Can't sleep

I've been staring at a picture of Santorini that I have on my wall for the past hour because I can't sleep. The stone white walls against the deep, clear blue water. If I close my eyes and try hard enough, I can still feel myself riding our donkey's up the steps to reach Oia. The warm sun against my back and the smell of clean air and water. I can remember walking through the little alley ways filled with boutiques and cafes. I remember sitting at Cafe Kastro, and wishing that that day would never end. That I wouldn't have to go home at some point. I felt so safe and so serene, like nothing else was relevant. It's times like these, when I have a quiet moment to think, whether it's right before bed or right when I wake up and I can't quite distinguish dream from reality yet, that I miss Greece the most. It's not even the island life or the adventures or the traveling. It's the little things. I miss walking into my apartment and seeing the warm afternoon sun shining in from the balcony onto my bed or just chatting with my roommates as we lay in our beds. I even miss sitting on my balcony desperately trying to steal internet while the elementary school kids from across to street try to play juvenile tricks on me. I can still remember all these things vividly, from walking into Arcadia and seeing Petros, Maria, Jenny, Joanna, and Jan to everyone's apartment and the distinct smell each place has. I feel like these memories are more vivid now than they were when I first came back. I feel a pang of sadness and a knot tightens in my stomach every time I remember. Maybe it's because I've had time to digest and reflect. But I'm afraid that one day I'll forget. I feel like I'm desperately trying to grasp onto something that I know is slipping away, no matter how hard I try. Greek words that used to roll right off my tongue are now lost somewhere in my unconsciousness.
I feel like there's a void that's been in me since I left Greece and I still don't quite know how to completely fill it.

Home after an amazing 4 months

It was weird coming home, I didn't realize how much I had missed it until I pulled up into my drive way, went into my house and laid down on my bed in my own room. To be honest, I had been dreading going home for the past 3 weeks because coming home would mean leaving Greece and the life and all the friends I had made in the past 4 months. I realized just how short 16 weeks were and how close we had all become amidst being in a foreign country, traveling, living together and growing together. Some of the friends I made this past semester are some of the closest people I know now. It was just so heartbreaking seeing all of that come to an end. Being back at home now, it almost feels as if Greece never happened. We're not all living in apartments a few blocks away from eachother. I don't just walk over when I'm bored or go to the fruit market on Tuesdays and Fridays. No more traveling on the weekends or going out to Psyrri. No more bakerys or gyro stands. Leaving Greece and saying bye to everyone was one of the hardest things I've had to do I think. Looking back now, I have no idea what I was so scared about about going abroad. It opened my eyes to so many things and gave me an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.

I've been back at home for about 3 weeks now, and it's still hard to think about Greece and the memories because it makes me smile and yet sad because it's over. On the plane ride back, thinking about everyone and knowing that we wouldn't all be together again, or at least for a very long time made me nauseous and just want to disappear. Even now, I wish we could all just be back in Greece and have a little more time together. But then I realized, that I shouldn't be moping or sulking. What I experienced was amazing and once in a life time. If i hadn't gone abroad I never would have met these wonderful people and wouldn't have had the adventures I went on. One of the hardest things that I had to deal with was growing apart with my friends. It's as if one second we were in our own little world, and the next we're back in reality and in our homes spread out across the country. But I know that regardless of where we are or how much time passes, we'll always share those 4 months of experiences that no amount of distance or time can erase. That's what makes me smile. Barcelona, Spring Break, the islands, I'll never forget Greece. Making sangria on Sangria Friday's, and cooking family din before going out for a night of fun in Psyrri and going home at an ungodly hour as the sun was rising. It's always going to be a part of me and I'll always miss it on some level. What we had was special because never again will we be able to experience what we had at that time. Who knows what's still in store for me in the future. This is just the beginning of a lifetime of adventures. I'll take these experiences with me and grow from them.

Spring Break and other thoughts

Spring Break was a WHIRLWIND. It was completely just unreal and beautiful and amazing. We spent 9 days on 3 different islands and soaked up a lot of sun.

MILOS
We went there first for 4 days and this place was just gorgeous. I didn't have any expectations for Milos because it was small and not as popular as some of the other Cyclades. All the hotels were white with blue shutters and we had our own little suite with a balcony. They SAID their hotel was 90m from the port and the water...they lied. We later find out that all of our hotels lied haha ESPECIALLY the one in santorini. So we rented a little car and drove around the island exploring different beaches and caves. The island was tiny and you could go from coast to coast in 15 minutes. The water was incredible! It was so clear and blue and you could go swimming because the water was pretty calm and you could still see your toes eve when you were waist deep in the water. We went to this one beach and the water was literally turquoise. I feel so lucky to have been to these places. The weather was great, the sand was fine, and there was no one else on the beach except us 4. The last night Jess and I went to Plaka and climbed to the church on the highest hilltop to watch the sunset. It was soo windy but so beautiful. The view was breathtaking.


Paros
Paros was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, we didn't do much because the weather wasn't too good the first da we were there. We took a bus through the island and ended up in Golden Beach. One of the beachside restaurants reoepened for the first day for the season and their patio area was right on the sand and we relaxed in the evening sun eating a Greek Salad with some Giant Beans.



Santorini
Santorini was beautiful. Of course. Our ferry there got delayed so we didn't get in until late Friday afternoon. First impression: wow there are alot of cliffs and windy roads you have to drive to get to the top of that cliff. We made it to our hotel, which was on Perissa beach (the opposite side of the island from where the port was). Right outside our hotel was the black sand of the beach with little umbrella huts. We signed up for a boat tour for the next day. I also had the best dinner that night! We made friends with the restaurant owners (a couple by the name of Liza and Kosta). We practiced our Greek with them and they were all very impressed haha. Liza is actually an American who met Kosta and they dated and did the long distance relationship over the phone while she learned Greek over audio cassettes. Eventually she moved to Grece I guess and they opened up their restaurant NTOMATINI. We had the best zucchini rissoles (fried zucchini deliciousness) and pasta.

