Grecian Goodies

Part 1: April 23: Athens/Milan

2008-05-05T12:22:00.012+03:00

Part 2: April 23 - April 27: Munich

2008-05-05T12:22:00.011+03:00

Bon Voyage

2008-04-22T16:05:00.002+03:00

Hey all,

Sorry I haven't been as dedicated to my blog lately, the free public wireless that we were using in our apartment went out so writing new posts and uploading photos became more of a burden. I've had a great past couple of weekends and it's strange to think that my time here is almost done.

Tomorrow I begin my tour of Eastern Europe! I take flight at 12:30 pm for Milan and will proceed to spend 4 nights in Munich and 6 nights in Prague. I will be getting between all of these places by train and I am sure that even my times in between cities will be filled with amazing sights and experiences. The trip concludes on May 4, when I arrive to Athens early in the morning.

Wish me luck and safe travels! Pictures and stories to follow!

April 16: Kaisariani

2008-04-22T16:02:00.005+03:00

The residential area that was once home to immigrants of the Asia Minor Incident (Greek-Turkish population exchange).

April 14: Arieos Pagos

2008-04-22T15:59:00.003+03:00

The once heavily populated region north of the acropolis.

April 14: Bakery!

2008-04-22T15:57:00.001+03:00

The friendly bakery where I volunteer.

April 11 - April 12: Meteroa

2008-04-22T15:55:00.003+03:00

Weekend class-trip to the monasteries.

April 8: Academic Buildings

2008-04-22T15:52:00.004+03:00

Sorry for not posting in so long. Here are some pictures to tide you over.

April 3 - April 6: Corinth

2008-04-06T18:24:00.003+03:00

I had an amazing time this past weekend. We left from Athens on Thursday, April 3 and after three hours on the charter bus, our group arrived at the caves of Kapsia. The caves are usually closed to the general public but fortunately one of the staff members knew the small town’s mayor (who ended up being the one giving us the tour). The inside of the cave was filled with stalactites and stalagmites. It you could see new stalactites being formed by the water that was dripping down from the top of the cave. The tour was well put together; the mayor used a wand that controlled lighting and music in the cave as guided us along a nicely laid concrete path that was also equipped with handrails (safety measures aren’t in place on most sites).

From there, we went to the Church of Agia Foteini and met the eccentric architect that designed the unique church. He stressed the importance of unity between all religions as he explained the theories behind his crazy designs. He made an effort to incorporate the natural architecture of the area into his design, creating something that is truly unique.

At 2:00 pm, we headed over to the Spyropoulos Vineyards. Although the winery was unlike the more upscale ones in Northern California, the visit provided a much needed change of pace (and class ). An inspirational speech by the owner of the vineyard both acknowledged we were the next generation of leaders and instructed us to let the wine serve us instead of us serving the wine. We proceeded with a tour of the winery and learned of the complete process of making organic wine. The tour concluded with a wine and feta cheese tasting/purchasing session.

At 5:00 pm we headed to the town of little town of Xylokastro. There really wasn’t much to do there, so we had dinner at a beach front taverna and called it a night.

The following day began at 10:00 am when we boarded the bus for Kalavryta. We rode for 3 hours through the Vouraikos Gorge (which, strangely enough, reminded me of Big Bear), visited the town where the War of Independence began, and stopped at the place of a tragic WWII massacre (picture of the cross and statue). We were then dropped off in the town of Kalavryta and I had my bagged lunch and joined some friends for coffee.

At 3:00 pm we left for the beach/tourist town of Loutraki on the Corinthian Gulf. The bus ride was only a couple of hours but after the long day, it was nice to finally get of the bus and relax. An optional trip to Perahora (where the Sancturary of Hera is located) was also offered and despite my tiredness, I decided to join the other students that wanted to make the most of the weekend. Perahora was definitely worth it; we witnessed the most beautiful sunset and explored the ancient ruins completely free from the noise and presence of any other tourists. With the sun slowly setting in the distance, we boarded the bus and headed back into town. After taking a quick power nap, we found a nice Italian restaurant and beachfront bar/café and spent the night unwinding and rehashing the day’s events.

The following morning was spent mostly on the bus. We left at 9:00 for Limmnes and after an hour and a half we arrived at the workshop of a local goat cheese maker. The man was very happy to see us and gave many people free hats that bore his company’s logo. The workshop smelled really badly (like milk that had gone rotten) but the tour was interesting and the sample cheese provided was delicious (but still not as good as the feta from the winery).

We soon left the workshop to visit the owner’s brother at a local sheep farm. The farm was really dirty and the sheep were even dirty but witnessing the sheep running back and forth frantically (for no apparent reason other than our presence) was amusing. We also ran into a group of farm kids that shouted the limited English and basic Greek they knew in attempts to communicate with us. My flat-mate has a sheep farm back home, so all throughout the tour he provided us with an insiders scoop on sheep and the sheep industry.

Soon we headed to Ligourio and were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. It appeared that all the shops were closed except for a small bakery where everyone ended up getting sandwiches. Everyone was in a generally bad mood and we soon boarded the bus. After boarded we drove for a couple of minutes to pick up the staff that had had an enjoyable dinner in the section of town that had all of the tavernas. Needless to say, we weren’t happy.

With everyone on the bus, we headed to the Ancient Theater of Epidavros. The theater was built to perfect mathematical scale with perfect acoustics. You could clearly hear the people in the center of the stage from the highest row of the theater. The experience was especially interesting when a couple of the girls from our program went to the center of the theater to sing Amazing Grace and Ghetto Superstar. We knew the girls were popular when a group of French tourists grabbed hands and danced in circles around the duet singing Ghetto Superstar. It was hilarious.

We left the stadium and headed back to the hotel. Some friends told us that dinner across the street was delicious and inexpensive so we grabbed a bite there, hung out, and then went to bed.

Our final day, Sunday, April 6, was by-far my favorite day on the trip. We left at 9:00 am to receive a tour of Ancient Corinth at 9:30 am. The tour was led by a former Arcadia student turned archeologist that was about to begin excavating the following day. She was really interesting and kept the tour concise without jeopardizing the site’s history. The guide explained that those following the life of Paul (this is where he wrote his letters to the Corinthians) frequented the site. I could see why he decided to write his letters to them – they were located in the center of the ancient world. You could not only see much of northern Greece but you could also where two bodies of water met to form a canal that most ships passing through the Mediterranean had to pass through.

From there we headed to AcroCorinth, or Agro-Corinth (from the television show Guts), a fortress located atop a huge mountain. The leading scholar in Byzantine studies, Tim Gregory, gave us a tour of the site. Despite his status, the man kept things real and spiced the tour up by asking us questions and providing graphic descriptions of what could happen to intruders. He told us that AcroCorinth was the only site in Athens that wasn’t conquered by the Turks during their invasion of Greece but it was instead given up with a treaty. I could see why the Turks would give up their attacks – the site is massive. I grew tired walking to the top, I could only imagine what it would be like if I were covered in armor and was facing the cannon balls, boiling oil, or rocks that would have been thrown at me from the fortress’s tall walls.

After AcroCorinth, we got back on the bus and all feel asleep until we arrived back in Athens. It was quite the trip.

Exarhia: Athens's College Town

2008-04-02T00:05:00.001+03:00

I had a great time in Exharhia today. I did a little exploring. Check out all the cool art I found.

