I Hate Everyone

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

--Benjamin Franklin

Today was basically a fail plan.  We began the day by taking on some difficult sites in terms of athletic ability and balance required.  I, for one, did not have the appropriate attributes.  At the first site, which was not the most difficult by the way, I managed to fall.  On a piece of flat land.  I have no idea how it happened, but the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on all fours right in front of my professor.  Impressive, right?  In the end, my right palm was scraped up a little, my left knee had a few scrapes, and the left knee of my pants had a big “T” shaped rip in them.  They were new as of the beginning of the trip, but couldn’t withstand my first fall.

Our next site involved a difficult climb, where I was very cautious after my performance at the first site.  We were told to wear pants for this site due to the undergrowth, but I haven’t decided if I am glad that I listened or not.  By this point in time, the knee of my pants was ripped, so I was cut by a thorn through the hole.  However, I only see a handful of other scrapes at the moment, whereas some of the girls who wore shorts looked as if they had been mauled by the bushes.  It was probably a little more comfortable with pants, but there were still times when it didn’t seem like my pants did much to stop the thorns (at least based on how much I felt them). 

On the way back down from the second site, Aleko reminded the girls of the pain associated with childbirth.  While his point is valid that what we were going through was nothing comparatively, he still doesn’t have to birth a child ever. 

The question was whether I wanted to be more miserable due to the scrapes or due to the heat.  While I chose the heat, it was pretty uncomfortable.  A large portion of the class brought a pair of shorts with them for after the first two sites, but I didn’t think about it.  I wouldn’t have had enough time to change, since I was at the back of the group.  The third site was still rather hot.  Luckily, the day ended after the third site at around 11:45, and we returned to Myrtos by 12:30. 

Adding to my misery of today was the fact that somehow, I kicked something in the ocean and ended up with a cut about a centimeter long on the side of my pinky toe.  A couple of minutes after I left the water, I looked down to find some blood around my foot.  While I was swimming, I remembered feeling my foot hurt but hadn’t paid any more attention to my toe.  I could feel the cut as I was walking.  I think part of my mindset was that I was miserable and hot and gross, so any little discomfort was magnified.  Still, the cut on my toe is not exactly insignificant in its depth.

After the sites and lunch, I returned to the hotel to try to rearrange my travel plans.  After Czech Connect Airlines cancelled my flight, I now have a bit of a quandary on my hands.  I have no way to get to Athens, so we are probably just skipping it.  We could still book another $250 ticket to Athens, but we would lose a good half a day in Athens.  The flight that I had booked from Athens to London through British Airways:  not refundable.  It also costs either 70 euro or 70 pounds per person to change the booking ($100 or $113).  The fact that the new flight would be less expensive: not important.  It is so frustrating that British Airways is not customer friendly.  In order to obtain all of my options, I asked my mom to call Expedia from the States.  After her conversation, I called both Expedia and British Airways to get a little more information.  I figured out a way through gmail to make calls to landlines for free (my favorite).  I was sitting in our hotel’s lobby (more or less just an entranceway) with the door open and a huge truck driving by.  Needless to say, I have no idea how I was able to hear or be heard during parts of my conversation.  I am still figuring out the details of what I want to do and am crunching numbers to decide if it is worthwhile to change the flight or to just book a new flight on a budget airline and lose my $250 worth of a flight.

In addition, last night I couldn’t get my internet to work.  The lack of internet made figuring out my flights that much more difficult.  I gave up after about an hour last night.  Someone performed magic on my computer for me today and somehow connected me to the internet.  I still wasted a little time trying to connect to the internet today.

Basically, in the past 24 hours, I have failed any number of times.  It is impressive in one sense, but awful in another.

On the bright side, we found a delicious Italian restaurant here, where we went for dinner last night and lunch and happy hour today.  It was almost more fun to watch one of the girl’s face as she ate than to eat my own food.  She was absolutely enamored with this place that made homemade pasta!  The drinks were also fabulous and so fresh.  Actually, everything at this restaurant was among my favorite—although I am excited to return to Greek food.

The water is also incredibly clear and beautiful.  It is a charming little town, although my time here was filled with a few struggles.

The Wheels on the Bus

“Using words to describe magic is like using a screwdriver to cut roast beef.”

