A Little Bit of School, A Lot of Education

Hello one and all!!

Life in Greece has been relatively routine lately. Classes are actually beginning to wrap up; we took our Modern Greek final on Monday and gave our final presentations. What a relief! That class was a bit over my head. I don't understand Greek! Get real. It appears that I will be finished with all my classes on Oct 19. One or two of them may potentially end on the Friday before Oct 19. Spectacular, right? It's incredible how fast time flies.

One thing I can't seem to get enough of in Greece, are the bakeries. My roommates and I will be having a craving at LEAST once a week for a decadent pastry and make the five-minute walk up the street to the nearest bakery. So spectacular. Once a week I also seem to find myself makin' the quick trip right before morning class for a cheese pie or spanicopita (spinach pie). YUM. Two doors down is a coffee shop, so if I'm feeling especially indulgent, I get a frappe too! I'm a terrible person.

Before I get into our Modern Greek presentation, I must talk about the Acropolis! We finally visited it in history class! Oh man, history class. It's heavenly. Our professor's name is Robert Pitt - he's British and he's HILARIOUS. The driest humor you will ever encounter, and with his accent the jokes are even funnier. I wish you could all meet him. I've never enjoyed history more in my life. We visited all the sanctuaries, including the Parthanon - duh! Robert makes everything SO interesting too, I didn't even care that I was taking notes. I enjoyed it!

We also visited the Theater of Dionyses (at the base of the Acropolis) with our Greek Literature professor, Anne Stewart. We discussed "The Agamemnon," a famous play which won an award when it was first performed in the Theater of Dionyses. It was an incredible feeling reading/discussing "The Agamemnon" while sitting in the very same seats the ancient Athenians sat in when they first witnessed it performed in the theater. Too bad I'm not very fond of Anne Stewart. She ruined the mood a bit. :)

That evening Greg and I made a very delicious pasta dinner with some kind of Greek cheese (I can only read the word cheese, so I never know what I'm buying!), fresh tomatoes, and chicken! Not super Greek, but hey, we're workin' with our resources. It's better than bread and nutella, of which I have been getting my fill.

For our Modern Greek presentations, we could pick nearly any topic. Greg and I decided to take a day trip to Marathon and record our observations. Other people interviewed Greek families, reported on the open-air markets in Athens, or even read a book by a Greek author. Anything was possible.

 
 

Our presentation focused on many different things related to Marathon. First, we spoke about the Battle of Marathon and the sites we visited related to the battle. We also presented our observations on modern, daily life in Marathon and how a smaller village/town differs from Athens. Basically, we ran around Marathon (literally, we ran...everything was SO spread out! It was hilarious too, we were so hot and sweaty.) and took a bunch of pictures. It was so fun. Oh yeah! We also went to the start of the actual marathon race that happens each year commemorating the very first "marathon".



The start of the race!



In short, we rocked the SOCKS off that final presentation. :)

This past weekend we traveled to Delphi, a short, two day trip. It was awesome because we didn't have to take any ferries to get there! CSB/SJU chartered a bus for our class to take to Delphi...we had the bus all weekend! This trip was much like a field trip. Anne Stewart traveled with us and took us to the archaeological sites and to a museum. Lots of lecturing and note-taking. It's all very interesting, but it's always preferable not to take an exam on the material after returning back to campus! Most of the material was directed at the Art History class...thank goodness I'm not taking that class! However, becaues Anne also teaches Greek Literature, there's always a slight chance she'll test us on some of the material. I guess I'll find out how much of the exam comes from our field trip to Delphi in a few weeks!

Well, that's all for now folks! Love you all.

Sunny Days in Santorini

Greetings!

It appears that I consistently post blogs after the weekend. True to form, I have another weekend to blog about! Of course, it doesn't hurt that during my stay in Greece, we will be traveling out of Athens every weekend! Pretty fantastic.

Having said that, it shouldn't surprise any of you that we travelled to Santorini this past Friday through Sunday. It began with another eight and a half hour ferry ride. This time, it was a day ferry. Much, MUCH, more enjoyable. We were able to see the port of Piraeus disappear in the distance and witness many of the island pass en route. It was like nothing I've seen. Our ferry left at 0725 hours and we arrived in Santorini at 1500 hours.

That afternoon we checked into The Sunrise Hotel and took the 2 minute walk into the city center of Fira. The first thing we looked for were the donkeys. We had heard the infamous rumors that we HAD to take a donkey ride up the cliffs of Santorini. It cost 5 euro and I managed to get all cut up (my donkey did not seem to mind rubbing my leg up against the stone walls). It was well worth it though! Battle wounds.