Bakery Time

2008-03-31T23:59:00.003+03:00

I had my second experience at the bakery tonight! It was amazing. The owner is so friendly and open to answer any questions that I may have. I have a lot of new recipes to share, especially one for spinicopita!

Now it's study time.

Olympics 2008: Torch Passing Ceremony

2008-03-31T23:55:00.002+03:00

The flame made it's way from Olympus to arrive in Athens on Sunday, March 29 at 3:00 pm. The ceremony was awesome!

We 2008 Olympic Website stated that the ceremony began at noon but after arriving at 11:30, a friend told me that the ceremony wouldn't begin until 3:00 pm! I decided to wait it out and it was definitely worth it. I landed front row seats and ended up meeting a bunch of people from my program who were more than happy to join me.

Details on the ceremony to follow.

Bakery Love!!

2008-03-28T16:44:00.002+02:00

I went to the bakery the yesterday to find out when the best time to volunteer would be. After being told that I could come in on Monday, the store owner's parents gave me a grocery bag full of croissants (there were small ones filled with either chocolate, ham, sausage, or nothing, and large ones that were either plain or chocolate filled) and bread. AMAZING!

March 21 - March 26: Santorini

2008-03-28T12:45:00.003+02:00

Hello all!

This past weekend was simply amazing. Although my time in Athens has been enjoyable, the time I spent in Santorini was one of the best times I have had in Greece thus far.

Before I begin telling you about the trip, let me explain how I was able to miss so much class. Normally everyone in the program has no class on Friday. Fortunately for us, we also had March 25 off. The national Greek holiday celebrates two things, Greek indepdence from the Ottomans and annunciation (when Christ's birth was announced to Mary. Enough of the history lesson and onto my trip.

We left from Athens at 5:00 am and took the subway for about 45 minutes to Piraeus, the city's major seaport. We quickly boarded and were ushered up to the top deck. Seating inside the ferry was divided by price class, with the most expensive 'seats' being rooms with beds, the second-most expensive seats being reserved Brookstone-esque seats, and the least expensive seats being any seat that could be found on the roof of the ship or in the lounge of the fast food restaurant. Since we were poor college students we bought the cheapest tickets we could afford and fought for bench seats on the roof.

After two hours of rough seas and failed attempts at sleep, we realized that being exposed to the elements was uncomfortable. We all fought for seats inside and easily took unoccupied seats after the ferry's first island stop (there would be 5 more stops).

The 8 hour ride concluded and we arrived in Santorini at around 3:00 pm. We were picked by a friendly hostel worker and were taken away to Villa Manos, our lovely hostel. We checked in and began exploring our surroundings. The nearest city was a 45 minute walk away and on our way, we found a grocery store that allowed us to stock up on breakfast and lunch materials. Also in town, we found many quaint restaurants and used our free time to compare prices between them.

We headed back to our rooms and took naps. Later we called taxis had dinner at the Rooftop Gardens taverna. My friend and I shared orders of Musakka (a lasagna-like dished that is comprised of eggplant, noodles, and a hint of cinnamon) and salmon pasta. (Surprisingly, Greece has really great pasta. I guess Italian culture must have rubbed off on them.) Later we stopped by this pseudo Irish bar, Murphy's. The bar was filled with Americans and for one of the few times, I heard English spoken more than Greek.

We ended the night and headed back to our rooms.

The following morning (11:00 am) I headed off with my flatmate from back home, Carrie, and her two friends that were visiting from Rome. Her friends were leaving the following day (Sunday) so they wanted to be sure to see as much as they could. We went back to Fira and found that the buses left every two hours and traveled all over the island. Fortunately, we arrived 10 minutes before the next bust was leaving so we were able to immediately depart to the south side of the island.

The bus ride cost 1.90 euro and took us on a beautiful tour of the island (something we were not expecting). We ended up in Perissa, the black sanded beach that is most popular with the tourists. Since it was March, there were only 6 other people on the entire beach, allow us to absorb the true beauty of the beach.

We were really hungry by this point in the day, so were went searching for gyros. Unfortunately there were not gyros to be found (which caught us all by surprise because there were gyro shops throughout Athens and Fira). I guess it not being tourist season has it's downside. Eventually we found a beach front taverna and the cook told us he would make us a 'gyro'. Six euros and a huge meat-filled pita later, we headed back to the beach for a little R&R.

After a while the bus came and took us back to Fira. We were planning on catching sun set in a town called Oia that was located on the north side of the island. When in Fira, we ended up meeting two of our other friends that were staying at another hostel. We decided to 'do sunset' (I knew you'd like that mom) and caught the bus to Oia at 5:00 pm.

It took us about an 30 minutes to get to Oia and arriving two hours before the sun would go down gave us plenty of time to explore the city. Every step we took exposed us to views that were exponentially amazing! We first rounded the corner to find a blue domed church that overlooked the ocean. Reaching the church and turning to the left, we viewed a cliff full of white and blue homes that overlooked glistening water. The way the sun reflected of off the peaks of the waves made it seem as though the ocean were coated in diamonds. We reached a point that overlooked the entire city and the ocean. Every direction you looked was breathtaking.

With time the day became increasingly overcast and the sun ended up setting behind a horizon of gray clouds. We walked away from the cliffs into the interior of the town and found a cozy restaurant. It was it's first day open, and after 3 failed order attempts I settled for a chicken pasta dish.

The buses were no longer running by the time we finished dinner, so we had to catch a taxi back. We decided to hang out with our friends that were staying at a hostel in Perissa.

We hung out in their room for a while and later went and played pool. It was a good night despite the fact that when I returned to go to sleep, my roommates were nowhere to be found. I ended up sleeping in the girl's room. :/

The following morning, I bid Carrie's friends farewell and found that our friends had rented quads. Carrie and I decided to do the same and our island adventures truly began. We toured the entire island, first visiting red beach, then black beach, and then Fira. A total of 12 of us went on the trip, making our gang of 6 noisy intimidating to other tourists.

The rest of the day was spend driving around or eating.

The following morning the whole group drove up to Oia for lunch. It was an hour drive from Thira where our hotel was, but the drive was beautiful. After Oia we returned the way we came and found a private beach. The sand was black with a blue tint, different from the other black beach in Perissa that we had visited earlier. After napping and reading for a while, the group had to return their quads so they headed back to Thira.

After returning the quads, we grabbed dinner at the Rooftop Garden (again) with some new friends that we had met at the hostel. We went back to Murphy's for a spell and then called it a night; we wanted to make sure that we were well rested for the big trip home the following afternoon.

I woke at 10:30 to the sound of wind pounding on the window. This was not a good sign because if it was too windy the boat could not port. With the wind pounding on my body and grains of sand flying into my eye, I drove into town to return the quad. I got back, packed my things, and waiting in the lobby to be taken to the port. Neither the hostel host nor us knew what would happen with the ferry, but we decided it was best to wait at the port than to miss the ferry. At 11:30 we were eventually driven to the port.

We descending from our hostel to the port and realized that we would most likely not be leaving when we saw a car being pushed around by a massive wave. We had nowhere else to go so we waited at the port. Our ferry was supposed to arrive at 3:30 but after talking to one of the ferry representatives, we found that if the ferry were to arrive it would be at 8:00 pm. We continued to wait. At around 7:30 pm, more and more people came to the port. By the time 8:00 pm rolled around we saw the ferry but discovered that it could not dock because it was too windy. Fortunately one of the hostel workers was there to pick up people that were supposed to be getting off of the boat. He told us that we could have our old rooms back, so we obviously took him up on the offer.

