There's four cheeses on here, Mary!

γειά σου όλοι!

It's around 8pm here on Saturday and this past week has been busy and fun.

We visited the Cycladic art museum on Monday for our Crete class. Cycladic refers to several islands in the Aegean that are in a circular pattern. The art in the museum is gorgeous and there is a great exhibit on Eros (the god of love). We each had to do a presentation on a particular Cycladic object and it was really neat to hear about everyone's object.

That night we had a pizza and game night for all the girls. It was super fun and I played a new game. It is called Phase 10 and it is a card game. Each round you have to get a specific phase in order to move on in the game. If you didn't get that phase, then you had to repeat that one until you got it. It takes a long time to determine a winner.

Tuesday was a normal class day and we talked about our upcoming Delphi trip. One of the girls, Mary, will have her 21s birthday while we are there, so we want to celebrate it by going to the oracle.

We talked about The Iliad in class on Wednesday and it was good. We went over the main cast of characters and attempted to write a good summary of the story, which is harder than you think.

On Thursday we had to do some more paperwork, this time for the police. So, we had to go to the police station and while there we saw a guy get arrested. Awesome. We had both classes, but our last one, Byzantine history, was later than normal (5:30-7:30pm), so my suitemates and I went to a cafe for coffee in between classes. We attempted to order in Greek and our server helped us. I ordered a cappuchino and it was delicious.

John, my Byzantine history teacher, is probably the most engaging and fun teacher I have ever had. I truly enjoy his class and I can't wait for him to be our tour guide in Delphi, which will be in about a week.

Friday was the day for the Λαϊκή (street market) and I got a lot of fresh veggies and fruit like tomatoes, kiwi, and lots of clementines. The market is super cheap and the best place to get fruits and veggies. We also went shopping in Syndagma Square before class and I bought a cute dress. We learned several swear words in Greek class and it was probably the highlight of the class. Later that night, we had another game night where we played more Phase 10 and also KIngs. Both are card games.

Today was a good day. I did some Greek homework, made a grilled gouda cheese sandwich, and chatted with the 'rents. This afternoon, seven of us (4 guys, 3 girls) took a hike up to St George church on Mount Lycabettus. The hike was pretty grueling and it reminded me of The Thousand Steps hike. Oof. But, once I got to the top, the hike was worth the pain and time. The view of the city of Athens was absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking. I almost didn't want to leave, but it was getting really windy and cold.

That's all I have to report now, but καλό Σαββατοκύριακο! (have a good weekend!)

My life is now a bit incomplete

I received an email from my father yesterday evening urgently explaining that he needed to ichat. I was a bit alarmed, but nothing prepared me for the news I got.

My dearest and most loving beagle, Indiana, passed away on Sunday morning. Doctors believe it was a tumor, which can explain some of his oddities and habits. I truly never thought this day would ever come. We had him for nearly 4 years and I thought I would have more time with him, even though he was pretty old.

Now I know this doesn't really pertain to my trip to Athens, but it's life altering news. I will no longer have that sweet faced beagle greet me when I return home after 4 long months. It's hard for me to bear that right now. And this will probably affect me in some way while I'm here. I know that I will be at times sad and have bouts of melancholy, but I refuse to be a hermit. I will continue my life, but it will be different, and I'm not sure I will like that.

It's hard to imagine my life without this precious beagle who helped me and my family cope with the death of my grandfather. He provided solace and brought smiles to our faces. It was hard to ever be mad at him for long. My senior year of high school would be dramatically different and college life would be even more different.

Sometimes I might have balked at coming home from school to take care of the dog while the parents were away or not taking certain trips, but in the end, I really didn't mind. I loved him and he loved anybody who would take a second out of their lives to dote on him.

Now, this news is so hard on all of us. Being told through ichat while away in a foreign country is obviously not ideal. I'm a huge mess right now and it doesn't help that there are stray dogs all over Athens that constantly remind me of Indiana. Not able to really say goodbye until months later and not being able to comfort my sisters and parents, who probably took this even harder than we did, is super hard. I feel so distant from everyone.

I truly hope that God is watching over this wonderful dog who just loved to chase bunnies, snuggle up to you, and eat prime rib. A chunk of my heart has gone with him to heaven and my life is now a bit incomplete and it will take a long time for that to heal.

I will always remember and love you, Indiana.

Why are we in a ghetto hospital?

γειά σου όλοι!

It is currently 4pm here on Saturday. The weather has been normal for Athens in January. Meaning it's cold and rainy all the time. So, that is why I don't have any pictures to post right now since nothing has been pretty enough to be photographed these past several days. I think the rain and the cold is supposed to continue for the next week. I already miss the days of sun and warmth.

Before we went to any of our classes on Tuesday, we first made a trip to the most ghetto hospital in the city. We had to get tb tests, which hurt a lot, and chest x-rays. Unfortunately, one of the guys passed out after receiving the test because of dehydration. He had to stay in the hospital for a few hours, but we later retrieved him in time for class. The x-rays were very awkward because everything above the waist had to come off. Some of the girls had a guy take their x-rays. Very awkward. Luckily for me, I had a lady.

On Tuesday we had two new classes. Our first class was Archaeology or it might have been renamed Aegean Civilization. Not really sure. Then we had our other class: Byzantine History. Our professor's name is John and that is the only name we can call him. He's an outgoing man who constantly entertained us in class with all his swearing. John says the class might be the most boring class we have ever taken because the Bzyantine era is not fun at all. Joy. But hopefully his personality will make the class a bit more exciting.

