iced tea etc

i dont know how im going to smuggle an entire crate of liptons iced tea into ireland but i have to figure it out somehow dammnit!! this stuff is better than water here.. well i say that with reservations ofcourse as nothing is as good as the clear stuff but in this heat where you sweat out more than just H20 Liptons comes to the rescue! i think i have atleast one can of the stuff a day, along with about 3 litres of water.. and thats without even trying, anyone who knows me from home knows how i tried to be all healthy for Finland by forcing myself to drink 1.5litres a day and all that resulted in was me taking way too many toilet breaks.. ah well its all exercise at the end of the day isnt it.. (oh dear god i have started to talk with sports person vocab... this finland lark is clearly getting to me) on that note you will be happy to know that i have recieved the schedule of events for the matches and the like and on the 11th of August Ireland ladies face Austria.... my god it is actually happening!

wait how did we get on to this.. from liptons iced tea? well theres a stream of conscience for ya~!

so i have 3 proper days left on this island. last night we all went out, some of the crew are heading home tomo and they didnt want to go out mad tonight cos hangover + ferry = :( or so i have been told! it wasnt as mental a night as they had planned i think, the other 12 nights on the trot may have caught up with them, and me.. well im just not good at staying out later than 4am when i get it into my head that i'm sleepy (dublin peeps take that smile off your faces!) so that night started amusingly enough with Aoife and Keith wandering off up the hill to see the village at night leaving the rest of us to shower and moisterise (currently a favourite thing of mine to do) when they arrive back with an almost empty vodka bottle we knew their night had already started~! so the booze from other magically available bottles of vodka were poured and a half hearted game of truth or dares began...mainly instigated by aoife who wanted to share ;) then buzzy got a bit awkward answering things infront of emma the gfriend so he left us to it. some time later we all headed to Fun Pub to pick up Clare and let Aoife sing in the kareoke... she chose the cheeky girls song (touch my bum?) who knows why... then it was on to my fave place on the island.. Coo...the music there is awesome and the aircon is delicious~ after Coo it was Dream, for free of course but i was lagging at this spoint.. it was 3am... i nipped off for some food and when i got back we were leaving for Circus. now im so happy i made it there at last. the 2 barmen are not only terrible attractive but are really talented as they displayed by lighting 2 bottles of booze each and proceeding the toss them about to the tune of firestarter and the like!!! amazing!! even if it did raise the temperatures when they ate the fire and then breathed it out.. how they still have eye brows i will never know! but at this stage it was past 4am and i was over it, i sauntered my way home thanking god that we live in the centre of the town, bumped into a few heads along the way but even their company wasnt enough to convince me to stay out later. still managed to gt down to the beach for 11.30 this morning though.. thats dedication for ya~ ;)

i honestly dont know if i will ever be comfortable in a full set of clothes again! tonights festivites will be in Lord Byrons restaurant where the girls tell me you can get a massive delicious steak, im so looking forward to it cos im certain that the burgers i have eaten whilst here have not been beef but dog meat (there are really no strays in Ios and i'd say thats why)

xxx

Ios observations

here are some ios observations ... for anyone thinking of coming here ihave noticed a few things... the buses run on their own schedule and charge 1.40 for the pleasure of brining you down to the beach. but they are not normal buses.. oh no they range from mini buses to huge coaches all driven by local greckos, oh and they dont have a regular ticketing machine.. you get on the bus and then someone manages to squeeze through the crowds (they pack about 80 people into a 52 seater at least) and this person collects money from you and gives you a ticket... such a waste of paper!

you do not put your soiled toilet paper down the toilet on this island... EVER! bad things happen when you do (now is not the time to go into the "pooing in the bag" story)

there are sea urchins EVERYWHERE (although previous postings may have already suggested this)

the burgers here are not worth the effort, the meat is odd and seems to be watery or something.. perhaps i am eating dog ?? hope not! so stick to the local fast food of gyros (so so tasty) think i may have mentioned them before but again, they are chicken or pork mainly in a toasted pitta with tomatos,onions,lettuce, chips, tzaziki and mustard (yummmm) there is a place on the island called porkies ( i kid you not) and they do the BEST gyros on the island in my opinion.