Upon arriving back to the hostel we grabbed dinner and went straight to sleep. It had been a tiring day.

The following morning was less windy and everything went according to plan. Our ferry left at 4:00 pm and landed in Piraeus at 12:30 am; we were back in our rooms by 1:00 am. Wow. What a trip!

ENJOY THE PICTURES THEY'RE CHRONOLOGICALLY ORDERED!

Habanero

2008-03-20T22:34:00.003+02:00

After stopping by the post office to send some my, I ran across a store that appeared to have a wide variety of ethnic spices and food. The store's name was "La Tienda." Not deceived by the Spanish title, I noticed that the store had foods from Thailand, China, and Mexico (to name a few). After speaking with the store owner (who conveniently spoke English) I found that the store served as a supplier to the area's major ethnic restaurants and hotels. After speaking with the owner for a while I discovered that she was born in Spain and grew up in Colombia. I told the women that ethnic food was really lacking here and that I especially missed my Latin spices. She told me that she had some peppers she thought I would like and gave them and some frozen corn tortillas to me. I happily skipped home, excited about my new find!

Little did I know what had been given to me. I knew that corn tortillas were pretty generic but since they were frozen, I looked online to figure out different ways to cook them. I had no idea what type of peppers the woman gave me, so I also did a little research. These peppers looked like the mini-bell peppers we all are used to, but my researched SEEMED to indicate that they were Rocotillo Chiles (rated at 2,500 Scoville Heat Units - pretty mild).

I some olive oil in a pan and let it warm while I unfroze sliced my Chiles. When the pan warmed up I threw the peppers and the tortilla in and waited. Everything seemed to be fine at first; the tortilla was crispy and the peppers were blistered.

After I took my first bite into the tortilla I realized that everything was not fine. I experienced the hottest sensation of my life! My virgin mouth couldn't handle it! I began to cough and immediately put the tortilla down. I though I was having an allergic reaction or something so I tried to drink some water and leave the room.

I left and felt a little better. After I returned to the kitchen area, I realized that it was spicy chili smoke that was causing my cough so I opened a bunch of windows, threw the chilies down the drain and ran into my room.

I looked for additional information on the mystery pepper and found that it was a Habanero (rated at 325,000 Scoville Heat Units - pretty spicy!).

I had a few more bites of my spicy tortilla and now it sits atop our kitchen table with a sign that reads "Eat me. :)". Hopefully the rest of the apartment will feel my pain.

March 17 - March 20: Rough Week

2008-03-20T20:26:00.006+02:00

This week was by far my most intense week here. Check out what I had going on.

Tuesday: Greek Midterm
Wednesday: Greece and E.U. Midterm
Thursday: Religious life in Greece Paper and Presentation, Athens on Site paper, Greek Key map and Walk Response

I pulled an all niter Wednesday night; no fun :(.

On Wednesday there was a huge protest, check out the photos.

I went to a marble quarry today (via Charter bus - nice) that provided the building materials for many of Athens great structures. There was this cave that was used by the military for secret operations; it was really cool!

This weekend I will be in Santorini! I can't wait to put this week behind me.

March 14: Sounio

2008-03-20T19:52:00.005+02:00

We took a school-sponsored trip to the Steel mines of Sounio and the temple of Poseidon. Don't let 'school-sponsered' title deceive you because the trip did anything but go according to plan.

The mines of Sounio were really interesting, the silver was used to raise money for Greece's navy. After learning about how silver was mined and processed to create a finished product, we made our way to Latvio.

Latvio serves as home to the Temple of Poseidon and one of the worlds top 10 most beautiful and affordable beaches. While the ends made the trip worthwhile, the means were definitely costly. We were dropped of - literally - 4 miles from the site (although we didn't know it). After breaking from the path to blaze a new downhill path to an ancient site where silver was processed, we continued our search for an ancient lookout. We soon realized that we were again not where we wanted to be and were forced to scale a rock wall. No joke.

We made it to the lookout castle and then began the long walk to the coast (where the temple and nice beach is located). We finally arrived to the coast, had a nice lunch along the coast, and then viewed the Temple of Poseidon. The view from the Temple was breathtaking, the way the sun hit the water made it look like the sea was coated in millions of diamonds.

Tired from the day, we all boarded the bus and slept the whole way home.

Corfu Weekend (March 7 - March 9)

2008-03-11T17:31:00.002+02:00

Sorry for the wait. My weekend in Corfu was really interesting; I definitely learned a lot.

After getting out of class early (6:30 pm), I met up with the 5 ladies from the program I would be traveling with (one was my roommate and the others lived together down the street). We proceeded to the bus stop, caught a bus downtown to Omonina, and then walked to catch another bus that took us away from the downtown area and into a more industrial area. We disembarked form the second bus and walked into large terminal that housed charter buses that were going to all over Greece. At this time it was 7:30 pm and our bus was leaving at 8:30 pm, so we grabbed a quick bite and relaxed.

We boarded the coach bus and the journey officially began. We had planned on sleeping throughout the ride, but as usual, conversation took precedence over rest. The bus stopped a few times for snack/restroom breaks and after a solid 8 hours we arrived at the port (5:00 am). At the port we got off the bus and boarded a ferry (that the bus also boarded). The ferry was really nice - it had comfy bench seats that were perfect for sleep! After we awoke the the sound of bustling Greeks, we got of the ferry and re-boarded the bus (6:00 am). The bus took us to another bus terminal in Corfu Town where we met our contract from the hostel (7:00 am).

We drove for another 45 minutes, checked in, ate breakfast (eggs! and bologna-looking meat), and went to bed (9:00 am).

At around 3:00 pm, we woke up and did a little exploring. The hostel we stayed at was equipt for over 900 guests, but today we were 6 of 20. We walked to the beach and found that most stores were closed, but fortunately we found an ATM! This was a big deal because we were told by the hostel that they were the only people that could provide us cash. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but they charged a 5% transaction fee when any card was used.

The adventure continued and we continued to explore the deserted city that was located right along the shore. Despite the overcast weather, the area was extremely beautiful. The lack of tourists made the experience much more unique and much less chaotic.

We headed back, took another nap, and had dinner at around 8:00 pm. There had been rolling power outages throughout the day (pension protests), and just before we began eating, the lights went out. Fortunately the staff was well prepared and had plenty of candles on hand. Dinner preceded the usual game of catch phrase with strangers that soon became our good friends.

The following morning we awoke, grabbed some breakfast, and prepared for our adventure. Since the city was dead (it is an off-season), we decided the night before to explore Corfu Town. We began our walk at 10:00 am and despite the fact that the walk to the bus stop should have only taken 30 minutes our lack of knowhow resulted in our arriving at the bus stop nearly an hour or two later. We were told that the bus would be arriving at 2:00 pm by someone we had met along our walk but by the time 2:30 pm came around we realized that the bus may not be coming. There were rumors that the bus may be coming at 3:00 pm, and it fortunately did. We boarded to meet some of our hostel-mates that had received a ride from one of the hostel staff members.