The next day we got up to take our boat tour. We rode a traditional sailboat to the volcano and we hiked up that. It was pretty cool seeing as how this volcano sand half of the island when it erupted thousands of years ago. This is also the place that the lost city of Atlantis is said to be. We spend about an hour on the volcano, got back on the boat and went to the hot springs by the volcano! They were NOT hot. The boat couldn't get too close to the hot springs because there were too many rocks in the shallow water by the shore so we had to jump off the boat and swim to the springs. It was a COLD jump and the water wasn't too warm (who knows why) but it's supposed to get pretty hot in the summer. The water was orange from all the sulfur from the volcano. The swim back to the boat was pretty bad because the water felt so cold in contrast to the warm water from the springs. We climbed back aboard and sailed to Fira, this old little town with traditional houses. We climbed up a huge cliff of just switchback roads and enjoyed a light lunch at a cafe built right at the edge of the cliff overlooking the water. On our way day me Jess and Bella almost got trampled to death by donkeys. They have donkeys that you can ride up and they were coming back down and their owners couldn't control them and we could hear them running down the path getting faster and closer so we ran down that path in about 5 minutes. The same path that took us about 20 minutes to climb up. After Fira we sailed to Oia to watch the sunset. This time we took donkeys up and dear god I thought I was going to die. After I got on my donkey, he just decided to take off and not wait for the others. It was so scary at first because I thought I was going to fall off as he made his way up the stairs of the cliff. The only image in my head was of Lena falling off her donkey in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I could feel tears forming in my eyes from sheer terror. He was walking so close to the edge too I thought he was suicidal. Then bella's donkey walked along side me and my donkey was a little guy and bella's was bigger and mine just kept trying to race with bella's up the hill. It was scary at first but pretty cool. the beginning was harder because it was a lot steeper so the donkeys had to work harder. I feel really bad for them because they get treated so badly and I would hate to have to carry people up and down the same cliff everyday for the rest of my life. We found a nice little restaurant that overlooked the water to ready ourselves for the sunset. Oia was simply breathtaking. It's everything I ever imagined it to be. The stark white houses contrasted against the blue shudders and domes and blue blue water. I thought I was dreaming. The sunset was gorgeous. The orange and pink that the sun reflected into the sky and off the white houses. It is something I will never forget.






We made it home Sunday night after 7 hours on a ferry. And now I'm sitting back at school typing this. There are only 3 weeks left in this program and it felt like just yesterday that I was panicking about coming here and leaving home for so long. I've grown to love Athens and Greece and just the Greek culture, but I think when the time comes I will be ready to come home to the good ole US of A. It's hard because I want to go home to see my parents and friends but I don't want to leave Athens because I don't know when I will come back again and even if I do it won't be the same. I feel like another chapter in my life is closing. I've had the great chance to meet a group of wonderful people that are now some really close friends, that I otherwise probably would not have met.
I'm ready to go home, but I am definitely going to enjoy and make the most of my last 3 weeks here. Appreciate the city and stay in Athens for the weekend and not travel anywhere.

Fuimos a Espana

Wednesday
Our flight leaves Athens at 3am and we arrive in Barcelona at 6:30am. We get there as the sun is rising and the city is just beautiful. We take the bus and get off at Placa de Catalunya. The city isn't awake yet so the streets are pretty empty and the air is fresh. And guess what? THE STREETS ARE BIG! and there's actually sidewalks made for people to walk on! So we roam around the streets until we find our hostel Sant Jordi Alberg. We buzz the hostel, but no one answers, so we find this little breakfast place and sit down, dump all of our luggage in this tiny cafe and get us some coffee and breakfast EMPANADAS! :) they're were delicious. So at 8am we try the hostel again and this time someone buzzes us in. So we check in, but our room isn't ready yet, so we store our luggage and then we all just fall asleep on the couches. It was perfect because we took a 4 hour nap and when we woke up it was only noon and our rooms were ready :) We got an 8 bed mixed room so we dominated the room basically. We put down our stuff, put our sheets on our beds and headed out to explore the city! This time, when we walk out, the city is hustling and bustling with people, buses, cars, and mopeds. So we take our map and head out to Passig de Garcia, where we got dropped off by the bus from the airport. This is a main street on Barcelona so we headed back there and started walking toward La Rumbla, which is also a central city with lots of cafes and restaurants. Along the way we found this really good sandwich place called El Mo's and they had the best tuna sandwiches. The spanish are a fan of tuna let me tell ya. So we grab food there and continue on our way toward La Rumbla. When we get there we spot a fruit market! Our favorite! So we go in and this place is just massive. They have the best fresh fruit juice too for only a euro. So we buy a cup of that and we just explore. It's a fruit, meat, and seafood market with random little restaurants in the middle. Our group gets split up while we're in the fresh fruit market, so me, jess, and liz go our own way. We continue down La Rumbla and there's is just so much stuff. There's a block of fresh flowers, then random people selling rabbits, ferrets, chicken, etc. There were also lots of people dressed up as leprachuans..gargoyles, vampires, taking pictures with people.

We decide to head towards the Picasso Museum. It was really cool. It didn't contain a lot of his famous work because this museum was special because it was created when he was still alive. CRAZY! His friend created it for him and he donated a lot of his works to it. That's why there are a bunch of sketches that he made of people and just random doodlings that he did. that was pretty cool because you never really get to see that stuff from artists. We weren't allowed to take pictures though :(

Then we got lost on the process of getting back and we ended up at the arch (i forgot the name of it :(). But it was pretty cool. We basically just explored the city that first day, getting lost and just appreciating the beautiful architecture EVERYWHERE.

Then we finally got back to our hostel and just crashed for another 4 hours.


Thursday
Today we headed to Park Guel, which also had the Gaudi Museum. It was a huge hike. The hill we had to climb to get up was super steep, but it was cool because there were escalators built into 2 sections of the street to transport people up. It was beautiful. This man was a genius. This entire park was composed of mosaics just everywhere. You have to see it to fully appreciate and understand it. It felt like Disneyland, but in a Dr. Seuss world. It was awesome. His house was also there and was changed into a museum. It didn't have much, just showed the different rooms of his house. He was also the first person to customize furniture to a person. Made chairs to fit individual people. Genius.

Then when we left the park, we went to this little figurine museum that people at our hostel said they had gone to. It's basically run by a Spanish war veteran in his garage. It was a little mysterious going into it, but he just had THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS but little figurines. Toy soldiers to pretty much all the disney characters, the simpsons, pirates, indians, cars. He told us a story and was really interactive. There was a firecracker that scared the living daylights out of us too. At the end of the story we each went through an initiation with a flag. It was...pretttyy interesting.

