Leaving once again

After a friday + weekend spent in camp, i got out for the evening today. The newies are etting back from their leave this evening so i have to be in again by 9pm to see who is back and set some order in the room again.

Good news is that tomorrow i am off camp with my 2-day blank transfer paper - i have to be at the border camp in Alexandroupoli by Friday morning 7am. It was about time I left Lamia, since we got pretty tired this month. A lot of things pissed everyone training for sergeant off and now the mood is much better, since by noon tmw we are free to go, training done and all.

I still haven't decided what to do with these two days. All my stuff are packed already, my weapon clean and ready to be handed in, the only thing pending is my real life schedule for this couple of days. But the thought i am mostly fond of right now is going for some serious partying in Athens, + meeting friends and relatives there, for a couple of days, then leave and maybe have a stop in Thessaloniki as well on my way up north. Next few days are gonna be exciting anyhow, since i will realise again that i exist as a normal person outside the army once again :) And that's good, as my life is increasingly becoming army - centered, since communication with friends in GR and abroad is becoming less frequent everyday!

Mountain view

Mountain view
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

View of the mountain with snow still on, opposite to the camp in Lamia

in the truck

in the truck
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

going to the city center of Lamia for the regular sunday flag ceremony...in full uniform and military style. You can tell i haven't slept the night b4, can't you? :)

Sunrise

Sunrise 1
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

Another sunrise photo from a guarding spot in Lamia

Dimitris + newies

Dimitris + newies
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

During the new soldiers ceremony i was one of the people checking if smn would faint or sth to pick them up and take them to hospital. So i was at a place where i could see but i couldn't be seen, and therefore took a lot of photos!

Sunrise in camp

Sunrise 2
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

the day the newies were sworn in, feb 25th

Psycho

split 1
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

I was guarding inside a building and had this idea of taking this photo in a bathroom, slightly like from a hitchcock film, artistic in some way of its own :)

Dimitris & Yiannis

Dimitris & Yiannis
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

Yiannis is now stationed in Mytilene but we passed the sergeant training period together and also we were at newies camp 2gether and became friends. Strange coincidence that we found out on the way: Our fathers used to be classmates in primary school!

General update

Hey!

1st of all i need to say that the weather has improved dramatically. unless (in the most unpredictable month of the year, March) the weather changes for a week or two, we are in spring. This means for starters that we have around 15 degrees during daytime, and that's pretty cool

2nd, i am pretty tired these days. Nevertheless, next week i am leaving back to the border, and that's much better than being at home, since in that camp i get to be out much more often than here. Therefore i expect to have a very good time there in spring, till my second transfer comes along in May...

That's just about all for now, more updates to come soon...take care all of you!

New photos...

raw, some not rotated properly, none with comments. But brand new. Check them out @ http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=kaersxd.2w41k0mt&x=1&y=-bcs55z

bad mood

Well, just a posting to say i am sick of the army already - the past 3 weeks haver been pretty strenuous. Since the newies are in I have lost almost 4kg (the best diet i can recommend), i smoke as much as i can handle (which is a lot) i barely sleep, go out of the camp once in 4 days (which is not much compared to once in 2 days in the border) and when i do, i just go home and sleep till i have to go back in camp. Which is basically like doing nothing.

today was my evening off (next one on sunday). Went home at 2:30 pm, slept till 8pm, and then had a few drinks out with a fellow soldier b4 coming home to listen to some music. I think i'd rather go back in in a while (have to be back by 6:15 or so in the morning) since i guess sleeping at home is not an option if i'm not gonna wake up on time.

The most depressing thought of the last few days is that the only sms and calls i receive or send are only from my family and fellow soldiers. It's a weird thought to consider myself cut of from the rest of the world...

Newies camp

The newies are in camp already, they actually come every 3 months. This means that 25% of my military service has already gone by. Well, no time for quarterly evaluation, as i am out of camp for only 2 hours in a week (thought normally iwould be for an evening every 3). So i'll do that on a later posting, some other time. Why is time so short? Cos i am actually in charge of 31 newies under my superior (when i was a newie).

This means that i am in charge for their basic training and enrolling in the army. The past week has been rather tough as time has been restricted. Everything had to shine in the camp for the newies to come in, and after they came in on monday i have been constantly on the move, and sometimes with 2 hrs sleep per day. Apart from being with them all day, i had to stay awake for a few hours after they went to bed to guard the room, and wake up before they do in the morning (approx. 6 am).

My first impressions? They are cool :) People like you and me that had to go to the army. Actually they are kind of having fun with me as well (until my superior finds out). So far everything is working out and they are doing everything they are supposed to do right, but my management has been more of aiesec style and less of military style. I guess it was also out of their expectations as well, but hey! that's life. And that's why they are responding in a positive way. People in the room are aged 19 to 29, most of them with studies and working experience.

The downside of things is that i am missing a lot of sergeant training and time with my friends in camp as i spend all day an night with the newies. Also the fact that i dont get to be off camp at least for the 1st 10 days or so... It's also strange to lose touch with the outsinde world almost completely...But it's fun to see ppl adapting and taking it easy with the army.

Cold and more

Winter at its best in Greece. The posting goes for all of you who believe Greece is a tropical country. Well, we actually do have a winter.

It has snowed all over the country as we are in the coldest month of the winter. And, believe me, doing your nightshift in the snow between 2-4 am with -7 degrees is no joke. But life goes on, and so does the weather, so this is hopefully the last time I see snow during my military times. Hopefully.

Other than that, I slept only 2 .5 hrs last night (well, i had to be up by 05:15) and today I got an evening off. I went home and slept for 4 hours straight, woke at 8pm and found out that my day is gone. Nothing done, i am just going to get my night sleep and go back in camp tmw morning at 7. Idleness at its best.

Other (not very exiting) news but well: On monday the next newies are bging recruited in camp and i have been proposed by my superiors to be in charge of a room with 40 newies. I don't know if it's actually gonna happen, but i hope it will be fun if it does :)

It's a beautiful day!!!

I GOT 2 TICKETS FOR THE u2 CONCERT IN AMSTERDAM ARENA ON JULY 13th!!!!!!!!!!! Can't describe how excited I am! Now, don't ask me how I am gonna get there, but I AM gonna find a way through, five months left for me to find out.

www.u2.com - the concerts are being announced slowly and presale is going on! Check it out for yourselves and join!

News in general

1. i am back to Lamia, staying till the 26th of Feb or so until i go back to Alexandroupoli again
2. we are in the coldest (and last, hopefully) month of the winter. It was snowing 2 days back, teh snow melted, and now it's snowing again. Cool thing is that i get to sleep at home once in 2 or 3 days when i get an evening off (like tonite) and be in the camp again at 06:30 am.
3. An uncle of mine who is a monk in mt. Athos is visiting. Haven't seen him since last year so it's cool to catch up. The weird thing is that he can visit me nowadays when I'm a soldier but i cannot visit him!
4. Also cool news: a lot of great people from training camp are back in town for training so we get to hang around.

In general the mood is high. I am happy to be back even for just a while and having some rest/fun at home!

3 for my degree

Results from my 2 exams are out. 1 passed, 1 failed, just like my original expectation. Now I have 3 remaining subjects for my degree. 2 exams for the summer, 1 for september. Getting closer, but still have to wait for a while.

Bugging you

Hi! I am here in Lamia, to bug ALL OF YOU again :-) CLick on the link to find out ;)