--Tom Robbins

July 14, 2011

The bus.  Our home away from home while we are on the road.  I know I spend much more time sleeping than awake on the bus.  Even when I am completely awake when I get on the bus, it is this magical land that rocks me to sleep very quickly.  Most times, I can barely keep my eyes open.  My professor will start talking on the bus, and I will have every intention of listening or hearing the random announcements that he will make during our journey.  More often than not I sleep completely through it.  The traffic in Greece is insane.  Cars dart in and out of everything, and I have no idea how the bus is able to make its way through the streets.  Just today, the bus was literally inches from a building.  The driver just continued to inch its way down the street and did avoid hitting anything.  This trend is true in Crete, in Athens, and in the Peloponnese.  It really is remarkable, but I have no desire to drive at all in Greece.  All of our bus drivers have been amazing and incredible drivers.

On the other hand, I would be perfectly happy if Czech Connect Airlines didn’t exist.  My friend and I had all of our travel plans figured out for our three week trip through Europe.  That was until Czech Connect Airlines decided to cancel the flight I had booked for us to get to Athens.  Not only was the flight cancelled, but I have to fill out extra paperwork to get a refund for the tickets.  It’s absurd!  They cancel the flight that I had booked AND paid for, further inconveniencing me because I have to figure out a new flight or how to change my next flight.  And now fill out a form.  By the way Czech Connect Airlines, the link you gave me that should go to the form I need to fill out.  It doesn’t work.  So thanks so much!

It is frustrating, but it isn’t awful.  Based on the other options for flights, we would lose a solid afternoon and evening in Athens.  That means that it doesn’t really make sense to try to go to Athens anymore.  It is just too expensive for too little time.  I think that our current plan is just to take out Athens and spend a day more in London and a day more in Dublin if the airlines can make that happen.  It will make flights much less expensive, since Athens is expensive to fly into and out of.

Beyond my travel frustrations, let me just say that I am currently looking out of a bus window onto a bright blue ocean.  Jealous yet?  It is gorgeous, and these views are everywhere in Greece.  They honestly can’t be captured in a simple picture.  Even a panoramic, while better at capturing the scene, can’t do it justice.  And the coast goes on forever.  Normally I would miss these views because I am asleep, but these views are everywhere.

Now, because I feel like I should discuss my actual experiences in Greece, I suppose I will talk about Crete.  We were told by Aleko, our Dr. Feel Good and kind uncle on our trip, that Crete is the Texas of Greece.  Everything is bigger here, and the culture is much more Wild West/take things into your own hands.  (Side note from Aleko: No offense to anyone from Texas.)  All of us know that Texas is not all like that, but Crete has some very back country areas.

Most recently, I stopped by a kiosk and simply said “yiasas” (hello) to the cashier.  He immediately asked if I spoke Greek (in Greek), and I was able to respond (in Greek) that I spoke a little Greek.  Those language CDs have paid off a little.  But enough for my showing off.

We stopped by Knossos our first day on Crete and tried to beat the heavy tourism.  We were mostly successful, but by the time that we left the place was hopping with tourists.  While in Crete we have visited a number of archaeological sites, but generally only in the mornings.  It has been incredibly hot with very little shade, so I don’t mind the shorter days.  Afternoons have been spent at the pool, although we are going to have a beach at our next town.

The town we have been staying in was tiny.  At very least, we never saw anything huge.  Both in Zaros, where we were staying, and Archanes, where we just stopped for lunch, guys have driven by our group repeatedly.  As in, a car will drive by, turn around, and drive by again.  One of the motorcycles even popped a wheelie for us.  Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed.  We have been told by Aleko that if one of our guys looks at a girl for too long, her father may show up and try to force a marriage on the guy.  It is a very interesting culture where the guys appear intimidating.

A group of three of us went for a walk yesterday evening.  We reached the base of a path towards the beginning of the walk, and a sign said that a gorge was in 2.5 km.  We started following this path, but the next sign that we found said that the canyon was 4 km away.  We continued along this path for a while, which had a number of gates along the path, which we presumed was for animals.  We saw a church from the path and tried to find it.  None of us were dressed appropriately, but the church appeared fairly modern, and we just wanted to peek in through the door.  It took a lot of exploring to finally find the church, but it was completely closed off by fences.  Through the fence, I saw an old man and an old woman dressed in black.  It looked as if a house stood nearby, and these religious people lived there.  We were standing in the middle of a group of chickens, and at one point in time, someone whistled at us and motioned for us to leave.  It is possible that they wanted us to leave their chickens alone.  Religious people, I am sorry for invading on your space. 

