Do I really have to back to school?

Well, spring break is almost over. It's currently early evening on Sunday. I must return to class tomorrow. Darn. I really enjoyed having time off from school work. Oh, well.

Anyway, this post is dedicated to highlighting my time during spring break and a few days before that.

Thursday, March 4, was when my break officially started. We had class at the Acropolis Museum for what seemed like the 10th time this semester. We were done by 3pm and Mary and I went shopping in Monasteraki. The other girls were busy packing since they were leaving early in the morning on Friday. That evening was karaoke night at the Athens sports bar. It was quite amusing to watch my fellow students sing (horribly). But, at least they enjoyed themselves while they sang. :)

Mary and I were the last ones in our apartment on Friday and Saturday. We went to the farmers' market to buy some olive oil and just hung around the apartment lazily. Both of us were quite anxious, so we did not sleep well.

My mother and sister arrived in Athens a little before 3pm on Saturday. Had I known that they got to the hotel earlier, I would have arrived sooner. But, I didn't get there until close to 4pm. Oh, well. We were all so glad to see each other! We made our way up to our room, which was on the 7th floor. We had a great view of the acropolis from our room, so that was pretty cool. Thanks for the suggestion, Dad! We explored the Plaka area and had dinner. We got back to the hotel and both were super exhausted so they went to bed probably around 9pm. I stayed up and listened to my iPod before falling asleep.

We woke up before 7am on Sunday morning. Then we made our to the dining room where we had a buffet breakfast full of fruit, cheese, bread, eggs, and cereal. Yum. That morning we had a small tour of the city. We saw the old olympic stadium (the same one near my neighborhood), the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, and the Acropolis! Finally! I did not have a chance to visit it until now. And it was super awesome! Unfortunately, it was raining while we were there, so we had to be careful to avoid falling. The Parthenon is incredibly huge and so cool. We were so close to it! I was so happy. After taking numerous pictures, we headed down to the Acropolis Museum. I enjoyed explaining some things in the museum to Mum and Christie. And I think they really liked the museum. We stopped at Everest, a food place, and got some lunch. After that, we went back to the hotel for a while. I took a nap, then we went to Plaka. We got dinner at at place that I had eaten at before and the food was good. We got saganaki (fried cheese) to share and I got moussaka. Very delicious, but filling.

Monday was a good day. We started out later than Sunday. We went to breakfast around 8:30 then headed to the 8-level mega-bookstore on Panepistimio. I bought the 4th and last book of the Twilight series. Then we headed to Parliament to watch the changing of the guards, but we missed it. So we went to look for a shop that my Greek language teacher told us. It's called The Mastiha Shop and it has items that contain the product from the Mastic tree. This mastic tree is only found on the Greek island of Chios and supposedly this product can cure many things from ulcers to cancer. We checked it out and the store was really cool! It has gum, many beauty products, and even cooking stuff with mastiha. We didn't get anything then, but I will have to go back before I leave Greece in April.

Afterwards, we again made our way to Plaka where Mum and Christie bought some souvenirs. Mum graciously bought me a cute pink tank top and she bought some blue slippers for herself. We continued to shop throughout the day and got some more souvenirs. It was then time for lunch we stopped at Pita Pan and got some delicious pitas. Yummy. We then dropped our gifts at the hotel and proceeded to the Cycladic Museum. It was my second time around, but I enjoyed it. Probably because I could explore it at my own pace, but it was fun explaining the figures to my mum and sister. I think they really enjoyed this museum as well. We were hungry, but it was not quite time for dinner, so we headed to Monasteraki for ice cream. I got cappuchino and baileys. Yum. Then we went back to the hotel and we booked our trip to Sounion.

Tuesday was a beautiful day. It was sunny and warm. We climbed up part of the way to Lycabettus, where St George is. We then took the venicular up to the monastery. It was absolutely gorgeous weather when we were at the monastery and the day was super clear. We were even able to see some of the islands in the distance. Then we made our way down and stopped for lunch in Kolonaki. We got a seasonal salad and a Greek pizza. After chilling in our apartment for a while, we then went to my neighborhood, Pangrati. It's about a 25-minute walk from Syntagma, where our hotel is. We walked through the national gardens and ran into Emily and her family. I showed mum and Christie my school and they met some of the staff there. We then went to my apartment and skyped with Dad. After that, we went to the square and to my favorite bakery. I got some Μπουγάτσα, a cream pie, and shared some with mum and Christie. They really liked it! After exploring some of my neighborhood, we returned to the hotel. Later we went to dinner where Christie and I shared this yummy pasta with broccoli and cheese. We were all so exhausted and went to bed pretty early.

We toured the flea market in Monasteraki for a while, then headed to Plaka to buy some more gifts. I bought Monica's bday present and she is going to love it. :) Mum bought me a 2011 calendar of Athens. Thanks, Mum. We were done with our shopping around noon, so we went to Everest for lunch. We learned that Mum's and Christie's flight was changed because of a general strike on Thursday, so they booked another night in Athens. Our trip to Sounion was in the afternoon. It wasn't raining, but it was very windy and cold. But, the temple was still very pretty. I hope Mum and Christie enjoyed the site despite the weather. We returned to Athens around 6:15 and I was tired so I took a short nap. Then we went to Goody's for dinner, which was surprisingly good. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and played some cards. I won.

Thursday was essentially a free day for us, so we just chilled out for the morning. Then we headed to my neighborhood again. Mum and Christie tried to check-in for their flight, but the website was not cooperating. Then they helped me with my grocery shopping. I then took then to my favorite gyro place for lunch. I think they really enjoyed them and were surprised that the gyros included french fries! Ha. I then walked Christie and Mum back to the road across from the gardens. We said our goodbyes. I hope they were able to avoid Parliament and the protesters in Syntagma because of the strike. I returned to my apartment and began to unpack. I checked my emails and was update on some news. Then I read my book for the rest of the evening.