After that museum, we just wandered our way home seeing the city and just where we'd end up.


Friday
WE WENT TO THE BEACH! It was sunny and warm, but really windy so it was actually pretty cold. I started getting sick so I didn't feel too well. I took a nice little nap on the beach :) It felt good. It was also weird though because people would walk around offering people massages. Literally every 5 minutes someone would walk by offering a massage. There were also people selling henna tattoos, beer, etc. It was kind of annoying really. NO, I DONT want a massage. Just leave me alone. But it was a pretty day :) Very relaxing. Jess and I ended up playing some volleyball with these Portugese guys.


Saturday
I think Saturday was my favorite day. We went to the La Sagrada Familia, which is this enormous church designed by none other than Gaudi himself :) I don't have pictures of that right now because I forgot my camera that day..I know retarded but I will be getting them from a friend soon :) It was really cool because there was an exhibit talking about Gaudi and the designs he used to build the church and everything was pretty much modeled after nature from the shapes of the columns used and the intricate designs on the outside of the church. It had a very gothic feel to it. I loved it :) Then we proceeded to get lost some more, had an unsuccessful shopping evening, but it was fun nonetheless :)


Sunday
I pretty much was really sick Saturday night to Sunday. So we checked out of our hostel, got breakfast...then Jess and I went back to the hostel and just vegetated on the couch for the rest of the day. We talked to the Prague kids that were going back to Prague. Then we watched Black Hawk Down (forgot how good that movie was) and made friends with some Aussies. We left the hostel at around 830pm for the airport and didn't get back into Athens until about 4am :( It was pretty tiring.



I was surprised because as much as I liked Barcelona, I started to miss Athens. I liked the beauty and the open space, but I missed the crowded streets of Athens. I missed hearing Greek everywhere and having people be so friendly. I didn't think I was going to miss Athens. I was afraid I was going to miss Barcelona when I got back to Athens, but surprisingly I don't.

But the trip was really fun overall. I also loved the hostel we stayed out. The people were really nice and hospitable and the hostel was very clean overall. They were very accommodating especially the day we got there and the day we were supposed to leave when we didn't have anywhere else to go. First time at a hostel and a very successful one at that :)

Bazoukia, Soccer Game

So there's this very popular dish here called Gigantes and they're basically just really big lima beans. They're really yummy so I decided to COOK THEM! I found a recipe online and went to the supermarket and got all the ingredients. I was determined to cook them right and have them be soft. So I soaked the beans over night and alll day until they expanded and got really big. Then, I cooked them for an hour and made this yummy sauce with tomatoes and onions an garlic and then baked the sauce with the beans for an hour. I took them out and I was so excited/nervous because I had made them for Jess and Lizeth too. And they turned out semi hard :( I was so disappointed and sad that night haha. I so wanted them to be well cooked!! and soft and restaurant-like haha. But MY APRENTS COME IN A WEEKS SO I GET TO BE COOKED FOR AGAIN!! :)

Then on Friday, a group of us went to a bazoukia. A bazoukia is like..a sit down club kind of..Well a mini concert. Basically, there are singers who perform the entire time and the rest of the area is covered in tables where you sit down and watch with a drink. The charge is 25 euro per person, and that gives you a table. The closer the table to the stage, the more money it costs. And, these are like well known performers too. There are also girls who walk around with baskets of flower heads that men usually buy and throw at other girls they think are pretty. A basket of flowers will cost like 200 euros. At the end of the night, the girl will casually look to see who threw the flowers at them, and if she doesn't think he's good looking, she will just leave. Of course, these flowers are thrown on stage to the performers too, but how ridiculous is that?! 200 euros!!

Then on Sunday night, I went to my first football game! :) Olympiakos vs. Panionios. These are all club teams and Olympiakos is supposed to be really good. So we went, despite the FREEEZING COLD and ominous storm clouds. Surprisingly it did NOT rain. It drizzled for a bit and everyone huddled under their umbrellas, but the entire game was sOO COLD! we got there an hour and a half early to get seats, so we sat in the cold for an hour before the game even started. Then the teams finally came out and started warming up and fans just started throwing stuff onto the field! Like toilet papers, water bottles, cups, brochures, ANYTHING THEY COULD FIND basically and NO ONE STOPPED THEM! it was so normal to them! The toilet paper was just rolling around on the field as the wind blew. There were ball boys that would occassionally run onto the field during stops to pick up water bottles and stuff but it's so stupid! Why would you interfere with the game and do that?! it's ridiculous. They started chanting things in Greek, and people were holding flares, and flags. It was pretty cool :) The game finally began, it was kind of slow at first. but it picked up. We didn't stay for the entire game, but by the time we left it was 3-2, Olympiakos. By the end of the game, I couldn't feel my feet or hands. I didn't remember how it felt like to be warm! haha oh and I also bought an olympiakos jersey to wear, like later on my own time :) We weren't allowed to wear any colors that would show we supported any of the teams because the fans are very intense and sometimes there are riots after games.

Well that was my weekend, wasn't very productive. I studied on Friday and Saturday because I have 2 midterms tomorrow. Sunday was basically the soccer game. THEN WE'RE LEAVING FOR BARCELONA TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING AT 3AM AND STAYING THERE UNTIL SUNDAY NIGHT!! I'M SOOOOO EXCITED :)