Later on we saw plenty of goats on the side of mountains, eating the vegetation.  We also met a sheep with her lamb.  The noise this sheep was making was strange; I have never heard such a sound in my life.  The lamb was still drinking her mother’s milk, but the mother sounded like she was terrified.  It didn’t seem like she could find the rest of her group, and I felt so bad for the mom and her child.  They seemed to calm down eventually, but it was a really cool sight to see them climb part of the mountain.  We never made it to the end of the path, but we did walk quite a distance.  It was a really pretty path, although we slipped plenty of times. 

The magic of the bus is at work; I think that it is naptime for me now!

I'm On A Boat

“Church isn’t where you meet.  Church isn’t a building.  Church is what you do.  Church is who you are.”

--Bridget Willard

Being in Athens for a few days was wonderful!  It was nice to know where I was going and to have some sense of independence from the group, which was lacking at times during our week of travel.  I was able to have some space to myself if I needed it, which I had missed.

We had one glorious free day in Athens before returning to class.  We walked around and experienced some of the city life.  We also made it to the farmer’s market in our neighborhood.  It is sad that most of the students in this class won’t be able to experience Athens the same way that I did.  I feel like I have a slight understanding of the city, but I can’t imagine that they have enough time to even see parts of the city.  Not all of them like Athens, and I feel like more people dislike Athens now than in my first class.  I don’t know if this is related to the other sites we have seen, the people in the class, or the lack of time in Athens. 

The next two days we visited the National Archaeological Museum in the morning and the Agora in the afternoon.  The first day of the National Museum, we thought the museum opened earlier than it did.  I remember waiting on the steps for the museum to open last class, but forgot about that until we showed up at the museum the first day.  We wasted an hour and a half waiting for the museum to open, which turned out to be good, since one of the students was mistaken about where we were supposed to meet.

Our second day at the museum happened to be a Sunday.  I went to mass the earliest I have done in longer than I can remember.  I was at the church in time for 7:30 am mass, and I am very proud of myself.  I actually went to bed earlier than normal and woke up.  I was so impressed with myself.  Everyone else didn’t have to arrive at the museum until 9:30, so I felt like I was making a significant sacrifice for God.  Church has been a source of alone time in the past, so I enjoy going to church just to ensure that I can spend some time without being surrounded by 19 other students.  I did some hard core bathroom changing into and out of a skirt twice, so that I could see another church that I happened across later in the day.

After church, I stopped by Syntagma Square at 8:30.  When I first got there, there were only two people in front of Parliament looking at the guards, but they left shortly.  Parliament was really quiet for a solid five or ten minutes while I was eating my breakfast.  By the time I was done, a tour bus had shown up and Parliament was back to its busy self.  Watching the abrupt change from a peaceful morning to a tourist zoo made me appreciate how much the Athenians put up with us.

I was able to see my stele again; in the first class, I had to write two papers about this stele.  It was nice to see him again after so long.  The Archaeological Museum has literally room upon room of stele.  The Athenians did not allow any type of individual monument or sculpture with the exception of grave stele, so it makes sense that so many stele were constructed.  Seeing all of these monuments, which I know are only a miniscule sample of the grave stele that were preserved, made me think about everyone who has died.

Death is part of life.  People have been dying for thousands of years and will continue dying.  It is inevitable.  That doesn’t make the loss of a soul any easier.  Each and every soul is valuable.  Each of these souls was mourned in some way, and someone missed them.  Someone loved the deceased enough to build them a grave marker.  So every single one of these stele represent not only a life and a soul but also a period of mourning.  I know that I am projecting a little of our culture onto that of the Ancient Greeks in assuming that there was mourning associated with death, but I feel that it is only natural to miss anyone who has permanently left this world.

On my way back from the National Archaeological Museum, I stopped into the Numismatic Museum.  I walk by it every time I go to mass or to the museum, so I have passed it countless times.  The decorations inside the building are phenomenal.  It is so grand and beautiful; the colors and the paintings inside look perfect and contain some very interesting scenes.  There are also more coins than I ever knew existed inside this museum, and the differences in the systems of money were striking.

Unrelatedly, I cooked dinner while we were in Athens a few times.  On one particular night, I showed off some of my mad skill by burning (very badly) a grilled cheese.  I think the heat was up too high and I wasn’t paying attention and the next thing I knew, there was some smoke in the kitchen.  It actually tasted pretty good but looked miserable.  I only wished I had cooked the other side a little more.  It only took about 24 hours to clear the burnt parts of the bread off of the pan.  No big deal.