We took the rest of the night off knowing we were gettin' up early to "See Santorini in a Day!"; the guided tour we had decided to sign up for that evening after the donkey rides.

Saturday began at 0900 hours when we took a bus up to the highest point on the island. We could really feel the size of the island from up top. You could see where the island met the ocean on all sides. Very cool.

We quickly hopped back onto the bus and traveled to Pyrgos. The oldest town on Santorini, and, you guessed it, it had the traditional whitewashed houses and blue-dome churches!

Of course, we only had about half an hour to wonder and we were off! This time to the ancient port on Santorini to hop on a boat and travel to the Nea Kameni volcano. This time, we had nearly two hours to hike to the top, check out the view, and explore! This volcano hasn't erupted since 1950, but I found plenty of smoking craters (although they were small) and I was satisfied.

Back on the boat and off to the hot springs! Simply amazing. We stopped the boat somewhere near the coast and dove in. At first the water was refreshing and chilly. After we swam a bit closer to the little cove of hot springs, the water began getting smellier and smellier. It felt strange too as the water got warmer and warmer. One of the best experiences of the day to say the least.

Next we traveled to the city of Oia, the northwestern coast of Santorini to shop and watch the sunset. They say Oia is the most beautiful city on the island and I would have to agree. As you may have guessed, after we docked the ship, we had to climb a ba-jillion stairs just to enter the city. But it was worth it, my was it worth it. At the top of the stairs began the most magnificent white marble path. After checkin' out the town and the shops, we headed to the edge of town to grab a seat for sunset. As we made our way through the crowd, I poked fun at how silly it was that there were so many people crowding around to witness yet another sunset. The sun sets every night!! :) Silly tourists.

We made it back to Fira, safe and sound and spent Sunday morning exploring Fira. Our ferry left at 1500 so we didn't have the entire day as we did in Crete. It was fun nonetheless. I love having a nice relaxing day following a very hectic one!

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my weekend in Santorini! Please post a comment! I would love to hear from you, too!

Crazy in Crete

γεία σας! (Hello! pronounced: ya sas)

See what I mean? This Greek stuff is tough, luckily I just repeat hello everywhere I go and that one seems to have stuck. I'm slowly able to pronounce words that I see, but it helps to know the alphabet! I have a really hard time reading the letter "P" and actually pronouncing the letter "R". A word like Αμερική (America) is pronounced Ameriki. I'm learning.

This weekend, ladies and gents, we travelled to the island of Crete! It was an eight and a half hour overnight ferry ride. Not the most comfortable night to say the least. The class opted to stay in the deck seats and our program director opted to get a cabin with a BED...although it was a school sponsored trip, everyone wanted to save the money in the budget to do other things in the future..probably worth it in the end, however, I was not too pleased when the ship docked at 5 am and we had a full day ahead of us.

Our first stop was to the Palace of Knossos on Eastern Crete in Herklion. We walked around the ruins and marveled at the mystery of the Minoan culture. Shortly after, we went to an archaeological museum and viewed many of the artifacts that were recovered from the site and other areas on Crete. I saw some amazing gold jewelry that I wanted to wear! How can a civilization so old have the resources and time necessary to make such things?

After the museum, we took a two hour bus ride (AKA: two hour nap) to Xania. We checked into our motel and booked it to the beach. The water was so clear you could stand neck-deep in the water and still see your feet on the sea bottom. Spectacular. That evening we strolled along the harbor searching for a place to eat. Our search didn't last long; you can't walk more than five meters without being bombarded. "Oh my! You beautiful ladies look hungry!" In English of course, the harbor was tourist city.

After sitting down (all twenty of us) the waiters brought out a drink on the house. It tasted something like Ouzo and grenadine. Delicious. Because we have been sampling Greek cuisine for nearly two weeks now, we ordered tzatziki right away. It will blow your mind. I can't wait to come home to the states and make it for everyone! I eat it with EVERY meal. It's basically Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, and sometimes vinegar. We also heard that Cretan cuisine is very good so we decided to sample different appetizers off the strictly Cretan menu. The flavors were distinctly different from Greek cuisine; however, they also add mint to many of the dishes, as do the Greeks.

Since everyone was so exhausted we all went home and straight to bed. The next morning we awoke at 0635 hours, grabbed some quick continental breakfast and caught the bus to the Samarian Gorge. It took an hour to reach the top of the Gorge; I was beginning to feel a bit car sick with all the switchbacks! But boy was it worth it. We hiked down into the Samarian Gorge for a total of 16 km. When you reach the end of the hike, you find yourself staring at the most beautiful black sand beach in the world. When we took off our shoes and felt the black sand between our toes, we had no other choice but to take off our shirts and go swimming in our sports bras and shorts!