Thessaloniki

Alright, I think it's about time to update this thing again. Sorry I haven't been consistent, but things have just been so busy lately. We left for Thessaloniki last Wednesday as a program trip. We rode the train for about 6 hours and finally got to our hotel (Egnatia Hotel, which was actually pretty nice. AWESOME BREAKFAST BAR with the best toasted croissants ever). The next morning, we set out for day one of a tiring weekend that involved us covering the entire city of Thessaloniki on FOOT. We left the hotel at 9am and went to..I don't even know how many museums and churches. They all started blending in together. I couldn't tell you what we saw at what exhibit. I think on the first day we covered the Rotunda (church) and then visited a the house of a Turkish man named Kemal. A Jewish museums...All I know is, during our lunch break, we went to this game cafe where everyone was playing a board game of some time, so we sat and played UNO :) Then during our break time we found this cafe called the Playhouse where they had HUNDREDS of games to choose from. You sit down, order a drink, and you they give you a selection of games to play from. We couldn't play alot of the board games because all the instructions were in Greek :( That actually didn't occur to us at all, so we ended up playing a variation of UNO called SOLO. It was pretty found and we found a few pretty cool bars that played live jazz. Then we did some more walking...and ended up walking like literally 3 miles at 8pm at night to go see this church. We walked to cold temperatures and winds. Then, they just left us at the church and told us to find our own way home and said they'd see us tomorrow morning. So we're standing there...thinking Great we have no idea where we are. I don't think we're even in the city of Thessaloniki anymore..so we all just hailed cabs and rode home. The second day was pretty much the same thing, covering more museums and churches. But I was able to get about an hour nap in that second day :) That was super helpful. I actually can't recall what we did that second night to be honest... Everything is all jumbled together. One of the nights, we went to go eat dinner down this little street that was lined with tavernas. When we walked in, all the owners ran towards us and were pulling us into their restaurants and offering us free wine and dessert. We didn't get up going into any of those. We chose this other taverna that was filled with loud Greek people and looked very traditional. But the moment we walked in, everyone stopped talking, and just stared at us as we walking through the crowded restaurant, up the stairs, then everyone upstairs stared at it. It was awful. The table next to us were watching us like we were animals in a zoo as we ordered and ate our food. Greeks have no problem with staring because they were never taught to not stare or point when they were little like the rest of us are. So obviously you know when they're talking about you because they whisper and stare, but they think that you have no clue. anyway, that was an experience.

The last day, we finally took a BUS! to everywhere. It was an ancient day where we went down to Pella (capital of Macedon) where Alexander the Great was born and where the royal family lived. Then we went to Mieza where Alexander and Hephastion were instructed by Aristotle. This is were we started our presentations for my Alexander the Great class. My presentation took place at the next site at the Tombs of Vergina. My group did the skit of the assassination of Philip II at his daughters wedding. It went well! :) Then we went in and visited the Tomb of Philip the II/Philip the III depending on which historian says what. There was a museum within the tomb that exhibited everything that was found. That was probably the best museum ever because everything was so well preserved. Sad part is, we couldn't take pictures because the entire place was dark. There were only lights within each glass exhibit and pictures weren't allowed. Exhibited were also the entrances to the actual tombs. Then as if that weren't a long enough day, we proceeded to make another bajillion mile hike up to the top of old Thessaloniki to a site a overlooked the city. It was beautiful, but it was FREEZING because by the time we got up there, the sun had gone down and it was just blowing winds everywhere. The thing that got me through was the prospective of Mexican food for dinner :) We ended up taking a cab down from that horrendous mountain and ate MEXICAN FOOD!! we finally found a place. It was pretty good for Greece. Could have used a bit more flavor, but eh it was good enough for me! We had some nachos with guacamole, sour cream, black beans and cheese. Then a chicken quesadilla. AH i can't wait to go home and just eat a big fat chipotle burrito. Oh how I miss big American food portions.

We walked so much that weekend that I don't think I will be able to wear shoes for quiittee a while. It was a fun trip but just way too jam packed. They worked us like machines this weekend and that's apparently because this is the first time the program has planned a trip to Thessaloniki and didn't know how much to do. Well looking at the itinerary was OBVIOUS that it was WAY TOO MUCH! it just turned out unproductive because people were exhausted, didn't pay attention and nothing seemed of importance anymore and we didn't actually enjoy much.

Then I had my first midterm today, which I think it's safe to say that I did pretty well! :) Then I have 2 more next week and then it's MARCH BREAK!! BARCELONA HERE WE COME!! This Sunday we're going to a soccer game: Olympiakos vs...Panthiakos? I have no idea. But I'm going to go buy a soccer jersey so I can repp Olympiakos haha and pretend like I know what I'm doing. We may or may not go to Hdyra this weekend (island) and spend the night Saturday night. all i know is, I want a relaxed weekend, definitely a relaxed Friday after last weekend. I'm still not recovered from that exhausting trip.

But I have to say I did like the city very much. It was laid out very well with big streets and open areas like plazas to walk with trees and stuff. It is also by the water so it was beautiful. It is just lined with restaurants and cafes and bars. There was also a big student population so that was fun.

Delphi

So this weekend we set off for Delphi! It was a 3 hour bus ride that passed by pretty quickly. It was 2 naps and a pit stop away :) When we got there it was midday but super foggy, rainy, and windy. Our hotel overlooked the rest of the other mountains and part of the sea but you couldn't see anything because the fog was so thick and low. We napped and explored the city later on that night for a taverna to eat at.

The next morning we walked down and went to the sanctuary where the Temple of Apollo is located. The famous temple that people traveled to consult the oracle for a prophecy. Where Alexander the Great went when they were closed and basically dragged the prophetess out and forced her to give him a prophecy and she finally told him "You're undestructable". We hiked up and around and it was a pretty good morning. It started out raining, but the clouds cleared up pretty soon revealing a clear blue sky. We went up to the stadium where people used to race and also saw an open air theater that people performed in. There was also a museum that exhibited much of what was discovered in the sanctuary. After that, we went to lunch and landed up at this taverna that is apparently one of the best places to eat in Delphi. It had a patio area that overlooked the mountains and sea so we sat there. They had the most delicious food. I had sphagetti bolognese and it was the best I've ever had hands down. It was just so flavorful and the entire restaurant just had a certain appeal and flavor to it. After that we went back to the hotel to catch a nap and then got up and go ready for dinner in a different city right outside of Delphi.

The next morning on our way back, we stopped off at a monastary and overlooked another valley. It was beautiful up there, just sitting on the wall and contemplating life. It's still so surreal sometimes that I'm actually here in Greece visiting all of these monumental sites and ruins. To imagine how people thousands of years ago used to live. To imagine what the sanctuary used to look like, just the grandeur and magnificent archaeological design is mind blowing. People would travel so far to consult the oracle at Delphi and to be able to see the few remnants that are still there is amazing in my mind.