We made it to the city, had a delicious pita, grabbed some food to smuggle back to the hostel (there were signs everywhere that read, "No outside food or drinks"), and tried to figure out when the next bus would be leaving the city. Dinner was included in the price we paid for the hostel and was always served at 8:00 pm, so we obviously wanted to make sure that we made it back in time for dinner. After talking to the man at the bus stop, we determined that the hostel had misinformed us about the location of the bus terminal. (We should have used a little more foresight and put less trust in the staff to a hostel whose name was 'Pink Palace'). The correct terminal was located downtown and we had 5 minutes get there. We all ran but were only met by red taillights. We called the Palace and after a series of phone calls, they agreed to come pick us up.

We were picked up, made it back in time for dinner, and kept the night low-key. There were rumors that a group of 40-60 Americans were coming the following day so we were trying save energies for them. Carnival was also supposed to occur in Corfu town the following day.

Sunday morning. We woke, had breakfast, and prepared for another trip to Corfu Town. The Palace scheduled a bus trip for Carnival and at 3:00 pm we headed to Town. In case any of you are wondering why Carnival is celebrated, here's the answer. Since Greece is 97% Orthodox, the festival celebrates the beginning of lent that was to occur on the following day.

We arrived to a rainy Corfu Town that was covered in confetti and music that was being pumped out of large sets of speakers strategically placed throughout the city. Thinking we had missed everything, we grabbed some coffee and tried to bide our time until our 7:00 pm pickup. After camping out in a dry coffee shop for an hour or two, we headed outside and happened to wander to right into the parade! The music was loud and despite the rain runoff that drenched the shoes of all those standing on the sidewalk, everyone's spirits were high.

The parade ended, we were picked up, and ate dinner. The last night was out of control. Let's just leave it at that.

We woke at 5:00 am and began our long journey home. It was a difficult bus ride that I would rather not remember. We arrived back to our apartments at 8:00 pm. Quite a day.

Tuesday, March 4

2008-03-05T09:55:00.005+02:00

I did the usual Laiki (street market) trip to get my produce for the week. I also went to the Pynx for class later in the afternoon. The site was amazing! The flowers in bloom, warm sunshine, and breath taking views of the Parthenon left no doubt in anyone’s minds that Spring was here. Check out the amazing pictures!

Afterwards I went to the Technopolis public museum that is located in the gas district of the city. The architecture was amazing. Everything was surprisingly clean and well planned. This (and Omonia) is one of my favorite areas in the city.

Dinner Party! As usual, we had a dinner party with our neighbors. Roasted chicken and this tomatoey-bean/rice dish were served. We ended the night with a game of Catch Phrase. BUY THIS GAME!

Monday, March 3

2008-03-05T09:54:00.003+02:00

I went on a walk for class to Omonia (the second major hub in the city besides Syngtama). We walked through the meat and fish market, places where you could by fresh spices, and discovered places that sold Egyptian and Persian food. I finally acquired some spices that had some kick to them! The spice Harissa is from Egypt and comes in two forms – green (milder) and red (spicier). Our teacher purchased it for us and I plan on using it on some chicken that I purchased.

BAKERY! I began volunteering at a local bakery, details to follow.

Week in Review: February 25 – March 2

2008-03-05T09:53:00.006+02:00

As usual, Athens didn’t fail to offer it’s share of new challenges and amazing experiences.

Monday was filled with a single class (Greece and the European Union) and a little exercise at the 1989 Olympic Stadium.

Although the track in the center of the stadium is closed to the public, a track at the top of the stadium provides locals with the perfect areas to exercise. Greeks have historically incorporated their architecture into nearby terrain and the Olympic Stadium was built into a hillside that not only provides a smooth track, but also hilly cross-country style paths. In addition to providing a track, pull-up & parallel bars, rings, and a cushioned bench for sit-ups offer exercise essentials to those who know how where the discrete entrance is located.

Anyways, on Monday after finishing my run and beginning to do pull-ups, I noticed an old Greek man walking an infant in a stroller. The man walked a short distance, struggled to turn the stroller, and began mumbling some elementary phrases in Greek to his infant (I actually recognized what he was saying!). I noticed that there was a huge turtle at the base of the stroller! Watching the old man communicate to the new born was so adorable, it absolutely made my day.

On Tuesday, I had the first lesson of a cooking lesson series. I learned how to make the simple yet delicious dish known as Penne a la Vodka. It was basically penne pasta with a creamy tomato sauce (contained heavy cream and white wine).

On Thursday, I went on an evening gallery tour with another class. We visited a variety of galleries. One featured art represented the struggle faced by those that were of different sexual orientations from the majority. Another featured images of youth (primarily young girls) that were sketched in black and featured other objects (often birds, or blood) that were colored (usually red). My favorite stop was at the local graffiti shop. As you can tell by the pictures below, graffiti throughout the city varies in quality but is everywhere. The shop featured more cans and varieties of spray-paint than I had ever seen in my life. Two artistic looking men that ran the shop were drunk but were surprisingly friendly and spoke decent English. The larger of the two came out of a back room with a plate, yelled, “Ooopa!!!,” and slammed a plate to the ground. We were all taken back (I had a shard fall into my shoe!) but felt that we were experiencing some thing authentic. The men told us to come back and hang out with them when they were sober; they would give us a tour and life advice. Ha!

I rushed back for my second cooking lesson (at 8:00 pm) and made lentil soup and corn bread. The soup’s primary ingredients are lentils and tomatoes. Once finished, white vinegar and olive oil are added according to the eater’s preferences. Obviously the corn bread was delicious (but not as good as mom’s) and a nice break from the norm.

Later in the evening, we all went to a friends apartment and hug out. We later went to one of the local tavernas nearby and had a few drinks and some great conversation with a smaller group of friends (5ish). I found that the Greeks look and treat you differently when you travel in smaller packs.

On Friday, I went on a “Sweet Crawl” with a staff member from the Center (Kim) and my classmates. After walking from the Center to our scheduled first stop, we learned that there was a bomb threat called on the McDonalds that we had just walked past. Police cars stormed in and the entire area was taped off. Kim told us that bomb threats were taken seriously and threats were made known four to five times a year. The most recent threat that came to fruition happened a couple of years ago and was not that serious. Bombs are intended to make a statement to the government and are not intended to hurt people (this is why most bomb threats occur early in the morning).

After our detour, we went to four different locations – a place that made honey and cinnamon doughnuts, one that served gelato, one that served traditional Greek dishes, and one the served chocolate. The walk took all day and spanned a variety of different regions throughout the city but was definitely worth the time.

Later in the night, we went to a nearby dance club known only as “Ethnic Club.” As sketchy as the name is, the Club was actually quite classy and we had to persuade the door man to let us in. Once inside we learned observed Greeks dressed up in a variety of different costumes that ranged from Minnie Mouse, to Elvis, to Shakira-esque belly dancers, to Devils, and Ladybugs. Carnival is scheduled to occur on March 5 and despite the fact that it was a week away, the Greeks dress up and go out for the two weeks that lead up to the occasion. While you most adults are not dressed up during the day, everywhere you look you see little kids dressed up in all sorts of different costumes.