there are about 30 beaches on the island, and although i have not seen even a good portion of them you should atleast break away from the main beach and try to find theodoti (you might be the only people there.. brilliant, but bring supplies in a cooler), everyone should go to manganari at least once (i have been there twice... driving really is the only option although there are buses..) i have yet to hit kalamos but word on the beach is that is beaut!

there is this old local (well he is english but has been here for 16 years) and he wants to take me around the island. but he is getting a little too attached and although he is married i dont want to tempt him with my topless sunbathing activities, plus i might bring on another heart attack!!

on the exciting news front, my roomate who had sex with a girl whilst i was in the room has gone home and im not afraid to say that i am very pleased! he bugged the crap out of me, using everyone's stuff and just being an ignorant dirtbag, dont think he washed his clothes once in the 7 weeks he was here .. gross! and to add insult to injury i have just found out that he used my towel... ALOT.. its going to the laundary in the morning, just hope im not too late and havent caught anything from it ... gross again! but in his place a couple have moved in , they are Buzz and Emma. very cute people. she is a kiwi with a crazy cork accent and he is from cork. they met in oz and are heading around the world together, how rose.. mantic?!

thats all for now folks, think im having an early night tonight if possible, just saw Hancock and was very impressed if a little saddened, everyone should see it. will smith is a legend.
xxx

happy birthday to me!

so yesterday was a very important day... i was born yesterday (23 years ago... obviously) although if you ever ask my mother she will tell you it was the 17rh.. although i have checked and the 18th is my true birth-date.
so as you know yesterday started with the sea urchins episode... luckily it got progressively better throughout the day (not hard) but bad things happen in 3's so its not really a surprise that my phone got soaked by some over-zealous indiviual last night and when i took it apart this morning to dry it out (air con did not help this process last night) and i put it outside the door.... i was 10/15 minutes dressing and when i came back out it was gone! now let me stress... NO ONE is awake on the island right now except for the greckos (the greeks) so me in my innocence thought one of the owners had picked it up during the cleaning process minutes before but no one is owning up. and its not like the area by me is super clean now (oh i live tucked away from the street in an alcove, you would have to know i was there to nick stuff) so basically i got the sea urchin attack, then a soaked phone and then that phone got nicked so thats the 3.. it had better be :( so anyone who is reading this, send me on your numbers and the numbers of your mates that are good looking. i hate this process... im an old hat at it though cos im a devil for going through phones.

back to last night, we went for dinner in Pomodoro (italian... yummy) jus the 3 girls. me aoife and clare. after ireland day we all wanted to just chill out. so after we went down to Fun Pub for the pool competition where i regaled the masses about my tackle with the sea urchin, nice! after there clare went home (aoife couldnt even make it this far) i went with the boys into the village... we hit all the hot spots and i was loved and adored by all. i even partook in a 'lay-back' where you lean back over the bar and the barman pours straight into your mouth, yeah its not as sexy as it looks though cos the bright spark used sambucca which i cant even stand the smell off... it came straight out my mouth and nose and into my eyes... a great look. but apart from that episode the night was alot of fun, and this morning i feel pretty alive, if a little annoyed about the phone but am a proud owner of a new samsung. this one had better last the holiday!