We got to the ferry incredibly early today.  We were in our rooms almost 2 hours before the ferry departed, which meant that we had a LOT of time to kill.  Either way, I am much happier with this ferry than the last one.  When we returned from Santorini a month ago, the ferry ride was absolutely miserable.  It was cold, and I had nothing to cover myself with.  I woke up every couple hours thinking that I would never be comfortable again or fall asleep again.  I was exhausted when I got back to Athens.  Nothing really worked out very well for me during that trip, and I crawled into bed for a solid 3 hours of sleep when we entered our apartment.  This time, we have cabins and beds.  I am warm and dry and have plenty clothes to change into if need be.  I do feel bad for all of the people I see sleeping on the chairs; I know how uncomfortable it can be, and I hope that they are able to enjoy their night a little better than I did.

I just had an old man walk by and say something to me in Greek.  In response, I had to say “I don’t understand” (phonetically “then catalaveno.”)  He made a sort of pecking motion; I think he may have been complimenting my typing abilities.

I also found a little room off the reception area labeled the church.  It is this cute little room with a wall (and a sanctuary behind the wall) and the typical Greek decorations around.  It really reminds me of a small chapel, like one we might have at Kairos (although with some slightly different iconography).  This would be the place to really experience God’s time, since Kairos does come from the Greek language.

Hometown Glory

“When you’re safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you’re having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.”

--Thornton Wilder

I can feel myself planning packing and counting down the time until I go home.  I know that I am not as settled here as I once was, which is disappointing.  I want to be fully present during my time in Europe.  Being back in Athens has reminded me how it feels to not be on the road all of the time, which makes me want to return home (USA) more.  Living out of a suitcase and hotels for the past week really cemented how I feel about Athens.  Athens really is one of my homes now, and I can’t think of any other word for my apartment than home.  The constant reminders of the plans of others for after the class remind me of the fact that I am actually leaving Athens.  During the last class, I could discuss the end of the class without lamenting my departure from Athens.  Now it is a different story.  I love all of Athens, and there is still so much to do and see.  I want to experience everything before I leave.  I still have two more weeks to soak in Greece, but only a few more busy days in Athens.

A few things that I know I am going to miss about Athens:

·         The mix of the old with the new… everywhere.  The fact that you can be shopping and just happen upon an old building or archaeological remain

·         2 euro gyros      

·         Speaking of food, the amazing fruit, Greek salad, feta, Greek yogurt, spanakopita, baklava, bakeries, Motion (a delicious juice for grown-ups), Lacta bars, Nutella (so much better in Europe), etc.

·         The Greek language

·         Evzones

·         Getting lost while walking

·         Beaches

·         Greek hospitality and generosity

·         The beautiful churches on every street corner

·         Exploring new parts of the city

·         The random cat ladies that you see on the side of the street

·         Odd street vendors selling any assortment of goods

·         Side shops for knock off purses and sunglasses

·         Syntagma and the protests.  There is always something to do and see.  And it added a lot of excitement

·         Being able to drink.  I haven’t done anything crazy, but being allowed to have a glass of wine (and some really good wine at that) with my meals has been wonderful.  I definitely would love to have the Greek style of social drinking in the States.  Not worrying about being caught with alcohol has also been wonderful. 

·         Greek time.  Sitting and eating a meal for at least an hour while enjoying the night and the company.

·         Free gifts, like wine with meals

Things that I claim I won’t miss but in all actuality probably will a little:

·         Language barriers

·         Not flushing toilet paper

·         Greek men who walk by and stare.  Yes, I see what your eyes are doing.  Yes, I hear the creepy pick-up lines you say.  No, I don’t think you deserve to be acknowledged.

·         The restaurant owners who approach you and try to make you eat at their restaurant, even though they have seen you reject the three restaurants before and all you want to do is walk along the street

·         The strange hours of stores

·         Everything being closed on Sundays

·         Stray dogs and cats everywhere

·         Gypsies driving down the streets to collect people’s trash

·         Tourist groups crowding the streets and the museums

·         The children out at all hours of the night trying to collect money.  It is so heart-crushing to see children who should be sleeping begging or selling goods for money.

·         Having less control over my own schedule.  It makes planning things a little complicated

·         Early mornings

Writing the last few lists, there is so much more that I could add to both lists.  There is just so much here that is different from the States!