We had our final new class on Wednesday morning with Dr Killebrew. It is the Trojan War in myth and literature. We have to read The Iliad in its entirety in one week. There are 24 books, and I am only a 1/4th of the way done. Oh, boy. We continued with our Greek language class a few hours later and I am beginning to understand pronunciation. In fact, our teacher, Yanna, is quite impressed with my pronunciation of the language. That one semester of ancient Greek nearly three years ago certainly paid off!

We had to return to the ghetto hospital to check on our tb tests on Thursday. I and the rest of the gang passed our tb tests. Yay. After the hospital we took a tour of a polytechnic school in the city. The only college remaining at that certain campus is architecture. The campus could be a lot nicer if there was less graffiti and someone actually took care of the grounds. We learned that there the students at the school have a significant influence over the actual school itself. They can decide whenever they want to close the school and they are very aware of government policies. There is a law in Greece that protects any person who enters school grounds from the police. The tour was long and interesting and we barely made it back to the Athens Centre in time for our class.

We only had archaeology on Thursday and it was more interesting that day. Although, the centre is not very technology advanced so we had to use old-school slides for class.

Friday, as always, has the Λαϊκή (street market). All of my suitemates attended the market with me and we all bought tons of delicious fruits and veggies. I bought green peppers, carrots, spinach, apples, and clementines. There are a lot of orange trees in this city and thus oranges are everywhere. Honestly, when I thought of Athens, oranges did not cross my mind.

We only have one class on Fridays and that is Greek at 4pm. We had our first quiz and I know that I aced that quiz. It was super easy. I really like our teacher and I feel that I have learned a lot of Greek already in three days of learning.

All of us except for two decided to go dancing at some of the clubs in the city. We had nine people and filled the cabs with 3 persons each. We left some time after midnight since clubs usually don't begin until 2 or 3 in the morning. I was in a cab with Kadi and Kyle. We left first and "arrived" at the location of this club called Envy. However, we learned from many Greeks (some helpful, some not) that the location and name changed. We walked around for a long time before we made our way to the main clubbing section of the city. We got separated from the others and we had an adventure of our own. Unfortunately, the experience wasn't fun for me especially since Greeks smoke a lot and I began to get sick, so I decide to head back home. As I neared my building, I ran into two of my suitemates and we got back to the apartment together. I fell asleep around 4am and everyone made it back some time later than that.

I did not wake up until 11:30am and I was the first one up. Today is the perfect day to stay inside and make real progress with The Iliad. This weekend will be rather subdued since we have several things to read for the coming week.

That's all for now folks.

γειά σου όλοι (means goodbye and hello)

Time For Greek

γειά σου όλοι (Hello all!)

Sunday was a free day for us so we explored the flea market near the Plaka. I was in need of some sunglasses, but luckily for me, there were many to choose from. Mine cost about €6, not bad. There were a lot of shoes stores and many sketchy vendors (all non-Greek).

My first suitemate, Teresa from Wisconsin, and I went for lunch at a local taverna. We had a great view of the acropolis from our seats and the waiter spoke English and was very kind to us. Our meal was very Greek and incredibly delicious! Yum. We explored more of the market and met the most friendly greek man ever! He recognized our North Face jackets and began a looong conversation with us, but we didn't mind. However, I could've done without the pinching of my cheeks. Ouch.

We met up with the rest of the group to head home because it began to rain and luckily no dog followed us this time! The rest of the day was uneventful. I finished the first book of the Twilight series (yes, you read that correctly,) and read through my travel books on Athens.

Zach, one of the 4 missing, arrived in Athens Sunday night. So, then we were only missing 3 girls.

Monday was the first day of classes. The boys were late to class, which was at 11:30 and Dr Killebrew was not happy at all. We began with our history class on Crete. We already have to write 2 papers, but they shouldn't be hard to write at all. Dr Killebrew is pretty cool and I can't wait for our other class with her. We had time in between our two classes to get some more notebooks and gyros for lunch.

Gyro is the most delicious "sandwich" ever made. It consists of meat, french fries, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki (yogurt, cucumbers, and garlic). Oh, man. πολύ καλά (very good).

We then had our Greek language class at 4pm. Our instructor Yanna is very nice and really wants to help us learn her beautiful language. We learned the letters and some introductory words like hello and how are you. I am very eager to learn more.

We only have two classes a day, for two hours each. The classes go by very quickly and it hardly seems that we were in class for 4 hours.

The remaining 3 girls arrived late afternoon, but did not attend the language class with us. They were very tired. It should be interesting to figure out all our shower schedules and other things in the apartment. Oy, vey.

Tomorrow we have to get up very early to some more crap for the visas and Greek government. Not looking forward to that at all. Boo. Then we have two classes: Archaeology and Byzantine history. Should be interesting.

That's all, folks.

καληνύχτα

(good night)

Americans attract stray dogs in Athens

Hey all!

I decided to start a blog for my semester abroad in Greece.

My apartment is pretty big so far since there are only two of us in it, but there will be five. Oy.

Our neighborhood is cute and very close to the Athens Centre, where we take our classes.

We walked around the city a lot so far and have had about 6 stray dogs follow us everywhere in the past two days. I think a few may be hanging outside of our building right now.

I'll keep you all updated more about my time here.

Mal