xxx

Sea Urchin attack on Ireland day :(

so gentle readers yesterday was Ireland day on the fantastic island of Ios. it was absolutely mental. apparently it started at 8am in the nightclub Dream followed by a breakfast at the restaurant beside the club then back in to the club (it was pitch black inside when we arrived at the respectable hour of 1.30pm) after the club kicked everyone out at about 2pm we all headed en mass down to the beach, yelling, singing and mainly drinking... love being a paddy sometimes! i would say a modest estimate would be about 400 irish parading through the streets ... we had a police escort down the hill (in case anyone fell and got trampled im sure) then when we hit the beach we stomped our way down to far out beach resort and started the hard partying. most of us bought alcohol in the mini market on the way for ridiculously cheap prices and set about drinking in a side alley.. the term 'panic drinking' was coined!! i will upload photos later when i get the sand out of my camera.. the music was pumping, everyone was in green white and gold and the craic was mighty. that is until i took it upon my self to go for a swim.... cue the nightmare.... i stood on a sea urchin!!! oh yes (the reason for the previous blog is becoming clear) i didnt think much of it tobe honest, couldnt see it in the water and thought i had scratched my foot on a barnacle or something (damn alcohol dulling my senses) anyway when i cameout of the water and couldnt walk it was pretty clear what had happened. so i tried to find my mates, they were ratarsed sitting around a table talking crap, i told them what had happened adn that i needed to go to the hospital.. no one moved (so much for mates) so i limped to the bus in my ireland underwear and 'kiss me im irish' teeshirt (i kid you not this is what i went to the hospital in) the bus dropped me off near it so i hobbled down the road and almost cried when the doc on call told me that there wasnothing he could do and that i just had to soak my foot and apply olive oil (random) that didnt go down so well so i called my parents in tears (sorry for freaking you out dad) managed to get on another bus into the village and limped past a really sweet italian guy i only know in passing who sat me down, got me a tweezers and tried to get the spines out of my foot... he counted about 25 all in all....!!! but he couldnt get any out cos he hated hurting me, so i twas up to me..a trip to the pharmacy later and i was equipped with a blade and determination. i got home eventually and dipped my feet into a hot salty bath and tried to get down to business. i thought i was hard core and would be able to slice into my feet, and i managed to get one out, but it was so so so so painful that i thought i was doing it wrong. so i tried to go to bed to wait til morning.

my flatmates had other ideas though... it was still ireland day for them so they satyed up til 5 am, yelling shouting, playing music and trying to get me involved. i was not a happy camper. might have to seriously think about moving or something. and after last night i dont think that will be really a choice since there is a really good chance that we will get kicked out. will keep you poisted on that one though.

so finally morning comes and i limp down to the doctor. i am his first customer of the morning after the aftermath.his name like everyone else on the island is Yanis (i think its like the greek alternate to the irish patrick/john) he takes a look and is impressed that i knew to get a blade last night. then the worst thing happens (how could it get worse you say) well he had to take a blade to my foot but it was so painful that he had to numb the area first... that actually was the worst part to be honest. but once that was done (5/6 injections over all... have you ever tried to inject your foot... im never getting a tattoo) with a blade and an hour of his time he managed to get all of the bastards out of my foot. i love him forever. although think he is a little shady cos he charged me (well Bupa will cover it) 250 yo yos, but he billed me 350 to claim ( today is my birthday afterall!!)

happy birthday to me....

How to Treat a Sea Urchin Injury

Step1

Don't panic (I did)! Sea urchin spines and venom (released from seizing organs called pedicellaria) are not lethal. The injury is very painful but the spines are made mostly of calcium carbonate, so they can be dissolved in the body over time. Different sea urchin injuries are more severe than others. Some spines can be very deep and some can be more superficial.

Step2

Start by applying an antiseptic (I frequently rinsed my foot with hydrogen peroxide) and pull out protruding spines with tweezers. The spines are very brittle and most will break off at the entry point to the skin- thus making it hard to fully remove them.

Step3

Soak the affected area in a bucket of very warm water with Epsom salts. You should continue doing this several times a day for the duration of the injury. This helps with the pain and also softens the skin for spine removal. It may even encourage the spines to either dissolve or be expelled from the skin.

Step4

After soaking, I found the best device for removing the thinner, more superficial spines was with a STERILIZED pin (safety or sewing pin). This is because the spines seem to dissolve into small soft fragments and meld with your skin.

Step5

Dry off affected area and apply antibiotic ointment. Take some painkillers/anti-inflammatory medicines to help with the pain and swelling. Elevate the wound if possible.

Step6

Do not worry about any purple/black dye released into the skin, it should disappear in a few days. If you're injury is less severe, the spines will probably dissolve or your body will eject them in 3 weeks. If it is more severe like mine, continue to the next step.

Step7

If the sea urchin spines are larger and deeper, they may remain in the body longer and there is risk of infection. Keep a close watch on the injury and see a doctor right away if there is chronic swelling and redness. Sometimes you will see and/or feel a hard lump called a 'sarcoidal granuloma', which is the body's inflammatory response to a foreign object (the spine).

