I'm afraid that the lapse in blogging is a sign of things to come. For the past 3 days we have left for school at 8:30 and arrived home at 11 at night. Fortunately we're also beginning the moving-in process today, and this morning we took a couple of suitcases and IKEA bags over to our apartment.

We love the apartment! It's exactly a 15-minute walk from the school past a grocery store, bakery, and butcher. The only thing we don't seem to have is hot water, but considering the blazing heat, I wouldn't use it anyway.

We've been so focused on arranging our lives that school preparations have been almost non-existent. We spend a few hours at school, but most of those are spent arranging trips to IKEA or to the appliance store.

Costs so far:

• 1072 € at IKEA for a table and 4 chairs, a futon (for you, dear reader), a bed, and miscellaneous brickabrack
• 200 Euro more at IKEA for other knickknacks
• 782 Euros at Kotsavolos for a fridge, washer, and stove

Blech.

Athens cooled down for about two days as a wind blew through on Wednesday and Thursday, but the air is still and unbelievably stifling today. It's also getting more crowded as people return from their August vacation. It's becoming a city once again, and it's hard to find any magic.