Now I'm back at school and it's going to be a pretty busy couple of days, since we leave for Thessaloniki Wednesday afternoon and will be gone until Sunday evening. Lots of reading and writing to do! Work was going to have to come at some point right? :(

Kites, Bicycles, and ICE ICE ICE

This is by far the best weekend ever. We totally made up for not being able to go to Crete. First off, the weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend. The sun came out everyday and I was even able to wear shorts, t-shirt, and sandals today! Alright let's see, Saturday was a do homework kind of day and then at night we went to this place called the Ice Club where basically it's a normal club, but there's a part of the bar that's closed off and completely made of ice. They gave us thick jackets and gloves and you go in and the bar is ice, as are the chairs, cups, walls, EVERYTHING. It was amazing. We got in and it was -5 degrees celcius and we just danced around in there for half an hour. Then we went into Psiri and celebrated Carinvale with the rest of the Greeks.

On Sunday we managed to all wake up early and go down to the port in Piraeus to catch a ferry to Aegina. We got there around one and me, Jess, and Christine rented bicycles, while the boys rented motorbikes and just cruised the island. Our bikes didn't work with hills very well, so we biked along the coast to the southern tip of Aegina to a town called Perdika where we ate at a little taverna right on the water front. It was gorgeous. The sun was out, we ate outside, had some fried squid. We were definitely living the life. Then we pedaled on back to the port, met up with the other group. But that bike ride was just gorgeous. Open water out infront of us, with other islands in the distance. The sun reflecting off of the water. There were a couple people in the water picking out sea mollusks too. Then we caught the 7:30 ferry home all just completely exhausted. We probably biked about 20 kilometers yesterday, going uphill in areas too. It was the perfect day to go. We want to go again and cover the north part of the coast and maybe rent mopeds so we can make it to the Temple of Apollo :)

Today was Clean Monday and we went up to Filopapo hilltop where everyone was just flying kites. The hilltop overlooked the entire city with the coast on the other side and the Acropolis was right there too. We just hung out there for a few hours. People bought kites and tried to fly them. We got one up then someone else's line cut ours off so it flew away :( One of the guys brought a blanket so we put that on the floor and 4 of us just laid down the blanket and watched the clear blue sky with a few white clouds and kites flying in the air. It was a beautiful day. Since it's Clean Monday, people don't eat meat so we went to a restaurant for dinner and we just all ate seafood. I had some seafood pasta with gigante beans and other people had octopus pasta, shrimp, mussels, etc. It was yummy. I keep thinking that the day can't get any better and yet Greece hasn't failed to surprised me yet but upping itself with breathtaking wonders.

Living the Life

So yesterday (Friday) was pretty much the best day ever. Since our Crete plans got cancelled because of bad weather and choppy waters, we stayed in. We had a family dindin (dinner) on Thursday night and then Friday morning a bunch of us went over to Pete and the two Kevin's apartment, which is right above the fresh market. We got a bunch of free lettuce, apples, and we went out and bought a ton of fruit and made a big fat fruit salad that like 10 of us shared. Then the boys started to play Hearts and me, Tim, and Kevin went to the Benaki Museum. It was basically a Greek man's exhibit of photographs taken through the 1930's - 1960's. All black and white and of archaeology, people, landscapes, etc. It was pretty cool. Then we went back to the apartment and watched the market some more and got some more free food! Then we started to cook dinner. We chopped zuccinni fried that. Chopped up bread and put it in the oven to make croutons for our chicken casear salad. Chopped potatoes and carrots and made this delicious baked dish. Whipped together some tomato pasta. Then for dessert we had chocolate cake. It was a fantaastic day. We had another big family dindin. Went over to Union (the pool hall across the street) and played some pool. It was a great day :) We've all bonded so much over the past few weeks. We're pretty close already and just thinking how even more close we'll become in the next 3 months is just sad because saying bye is going to hard :( But not going to think about that now!

It's going to be weird going home and living. I'm going to miss the open market twice a week. Everyone here is so relaxed, not rushing to be on time (although it is annoying when you're in a rush and the other person isn't). There really isn't a schedule for things, transportation is so convenient, food is so good, and just the hustle and bustle of the city in general. :)

The earth is flat and the Titanic is the biggest ship in history.

Sorry it took me so long to update but this past week has just been a whirlwind. We spent time trying to figure out travels plans for the next 3 months and everything. So far, I've booked tickets for Barcelona, Spain in March for 5 days, then we're going to Crete next weekend for 4 days. I still have to book hostels/hotels for both of them and buy ferry tickets for Crete. Then in March we're going to Delphi and Thessaloniki. Some of my friends are going to Meteora too, but I'm going with my parents when they come visit in April! :) Then for Spring Break we're going to fly down to Rhodes and island hop our way back to Athens.

So this weekend, we went to a city by the coast called Patras to celebrate carnival. We left Saturday at noon with the plan of staying up all night and taking the bus back at 5:45 am. Well, let's just say things didn't quite go according to plan. The bus ride was about 3 hours long so we got to Patras Saturday afternoon at around 3. So we wandered around the city and at lunch at a Souvlaki place where we got Pita club sandwiches with chicken. We sat there for a while then wandered around the city looking at decorations. We bought some one and snack and went to the ferry port and sat on a ledge next to the water and watched the sunset. We were being complete Americans sitting there taking pictures, singing songs, and just taking everything in. I am definitely living the life right now, just lounging in Greece, traveling. Then we went into the plaza when the sun went down and ate us some dinner. We went to this pizza/pasta place and sat there for about 2 hours. I think people were getting annoyed of us loud Americans. After that we walked into the city to a plaza where the Carnivale celebrations were going on. There were games and music and people dressed up (it's basically like halloween). But there were a lot of immigrants there and eventually the 12 of us were surrounded of them. At first they were just talking to one of the guys in our group then slowly more of them started appearing and before we knew it they were everywhere. My friend said he thought that the guys were going to mug him because they were leading him aways and every one of the shop owners seemed to know him and were leading him there. So we decided to leave and a few of them followed us and asked for one of our guys' phone numbers, so he gave him a fake one. Then we walked away from the sqaure and went into a club where there were more Greeks and things were safe from there. That's when I realized that I didn't have my camera with me anymore. It had been either in my pocket or bag so it could have either fallen out or someone pick pocketed me. A few of my friends wanted to go back and look for it with me but the guys wouldn't let us go back there in case anything happened. So we ended up just hanging out at the club for about 2 hours to pass the time and hopped on the 2:45am bus home. All in all the trip wasn't what I expected and definitely more expensive too considering I lost my camera, but it was an experience. an adventure. Sitting by the water and watching the sunset was definitely worth it.

Today I ventured to Syntagma and bought myself a new camera. I'm going to miss that Canon but I have great expectations for this Fujifilm :) I'm excited to go test it out in Crete this weekend!