On Saturday during the day I went to the beach! I only took .70 euro to catch a 45 minute tram to the beach. After wandering for a good 30 minutes in search of a way to access the sand from the road, we made our way to the shore. The sand was filled with semi-smooth pebbles and course sand; the terrain was definitely not comfortable to walk in barefoot. The cold wind and limited sunlight also made the experience rather chilly and unpleasant but fortunately good company kept all of our spirits high. Scattered throughout the beach were old men playing paddleball. They were all really good and quickly smacked the balls back and forth until one hit it out of reach of the other. When walking to the nearby beach-front café (which we didn’t end up dining at because it was too expensive), I had my first encounter with a topless sunbather. None of us saw it coming. One minute we were walking and we turned to the left and bare breasts were in our face. None of us tried to draw attention to the sight, but we were nevertheless surprised.

Later in the evening, I concocted this super food for dinner by combining lentil, whole grain rice, and veggies. After eating it plain that night, I mixed the leftovers with more veggies and eggs to make the ultimate morning treat! It’s my truly original, high-protein (and carb) creation.

After dinner, I hung out with some friends, watched another movie, and went to Psiri. People were again dressed up (but surprisingly not as much as the night before). We had a great time drinking coffee and watching the masses of greeks that walked past on the crowded streets. With the night winding down, we headed home and noticed a crepe shop in the distance. We knew that we really didn’t need to be eating a crepe this late at night but the smell and appearance of these warm and gooey treats lured us in. I had never had a crepe before but the Nutella (chocolatey-peanut butter) and banana dessert will leave me forever changed.

The following Sunday I woke up early and went to the privately owned Benaki Museum by myself. The museum had all the usual pottery and jewelry artifacts but also featured greek costume and clothing from different eras, items from the Greek homes, and two sitting rooms that were removed from ancient Greek mansions. It also had more recent war artifacts (guns, uniforms, etc.) and personal items collected from key political and artistic figures. The actual signed constitution from the War of Independence (1819?) was also present.

After the Benaki Museum, I visited the Papaloukas exhibit. Papaloukas is a famous Greek painter and the exhibit not only featured his art, but an analysis of how it was composed and what to look for in each piece. The painter believed in maintaining form in art and drew lines that formed angles in all of his work; some of the lines remained visible to help viewers understand the nature of his art. Later in the painter’s life his art became more abstract; it was these pieces that I liked best. Instead of using color for the sake of color itself, he used it to form edges that were to create contrasts – dark colors were used to create edges that formed brightness and light colors were used to create edges that formed darkness.

I after the Papaloukas exhibit I explored the city and tried to find a couple of places that were recommended in my Athens guidebook. I was only able to find Kraft, the first microbrewery established in Athens, but had a great adventure exploring the city. I made it back safely, did some homework and prepared for the first day of class.

Week In Review

2008-02-24T17:21:00.003+02:00

The snow finally melted (thank God)! As beautiful as it was, the followed two days left Athens covered in ice, resulting in my slipping and falling in front of an ambulance. Can anyone say awkward!

During the week I had class, followed by dinner parties at different apartments. I'm not sure if you could tell from the picture, but our apartment is too small to allow us to host any dinner parties. Nevertheless, our apartment is home the Mellisouzer (Mel-i-sou-zer), or a little burger made with Margarita buns (Margarita means sunflower in Greek and the rolls come joined together in this shape).

Many of my classmates went to Thessaloniki this weekend but I decided to stay behind and do a little of independent exploring. On Friday we took the metro to Piraeus, the sea port. I had never been to a legitimate sea port before, so I assumed it would be like a glorified version of Dana Point (where the Queen Mary is). My assumption was definitely incorrect. I got of the metro expecting to find quaint cafes and boutiques, but I was meet with crowds of bustling people, car horns, the smell of oily water, and construction. We did a little walking around and found calm inside a relatively new and extra-large church.

After our break we headed back to the metro station and found a masses of people, fire trucks, and ambulances in the middle of the street. When we cut through the crowd we found a train that had broken through a wall, suspended in midair. We started freaking out. You couldn't see any bodies on the train but we all assumed the worst. After a while we realized that the train was in a holding area and that the operator who was changing the train must have lost control of the train and rammed it through the wall. In a later newspaper we learned that a man walking on the sidewalk near the wall was killed and four maintenance people were injured. Click here for the media's take.

Still in shock and surprised that the Metro was still open, we headed back home and I took a nap.

Later in the night I made pizza completely from scratch! It was so much fun. I made my own dough, sauce, and ran to the grocery store to get fresh cheese. My first pie turned out kind of sloppy because I had a hard time tossing the dough. It ended up in a doughy mess on the pizza pan :(. The second one was a lot better except that I put too much flour down (to prevent it from sticking), so there was a coat of flour on the bottom. Hopefully next time will be better.

Even later in the night we went to Pisiri, an area of the city known for its restaurants, clubs, and bars. I had heard about this place call the Beer Academy so we wondered for a while until we finally found it. The place reminded me of back home (Yardhouse and Heros, for those of you who know) except there were all of these beers that I could barely pronounce. We had a few, grabbed a gyro, and went to sleep content.

The following morning I wondered around the city in search of the meat market and a place that sold razors. After 3-4 hours, I found the meat market. It was quite a spectacle, there were pigs heads, halves of animals, and fully plucked chickens hanging everywhere. It was intense but I couldn't help but to want to make dinner out of all of that fresh meat! After I walked the market, I began my quest home and came across this store, NotosHome. The store really reminded me of home - it was kind of like a Bed, Bath, and Beyond, with a kitchen and furniture section. There I found my razor (it took about 30 minutes for the staff to find someone that spoke English), and some kitchen supplies. The store had 6 floors and at the top there was a cafe that overlooked the city. It reminded me of the Cheesecake Factory inside the Macys in San Francisco and had I not been broke, I would have stopped and had a cappuccino. I will definitely be making another trip over there.

I headed from the store with my goodies. (There was an extra spring in my step because I was excited about shaving my overgrown beard - people were starting to stare. A man in the grocery store a couple of days ago asked where I was from and when I said California, he said, "Oh, that explains the beard." Haha!

I finally arrived home and like the day before, I took a nap. I awoke, made dinner and then headed downstairs to hang out with some friends. I wont go into the details, but the conversations that we had that night about people, life, love, and religion will never be forgotten. It was great to finally get past the small talk and know someone from their core. Good times.

Today I just slacked off and browsed the web. Another week in Athens is in the back. More to follow.

SNOW Day!

2008-02-18T10:34:00.002+02:00

Today is my first snow day! Yay! Classes were canceled because most professor either A) couldn't get to the center due to the snow or B) called in "sick". I am definitely not complaining, the snow gives me more time to work on internship applications. Woot woot!

Check out the below email from the program director, it gives you an idea of how big a deal snow is here.

"Paidia,

Athenians are all in a state because the weather forcast for this weekend and early next week looks catastrophic. For those of us who grew up in places where winter is winter, this forecast might look pretty normal: snow, ice, cold temperatures and a colder wind chill factor.

Be warned, the entire municipality of Athens has fewer than 6 snow plows (if that many), so if it does snow, there will be total and complete chaos until the snow melts. And, the melting may take a few days as the temps are meant to hover around freezing for a few days.

Take care. Dress warmly.

Jan"

It's pretty chaotic out there; there is about an inch of ice coating the roads and streets. I just saw a man trying to get the snow off his driveway with a broom. Haha. I can't blame him, i'd probably be trying to do the same thing.

To top it all off all of our pipes are frozen; since our apartment is heated by water heaters, it is freezing cold in here. Water will not come out of any facet, so my taking a nice hot shower is out of the question :(.

More updates to follow.