Step8

My doctor prescribed me antibiotics and x-rayed my foot to view the deeper spines. She recommended surgery for some very deep spines, but I waited 2 more weeks and suddenly they were ejected by my body naturally!

Step9

Sea urchin injuries vary widely, and there is no definite time frame for the spines to either dissolve in your foot and work their way out. I was picking out some minor spines 6 months later, and I have reason to believe there are still some in there over a year later. As long as the site is not infected, or causing you chronic pain, it should be ok to leave the spines alone (as mentioned earlier they are made of mostly the same components as human bones). Good luck, and remember I feel your pain!

Personal Development

Hey everyone back home, i have some really startling news... on this crazy island of Ios I, Rebecca Headon, of lightweight drinking ability and famous for her slogan knickers is considered a responsible and sensible individual.... riddle me that?!perhaps its because i dont get absolutely shit faced every night (or even once since i got here to be honest) maybe its becuase i refuse to stay out super late so the hot barman might give me points for effort and come down off his high horse to give me the time of day (or of dawn) or maybe its becuase i seem to be pretty happy being chilled out and doing activities during the day... this definitely sigifies that i have not been hitting it hard as the beaches are empty until 2pm most days... i couldnt do that, its so beautiful here that staying in bed even with a ragin hangover seems just rude!

the girl i live with aoife is a scream. her step sister came over for 2 weeks yesterday. clare (her sis) was all talk about chilling out taking it easy and not going mental. so imagine my surprise when i came upon them at harmony (super chilled out mexican place over looking the bay) totally hammered on thailand style buckets of booze, they had 6 over the course of the evening and were completely written off by 11.30pm when i had to guide them towards the bus! it was a fun evening though, i ticked another thing off my list... jumping off the rocks at sunset at harmony and going for a swim... the water was like a lake and you could see the bottom.... 30 metres down.. beautiful, and it was so warm...the only thing disrupting the water were the watersports staff taking one of their own out water skiing, but that was nice, you could get the fear pretty easily.. swimmig alone etc..i watch too many horror movies, but apparently i got lucky getting out of the water, there are hundreds of sea urchins there and the locals even swim with sea shoes on cos if you stand on one of those bad boys you will be limping for weeks... not a goo look for finland!

today i have been on the beach for ages and the girls are dying, even more of a reason not to go too mental on this island! although that said tomo is Irish Day... cue the maddness., and the day after is my birthday - may god help us all (diving will have to wait another few days!)
xxxx

Here today.. gone tomo

so i quit my job!!! after 2 nights! well i had my reasons i swear. the chirpy nature i had with my previous post wa replaced with the knowledge that i would have to go back to that dump every night and deal with charlie( who is actually a bit of work and not so cheeky when he doesnt have skinny blondes hanging off him') and the 2 yannis lack of speed almost killed me. now i dont consider myself to be up myself but after 2 years of working m,ainly 2 jobs at the same time forgive me for not wanting to put in 8 plus hours for 25 yo yos. initially it seemed like fun but my god was i wrong! on my second night it was so so dead until 4 am adn then we had maybe 2 tables and they stayed until past 5.30, im not joking when i say that i came home at dawn, tired, cold and jobless. i have developed the "Ios cough' its a problem with all workers on the island because of air conditioning and standing in the draughty doorways etc. its gross, i didnt come on holiday to cough up a lung! so im again out of a job. but at least i got one anyway. ;) mainly i got a job so that i coul meet people and not have my housemate Aoife think that i was stealing her friends but after me and her trekked down to the beach the other day and had a big chat its all cool and the gang now i dont feel that i need one anymore.

today is the wet teeshirt competition down at far out beach... i thought about entering last weekend but i decided aginst it after i went down to check it out, its far too sleazy with all the men with their cameras, camera phones and even video cameras out! give me a break. the prizes are good however but im worth more than 125 yo yos and 125 yo yos of drink vouchers thank you very much! mom you would be so proud!

last night it was Jenny's birthday and we al went for dinner in Ios Club and watched the most glorious sun down ever. but that was the best part of the dinner, the food took about 2 hours to arrive and i only ordered a salad that ended up looking like a punit of cherry tomatoes and mozzerela.. think i will be making kethcup internally for some time!