Down here it's better, down where it's wetter take it from me!

Today we headed to the Temple of Poseidon in Lavrio and it was absolutely beautiful. This temple is built right on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the sea. It was cloudy and pretty windy and cold today, but it was still beautiful none the less. The water was soo clear and it was just crashing against the rocks. We wandered around there for about an hour, me and jess singing along to disney songs. then we drove down from a cliff to a little taverna by the water where we ate SEAFOOD for lunch. BUT before lunch, a couple of us decided to uh...ha take a dip in the aegean seaaa :) We jumped off of this little dock and lemme tell ya, that water is deceiving because we all thought it was going to be a deep plunge but it was pretty shallow. So we swam out for a bit but man was it cold. At first I was like oh okay I'm warming up as long as I stay submerged, but then I realized no, the only reason why I think it feels warms is because it's so FREAKING COLD. That scene from Titanic when Rose is about to jumped off the back and Jack describes how the water feels like a million little knives stabbing into your body came to mind haha. But I think it was pretty worth it. We all came back in like 5 minutes running to shore to dry off and put on warm clothes. Everyone else probably thought we were idiots, but it was worth it :) My body was in shock for a while haha it was confused with the body temperature, but after a cup or espresso, some fried squid, and bread and a nap on the bus, and of course a LONG HOT SHOWER WHEN WE GOT BACK (that probably did the trick), I'm feeling back to normal :)



Pictures are of the Agora, Archaeological Museum, some random pictures, and at the Temple of Poseidon

Omonia Square

This morning for my Greek Key class we met at Omonia Square, which is this big hustle and bustle area that's kind of business central. The Greek Wall Street is right next to it and there's shopping stores lined up. So we walked around and it is just amazing how many people there are, just lounging around eating, talking. People of all ages. I mean, what do people do here during the day? There were lots of old people which was expected, but there were tons of young people too just shopping on a Monday morning. Don't they have work? I can't figure out how Greeks just have so much time on their hands. They all seem so relaxed and have all the time in the world. They have quiet hours everyday from 2:30-6pm where shops close, people go home and eat and take a nap then wake up again. So when people go out at night, they don't go out until midnight because they don't eat dinner until at least 8 or 9.

Then we walked through a fresh meat market. Everyone was lined up with fresh meat still on the bone hanging from their stands. Goat, lamb, rabit, and pig were popular, everything attached. We saw intestines, livers, stomaches, tongues, fully attached and hanging. It was pretty gross, but I guess it's fresh right? Then we passed through the fish market part of it and that was SMMMEEELLLLYYY. There was octopus everywhere, squid, all different types of fish, crab, clams. It's funny because you don't see a lot of women at these types of markets. Mainly just men and the vendors try to get you interested by flattering you and speaking English. It's pretty funny, they'll tell you how pretty you look and reach out for your hand. After that we walked through some streets that are basically on the outskirts of town. The atmosphere there was so different because they were mainly occupied by immigrants. There were lots of Pakistanis, a few Chinese people and stores, some Indian, and some Egyptian, all selling random things from leather shoes to curries and spices. But it was so different because it feels like they're exiled from society and they all live together. They were just staring at us as we were walking through, but it wasn't just a normal stare. It was piercing and almost full of judgment. That was pretty uncomfortable. I've noticed people here have no problem with staring. At home, if you catch someone staring, they look away, but here they just keep that eye contact. So that was an interesting experience...probably won't go back there by myself..or ever haha. Oh and apparently the area around Omonia is filled with drug addicts so they advise us to stay away from the place late at night haha. I just find it so amazing how within a few blocks the people and atmosphere just change. The street of immigrants was literally 4 blocks away from the Wall Street area of business men in suits with briefcases and 5 star hotels. It's mind boggling.

Well that's my 2 cents for the day. Hope everyone back home is doing well and being safe. I absolutely love it here and am having a blast. These next few months are going to FLY by, but I'm going to make the most of it. I just mailed out post cards to a bunch of people so expect those in a week or so! :) ADIO!

Greece, Sea Trutles, and Greece

So classes started this week and they've been going pretty well. I love my Greek language teacher. His name is Apostolos and he's Greek and gives tours of Europe in the summer. He's HILARIOUS and super sarcastic. I love it. His favorite words are "very interesting" and "very nice. I like". I told him he should come visit California and he was like "Oh yes California, I do like Pamela Anderson and Bay Watch". And he's afraid we don't understand when he's joking so he always says he's joking just to make sure and we crack up even more. He always thinks I'm laughing at him because of his accent but it's just because he uses his words in different contexts than we're accustomed to.

I'm also taking a nature conservation class and we went to visit a sea turtle rescue center today by the coast and they are the cutest things ever! They're really big and it's sad because they're all there in need of treatment because they're pretty badly injured/sick. Most of them were tangled in fishermen's nets then hit on the head by fishermen, or got stuck in propellers. They then get watched up onto shore and get taken to the rescue center. We also got to see baby ones and there was one that looked EXACTLY like SQUIRT! from FINDING NEMO!! :) it was so adorably cute. I think I'm going to go back and volunteer a couple of times :) We get to go into the intensive care unit :)

We also took a trip to Eleusis and saw the remains of the Temple of Demetra. It was mostly destroyed in the early centuries when Christians burned everything down. It was one of the last pagan temples left.

oh and ps. Thanks to Jen (my roommate) me, Katie, and Jen are now stuck to our laptops with our respective shows. They're watching Grey's Anatomy and I'm watching Gilmore Girls. It's a never ending cycle i swear. It's always, ONE MORE EPISODE!!! :) but i love her for bringing THEM!!


These pictures are of Dexter the stray dog, Eleusis the temple, and the sea turtle rescue center :)

Watch out for that TRRREEEE

So we went shopping at this really cute store today called Bershka, which is basically an H&M because all the clothes are pretty cheap. But along the waayy...I was talking to Jess just chattin away when BAM! I walked head on into a tree branch. Yea, I walked into a tree. I swear I could feel my brain bounce around in there. It hurt sooo bad!! I wouldn't be surprised if it were bruised tomorrow. It was so embarrassing cuz it was really loud and at first my friend Liz didn't realize why we stopped but me and Jess were just cracking up. Then Jess proceeded to take pictures..great. Like I need to remember this incident..I would walk into a tree..But in my defense those tree branches are short and low and I was distracted!