SNOW! Part 2

2008-02-17T16:52:00.002+02:00

Here are the photos as promised. The picture of the man and his daughter is absolutely adorable! The Greeks making the snowman were the owners of the local market; they were more than happy to have their picture taken!

A little introspection

2008-02-17T15:32:00.002+02:00

I just thought I'd share some of the mental changes I've been going through while here.

Starting out on the trip I tried to completely integrate myself entirely into Athenian culture and lifestyle. This seemed perfectly logical to me but I feel that I may have gotten a little carried away. During my initial days here I honestly considered staying here for the rest of my life. As funny as it sounds now, I seriously considered it.

As time goes on the more I realize how much I love the U.S. and all of the opportunities and benefits I have as an American. I have definitely taken a lot of things for granted. Not to say that Athens is not a wonderful place or that I am not trying to fit in or learn about the culture but I feel that earlier on I may have gone through a slight identity struggle where I completely wanted to remove myself from everything American and become completely Greek. It sounds really weird writing this out, but I honestly think it was the case; maybe it was because it was my first time legitimately outside of the country or maybe it was for other reasons. Who knows.

I there are so many things I love here in Athens: people who will drop everything to talk with you and share stories about their lives, the street markets full of Greek chatter, smiles, and fresh produce, the cafes where you are looked at strangely if you leave before less than an hour or two have passed, and not to forget, the artifacts. On the other hand I truly love the U.S. and look forward to the days when I can come home and personally share all of my stories with everyone. Athens has definitely caused me to look at who I am as a person and I'm loving every minute I spend here.

Forgive my ramble.

SNOW!

2008-02-17T15:20:00.003+02:00

The weather in Athens has been extremely bipolar (literally) this week. We have had days when the sun would be shining and days when the rain and wind would cut through the thickest North Face jacket (read: mine :/). All that aside, forecasts predicted snow today and believe it or not it is snowing.

Naturally I was really excited about this because I have never been in the snow and had it snowing at the same time. While out last night the snow began falling and it was simply magical! Snow is the most beautiful/wonderful thing ever. Everyone in our group had this huge snowball fight and despite the fact that I hit an unsuspecting girl in the face with one of my tightly packed balls, it was a really great experience. Trying to get a grip on the whole "snow" thing I have been asking my friends from Colorado all of these dumb snow questions and they look at me like I'm crazy until I tell them that I've never seen real snow.

To top it all of snow in Athens is the California equivalent to snow in LA, so the Athenians are just as enamored by snow as I am! I've witnessed a fair share of accidents and cars struggling to get up hills in addition to the many children and adults in the streets having snowball fights. Enjoy the pictures. I'm going to take more and upload them later!

Acropolis

2008-02-17T15:05:00.003+02:00

This past Thursday I finally went to the Acropolis! It's strange to think that I've been in Athens for 3 weeks and I have just now visiting the most famous site in Athens. Surprisingly I can walk to nearly anywhere in Athens in about 20 to 45 minutes, no matter how far away it looks. The Acropolis was no different, it only took me about 30 minutes to walk there from my apartment. Sweet!

The Acropolis, especially the Parthenon have a presence throughout the whole city because these sites are visible nearly everywhere you go. Visiting the Acropolis was breathtaking; aside from the ominous temples, the view from the top of the hill was insane. You can see from my pictures a large theater. You would think that the Athenians would be the ones to build it, but I have found that most of the large structures in Athens (aside from a few key temples, i.e. Parthenon) were built by the Romans during their time of power.

From the top of the Acropolis, you could see for miles and miles. I thought that the word Acropolis meant the area that contained the Parthenon (and other temples) but it actually means upper city. Apparently there are many Acropoli (plural?) throughout Greece but obviously the hill that serves as the base of the Parthenon is the most famous. Enjoy all of the pictures!

Freezing!

2008-02-13T15:18:00.002+02:00

It's been so cold here the past couple of days. Yesterday my Athens on Site (field trip) class was let out early because it was too cold/rainy/windy to pay attention and take notes. It's actually supposed to be 0 degrees (Celsius) during the weekend! Yikes!

I have my first Greek language test tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I'm about to go get some shampoo and talk to the baker at a bakery I frequent to see if they will let me volunteer there for two hours a week. Hopefully they'll agree!

Delphi: Day 2

2008-02-11T17:59:00.001+02:00

The second day we woke up early (10:00 am) for brunch (the typical yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cereal, tang) and headed out for the site of the the Temple of Athena one of the original Olympic stadiums, and an old gymnasium. Just below all of these sites, a new museum featuring artifacts removed from the sites was present. Some of my favorite were artifacts from the treasury. Sorry for the short post I'm about to go make dinner.

Delphi: Day 1

2008-02-10T22:22:00.000+02:00

Hello all!

I just returned from Delphi on Sunday to my "home" in Pagrati, Athens. It's wierd that I can actually say that now because for some time it seemed like a place that was nothing but foreign to me. Anyways, on with the details from my trip.

Although it was not directly funded by Arcadia University, the Delphi trip was planned and subsidized by Universtiy staff. Boarded our charter bus at 10:00 am Friday morning and rode for about 3 hours before the bus doors opened and we were met with hudge gusts of cold wind. Delphi is a town that is located slightly below a ski town in the Pelopeneese Mountains, meaning that the cold I was used to in Athens seemed far insignificant to the mountain cold experienced.

We all got of of the bus, paired into groups of 3 and 4, and checked into our rooms at the Hotel Acropoli. The rooms were nice and suprizingly green - in order to get the lights and heater to turn on you had to enter you room key into a slot just below the light switch.

Four of my buddies and I (now labeled in the group as "the bros") drop our bags down and head into the little town to look for a light snack. (Planning ahead, I packed a sandwhich for the bus ride, while most of my friends didn't.) As you could assume, most were really hungry. We sat at this little cafe that overlooked the valley, ate, conversed, and then went looking anything of significance.

Assuming that the artifacts were further up the hills, we kept climbing step after step until finally we reached a zig-zagging grass/gravel path that led up a massive hill. Because we noticed that there were old looking stone walls, we kept climbing under the assumption that there must be more old things to look at once we reached the top of the hill. Battling wind and icey rain, we finally reached the top and found that instead of ancient ruins, there were breath taking views of the valley and the town below.

We cllimbed back down the mountain and went to take a pre-dinner nap. On the way down we ran into an adorable greek man who politely asked us to dine at his taverna for dinner and we told him that we would be back later.

After fininishing our naps, we headed back to the man's restaurant and were served more food than we could finish. At the restaurant we met the owner of one of the two clubs in town and we were told to stop by later.

"Down Town Club," was definitely an experience. Filled with teenagers, the people on our trip stuck together and spent the night dancing and tring not to feel creeped out by the youngins.

Nafplio

2008-02-04T16:23:00.000+02:00

After exploring the farmers market (see below post) I grabbed made lunch (bread from the bakery, graveria cheese, and smoked turkey from the deli, and pesto) and headed to the bus.

After an hour on the bus, we stopped over the channel for a quick snack/shopping break and then we continued for another 2 hours until we arrived at the quaint little town of Nafplio. We all unloaded our things, were grouped into threes and sent into our rooms. Nafplio is a town that is known for two castles - a huge one atop an even larger mountain and a smaller one that is on an island about 300-400 yards from the shore. We explored the area and were told to be back to the hotel by 7:15 pm for dinner.