day after tomo will be starting my open water divers cert (PADI) cant freaking wait!
xxx

Ios Blue

So readers last night i started in Ios Blue (funnily enough one of the many bars i did NOT mention in my previous post) it might have taken 8 days to find this little gem of a job but im under no illusion that its the best i could get on the island. i dont want to say this outloud or anything but heaven forbid that i actually admit to being a little bored with the constant partying all night, dealing with aresholes of barmen and then sleeping all day and missing the beautiful sun (not something i have actually done, the guilt is too much so even if im in bed at 7am im out of it at 11 am at the latest) so sssshhhh! but the secret is i have been yearning for my own crew to bum about with. its kind of like living in a version of dirty dancing but its an island and XXX rated! all the staff have their own special type of bond and have the craic with each other and have some sort of respect for eachother. but holiday makers??? fair game, both male and female it would seem! but sprry ladies but there is no "Johnny" character in Ios to fantasize over. just a bunch of self centred semi goodlooking barmen who have the gift of the gab and freedom or giving free drinks!how cynical am i?

so last night at 9pm I started in Ios Blue, the bar is situated in the square in the village of Ios on the hill. It competes with about 3 other bars in this tiny space, all pumping out the same music but at different intervals. we have Charlie, this cheeky english bloke who starts at 11pm and stands outside the bar encouraging women to come in and get the special offers, he is cute so he does quite well. i worked last night with a Finnish chick of only 17 years called Kaiser( drop dead beautiful), the 2 greeks who run the place are both called Yannis (can get a little confusing) and then there is Lisa the swede who is not allowed make cocktails but can serve beer and look pretty, plus she is a complete doll. so thats the crew. from 9-11.30 the place is dead, then it picks up and K and I only have about 7 tables outside to look after, way below the amount i am used to taking care of in ireland but everything moves so SLOWLY here that you need 2 waitresses to keep everyone calm when their drink doesnt arrive! the 2 greeks are notoriously slow, its like pulling teeth sometimes!drinks for workers are free but im not in the boozing mood at the mo so red bull keep me going till 5.30am when we closed (harsh i know) but at least i start at 11pm tonight so its not that bad, although... for 25 yo yos a shift its just above slavery. all to meet new people.. im mad!

on other news today was australia day on Ios, and i apologise to all the travelling ozzies out there but man oh man do i hate ozzies on tour.. more update on that tomo

xxx

activities in Ios

One would think there is not much to do on this island beyond drink at night and sleep on the beach during the day. but if you care to delve just a little bit deeper you will see the island has a lot more to offer. apart from the 30 beaches on the island waiting to be discovered there are cultural sites such as Homer's Tomb, activities from kayaking and snorkling, to proper diving and sailing. the thrill seekers amongst you might want to try out the banana or the dougnuts.. but be warned the guys who drive the speed boats dont take no prisioners!! i havent yet tried the speed boat activites but will be on that as soon as i know the guys well enough to get a discount...

ofcourse the nightlife on the island is amazing. it requires a bit of training to really get the hang of it. luckily the years i have spent in tripod/redbox and pod have stood to me. in order to get the best out of the island you have to nap from about 8-10.30 and aim to be leaving the house by 11 to head to dinner (crazy late for ireland i know) so ideally you finish up with dinner at 1.30am when things are just heating up on the island. then its over to somewhere like the blue note that has a distinctly swedish feel, then hit orange bar for some of the most amazing shots i have ever tasted.. mint aero anyone?maltesers?twix.. i kid you not, unfortunately the music attracts the rock wierdos so the place is always quiet. then on to the village to frankies for a frozen lemon margarita..yum, although you can only have one cos of the sugar content! then the redbull bar beckons for some dancing (dont even bother trying to get to the bar here,if you want redbull that badly either get a table outside for the waitress to serve you or go to a mini market.. its mental busy in there with the dancing, then at this point it should be about 3am, about the right time to hit shooters bar for a flaming lamborgini and sex on the beach for 5 yo yos (they all do crzy deals) after some pop music there head along to Coo where the barmen are delcious, the cocktails very grown up and the music is hip hop mix (a personal fave) plus they have a savage aircon system there! if you are feelin brave head down to flames bar to try for the shots record.. currently it stands at 7 shots in 6 sec 79...you get the 7 for free and a teeshirt. i tried and failed :( then onward down the hill to rehab a bar cum club with very tasty doorstaff and house music, and wierd foam rain every so often! they close up around 5am. if you are still standing trip along dowwn the village with the rest of the hard core peeps and the satff that have just finished up and hit Kandi the club until 7/8 in the am.....ofcourse this is just a sample of what a night could be like here, i havent even mentioned the shamrock bar,astra,slammers,disco 69,barmacy, satisfaction,pegasus, dreams... the list goes on and on..but its all about starting later than you think you should and pacing yourself. seeing the dawn is definitely worth the headache later in the day!