Related to my recent musings on returning home, I now have everything planned for the remainder of my time in Europe (I think) in terms of transportation and travel and hostels.  We are planning on returning to Athens for a few days, so I can postpone my final farewell to the city for just a little while longer.

That being said, my current travel plans are:

Friday, July 22: fly to Rome

Tuesday, July 26: train from Rome to Venice

Wednesday, July 27: train from Venice to Milan, night train from Milan to Barcelona

Saturday, July 30: night train from Barcelona to Paris

Monday, August 1: train from Paris to Frankfurt to Dresden to Prague

Thursday, August 4: flight from Prague to Athens

Saturday, August 6: flight from Athens to London

Tuesday, August 9: flight from London to Dublin

Thursday, August 11: flight from Dublin to USA

It will be a crazy three weeks filled with tons of travel, but I know that I am going to have a great time and see so much!

Happy Birthday

“Thinking of you and hoping you’ll spend…

…a wonderful day from beginning to end.”

--Hallmark card

I am no longer a teenager.  Wait, let me relish in that fact for a moment longer.  Ok, now that my declaration is done, I can continue in telling the story of my 21^st birthday (when I turned 20)—that’s for you, Uncle Miller. 

Technically, my birthday celebration started the night before at around 10:00 pm.  We were staying in Delphi for the night.  After dinner (with a spectacular view overlooking a valley), we went next door to a bakery that had been connected to the restaurant we ate at.  We just didn’t really know.  I shared two desserts with a friend, so we both ate plenty.  There was a chocolate mousse cake and a caramel cake.  Both desserts were absolutely delicious!

We walked around Delphi for a few minutes before heading back towards the hotel.  Less than a block from the hotel, we ran into another group from our class who were headed to a club.  So, I turned around and joined them on their venture.  This club was the strangest place.  There was a group of middle school students and their chaperones dancing.  Other than the one group and a few individuals, the club was fairly empty.  We embraced the atmosphere and just started dancing.  While the environment was not exactly optimal, we had a good time and some amazingly horrible pictures were taken that night.

While we were dancing, I was reminded multiple times of just how long it was until it was officially my birthday.  It was one massive dancing countdown involving a number of people, each with a different time.  I was told that I had five minutes left, and then two minutes later I was told there were seven minutes left.  For the final minute, one of the guys had his phone out and was literally staring at it waiting for the clock to strike midnight. 

Right at midnight, the DJ played a birthday song for me.  Anna had gone up to him to request it for me.  They pulled me into the middle of the circle, and I got to dance to my birthday song!

We continued dancing for a little while, but we had class the next morning.  We were home by 1:00 am.

During the morning, we saw the museum of Delphi and visited the upper site of Delphi with the Temple of Apollo and the oracle.  I had visited Delphi with my first class, but the heat was much more manageable this time. 

We were told in the morning that the bus driver and his family were going to host us for lunch.  We drove to a town near Thebes and Boeotia.  We stopped on the side of a dirt road, and it looked a little sketchy at first.  It looked as if we had just pulled off of the road onto the side in a really random area.  However, just around the corner was Christos’ house.  As we walked up, I could see an animal roasting on a spit in their front yard; it looked very traditionally Greek.  They invited us into their home, and we changed into our swimsuits for a quick dip.

We had to follow a path through some grass and stairs to this little rocky area, where we left our belongings before wading into the water.  The path looked a little hidden, although well used.  It felt like we were making our way to our own private beach.  The water was absolutely glorious.  It was beautiful and clear and blue.  It was the perfect temperature.  Everything about it was remarkable.  I received a few birthday splashes before we all returned to the house for lunch.

It seemed like lunch was meant to fatten us up for slaughtering.  The family just kept feeding us, and the food was so delicious.  I honestly felt like I might never be hungry again at the end of the meal.  Everything was fresh and from either their garden or a neighbor’s garden, with the exception of the bread and the feta.  It reminded me a lot of the meal with my family in Rafina, although this meal was filled with a little more English.  My favorite dish of the entire meal was the tiropites, or cheese pies.  The yiayia (grandmother) had handmade the phyllo dough the night before.  They were absolutely heavenly.  We were also given plenty of meat, sausage, fries, Greek salad, and some local wine.  Food kept magically appearing, and we ate until we were so stuffed.

