Week 3 – Settling In, Small Moments, and Everyday Life

Week three of my Erasmus stay on Crete felt a bit different, in a good way. Everything started to feel more familiar, and daily life slowly turned into a routine.

Monday was still part of the Easter holidays, so we had a relaxed start to the day. We went to Heraklion again, had lunch at a restaurant, and treated ourselves to a milkshake afterward. Later, we walked down to the harbor and along the long wall stretching deep into the sea, which was a really nice experience. Back at our Airbnb in Episkopi, we enjoyed our last free evening. In the evening, Ali and I noticed some local Greek kids playing football on a nearby pitch, so we joined them. It was a lot of fun, especially because the field was lit up at night. Afterward, I ended the day by calling my brother in Berlin, which was a great way to stay connected to home.

From Tuesday to Thursday, work continued as usual at Psifiakos Kosmos. We focused on configuring a template for a 15-inch monitor and did some testing. Even though the workdays were quite standard, the evenings made each day special. On Wednesday, all the Berlin colleagues gathered in the yard, enjoyed the warm weather, jumped into the pool, had some drinks, and even did a small barbecue. Thursday was just as fun, we had a spontaneous water gun fight in the yard, followed by a swim in the pool, even though the weather wasn’t perfect. Later, we cooked dinner together and ate outside on the porch.

Friday was an important day at work since we finished the terminal configuration and completed some final tests. In the evening, we went out again to Hersonissos, where we partied at an Irish pub and met some nice people from Berlin.

The weekend was all about relaxing and enjoying our time. Saturday started slowly with chilling by the pool and ended with a barbecue in the evening. A personal highlight for me was that the NBA Playoffs finally started, which I had been waiting for all year. I stayed up all night watching the games and I’ll probably keep following them throughout my entire stay.

Sunday was another relaxed day. I spent time outside, did a light workout in the pool (since I hurt my knee and had to skip jogging), and ended the day once again with a barbecue and more NBA games.

Overall, week three was less about big events and more about enjoying everyday life, friendships, and finding a rhythm here on Crete.