oh and on the job front i might have something sorted.. watch this space..
xxx

Friend Whore

so as you can imagine going somewhere on your own is a little daunting.but not so much on this island actually. i have coined a phrase... friend whore. now im not sure if it is already out there but if it is .. damn! that is exactly what i am. i will talk to anyone and anything. i will show people about the island and drive on the right hand side of the road for them... that was today and it freaked me out no end. but these 3 canadians really needed to see the island and friend whore becka was only too glad to get in on the act. the 3 in question are these 3 school teachers doing a bit of backpacking for the schoolo holidays. first stop Ios then on to Athens and Croatia and then somewhere else but i have forgotten it. so i met them in francescos (the best hostel on the island) and they want me to come travelling with them but i ahve already paid for my room so that wont be happening.nice to be asked though. now they are hilarious women. so educated but not at all at the same time. i mean they thought all irish were of the pale skin red haired variety! and they cant drive a manual car. but i love them all the same. we went out on the town last night and didnt see our beds till 7 this morning. hard core!last night was a worldwind of a late dinner (didnt finish till 2am) and then a tour of the bars that we liked, and amazingly enough it was some norweigan holiday so that was nuts!!but great craic. did some hottie spotting and talked to random people, flirted with someothers and parties the dawn away in the club kandi with a (slightly creepy) restaurant owner from the island... typical ios night! we headed out to manganari beach today with me driving and it was beautiful. just enough away from the hustle and bustle of the main beach. but it took a while to get there... the roads are unbelievablem so so so windy, we are talking hair pin bends that our rented car.. fiat panda.. battled bravely against. it was worth ig though. just to do a bit of swimming even cos the water is soo soo clear. there are not a lot of fishies here, but someone told me that this is a good sign,. ie no sharks.... whatever, talk about a silver lining!tonight is their last night and then they leave me to befriend some other selection of hotties, i might even try to make friends with boys the next time!

actually speaking of boys... there was a parade of hotties out last night from the beautiful Luc from Oz who is so in love with his girlfriend and unaware of his hottness... yum... to colin on the door of the bar Coo, to the barman in Coo who told me he really wanted to kiss me only for me to walk in on him and a blonde in the ladies of the bar on his break! cheeky! thats the thing about this island, anything goes. you have to be in the drop dead gorgeous category to have a guy actually persue you. there are far too many pretty, drunk and easy girls on the island for them to really need to bother......

xxx

etiquette in the bedroom

So sharing a room with a boy, well 2 boys now is not exactly what its cracked up to be. boys are disgusting!! my god! so cahill comes home the other morning from wirk with a girl.. uh oh.. i got up to pee and met her. so they knew i was there... i then went to bed but forgot where my ear plugs were, big mistake. the beds in the room squeak, something shocking. so i had a lovely hour of moaning, squeaking and general sex noises. luckily i couldnt see anything because of a combination of not wearing my specs and having my bed tucked behind the couch. but yeah he managed to help her climax 8 freaking times!! i was mentally applauding him whilst willing him to stop. but then she ruined it for him by saying that her record was 16 times! 16 times in the one session! dear god she is a machine. that was the funny part. the not so funny part was me hearing it all and feeling part of the session, so much so that i had to tell the others and then cahill got really mad at me later on, the cheek of him really! but the iceing on the cake was when i went into the loo the next day and saw that he had attempted to flush the condom (at least they were safe ;) _ but eeeeuuuuuwww. plus he hasnt washed his sheets since or even remade his bed,..,. double gross. the others are sweet to live with but cahill is like a child you have to explain everything to him in simple language. its an uphill battle for sure. i mean i dont really have a problem with the concept of bringing someone home even though i would never do it, but i had to sit him down and tell him how to handle things and to be respectful of both me and her. no wonder they call me momma becks here!
xx