The perfect way to end a filling meal?  Going swimming again!  We returned down the path to see the water again.  We floated and had a good time.  It’s all fun and games until someone got hurt…. And multiple people got hurt.  A few people tried to stand on a buoy, which worked about as well as it sounds.  One girl was pushed into a sea urchin accidentally.  She spent some time with Christos’ sister-in-law with some olive oil and a needle trying to remove the quills.  Even those who were injured thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

As we were leaving Christos’ house, I noticed that they had a private chapel on their property.  It is one of those cultural differences that I wished that I could bring over to the US. 

After leaving Christos’ house, he drove us back to Athens.  There is no way I can describe how nice it is to return to my home after a week.  The prospect of laundry and clean clothes was taunting me, and the idea of my own bed was thrilling.  However, after the day on the bus and all of the food, I decided to go for a run.  My intent was to follow a path to Kerameikos, but somewhere along the way I took a wrong turn.  I thought that I knew the right general direction, but the roads that I thought would meet didn’t.  I ended up looking into a beautiful church near the Acropolis at one point in time.  I really wanted to enter the church, but my attire would have been considered very disrespectful, so I just peered through an open door for a few minutes.  I continued along the road, and eventually found myself behind Philopappos Hill.  I think that I may have come across a gypsy home.  It was such a strange contrast to see the shambles of the gypsies with some of the nice houses on the other side of the road and the ancient monument in the background.  The gypsies that I saw looked incredibly happy, though.

I continued along the road a little further and found a park filled with little children and their parents.  I also came to another church and peered through a locked gate at this one.  I finally turned around and traced my way back home.  I decided to go past the Evzone on my way home; it had been over a week since I last saw them.  I happened to arrive at Syntagma just in time for the changing of the guards.  It was strange to see Parliament at night (it was 9, although still light) without the standard gates and police protecting it.  I could actually get close to Parliament and watch the changing.  I followed the guards on their way around the building.  I walked by three stationary guards on my way home, and I swear that one of them smiled at me.

We decided to go to Gazi to show all of our classmates where Athenians like to party.  We ended up at a dance club, where some of my friends tried to make me dance with anyone and everyone with two legs (a slight exaggeration).  Let’s just say that I wasn’t too thrilled with the prospect and dancing with random strangers, so I retreated into our group.  However, the whole night of dancing was a blast!

I am still struck by the hospitality of Christos and his family.  It is so different from the States, where you wouldn’t think twice about a bus driver.  Here, however, the bus driver will invite you into his home, allow you to swim, feed you, and treat you as if you were his niece or nephew.  He did spend a week with us, but he was not always in direct contact with us.  Christos and his family are absolutely wonderful and really helped make my birthday a huge celebration.    

Looking back on my birthday, I did so much!  I can’t imagine having a better birthday in Greece.  Everyone made me feel super special, and I definitely enjoyed my day.  I am pretty sure that our celebration of my birthday lasted a solid 28 hours.  My last decade was pretty remarkable, and this decade has started with a bang!

God Bless the USA

“The secret of happiness is freedom.  The secret of freedom is courage.”

--Thucydides

The past couple days have involved less Mycenaean architecture than the rest of the trip.  Instead, we saw some extra Venetian architecture (like the Napflion fortress).  We visited Mystra, where we had dinner the night before.  This taverna was at the base of a couple mountains, and there was a baptismal party taking place in the main building—at least that was what we were told.  Mystra had an amazing view.  We were in the tall mountains, and you could see just how big the fortress was.  After a little bit of a trek, we found ourselves at the highest point of the fortress.  It was a Sunday, and we could hear some chanting or singing from a church across the valley from us.  The sound carried so clearly throughout the hills, I could have worshipped from quite a distance and still heard perfectly.  We set about exploring the massive walls and buildings.  As part of our exploration, I walked along a wall with some massive drops on either side.  About halfway down the wall, I decided that I was done.  A couple people made it out to the end where there was a little ledge you could rest on, but I was not the only one to stop before reaching it.  It was a massive drop, and I think that it was very respectable that I made it out at all.

There were so many picturesque views of the fortress as we walked from the top to the bottom of the fortress.  Again, I came to the conclusion that pictures cannot capture the views.  You can get a sense of the place, but it is not the same experience.  During our trip down, we saw two churches, one of which was still a functioning convent.  I have an obsession with churches—they are just so beautiful and majestic and holy—so I really enjoyed the walk.  The nuns invited us to view their wares, so we stopped in to enjoy some Turkish Delight and see the tablecloths and other stitchery.  The nun we saw didn’t speak any English.  She was exactly what I thought a Greek nun should be; she was smaller than I was, looked so kind, and incredibly friendly and warm.  All of this was communicated through her body language, since clearly I couldn’t really communicate with words.