I also tried a Spinach pie today. There's this bakery right across from the school and it just has so many yummy foods! well all the bakerys do actually. They're all these fluffy flaky crossiant things that are stuffed with different types of stuff. There's cheese pies, spinach ones, chocolate ONES!!! yuumm. there are like 3 different types of cheese ones. I'll make my way around to all of them ;)

Other than that...nothing much has happened. We started classes this week and they don't seem too bad. A bit long since all our classes are 2 hours each but we only meet twice a week. I'm really excited about my nature conservation class! Our professor is Greek but grew up in Australia so he has this cool australian accent! He worked at a sea turtle rescue center for several years before moving on and getting his phd but he's still involved with helping sea turtles so we're visiting a rescue center this Sunday! and depending on how that goes, I may volunteer at the rescue center reguarly. I'm super excited about that :) My other classes seem okay. Archaeology of Alexander the Great seems pretty fun. I really like the professor :)

Well that's it for nooww. We're cooking dinner at the center tonight with Joanna. She's going to teach us how to cook a few dishes. They host a dinner thing every week or every other week i think and 7 students can sign up each time for only 2 euro! :) YAY JOANNA! i really like her. She's our director kinda...well she's handles most problems and plans activities for students. Anyway she's Greek but lived in England and studied their too so she has an awesome English accent. She's hilarious too.

Dexter

I fell in love today and got my heart broken less than an hour later by Dexter. Dexter the stray dog haha don't worry it's not a boy. There's lots of stray dogs in Athens and they're super friendly and like big nice ones. Dexter was..a german sheperd I think? Anywho we were walking around in Monisraki (this out door market next to Sintagma square) and we were leaving when this stay dog got up and started to follow his. He stopped and one point and wouldn't keep moving so we thought he was saying bye :( but then we turned around he came trotting haha. He responded to "HERE BOY" very well. So we crossed streets and got lost in the National Garden together. We were walking down the street out of the garden and we wouldn't follow. So we kept walking and he got distracted with this other lady who was feeding her dogs so we were like oh well it was bound to happen anyway. Then half a block later he came out and came RUNNING down the street to us. It was so adorable! Cuz he was big and kind of ran sideways haha. We thought for sure he was going to follow us all the way home. Then when we were maybe 3 blocks from home we passed by another 2 American students I think and he left us and followed them :( It was really sad. There wasn't hesitation at all. We were so set on him following us home :( Oh well Dexter. Maybe another day.

The market at Monisraki square were so cute! They sold lots of touristy stuff for a good price. I bought myself some sandals, a wallet and bracelet. Definitely going back there for more souveniors. I definitely want to get a Greek flag for my room too. Greeks decorate their houses with lots of different ornaments to keep evil spirits away and stuff and the most popular one is the Evil Eye. It's this blue stone with a white dot in the middle and it's on everything from keychains to bracelets to earrings. So might snag a couple of those along with some summer dresses? :) Excited to explore more of this part of town ;)

NAFPLION

So on Friday morning we left for Napflion and we got there around 3pm. This city is BEAUTIFUL. Well we stayed in the tourist area so it was even more cool haha. It's right a long the coast and there's a bunch of docks and piers for sailboats. Hotels, cafes, bars, restaurants line the coast of the sea. All the apts and stores are villa like and was realllyy clean haha. Friday night we went to dinner as a group at some taverna where we discovered the most delicious food EVER! (other than gyros :)): CHEESE FLUTES. it's basically like an egg roll/mozerella cheese stick. The outside is this crispy fried shell like an egg roll and inside is this magnificently delicious oozy warm cheeeese. But it's family style so everyone just got a little bit of everything. By the time I realized how good it was, it was over :(
Then Saturday morning we climbed the 999 steps to a FORTRESS. The climb was pretty nasty cuz it was steep but getting to the top was totally worth it. Entering the fortress was like a maze. There were several different paths that you could take that would lead you to different areas and views of the city and sea. The water in the sea was so clean and blue and the horizon was just to the left of it. You could see all the other mountaintops and the hustle and bustle of the city. By the time I got back down those 999 steps my legs were shaking uncontrollably. Cool huh. Then after a long recooperative nap, we went on walking around the city and Sintagma square where we had basically the best GELATO EVER. yuuummm. I like fooood :) Then we had Greek coffee and sat at a cafe for 3 hours just talking, assimilating with the Greeks :) Because they can sit over a cup of coffee for hours. In the US cafes and restaurants get irritated when you stay long after you've finished what you ordered but in Greece it's totally fine! It's weird if you don't stay for long. It was awesome. It felt like I was in a dream. There were no other worries we just sat and had a good time. Normally I can't just sit for hours talking because I have to get up and do other stuff but there was nothing else we had to do. We ate, drank, laughed and talked. Then like 8 of us headed to this seafood restaurant and I had me some friiieedd squid. That was really delicious.
Then we all went back to the hotel and got ready to go out. There are a bunch of clubs to hang out at that are super nice to American tourists haha. We had the dj play American music and he played Just Dance like a gazillion times because we pointed it out. It was such a fun weekend. I feel like I've been here for sooo long but it's only been a week since I've left home. But classes start on Monday so I guess it'll start feeling like less of a vacation? :) I love it here. I'm homesick too though :( It feels like it's been so long but it hasn't and i know 4 months is going to fly by but I still miss all my friends from home, CMC, my parents EVERYYONNEE. I miss my shower and bathroom and comfy bed and FOOD IN THE REFRIGERATOR that magically appears without me having to step foot in a market.

Nafplion

gyros gyros gyros

KALIMERA! TI KANIS? (GOOD MORNING! HOW ARE YOUU?)