the Ozzies

Ios is full of australians! they are literally everywhere. but none were so lovely as my 3 ladies who i befriended on the ferry on the way over. well i met alli and tors at the port and we travelled on the boat together adn Em was with them when they came over to Ios for the past 4 days. it has been a lot of fun. they felt like my friends and not people i had just moved in with. we spent the last few days sun bathing on the different beaches across the island cos we hired a car and went exploring, saw Homer's tomb and paid our respects, and went out every night to try to drink every option available!Alli is from Sydney, Victoria is from Melbourne and Em is from Canberra, Alli and Em went to college together and Tors met Alli in Maastricht on exchange. its funny how things work out. the girls are all off the island this evening and im going to miss them. facebook is a wonderful invention so when i head over to Oz they will be waiting for me.. or so they said! but what i will take away from this experience with them is Em tryin to do the 7 shots in 7 secs and only managing to do it in 8 sec and then me trying to beat her and ending up pouring them all over myself.. oops. the 4 of us heading kayaking and snorkling for hours yesteday and most of all when i asked a group of people at the port is anyone spoke english ally looked up and saying "yeah sure"... the start of a long friendship.cheers ladies, i'll see you next year
xxx

Found accomodation!!

hey readers!
so yesterday was my first day on the island of Ios and i was all freaked out that i wouldnt find a job or a place to stay or even talk to people.. how wrong was i?!granted the prebooking of the purple pig hostel that i had thought was a good idea was NOT. the place had no air con and was riddled with mossie, i know this becuase the nap i took there when i arrived is the only time i spent any time in the room and i have many bites as a result. god damn! so yesterday evening after some hours in the sun on the beach i thought i might check out the rest of the hostel and try to make some friends.... no such luck there were 6 "cool" english people at the pool in the hostel .. all couples and an irish pair who were not even talking to eachother, i felt a little intimidated to be honest. i know, me of all people!! so then i took myself to my run and seriously considered coming home, i think this was just becyuase i was so knackered at this point, instead i threw on a skirt and tank top over my bikini and headed in to the village to check out the scene re jobs etc. nothing is awake in the day timein ios. so i was worried that i would have nothing to do and no body to talk to for hours.. luckily fun pub came to the rescue. i dropped in and introduced myself to the owner Mick and he told me what to do. so i put a little note on the board saying i wasnt a psycho and that i needed somewhere to stay. i then met the delicious barmen Reece and Mark, Reece is an Aussie and Mark is a Paddy. the took care of me and introduced me around. i headed back to my hovel of a hostel to shower change and head out for the night and hopethat someone had read the notice and wanted me. no such luck. there was a kareoke thing on in the Fun Pub that night and this chick from Limerick Aoife was incharge of it, we got talking and it turned out she had an apartment with free beds!!! so after i murdered Gloria Gayner's I will survive, we talked a little more. 10 yo yo a night adnit was smack bang in the middle fo the village!! so then i ran around the village checking outthe bars to see who needed anyone.. but the major rush hasnt started yet so there are no jjobs plus the health inspector is in the island so everyone is trying to be on their best behaviuor. but im putting the word out etc. so then atabout 2am (which is super early in ios terms) myself aoife and her boyf keith headed home.. i crashed there that night cos i couldnt face the 20 minutes dangerous walk... plus i dont think keith was going to let me go alone, nice limerick folk!! at about 9.30 in the am cahill returned home from work in teh club and had no idea who i was!! but we talked and he seems nice! spent the day on the beach with them and will be cooking dinner for them in a bit!! woop woop now all i need is a job!!

