The best Valentines, come in groups.

Yesterday was a blast. I had a great conversation with someone back home about.. the rapture, global warming, personal relationships, yoga, and other topics that can be found in today's headliners. It was much needed and much enjoyed. I then painstakingly moved the beds in my room to make a yoga spot in the center of the room and streamed a pretty intense yoga session from the internet. AS a celebration ( or denial ) of Valentine's Day about 10 people from my building, myself included, went out to a teaverna for dinner. Not only were we able to negotiate free wine, but also ended up only paying 7 Euros each because we ate "family style" and just ordered multiple things for the table. This is actually the way Greeks traditionally eat all the time, now I see why. You can't pay 7 Euro anywhere for an individual meal, its so much less expensive to split it all. Following that we skipped over to a bar where we got free shots in exchange for money ;-) and then skipped to another bar, where the fun really started. I learned to count to ten in Greek, an important skill. Spoke to a few locals and some non-locals and enjoyed hearing American rock music reign throughout. This bar, was great. Among multiple mixed shots, often chosen by the bartender or locals, I tried a "submarine". Have you ever experienced drinking a submarine? I have no idea the contents, but I would assume whiskey is involved. There is a base drink in a regular sized glass, following pouring a shot of either vodka or whiskey, the bartender drops the shot - glass and all - into the base drink. It floats and pours as you drink. Im not sure if this is supposed to be a shot, or a quick drink, but I took it as a personal challenge to make it one. Surprisingly, the amount of alcoholic consumption that I had did not terribly affect my mental state, while normally it probably should have. So, the night was memorable for more than one reason. I spent the evening with some really great people who I am continuing to get to know and enjoy spending time with. Perhaps, there is something to be said about the bond of friendships performed in a foreign land and during a foreign experience.