So I've discovered a new favorite food. It's call pita chicken GYROS!!!!! It's so delicious. the slow roasted chicken, french fries, tomatoes and this amazing sauce wrapped in a warm toasty pita. We learned how to order it in Greek last night so during our break I went to go get one. NOM NOMMMMSSS It's only 2 euros :)
I've also been trying to befriend people in the different shops that I frequent. So the gyro place is one of them haha (definitely) and this cafe that's right next door. The lady working these is so cool and chill! She calls me sweetie and darling haha. She's my new coffee mama. She takes care of my..coffee needs haha. I've yet to ask them their names but I'll get there: POS SE LENE; (What's your name?) In Greek, they use a semicolon as their question mark. We also found this really cool pool place called Union. There's like 6 pool tables, big screen, bar, and CHIPS (those are really good chips). So we went last night and we played some pool and basically the Americans have taken over that pool hall haha. A bunch of people from our program hang out there all the time and there's this other program from Penn State and we met a few of them there last night too. I met the owners of the pool hall, don't quite remember how to pronounce their names...but I was practicing my Greek with one of them :) He told me to call him Tom haha. He's this old man and when you call him Hey Alligator! He'll respond, SEE YOU LATER! it's so funny. Oh and they're showing the superbowl on Sunday night for us haha, not that I really watch football but hey. FREE YUMMY POTATO CHIPS!
We were also introduced to the public transportation yesterday. We took the trolly to like central Athens. Then took the metro to Syntagma square. We went to this like classical studies research library and ya. Public transportation seems pretty convenient and easy. One ticket is 1 euro and you get it stamped when you enter the bus. It's then valid for 1.5 hours and you can ride wherever you want on a bus, trolly, or metro. The metro station is suuppperr clean though and very nice. When we got on the doors were closing and this man tried to get in and but he couldn't and his briefcase got caught in the door, so he went to get it out and his fingers got stuck. All of us were like..AHH!! but no one else reacted haha. They just laughed at us for gasping. Then we walked back and my legs are soo tired from all the walking we've been doing these past 4 days. All this uphill and downhill are killing me! I better have really toned legs and butt when I get back!
Well that's all for now. We're leaving on a trip to Nafplion (this beautiful city by the coast of Greece that once was the capital) in a few hours so it should be really pretty. PICTURE TAKING TIME!!! and hopefully postcard purchasing time too.. But until then...ADIO!!

ps. All you kids back in the state or wherever you have mass amounts of hot water. APPRECIATE IT! Because if we want to shower we have to turn the water heater on for atleast 30 minutes before we can shower or else there isn't hot water. The longer we leave it on the longer of a shower we can take. It sucks having the hot water run out on you. 30 minutes is probably like a 10 minute shower maybe. Oh and be happpy about your shower heads that are fixed high up on a wall. Ours are hand held and the handle is like way low so you can't just stand there and do your business. You have to turn off the water. shampoo and do all that then rinse. I miss just standing in the water. Cuz if you do that, you may run out of hot water :( And you can't just leave the water heater on while you shower cuz you might get electrocuted. Yep. haha oh and you can't flush toilet paper down the toilet either.

Yia Sas! (That's hello in greek ;))

Yia Sas!! We started learning Greek last night and are having 4 hour classes everyday for 3 days during orientation. We learned the Greek alphabet and DANG is that stuff confusing. It's hard to not associate them with Latin letters because some are similar but have completely different pronounciations. Like it's written v but that's actually the lowercase for the letter N. ya complicated i know hahaha. but it's been fun.
We went to the open air market today and it was super crowded but an adventure! There were lots of fresh fruits and veggies so I bought tomatoes, cucmbers, eggs, carrots, peppers, oranges and there were like clothes tents too. They sold a bunch of stuff and it was super crowded. It was kinda fun trying to communicate with the people too cuz a lot of them don't know English so there's a lot of gesturing and pointing going on haha. I got back to my apt all excited to cook when I realized we didn't have salt in the apt :( but that's okay it was still cool. Didn't burn the place down at least haha. Let's see ooh we also when to a grocery store yesterday where I bought yogurt and honey (cuz that's how they eat it here? cuz the yogurt is really plain) and got some olive oil and juice. I just feel hungry all the TIMMEE!! :( but food around here isn't as expensive as I thought it would be.
Sooooo here are pictures of the apt and just the area around my APT!

New Album 1/27/09 3:45 PM

I'M FINALLY HERE

So after 24 hours of traveling, and almost missing my connecting flight in London, I'm finally in ATHENS! Our flight to Heathrow was late by half an hour and there was a huge amount of people, so security took forever. 2 of the other girls and I were still stuck in line with our gate about to close in 10 minutes. So we get out of the line and basically book it across the terminals and running to our gate getting there like right as they're about to close. Heathrow was absolutely beautiful, or at least what I saw of it was.
I love the city already. It's a huge city with thousands of buildings crammed next to eachother with itty bitty super narrow roads that are never straight, but I have a really good feeling about this place :) I don't have internet in my apt and can't steal it from any neighbors so that's a bummer but there's an internet cafe downstairs so maybe we can make friends and they'll give us their password? haha
Our apt is so cute! we have 2 singles and a bigger room that fits 3 girl. One bed is kind of divided off and all the rooms have huge doors that open up onto a balcony!! Our kitchen is adorably cute as is the rest of our apt :) But a rommie and I just spent about 10 minutes trying to get into our apartment, but we failed at opening our own door :(
Alright time to catch some ZZZs.

10 days

Okay soo the feelings of nervousness and anxiety have kind of kicked back in. We got our housing assignments today and I'm living in an apartment with 4 other girls called Embedokleous 9-13. It's super close to school so that's good :) I can't wait to see our apartment and decorate it. I hope it's decently sized. 5 girls. that's kinda alot.

Map of apartments
That's where all the apartments are in relation to the school and to the olympic stadium! :) I'm anxious to meet my roommates too, but from what I've gathered from facebook (because it's such a reliable source) they all seem like really nice people! :)

12 Days

Glad to report that I've gotten past the stage of "Oh dear god I'm going to be in a far off land for 4 months. WHAT WAS I THINKING STUDYING ABROAD?! I'm going to cry now". I think I've more or less re-entered the "Yay! I'm going to Greece and I'm SUUUPPPER EXCITED" stage. I've been making lists of things I need to bring and haphazardly tossing things into a suitcase, but that's pretty much it. 

I still can't believe I'm leaving in 2 Saturdays. I'll be off on a jet plane to New York, mm then a stop in London, THEN GREECE!! Where Athens will be my home for 16 whole weeks :) I plan to blog daily while I'm there or every-other day and post lots of pictures and perhaps videos? 

It's weird to think that life will go on at CMC and at home while I'm gone. Things will be so different when I'm back. Bah those are all silly worries for another day. Right now I'm just hoping that I won't become a complete basket case at the airport when I say bye to my parents and everyone else.