xxx

The journey to Ios

SO currently im here in Ios on the beach marvelling at the heat of it all.. it took a while to get here but it was so worth it!So i flew ryanair from dublin to london and then at 6am flew out of london into athens at 12pm but the journey didntn stop there... i met Andy in athens and he took em to the beach, with a lot of bitching from me cos of my bag and the heat was intense.. i had left my bag in with a random travel agency man but my nerves got the better of me and i recused it and lugged it out the hour journey on the tram to the beach. andy got a little lost and i got annoyed but we finally made it for about an hour of swimming and sun. so i forgave him a little when he took me for a really tastie souvlaki dn then popped me on the train to the port town of Pireas. I arrived in pireas at 8 in the evening totally freaked out that the ticket sellers would be closed, but it was fine and i got a reagular cheap ticket of 27 yo yos to take the ferry of death to the island of ios at 10pm that would come in at 8am (and it did, very much on time) whilst walking over to the loading bay i came acrosse these two austrailian girls, victoria and allie, we got to chatting adn then i ended up travellin with them most of the ferry ride over, until it got too cold on deck of the ship, i stayed up there the entire night in my sleeping back (a last minute purchase at the port) they were going on to another island but will be in Ios in 3 days so we are going to meet up again... love travellling!! so i stumbled out on to the port in ios and found my man with the sign saying purple pig hostel \, met a lovely couple and finally made it to the hostel some crazy amount of hours later than when i left dublin. i booked a bed in a mixed dorm but currently i have it to myself which is not that great but at least i got to sleep this morning for a while but fingers crossed i have visitors soon, that or im moving to francescos in town, but apparently he will kiock me out should i get a job.. hmmmm. met this local (well i think he is originally british but he has been here 36 yers) terry. and he gave me some tips on getting a job etc... im hopeful, plus am looking into doing my diving cert?! am feeling really white adn a little flabby but who cares im here!!! feel free to email me to stay in touch adn photos will be up soon
xxxx
beckajane@gmail.com

Leaving Oracle & Ireland

So folks it happened i finally made it out of the corporate world to do what i have been threatening to so for some time... travel. ofcourse i could not just up sticks and leave, that is not the becka way. i had to think about it for some time and then when the time was right get a job that would fund the expedition cos i do not want to get in to debt just yet, the credit card scares me enough as it is... thanks mum!! right so on friday the 27th of june at the kick off for FY09 i mae my teary farewell to many a manager, friend and collegue... the cringe is so raw right now i hte to think about it but wheen you have been fed free wine adn yummy food (the yummy stuff is never the soakage stuff) what do you expect?! plus im a light weight! so instead of having a dignified exit at the radisson i cried.. alot... and hugged way too much, im not a hugger it soft of freaked me out to be honest. when finally i got over my tears and the party was over i left oracle without my dignity but with a shiny new bruise courtesy of cristina dumping me over a chair!

Sat night was my going away party thing that i was expecting EVERYONE toturn up to but it didnt work out like that.. infact my mom drove me to diceys and the stayed a little while cos she felt sorry for me! but then seeing as she had been at the races that day and was in her races suit she felt like a hick so she exited stage left pretty sharpish! kelly was my partner for the first while while i freaked out that no one would come... that was ridiculous ofcourse but pre party nerves are a bitch to keep under control! then influx of people started and the party got underway, that is until the bouncers found us... we were not allowed stand in the walk way, dance in the walkway or disrupt the flow of traffic at all.. makes sense in the real world but this dude was anally retentive about it for some reason... sort of soured the beginning of the night really. midnight came and we all rocked over to the tripod en masse for our free cocktails... thanks siobhan...mmm... i managed to behave myself somehow, i even ended up at home and not staying over in some randoms apartment!!!woop woop clearly i am growing up!the night was filled with laughter and danceing and some confessions which will not be shared online but maybe one on one..... then after the club adn some neck sucking for the craic (sorry vonnie) i rocked over to the house of sin for an afterparty where my kt was polluted in the corner and stil managing to be alot of fun! but i didnt last long, 6am saw skinny get me a cab and me try really hard to creep back into my apartment... but the mothership was awake getting the slut sisters to the airport... uh oh, cue drunken chat about the night and then me passin out!noice! a great night i think over all.... and i somehow managed not to stain my dress, miracle!!