Week one - Arrival & Red Skies
On Sunday the journey has finally begun. We arrived on Crete this Sunday and started our eight-week adventure. After picking up our two rental cars at the airport, we made our way to the house. It is located about 20 minutes outside of Heraklion and it is honestly beautiful. Having a solid home base is important since there are eight of us living together. We ended our first day at a local tavern. The food was delicious and it was a great way to settle into the Cretan atmosphere.
On Monday, reality set in regarding our group size. We had to do our first big grocery shop to stock up for the eight of us, which was quite an organized effort. Later that day, I met my supervisor, Maria, at MD Hellas in Iraklio. The agency focuses on organizing internships and accommodation for students coming to Crete. After the meeting, I spent some time sunbathing in the garden for the first time, enjoying the Mediterranean weather before the work week truly kicked off.
Tuesday was my first official day at the office. My main project at MD Hellas is to develop a Student Management System from scratch. This system will help the agency handle all the data for their interns and housing more efficiently. It is a great challenge because I get to build something useful from the ground up rather than just fixing existing code. After work, the whole group went bowling to relax and have some fun together.
Wednesday was probably the most intense day of the week. We experienced an apocalyptic sandstorm. The sky turned a dark, eerie red because of the dust coming over from the Sahara. It was a massive storm and looked like something from a movie. It was definitely a strange and memorable experience for all of us.
On Thursday I got some great news. The results for my IHK AP1 exams came out and everything went well. It is a huge relief to have that part of my education successfully behind me, especially while being here.
Friday evening, we went out to a tavern in Gazi where I had chicken souvlaki and garlic bread. Afterward, we headed to a local club . We met other students from our school, interns from other regions of Germany, and some locals. It was great to exchange stories and see how others are experiencing their time so far on the island.
The weather turned cloudy and rainy, so we stayed in to rest and recover from the busy first week on Saturday.
