Ιστορία της Αθήνας

Γειά σου!

First, a bit from last night: the tarverna we went to for dinner was AMAZING. Definitely a great way to start out the trip. About 2/3 of our group went to this little place, that I have forgotten the name of, that Katja took us to. She also explained to us the Greek restaurant custom of "sharing", which is exactly what is sounds like: about 4 people split appetizers and main courses, sharing the food. It ends up giving you more that you would have gotten ordering a main course for yourself, but costing less. I shared with five or six other students, splitting a spinach pie (Σπανακόπιτα [spanakopita]), a rabbit in white wine sauce, and a chicken in lemon sauce. All three were amazing. The rabbit, especially, was really good: I've never eaten rabbit, before. It looks like, and bears a lot of similarity to, chicken, but it is a chewier meat and has a bit of a stronger flavor. I was quite impressed. It was really really good, and split the way we did, only cost me like 4€. Then, I came home and crashed, because it was late and I was very tired from my 24 or so hours of traveling. 


Today continued to be wonderful. The day started at 10, when we went to the Athens Centre for Day 1 of orientation. We first had a lecture by Yannis Zervos, the director of the centre, who told us a bit about modern history and the cultural context for Athens today. Then, we had a brief talk by Rosemary Donnelly, the codirector, about the Athens Centre itself. Then we wandered about the centre a bit, going up to the roof. Where we saw this:

First View of the Parthenon!

Yep. The view from the roof of the Athens Centre is kind of amazing. You can also see a large part of the city, and the mountains behind it.

Overlook of Athens

Once we all made it off the roof, down a slightly scary narrow metal spiral staircase, we left on our tour of the Mets/Pangrati, which is the area of Athens where we live. Katja showed us around the residential areas, to the supermarket, post office, pharmacy, and the best cafes and tavernas, as well as taking us briefly through the weekly Farmer's Market, which occurs every Friday. She then left us to explore, and we split apart as a group. My two roommates and I walked back through the Farmer's Market, then shared lunch with part of the group. We then went back and bought oranges, potatoes, and artichokes at the market. Apparently, unlike in the U.S., when a sign says "6/5€" here, it means 6 kilo, not 6 items. So... yeah. We got 10 potatoes for 2.5€. It was awesome.


Anyway, after that, we returned home, I played with the photographs I've taken through the day (check out my photograph page for slideshows of all my photos), and have just been finishing all my unpacking and writing up my day. It's been really, really lovely so far...Athens is an amazingly pretty and eclectic city. I'm looking forward to getting to know it and its residents better over the next few months. 


Tonight, I have a (free!) dinner hosted by the Athens Centre, and tomorrow we have a walking tour of central Athens all day. I am looking forward to it, and expect to have lots more photos tomorrow. For now, though, I will leave you with one last view of the Parthenon.


Αντίο για τώρα! Τα λέμε σύντομα!

At 3 pm, CST, I arrived at the O'Hare Airport in Chicago. By 6:00, I was on the plane. I have been on the plane until approximately 2 hours ago. How many hours that was in transit, I have NO IDEA. I just know that right now, it is 7pm in Athens, but 12:00 pm in Chicago. So, I'm a bit tired and time confused, but that will go away shortly.

The process of flying to Greece wasn't too painful. My first flight, from Chicago to London, went swimmingly, and I have no complaints. I watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for free, which was fantastic, ate food that didn't make me ill, and dozed through much of the flight. The second part was more troublesome. The flight into London landed, at predicted, at 6:40 am London time. Boarding for my connecting flight ended at 7:40 am, London time. And then it took 10 minutes to get off the plane, more to get through security and into the correct gate at the airport, but I made it just on time, and successfully boarded the plane. Half an hour later, I disembarked from the plane. Apparently, some gasket or connector in the nose of the plane was loose or broken, and maintenance said they couldn't fix it in a reasonable amount of time. So, instead of taking of at 8 am, we took off at 10, putting us into Athens two hours later than I'd initially expected. Once we got in the air, though, everything went smoothly for that flight as well. I didn't want to sleep, so as to get on Greek time, and so watched The Adventures of Tintin, which was a very cute and well-executed movie, and a great way to pass the time couped up on another airplane. I was also fortunate enough to get in the baby seat row on that flight, but there were no babies, so I had lots of leg-room, which was quite nice.

Once arriving in Athens, I met up with the other two students in my program that I knew were on my flight, as well as two others who I hadn't realized were on the flight. We took two cabs to get to our apartments near the Athens Centre. And that's where I am now, relaxing and decompressing and unpacking my bags. The apartments are nice, with air conditioning, large windows, and a balcony. I'll be sharing my room, kitchenette, and bathroom with two other girls, which will be an interesting experience. But I am looking forward to it. Now that I've arrived, much of my nervousness has fallen away, and I'm just excited to explore this new place.

As for program things, we have a dinner trip tonight, which should be fun, and then a few orientation things tomorrow. Stuff really gets going next Monday, when classes start. And that's the point where I'll start being busy, and actually having something to talk about.

So for now, I will leave you to get ready to eat and to finish unpacking. In parting, here is a picture of the view outside my bedroom window.

Αντίο για τώρα! Τα λέμε σύντομα!

Tomorrow afternoon, I get on an airplane in Chicago. Thursday afternoon, I land in Athens, and my program begins. My finals are finished, I'm moved out of the dorm, my suitcase and carry-on are all packed, and I'm finishing up the last minute preparations before leaving the U.S. for three months. Mostly, I'm excited: I've never left the country before, with the exception of a trip to Canada when I was 3. I've also never flown fully across an ocean; I've flown 6 hours to Hawaii, but that was only halfway across the Pacific. And I've definitely never spent 13 hours in an airplane, which is what I'll be doing over the next few days. It will be an... interesting experience. But then I will be in a new culture, full of new sights and sounds and tastes, well outside anything I've ever experienced while traveling inside of America.

I'm nervous as well, though, for pretty much all the same reasons I'm excited. I don't know much Greek, I've never been outside of the U.S, and I'm really not at all sure what to expect. I have no idea what these new experiences will do to change my perspective on the world and my ability to understand and communicate with different people. It's well out of my comfort zone, and that's scary. But, overall, I think it will be good for me. I enjoy challenges: they push me to new levels, stretch the limits of what I can do. The next three months will be no exception.

Wish me luck, and I'll see you again when I'm on the other side of the world!

Αντίο για τώρα!

My departure date to Athens is a little over two months away, yet it feels like I'm already making the preparations necessary for the trip there. My first informational meeting took place a few days ago, and I've already picked the people I'll be sharing an apartment with for three months. I'm starting to learn some Greek, although I'm still fairly hopeful that there will be people there will also know at least a little English, so I won't be too hopelessly lost. Still, I've found that the most successful way for me to learn a language is to be immersed in it, so I expect I'll pick it up quickly once I get to Greece.

I haven't got much to say yet. At this point, it's all paperwork, info meetings, buying necessary supplies, and figuring what I'm going to do with all my belongings at college while I'm away. I'm also busy with this quarter's classes and workload, so not too much time to think about it. But time passes quickly while I'm caught up in my day-to-day life, and March 21st will be here before I realize it. I cannot wait.

But, for now, I continue my studies in the States, prepare for my journey, and dream about the adventures to come.

Αντίο για τώρα.