Still getting used to the shift in eating times, I we left the hotel at 7:20 with the group, group leaders, and a man that appeared to be the manager of the restaurant we would soon be frequenting. We arrived at to an empty, modern looking restaurant which had obviously been cleared out for our group. Starting with wine, bread, water 5-7 plates filled with traditional greek appetizers were passed around. We all assumed that a main entre was coming, but it never arrived (we later found that appitizers were purchased so we could experience a variety of different tastes). Nonetheless, we finished our wine and headed out to a couple of the local bars. The night ended with everyone in our group dancing in the middle of a bar, surrounded by a group of gawking greeks and one of our instructors - Petros (who was also dancing).

The second day, we began our quest to climb the 999 steps leading to the top of the huge mountain which housed the second castle. The climb was really scenic, so it wasn't too bad. Once at the top I separated from the group and strolled. Everything was so beautiful and I had a lot on my mind, so I ended up just sitting for a good 30 minutes, just looking out on the city and surrounding miles.

While on the top of the mountain my friends and I saw an area where groups of tourists were swimming. Being hot and sweaty from the climb, we decided to join the other tourists after getting our swimsuits. We walked for a good mile or two and arrived at this amazing little beach. There were only a few people swimming but we decided to wade in. We quickly realized why the water was so empty - IT WAS FREEZING! After throughly numbing our legs we sat on the shore and spoke about how life changing this experience was and how it was important to make the most of every situation. Earlier (before we had gone in the water) I suggested swimming to the buies that were 70 yards from the shore. We both agreed to swim to the buies before we headed back to the hotel and set off.

We started swimming at a pretty quick pace, but at about 40 yards, my buddy muttered that he was turning back. I could tell something wasn't right by the look in his eyes. On the way back he breathlessly told me that he was having a hard time swimming because he was starting to loose feeling in his legs. As we approached the shore he began swimming slower and slower; I tried tugging on his swimsuit but it was obvious that I wasn't providing much help. He ended up making it to the shore okay, but we both realized that he could have died. We definitely had a life changing experience that we'll both never forget.

After a long and somewhat quiet walk back from the shore to the hotel, we showered and met the group leaders in the middle of town for a scavenger hunt. The group leaders told us to do and greeks so we group off again and went through the town asking random greeks for answers to questions about Nafplio. Realizing that most greeks would not being doing a silly scavenger hunt, our group grabbed some coffee from the cafe and talked for about 2 hours until the end of the hunt.

Later that night we grabbed dinner at this taverna that featured live music. Some of the girls I was with fell in love with the two 20-somethings playing the mandolins. I'm not gonna lie, they caused me to swoon. The experiences was amazing! Everyone in tehe restaurant knew the words to the song and an older greek women sitting at the table beside us got up and began doing a traditional greek dance! It was really cool but I soon left and went to a couple of bars before we ended up at club known as "The Level." This club was really cool - it featured traditional and modern music. I was impressed by the few greeks that knew the dance moves to Young Joc's, "It's going down." It was hilarious! Some of the greeks even knew some of the hooks from popular songs so I joined in and our groups began to merge. It was a good time.

School began today and I only had one class - Greece and the E.U. So far they're recapping the world history with an E.U. perspective, but it's still interesting though. More classes to follow and a trip to Delphi this weekend. I'll keep you posted.

Pre-Nauplion

2008-02-04T11:19:00.000+02:00

Prior to leaving for our group weekend trip to Nauplion, I woke up to the sound of bells (it has to be from the church). I got up and went exploring once again and came across a street lined with different types of venders. It turns out that every Friday and Tuesday a street market is held. Anything that came from the ground, sea, and factory could be found there and everything was extremely fresh and looking delicious.

Realizing that the best deals would most likely be found at the market, my suitmate and I searched for toilet paper, paper towels, and garbage bags. Although these items were initially supplied by our program, the supply quickly ran out. (On a side note: because the plumbing is so bad in the city, no toilet paper is flushed.)

Scouting the market and picking up the supplies, we ran into a vender who recognized the William and Mary sweatshirt worn by my suitmate. This orange vender apparently lived in Washington for many years and cooked at an award winning Greek restaurant. He told us to google-search for the name of the restaurant and said we would find a newspaper article praising his cooking skills. We told the man we were traveling to Nauplion and he told use of a taverna where his "wife" played piano. He told us to tell his "wife" that he said hello; when we asked his name he told us in broken english that he would rather not say. We parted ways and headed back to our apartment, happy at how stereotypically friendly this Greek man was and glad we were able to find a bargain.

Yesterday there was a procession for the Head of the Greek Orthodox church. It was quite a moving ceremony. After walking past the Olympic Stadium (used in the 1989 Games) we arrived on the main street where the procession was occurring. Near the front of the procession a band was playing. The song played set the tone for the 2-3 battalions of solders that followed; the atmosphere was somber but not depressing. After the soldiers passed, 3 more large groups of orthodox priests passed. You would think that they would be the ones that would show the most respect, but surprisingly they were the ones that seemed to be the most distracted today - during the parade we saw one priest answer his cell phone and later we saw many priests at restaurants having a good time. Following the priests, came the coffin containing the fallen minister. It was located on a trailer that was pulled by a military truck that held 15 or so seated soldiers. While passing the crowd began clapping; it was a really moving experience.

Procession

2008-01-31T20:42:00.000+02:00

Yesterday there was a procession for the Head of the Greek Orthodox church. It was quite a moving ceremony. After walking past the Olympic Stadium (used in the 1989 Games) we arrived on the main street where the procession was occurring. Near the front of the procession a band was playing. The song played set the tone for the 2-3 battalions of solders that followed; the atmosphere was somber but not depressing. After the soldiers passed, 3 more large groups of orthodox priests passed. You would think that they would be the ones that would show the most respect, but surprisingly they were the ones that seemed to be the most distracted today - during the parade we saw one priest answer his cell phone and later we saw many priests at restaurants having a good time. Following the priests, came the coffin containing the fallen minister. It was located on a trailer that was pulled by a military truck that held 15 or so seated soldiers. While passing the crowd began clapping; it was a really moving experience.

After the procession ended a group of us headed to the Plaka, or the Greek tourist area. Under the impression that the Plaka would be an area where we would best fit in, we were suddenly barraged by restaurant owners as we passed their tavernas. The experience made me feel as though I was back in Tijuana. We decided to settle for some tourist-type greek food (psudo-gyros filled with chicken) and quickly headed back to our apartments.

After a brief nap in an-open air room located on the top of the center, a different group of us headed to the top of Laktivos (sp) hill. The hill is the highest point in the center of Athens and at the top there is a beautiful white church. After a grueling 45 minute hike filled with steep inclines and stairs, we reached the top. Planning on staying until sunset, we took pictures and waited in the cold for the sun to fall. Someone on the trip brought wine so shouting, "Yakas" (cheers in Greek), we toasted to the sunset.

We soon left the hilltop and headed back down to our apartments. On our way down we again saw the changing of the guards outside of some government building. It's a beautiful little dance they do, but I'm not going to lie, it's somewhat intimidating. Although the guards wear skirts that make them appear to being wearing costumes, I was blocking their exit path when they were trying to leave. Generally greeks don't make eye contact with you, but the eyes of these soldiers definitely let me know I was in there way. I promptly scurried off of their path and trekked back to my palace of safety.