The two churches we saw had such beautiful paintings on all of the walls.  Every inch seemed to be covered in some sort of decoration and religious iconography.  One was clearly in much better shape than the other, but there is something so holy about any religious building that both held a majestic quality.  The buildings were so secluded from the rest of the world, so peaceful, and so old, that they seemed to be the perfect place to worship.

We ended that night in Pylos, where we had a short Greek lesson to learn/review some Greek vocabulary.  It is nice to know that I can communicate to a very limited extent with the locals if I need to.  While I had a grasp on most of what we covered, it was good to review some important phrases.

We stopped by a beach earlier in the afternoon.  The class went as a group after checking into the hotel.  After being at the beach for about an hour, we saw our professor arrive to the same beach.  He got in the water and joined us in playing Frisbee (in a speedo).  The whole concept of swimming and playing Frisbee with our professor was a little strange, but it seemed to fit the professor and the class.  I had previously not been partaking in the Frisbee due to my subpar ability to catch and throw a Frisbee, but he tried to include me.  I definitely ducked the first Frisbee to be thrown my way, though.

That night, we went to a seaside taverna.  I think I had one of my least favorite foods at this taverna: atherina.  They were little fried fish, but you could see every part of the fish through the breading.  They didn’t really taste good either.  They were basically just skin and crunchy; there was no flesh.  While I wasn’t a big fan, there were others who absolutely loved these fish.

The following day (the Fourth of July), we visited another Venetian fortress.  It was made of stone and towers and water.  The water would crash into the rocks, and the view was spectacular.  You could feel the ocean.  It was gorgeous and magical.  The water was so clear and blue, but it didn’t let you forget it was there.  It crashed white against the rocks.  Everyone was amazed by the view.  We spent about an hour just exploring the area. 

Before we left, I stopped into an ancient church that I had seen within the fortress.  It looked so abandoned and empty from the outside, but the inside was absolutely beautiful.  There was an entire wall that just looked blue.  The blue was so comforting and pure that it made the entire wall appear magnificent.  The religious images were spectacular and so pretty.  Beyond the front of the room, the back of the room was fairly worn down.  It was not the prettiest color of stone and the chairs looked fairly old.  The constant churches are reminders that God really is everywhere.  He can always be found in the most unexpected of places, and He is not always overpowering in terms of His outward beauty.  He is unassuming, but everpresent.  His work is magnificent, as was the water, but He is also present in the simple aspects of life.  The appearance is not always an accurate representation, as the outside of this church shows.  Similarly, the whole does not need to show its beauty to make everything beautiful.  A simple wall is all that it takes to determine the mood of an entire room.

As a class, we were nervous about the Fourth of July.  It can be a big holiday in the States, and we wanted to make it a good day in Greece.  I hadn’t been very patriotic that day.  I was wearing a Greek soccer jersey and had a Greek salad for lunch.  We stopped by a beach for lunch and a swim, but lunch took up my entire break.  Once we made it to Olympia, things started to turn around.

The brother of the owner of our hotel owns a bigger hotel.  We took a taxi over to the brother’s hotel and went swimming in a massive pool.  I could only touch on one edge, and the pool was over 3 m deep!  It was such an American afternoon.  We went to dinner at a taverna, where I got my first (and probably last) Greek burger.  Don’t get me wrong, the Greek burgers are fine.  They just aren’t my favorite.  They have spices in the burger that remind me of a big meatball.  But that meant that my dinner consisted of a hamburger, fries, and ketchup.  How American?  

During dinner, we were able to compile a list of all 50 states, all of the presidents, and came up with most of the capitals.  We were laughing and joking all night about how we were behaving as American as we possibly could.  When we returned to the hotel, I flipped on the tv and found coverage of the closing ceremonies of the Special Olympics being held down the street from my apartment in Athens.  So, while the fireworks were not exactly how I wanted to see them, I still saw a part of an impressive firework display.  And thus ends my American night!

This morning, we went to the ancient site of Olympia.  The highlight for me was racing down the track.  I finished hand-in-hand with Sam, another girl from my class.  Beyond the Olympic site, the Temple to Zeus was absolutely massive.  I can’t even imagine what it looked like when it was fully constructed, but I am so impressed with the ancient Greeks.  We saw the relief sculptures from the Temple, and the figures are probably double my size.  The intricate detail work and sheer enormity of the sculptures is incredible.