Friday was another lazy and slow day for me. I woke up around 9 and made my way to the farmers' market. I got some olive oil for Mary and then bought a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. I was very happy. I really missed the farmers' market. I then spent most of the day reading my book. Mary and her boyfriend, Joey, came back from Santorini that evening. He's such a good guy.

Saturday was another lazy day for me, but I don't mind. I won't have many of these left in the semester. I finished my book in the late morning. It was interesting. Not how I thought it would be, but oh well. Joey kindly made dinner for us all and he made a ton. Could have feed 8 people with full portions. There is still more than half remaining. We spent the evening hanging out together and it was good.

Today is Sunday and the last day of break. I was incredibly bored so I took a walk around Plaka. Then the rest of my roommmates returned in the late afternoon. Thank goodness. Turns out they didn't get to Croatia, but spent their break in Roma. Not a bad alternate.

Overall, my break was good. It was the best one so far during college. This weekend we continue with our field trips. We go to the Peloponnese and I am excited to see Pylos and Sparta.

γειά σου όλοι

Spring Break is almost upon us

Γειά!

It has been about two weeks since I lasted updated, so here we go.

Penn State's Dance Marathon or THON occurred and raised $7.8 million for the kids! That is truly amazing and I am so proud to call myself a PSU student. Many of my friends and sorority sisters were dancing that weekend. If you don't know too much about THON, dancers are chosen from a lottery system and cannot stand or sleep for 46 straight hours. They endure pain and sleep deprivation in order to channel what the kids are going through during treatment. I was able to watch the event online and I felt so connected. So,thank you to all who danced, were on committees, volunteered, and supported everyone. One day, we will find a cure!

On Monday, February 22, I woke up and did not feel good at all. I must have eaten something bad the day before. So, I missed my first class, but by the afternoon, I was feeling much better and could keep things down.

Two of my professors were away on field trips, so I did not have class on Tuesday or Thursday. On Tuesday, my roommates and I headed downtown to a huge multi-language bookstore. It had 8 levels and had many books in English. Since I had already read book 1 of the Twilight series, I decided to get books 2 and 3. I know what you are thinking. I have fallen victim to the craze, but I'm not obsessed with them like other people that I know.

Nearly every single office and public institution was on strike on Wednesday. Everyone just decided to make a statement to the government and pretty much everything was closed, schools included. Not mine however, because we run separately from the other institutions in the city. It is complete chaos when someone wants to strike. Taxi and bus drivers march down major streets and don't forget about the Communists! Oh, geez. You would never hear of this back the States.

I got my midterms back in Killebrew's classes and I got 98% on each of them. She doesn't believe in giving perfect scores, so she finds the most miniscule things in order to dock points. Oh, well.

Friday's day trip was my most favorite of them all. We made our around eastern and south Attica. We first stopped at Brauron where there was a temple soley dedicated to women. Interesting. We then headed down the coast to Thorikos. Thorikos was home to a theatre and an ancient mine. Pretty neat. However, I was itching to get to Sounion, the place of Poseidon's temple. We finally made it there and I was in awe. The temple is situated on top of a cliff that is right next to the sea. Oh, the water is super blue. The setting was the most gorgeous I had ever seen in Greece. It is a must for any traveler going to Greece. While there, most of my group headed down to the water, but Teresa and I stayed behind and enjoyed the peace. It was mostly silent with the occasional sound of waves crashing and sunny. Favorite place outside of Athens hands down.

Saturday was one of my roommate's birthday, so we went to Aegina for the day. Aegina is an island just off the coast of Attica and takes about an hour or so on the ferry. Everyone in my apartment and all the guys went. It was a great time. We originally wanted to go swimming, but we couldn't make our way to the beach, so we hopped on a bus and visited a very large Orthodox church. The church was incredibly beautiful and huge! We decided not to take the bus back, so we walked back to the main port. That took us a little over an hour, but it was a good stretch of the legs. We took the 6pm ferry back to Athens. It was interesting waiting for the ferry because it was very windy so the waves were HUGE! I got splashed several times waiting.

Sunday was a day of rest and I did my Greek homework. We are learning about the accusative case. Only two of us took Latin and ancient Greek, so we understood the case, but everyone else were scratching their heads. Thanks, Latin and ancient Greek!

This current week, we don't have Killebrew's classes because she's back in the States. We do have John's class every day except Thursday. We finally began to talk about Justinian and the construction of the Aghia Sofia in Byzantium (or Constantinople or Istanbul).

Monday was the first day of March, so happy March everybody! I can't believe my program is more than halfway done. I don't want to leave! Later that evening, a bunch of us went to the Athens sports bar for trivia. We got second place! Not bad.

On Tuesday, we went to the National Museum and talked about Archaic and Classical statues. Whoo. It is incredibly boring mostly because we spend 20 minutes on one statue alone! Oh, so boring.

We had John's class outside at a cafe and discussed Islam. It was super fun and interesting. I am very intrigued by the history of Islam and I can't wait to learn more about its rise, dominance, and conquest of Byzantium. We had Greek again and we are learning so many new verbs. I should try them out, but it is so hard because we try to speak Greek to the locals, but they speak English back to us, so it doesn't help at all.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we only have one class and then my spring break starts sometime before 3pm! I can't wait for spring break. I am so excited to see my mum and oldest sister. It will be a great break! So, Mum and Christie arrive in Greece in 3 days!!

Since I won't be updating again until after spring break, I hope you all have a good two weeks!

γειά σου όλοι