Later in the night we ate at Murphy's. My friends and I enjoyed this restaurant because it lets you point at the food (located under heat lamps behind a glass case) before you order it. This way there are no surprises. We had an authentic greek dinner (meaning that it lasted for a good 3 hours of delicious food and interesting conversation among friends) and headed back to our apartments.

Tomorrow I have to get my TB test-shot checked and I leave for a school-sponsored group weekend in Filolow. Filolow is a town that is located on the coast, so I plan on eating some delicious seafood.

I still haven't found out why those bells were ringing (they continued to ring today), but I'll let you know asap; I'm thinking they're coming from the church (below).

I am slowly adjusting to the culture. The greeks are very accommodating and they make it far to easy to speak english with them when I'm tring to speak greek! The dollar-euro conversion rate is also really annoying! Never have I been so cost consciouses - I feel like I'm bleeding money!

I hope everything is going well with all of you. More stories to follow!

Huh?!

2008-01-30T07:43:00.000+02:00

I woke up at 7:00 am to the sound of church bells. The Greek Orthodox Pope died two days ago and the procession is tomow

It just happened again - 7:45 am.

Huh. I definitely need to find out what this is all about. As I was saying, the procession is tomorrow and I was told everything shuts down.

Today I'm going to get a gym membership, go grocery shopping, and get some electrical outlet adapters.

Stories to follow!

Some things I've learned

2008-01-29T23:32:00.001+02:00

All time in Greece is in the 24hr form.
Euros come in 1,2, and 3 dollar coins and prices are deceptively high.
Greeks eat this thick plane yogurt with honey. It's pretty delicious, but I left my yogurt in the fridge so it didn't blend well with the yogurt.

Greeks are amazing people! I've stumbled into so many places not knowing what to say and I have always found some way to communicate. They've even helped me learn some knew words!

In order to extend our visas, it was necessary to have a TB test and check examination. We trekked to the public hospital (leaving at 7:45 am) and upon arriving at 8:30 am, we found that the computers were down and could not be fixed until IT department opened at 9:00 am. The person in charge of our program - Jan - told us =we should walk down to Everest (a chain cafe that is open 24 hours). Wanting to be adventurous (and separate from the other 20 students in our group) 2 of my friends and I searched for a local gem. Earlier in the week Jan emphasized the importance of finding a local restaurant or "taverna" and visiting it often; that way you could become friends with the locals that frequent it and get them to help you with your greek and invite you to their homes for dinner.

Anyways, so my friends and I stumble into this taverna and realizing that none of us speak Greek (communication skills are definitely something I had taken for granted), we mutter "cappuccino." Fortunately enough for use the barista/bartender spoke a little English and understood what we were trying to say. We sat for a good 15 minutes and finished our cappuccinos while conversing with this uber-friendly barista and a man (who seemed like a regular) who spoke very good (but still broken english). We asked them about they 2004 Olympics and how they changed Athens, if there were any big football (soccer) games coming up, and what they did for fun. After a while we had to return to the hospital and thinking that we had found our "spot" we bragged about how we befriended a bunch of locals at a traditional greek taverna.

After 3 hours of waiting and 30 seconds of getting a shot and chest X-Ray at the hospital we all head back to the University. As the group heads back, Jan asks us if we remember the name of the taverna, to which we reply, "no." We recognized that we were close and soon we found the name of our beloved taverna - "Snack Bar Athena." HAHA! Our supposed "local" secrete turned out to be a tourist trap, or at least a local taverna whose main mission was to attract tourist who could not speak greek.

Later I got a new cell phone from vodofone. All calls to me are free, so if you're willing to rack up your phone bill call: 011-30-695-529-4446. I'm also on skype: ghall09.

I got to go to sleep, I'm super tired in the afternoon I'm going downtown! The quest for my "spot" continues!

The Eagle has Landed

2008-01-28T09:09:00.000+02:00

All my Athens dreams have finally become a reality. The flights went surprisingly smoothly; On my flight from L.A. to London I managed to remain conscious for only 4 hours out of the 12 hours I spent on the plane. I guess mediocre in-flight movies, lack of rest from the night before, and Tylenol PM took their toll, as I woke up to breakfast and an hour before landing.

Upon landing I was shuffled from arriving international flights to departing international flights. It was crazy seeing the different types of people everywhere - the different languages they each spoke was definitely interesting. I was surprised by how Heathrow differed from the other airports I have been to in the past; everywhere I looked I saw upscale shops with some unique and some familiar (Coach, Armani, Hugo Boss, Burberry, etc.) names. After wandering back and forth in the the lobby/shopping area, I headed to my terminal and had to pass through yet another series of security checkpoints.

I catch my flight to Athens and upon landing I am notices that most of the signs are now in Greek. I follow the heard to pick up my baggage and meet up with a few of my classmates. All of my bags arrive (thank God!) and unfortunately, the bags of one of my classmates never show up. While she is dealing with retrieving her bags, I exchange my U.S. currency for the Euro and purchase a phone card. After my classmate discovers that her bags are on a different flight we decide to call the person in charge of our program. Using the phone card I recently purchased, I fumble around with the phone for a good 5 minutes until one of my classmates (with a little more international travel experience) offers her help and gets it to work.

We make our way outside and caught a taxi. Surprisingly, the driver spoke no english, so I hastily handed him the instructions (in Greek) provided by my program and we drove for a good 30 minutes in silence. Haha! Taking it all in, Athens was a wonderful place, even at night I could tell that it was beautiful and I felt somewhat at home when I saw the bright yellow I-K-E-A letters from the freeway.

I arrived at the University with my three classmates that I met at the airport early and waited 20 minutes until 8:00 pm for everyone else to arrive.

It was great seeing other U.S. students. We all ate and shared stories. When we were finished we received instructions from our program director about the events that would be going on during the rest of the week and we were dismissed.

After we left the center a group of students went off to explore the city and I was left with my bags and a kind-hearted suit mate who helped me take them to our apartment which is a mere 6-7 minutes away!

We fumbled around with the lock for a good 15 minutes and finally made our way into the place. As you can see from the pictures, despite our lack of a heater and a hot water heater that rapidly runs out of water, the place is quite cozy.

After dropping off all of my bag, I tried to catch up with my other classmates but I quickly realized that I had no idea where they went. Since it was getting dark and I was unsure of how safe it was for me to be walking the streets in a town I knew nothing about, I decided to head back and wait for everyone else to come to me.

Well that's all I have to write for now. More to follow after a while. I feel like a child that is learning to walk. I know nothing about how to get around in this town, but each day I'm learning a little more. Hopefully by the next post I'll at least be crawling.

Visa

2008-01-12T06:59:00.000+02:00

Things are beginning to become a reality - I finally got my visa the other day! Also, my mom rented a bunch of 1980s movies on Greece from the library. I'm stilling trying to find the courage to watch them :/. Okay, I'm doing it tomorrow.

Predeparture Rigamoral

2008-01-04T12:50:00.002+02:00

After weeks of delay (I accidentally left my passport in Claremont), I was finally able to move forward with the visa process. While receiving my passport should have been a relief, additional research on flights, flight insurance, and more forms to be completed only brought further delays.

At the end of the day the necessary visa documents made it to the post office, so I can finally rest easy. Processing should only take the consulate in San Francisco two days. All I can do now is sit back and read more books about Athens. I'm excited!

Below is a test slide show. Images from Greece to follow!