navigate by myself. Later that day Pauline came over to eat the traditional Swedish rice-porridge (tomtegröt) with cinnamon and sugar for dinner, and we then just played card-games, talked and drank wine until after midnight. 

On the day after I went with a friend to Nea Filadelfeia, an area in the north of Athens with a big forest that I really recommend you to visit. The day went by so quickly and I enjoyed it a lot, it's always so interesting to see new areas of the city

Then it was the 24th, the day when I celebrate my Christmas. Until this day it seemed as if we would need to postpone our plans for Christmas since everyone was sick, but luckily this day everyone who was supposed to come to my place tested negative!! It was a hot and sunny day and I face-timed with my family from my balcony during the day before I got ready and started to prepare all the food for the evening. 

After our dinner together we had some traditional Greek and Swedish pastries and drank glögg that I found on IKEA. Then more people joined us and we all planned to go out clubbing later that night. But time flew by and all of a sudden it was too late, and we ended up staying at my place until 5 in the morning just talking and drinking for hours and hours. It was all such a great night, and I think one of my best Christmas evenings ever.

On the day after I slept until late in the afternoon, and spent almost the whole day inside watching series on Netflix. Then it was Sunday and I walked with Thora and Emý to the Christmas market before going home to my place where we ate dinner and started pre-drinking. 

Later that night we went to a party nearby where we partyed together with the other erasmus-students who had not gone home over Christmas either. We tried to get in to some nightclubs in the centre but without success, so instead we went back to Jelles place where we played cards and talked. Once again time flew by and we were all shocked when we realized that it was already morning and time to go home. Again, such a nice night!

On Monday the 27th I went for a long walk during most of the day and did my best to restore my fluid balance after many late nights without any healthy routines. Then Tuesday came and I went for a coffee in the center during the day. Later in the evening I met up the others for dinner at a Mexican place and we then walked through the city to see the Christmas lights. 

So I realize now, once again, that even though it feels like I've done nothing, I've done a lot and I will remember these days for the rest of my life. I feel so happy that we've done all this and that we really took advantage of our time here together, since Greece is now breaking record after record with positive covid-cases and the restrictions are getting stricter for each day that passes. With that said, I also feel stressed about that there is still so much I want to do and see that I have not done yet. But more about that in my next post...

Take care!

With love, Elsa ♡