My last few days have been filled with Venetians fortresses, churches, and massive monuments.  Oh, and America!   

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

“Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.”

--Dave Barry

Leaving Athens is so hard.  Athens is now home, and it is sad to spend my first night outside of the city (with the exception of Santorini) in 4 weeks.  However, Napflion is also a beautiful break.  I could see the stars and make out constellations tonight.  I could walk around without worrying as much about watching my purse-although I did still watch it.  And I don’t have to worry about the riots and demonstrations.  Even sitting here writing this, I hear some sort of noise and gathering of people.  My first thought is more along the lines of, “Wow, Syntagma seems really crazy tonight,” and then a reminder that Syntagma is not actually here and I can’t hear Syntagma from just anywhere.

The past three days have been crazy without Athens.  I have come back and been so exhausted that I could barely manage to change into my pjs before collapsing into bed.  We have spent a significant portion of our last few days on busses, but even with the time on busses to sleep, traveling is exhausting.  Some of the most exciting parts of our last few days in and around the Napflion area: going to the Greek theatre at the ancient theatre of Asklepios in Epidaurus, exploring Franchthi Cave, walking down 909 steps at the fortress in Napflion, and enjoying a mountainside dinner outside Sparta. 

The Greek theatre was a strange experience.  I am not entirely sure what I had been expecting, but I thought that I would be able to follow the storyline a little better than I actually could.  Within the first couple minutes, I was so lost.  While this theatre is beautiful and the acoustics and architectural feat is absolutely amazing, the play had very little meaning to me.  I had intended to learn a little more about the play before we left, but we didn’t have time to really figure out what the play was about.  By halfway through the play, I was noticing the stars more than the actors.  Even so, just waiting for the play to start was a cultural experience.  As important or famous people arrived, some members of the audience would start to applaud.  I was reminded of my time at the Globe, where I was miserable, but the experience was still remarkable.  I feel like I will look back fondly at this in a similar way.

Before we left for the theatre, another girl and I went exploring a little in Napflion.  We got turned around a little while trying to find the Catholic church we had seen the previous day.  We finally found this church, which used to be a mosque.  It was tiny; it looked like a maximum of about fifty could fit into this room.  There was also a crypt outside, which was so cool and a little creepy.  A motion-activated light turned on about halfway down the stairs, and it was such a unique addition to the church. 

Earlier that day, we explored a cave that our teacher had helped excavate in the late 60s and early 70s.  Seeing how much he knew and truly understood about the site was really neat.  It also gave me a better perspective on a potential career path.  Based on what I am considering pursuing (physical anthropology), I could spend a lot of my time at archaeological digs.  I started to question if I would be comfortable facing some of the conditions that my professor described.  I think that I probably could, but I know that it would be different in reality as opposed to theory.  This particular cave is so old; it has history dating to around 40,000 BC, and that is just the evidence that can be accessed due to the water level.  The walk to Frank (the cave) was breathtaking.  It was surrounded by water and nature and beauty.

Today, we walked down a few steps from a fortress in Napflion.  I had been told before that there were either 999 or 1000 steps down from the fortress.  You must have needed to count the steps from the very top of the fortress, because when I got to the bottom, I had only descended 909 steps (with a few steps.  And, yes, I did count the entire way down.)  You could see almost all of Napflion from the top of the fortress.  You could even see some of the rocks at the bottom of the beach, although not from the very top of the fortress.

We ended today with a dinner as a class at a cute restaurant right outside Sparta.  We ate at the foot of a couple mountains.  The mountains literally just start suddenly from what appears to be fairly flat ground.  Either way, the food was delicious and so much less expensive than in Athens!  It was so nice to be able to go out and enjoy ourselves.  However, we were ordering without a menu, so the money aspect was a little questionable.  We were afraid that we were all going to be broke after the meal, but I think that we were all relieved and surprised when our bill came.

Looking back over the pictures that I am currently uploading to facebook, I realize that I have a good solid section based completely around the Evzones.  Because of all of the riots and demonstrations before we left Athens, I think that the last time that I actually saw the Evzones was last Monday.  That means that by the time I return to Athens, I won’t have seen the Evzones for a week and a half.  I honestly can say that I recognize some of the guards and some of their superiors by now, which is somewhat embarrassing but shows the extent of my obsessions.  However, I miss them terribly and am so excited for our reunion.