The only way to return home was to take the ferry to a different side of the island and take the bus home. However, the ferry didn't leave until 1730. Since we had finished the hike at 1400 hours, we assumed we would just hop on the ferry and leave. After finding out how much time we had to kill, there were a few complaints. I wondered, why do we have to hurry? We had no where to be. No appointments to make. I laughed at how American we were all behaving. Of course, in less than a minute we were happily eating gelado and relaxing at the beach. We even ate an early dinner at a taverna on the beach. Best day EVER.

Sunday was a very relaxing day. We checked out of our hotel and wandered around Xania. Along the harbor are many tourist shops and tavernas. This is considered the classic district of Xania. Many of the streets are for pedestrians only, and with good reason! The cobble-stone paths are so narrow that no car could ever fit! We found a beautiful little nook with a delicious taverna and sat down for a late lunch. Three hours later, we asked for the bill. Immediately after, the waiter came out with a plate of watermelon, grapes, donut holes, and raki! It is very traditional in Greece to give an appetizer or dessert away for free. Oh, and by the way, raki is a traditional liquor made in Crete - it tastes a little like tequila, but clear. None of us were in any mood to try more (we were given shots for free the night before with dinner), but it was charming nonetheless.

That evening, we took a short bus ride to the ferry and hopped on the overnight ferry home. Thankfully, the ferry was MUCH nicer. There were no funky foot smells, no stains on the carpet, and no broken chairs. I think I even slept a few hours on the floor. Beautiful.

My New Life in Athens

Hello!

Now that I have finally settled into my apartment and new life in Athens, I decided to start a blog and let you all know how things are going. I've been in Athens for ten days now, but it feels much longer. Here is a breakdown of the past ten days:

Monday, August 30 - arrival in Athens. It wasn't easy, but I found the academic center and received my keys to my apartment. I was a bit worried because it was getting late and dark, but I've since learned that Athens is a safe city (as safe as a city can be with 4.5 million people living in it!).

Tuesday, August 31 - orientation. CSB/SJU sent 29 students and a program director to The College Year in Athens (AKA Dikemes) totaling 166 students at Dikemes this semester. The school is comprised of only two buildings set in the center of Athens. It takes me a minute to walk from my apartment to the academic center each day for class. Behind my apartment, directly next to Dikemes, is the Marble Stadium.

Wednesday, September 1 - orientation. Because CSB/SJU students are only studying in Athens for seven weeks, the library loans out the majority of the books we use. On September 1 we checked out our books and then went exploring. The Temple of Zeus is about a ten minute walk. Notice the Acropolis in the background, we literally are living in the heart of Athens! That evening, Dikemes took students to local tavernas to sample tradition Greek cuisine.

Thursday, September 2 - class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have history and theology class.

Friday, September 3 - market and class. Each Friday, vendors come to Pangrati (our neighborhood) to sell produce and even some novelties. I purchased olives (of course!) and grapes. I'm telling you, you have never tasted grapes if you have not tasted grapes from Greece.

After the market I had class. On Mondays and Wednesdays I have literature and ethics. Ethics is taught by Phil, our program director from SJU.

**Each class is two hours. We also have Modern Greek each Monday and Tuesday.  In Modern Greek we spend the first hour discussing Greek culture and society. The second hour is spent learning Greek. It's very difficult. I still haven't memorized the alphabet! Notice that I didn't mention Friday's classes? We don't have class on Friday's!!!

That evening we decided to catch a movie at one of the open-air cinemas. The one we chose is at the base of the Acropolis and has a beautiful view. The movie was in English, but it was a Humphrey Bogart and it was in black and white. Not quite my style, but the view was worth it!

Saturday, September 4 - CSB/SJU trip to the Temple of Poseidon. The Temple of Poseidon is about an hour and a half bus ride from Athens. We spent the day at the beach and also ate dinner at a taverna. The bus picked us up and took us to the top of the hill where the temple is located. We explored the site and stayed for the sunset.

Sunday, September 5 - catch up on homework and sleep!

Monday, September 6 - class and Garden Party at the president's house! Not the president of Greece, but the president of Dikemes! Incredible. Souvlaki and wine in a beautiful backyard garden, who knew?

Tuesday, September 7 - class.

There is much more to tell, but blogging takes commitment! I will do my best to blog at least twice a month. I may even blog once a week if I'm feeling good. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my new life in Athens. Please ask questions if you'd like to hear more about each day...I have left out lots of details!