… and So the Adventure Begins

APRIL 7: If anyone ever wants to come to Greece, I will be able to tell you everything that you need to know! I am so frustrated at this moment that I am near tears — and you know that’s not me.

Walking this morning I did fine for a couple of blocks — until my cell phone’s GPS stopped working. A nice Greek man helped me find the bakery I had been headed to for breakfast, but I didn’t go across the street for coffee (which was probably a mistake).

Lynn, my contact here, came over at noon and took me for a walk, explaining landmarks, which I have already forgotten. But we did go to a store that put a hotspot SIM card in my phone. I replaced it with an international SIM card that I bought before coming over to see if it would work for calling local numbers. It didn’t, so I put the hotspot card back in — and was locked out of my phone completely! Finally, I remembered that the hotspot business had replaced my AT&T SIM card. I put it back in and am operational — except that I only have GPS when I am in a wifi location. But Lynn showed me that most businesses have a wifi signal that I can pick up on. Just to be sure, though, I will pull up a map of were I’m going and draw myself detailed directions before leaving the apartment!

In addition, the power converter kit that I bought in the U.S. wasn’t working here. I was getting paranoid about not having a charged cell phone OR laptop. We got that worked out at a local store that sold me a small component for 3 euros that works.

So, one-by-one, things are being worked out. The only thing lacking is having a local phone number in order to be able to call businesses or taxis. Most of them probably have WhatsApp, and so do I, so I just need to fine a WhatsApp directory! LOL And, that said, I just talked with one friend in Lee’s Summit who installed WhatsApp and sent an email to another friend. It’s pretty neat to be able to call anywhere in the world free.

On a positive note:

I found a wonderful seafood restaurant a 2 minute walk from the apartment (see photo). AND, I have an appointment to get my hair shampooed and styled Saturday. Frankly, right now, I look like something a cat wouldn’t drag in — and my hair styling brush is electric and won’t work right now. Ah well, no time to be vain!