Hercules!

Yes, yet another reason why I LOVE being in Greece. Unfortunately, while traveling light I decided to go with an iPad rather than a full on computer, I don't have access to upload photos. However, with that being said, my lovely roommate said that I can use her computer to upload photos, so there will be photos to come. Maybe some weekly highlights?!

Today was another amazing day getting to know the city. We woke up early and got going at 9AM. We visited the Athens Parliament building and took a tour this morning. It was interesting to hear all about the history of Greece as well as the different parties. We got to sit in actual Parliamentary seats that are used while they are meeting! A few of us got distracted today because it was very hot, but we loved looking at the pictures in the mini-museum especially when we saw the Kennedy's!

After the tour, we began walking back towards the college. We got to talk to Tom, who is in charge of Technology  here at this campus. He knew a lot about Greek politics and told us about a strike that will be happening in the next few weeks. He explained that basically over 2,000 city workers will be laid off and therefore people are striking. We know to avoid the square whenever we go out, but the strikes are nothing like the news make them out to be. 

We went to one guy Mike's favorite restaurant today and I think it will probably be a favorite of all of ours by the end of our trip. They have amazing food. The best part? 2 euro gyros. THEY ARE AMAZING! Plus for going there so often Mike gets a discount or what they call "for you..a special!" which is really nice as well. The gyros here are amazing and its not just a pita and meat like at home. They put all kinds of things on top, onions, tomatoes, sauce, and to top it off Greek French Fries. I am officially addicted!

After lunch I went to go figure out my class. They apparently thought I wanted to take Intro to Soc which is definitely not the case, so the class I'm taking doesn't start til next week. Whats nice is that my apartment is literally two buildings away from where I'm taking classes. Doesn't get any better than that!

I told my friend that I didn't have class this week, so he researched different places to explore. He said "Hey wanna go to this arch" and I was like sure why not?! So Yentl, John and I walked over in the heat to check it out. In the afternoon Athens gets very hot, which is not fun to be out in, but also clears out A LOT of the tourists that go in the morning or weekends I guess. The arch is called Hadrian's Arch and although the exact reasons aren't know for why it was built, they think it was a gateway to welcome the king. After this we realized we were not too far from the Temple of Zeus. Another why not moment! So we suffered through the sun and checked it out. It was free for students so that was an added bonus. I couldn't stop talking about the movie Hercules (sorry I'm a little obsessed) It was great and so cool to discuss how and why they were built.

Whats so cool about Athens is that there's literally "ancient ruins" everywhere. All of a sudden you'll be walking down a street with modern restaurants and there will be a gated area with all this cool looking things inside. Since we are new, the three of us are constantly just stopping to stare.

I stopped and got a bracelet while we were walking around. I was so excited and it was only 5 euro. It was great. I had another Gyro for dinner (like I said addicted). But my total spending for the day was 9 euro for two meals and a bracelet. Thats what I call a good day! Oh plus .50 Euro for 3 huge bottles of water. Bottled water here is so cheap its great because we buy them, drink them, and fill them up with fountains that are located all over the city. Love it!

was very exhausted last night and forgot to include the best part of our day! A trip to the Acropolis. What an amazing piece of work/artwork/amazingness to finally see in person. We just walked around it a few times to take it all in. I can't believe the rich history that went into building the Parthenon. We were walking around taking pictures and began talking to these two women from Canada. They took some pictures for us while we took some for them. I kept saying thank you because they took many photos of the three of us and the woman said to me "No need to thank me! I think life is all about giving to others.....The most important thing is human connection".  What a perfect quote and it is so true. It also made me think of my mentor Michael who says things like this all the time. It really is amazing to have that human connection so far away from home from a complete stranger. 

LIz 

Surviving the first 24 hours!

Well now that I've been here for a full 24 hours, I feel that a question I keep getting is "Why Greece?". Unfortunately I don't have the best answer for this question at all, but I think that a lot of different things brought me here. I was set on going on a trip with the EIU Sociology Department for about a year and a half now, that I didn't sign up for last year. I went in the study abroad office at EIU to sign up for this summer, only to be told it was not going to be taking place this year.

After a little disappointment, I asked what they thought I should do. They told me to start looking at different programs to see what I wanted. There were no other faculty lead programs that I wanted so I began asking questions about direct enroll programs. Now I didn't think I'd actually end up in one, because they are less structured, and definitely not my style, but I thought, might as well look at see what looks interesting. I narrowed it down to 2 choices- Italy & Greece. I talked through it and realized that although I fell in love with Italy when I visited, I should try something new, and thus- Greece!

I was so excited that I began contacting the program coordinator regularly before I could even officially sign up. Her name is Dina and I thought via email she was so nice. So nice is a complete understatement for this woman. She has been amazing thus far and I can definitely see why she is doing what she is doing for UIndy. She is so organized and any problems she helps fix and addresses them immediately. Even small things, like how our apartment washing machine is tiny and loud, and after a complaint from the cleaning people she is going to make sure it gets fixed or replaced asap. She also spent the afternoon doing an orientation for us that was scheduled for last night but cancelled because one of the students was late getting in.

There are only 3 students for the summer session Odyssey in Athens. Its great because the other two students are really nice and we get along really well. We hang out with about 10 Greek American students that are here for a two week session taking classes. They are all nice and from all over the US and know all the good places to go! 

Whats nice is that one of the classes I'm taking is more of an independent study, which I did not know. Basically, we have excursions to different sites and we research them and write papers on what we saw/learned. What a way to learn about Greek Art & Architecture outside of a classroom!

I haven't started my other class because theres some confusion on when it starts and what I'm actually taking that will be figured out tomorrow.

The food here is AMAZING, as anyone would expect. We went to a restaurant last night that served us Greek Salad, fried zucchini, dill sauce (cant remember what its called in Greek) and pasta. It was delicious and more than enough to take home as a snack for today. For lunch we stopped at a little cafe and had some huge sandwiches for only 2.50! For dinner we had some more Greek Salad (which the Greek students taught me how to put the right amount of oil & other things on top), bread, and lamb with rice. I'm absolutely loving the food.

I am hoping to get to bed pretty early tonight because tomorrow we are off to the parliment building to see how that looks and to learn more about that.

Liz 

The First Day!

Today marks day 1 of being in Greece. I had a pretty good day with navigating airports and meeting new people. I sat next to a lovely couple from South Bend, IN on my way over who were on their way to England. They were quite the world travelers and had great advice and stories about Greece. I managed to sleep part of the way here so that was an accomplishment for me. Its only 6:35 at night and I am so close to crashing for the night.

My roommate and I started getting acclimated. We have a 4 person apartment just for the 2 of us, so we each get our own room with a lovely balcony as well. We had dinner with the program coordinator and I feel like I've already learned a lot about whats going to be going on the next few weeks that I'm here.

I had two VERY exciting moments today. First, I learned that the Greek Art & Architecture class I'm signed up for does not have any actual class time- its all trips to local destinations as well as museums. HOW COOL. Second, when we finished up dinner, the waiter asked me if I was a Greek American studying abroad. What an honor hahaha. 

I think there might be a third exciting moment today- the fact that I am about to crash!

Thanks to whoever reads this :-) I hope to keep this updated with my adventures abroad.

Liz