The Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Agora. The Areopagus. The Hill of the Muses. These were some of the highlights of Ancient Athens, and the places that we explored today on our walking tour. It was a very interesting walk, and I will share some of the stories I learned, about the history and mythology associated with the area, in one of my short posts. The areas we went to weren't really new, though; I'd passed them all before, on the walking tour last Saturday. So, not as many photographs to take. But here's one, to keep this update from being too boring:
I'm also into my second day of classes, which is nice. I've missed having a schedule, even if just for one week. Greek class, in particular, is going to be a lot of fun. We've only covered the alphabet so far, but I think that's a major first step in understanding this language. For instance, when I set up this blog a few months ago, I transliterated "Ιστορία" as "Iotopia", as you can see in my URL. Unfortunately, though, that's totally wrong. I should have written it, in English, as "Istoria". If you can't tell what it means from that pronounciation, Ιστορία is the Greek word for History. Thus, Ιστορία της Αθήνας is Istoria tis Athinas, or History of Athens. Things you learn when you actually study the language. I've also learned a lot of the greetings: καλή νύχτα, or "kalinichta", is goodnight, and Γειά σου is the singular informal "Hello" or "Health to you". It's very helpful, being able to say and write and understand these words, rather than just using Google Translate all the time. I doubt I'll become fluent in Greek by the time I leave, but I hope to be able to maintain at least a simple conversation at the end of these ten weeks. We'll see how it goes.
Tomorrow is a free morning, so I'll have some time to write up the short posts I've been meaning to get to, which will hopefully serve as a better insight into some of the details of my experiences here. Some will be my own stories; others will be things from class. All are things I've found interesting or funny during my week here so far. I'm sure there will be more as the time goes on.
καλή νύχτα!
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| Hadrian's Gate, outside the Temple of Olympian Zeus. There's a funny story about this... |
Tomorrow is a free morning, so I'll have some time to write up the short posts I've been meaning to get to, which will hopefully serve as a better insight into some of the details of my experiences here. Some will be my own stories; others will be things from class. All are things I've found interesting or funny during my week here so far. I'm sure there will be more as the time goes on.
καλή νύχτα!
