I am in Athens already, and I haven't updated you on anything yet!  Whoopsy daisy!
     Let's see, I live in an apartment with three other girls.  Each of us has a room to ourselves.  Each room has an attached balcony which overlooks the busy streets of Pangrati, the neighborhood in which we live.  This time around in the apartments we have no washer so I have to revert to hand-washing.  I either hand-wash or pay five euros for one load of laundry.  Hand-washing in the bathroom sink it is!
      My room is very spacious, which is a drastic difference from the other places in this apartment.  (see picture below- notice I figured out how to post pictures!  Yay!)  Where the bedrooms are spacious, the kitchen and "living space" are tiny!  The kitchen can fit one person and the living space consists of a skinny hallway with a couch.  This place certainly has a lot of character and charm -  minus the creepy 60s playboy women stickers stuck to the mirror  :-)  The balcony is large enough to fit a table and chairs, and many times I have gone out there to work on homework or even update this blog, such as right now :-)
    I sit out here, listen to the sound of vespas buzzing by, sip Greek wine, and snack on feta and olives and bread and olive oil.  And yes, my pinky is up as I sip wine ;-)  La ti da.
     I arrived here super late on a Friday night.  That weekend I just relaxed and made myself home in the apartment and explored the neighborhood.  I found the nearby grocery store and people watched- one of my favorite things to do.
     During our orientation, our entire study abroad group was split up into teams for a scavenger hunt.  Finally I could get my feet wet in the waters of Athens!  We found Syntagma Square, watched the changing of the guards in front of Parliament, walked down Ermou street (the hoity toity fashion lane), and found the flea markets. The streets are very busy here, but it's a different kind of busy from Rome.  The people on the streets in Rome always seemed like they were in a hurry.  Here, there are a LOT of people in the main streets, but they are lazily walking about in no rush at all.
      Anyhoots.  Classes.  We started our first class day with Language and Culture of Greece -yikes!  This class will be the death of me!  Classes here are two hours long, so the first hour we spend learning about culture-this part I find fascinating, and the second hour we spend on....dun dun dun... language.  We learn everything from politics to family roles and how families here function for the culture part.
     Families here in Greece are much closer than in the U.S., so I have learned.  Lida, my professor, explained that it is not unusual for Greeks to live at home until their upper thirties-  the reason mainly being high living expenses.  Lida said one of her own sons (35 years old) is still living at home, and this, too, is for financial reasons.  She told us another example of Greek life, in that if a child has moved out of their home but goes back to his or her parents to ask for financial help, the parents will help BUT will do so for a price! -the price being that they will invade upon their child's personal business.  They will invite themselves over to their son or daughter's home and criticize anything and everything.  Lida said she had to ask for help from her parents once, and her mother came over and criticized the arrangement of her furniture.  Pretty funny.  Pretty "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" if you ask me!  But no worries, for Windex solves all problems!  Actually, according to my Theology professor, this movie is really very accurate about Greek life.
     Also in Language and Culture class, I have been on walking tours throughout Athens where Lida has shown us the best places to buy groceries, the best places to get a glass of wine, the best places to buy candies, the best place to buy sweets and baked goods, and the best places for groceries.  She showed us a bakery which sells frappes for only one Euro.  I find them to actually be quite good, even though they are made with instant coffee.  (This brings me to another topic-Greek coffee.  It tastes like normal coffee until you reach the bottom of your mug where there lies "mud."  You don't want to eat the "mud" for it is a nasty mush of coffee grounds.
Lida also showed us the best chocolate shop where we can buy baklava.  Oh my goodness.  Baklava is so good!.  Man I must sound like a pig the amount I am talking about food on here, but hey!  Who doesn't enjoy good food?   This intro into Greek Culture is only the first hour of class.
     The second hour is dedicated to language.  Yikes!  Actually having to learn Greek brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "It's all Greek to me!"  The letters aren't even letters!  They're symbols!  I am practically reading hieroglyphics!  What. is. going. on.??? I challenge you to read a sentence written in a new alphabet where the letter 'y' is actually pronounced as a 'g,' a 'v' is pronounced as a 'n,' an 'n' is pronounced as an 'i', and a triangle is a letter.  Not so easy!  To go from from learning the alphabet to reading words to understanding what the words mean is no easy task, and Lida has no patience to slow down.  At the pace we are going, I will be fluent by the end of the semester.  Fluent or dead.

    After Greek, we were introduced to art history with Anne.  Anne is such a fun professor.  She takes us to museums, introduces us to sculptures, and actually encourages us to get out and experience the clubbing, partying, and nightlife of the Greeks.

     Why, last weekend we all went to Delphi where I saw more gorgeous ruins amidst an even more spectacular landscape of mountains, hills, and lakes between the mountains.  It was yet another Heaven on Earth.  The town itself was very quaint.  There were so many elderly women wearing babushkas and long black skirts.  My favorite view in Delphi was the view from above the theater.  It overlooked the ruins of the ancient city- columns columns columns!  In the evening the entire group gathered for a dinner made for us by the owners of the hotel where we stayed.  We had a traditional Greek meal made for us.  It started with bread and olive oil, then a Greek Salad, then a Cinnamony Chicken thigh along with some buttered noodles, and for dessert some fresh orange slices.

     Hmmmm....Let's see....We've also been to the National Museum and the Acropolis Museum.  We've learned about Korai and Kore, Dypilon Vases, Sphynx, Temples, Amazons, Pottery, Phaloxes, Pediments, and Medusas.....Yes, I did just look through my notes to list those names :-)  Athenian artwork is very different from the artworks we looked at in Rome.  In Rome we looked at incredibly intricate paintings.  Here, we look at simpler works of art, such as ancient statues and columns.  They are simple and very beautiful!
   
     Then History.  History class is incredible!  My professor Robert Pitt is British, has a very funny dry sense of humor, and just listening to his vocabulary during lecture is enough to entertain me, if not for the subject matter.  He uses words such as blokes, chaps, higgledy piggledy, jolly, and cup o' tea.
     Then Theology.  My professor is a Byzantine Priest, meaning he is Greek Orthodox.  Our class is based upon the differences between the Eastern and Western Churches......this is me deciding whether or not to give you a lesson on the differences..Now this is me deciding that I will save that for another post.  I fear it would be too long.  I'll save that for when finals draw nearer and, through posting, I also am studying :-)....this is me telling you that Father Stefanos is an awesome professor.  He makes class very interesting with field trips to Greek Orthodox Churches and classroom discussions during which we can openly ask questions about the Eastern Church.
     Let's see...what else can I tell you...The first time I went to get gyros was during our first week.  I ordered a chicken gyro - to die for!!!! With its warm and soft and slightly crispy pita, juicy hot chicken, cool refreshing fresh tomatoes and onions, and the best creamy tzatziki sauce ever I was in Heaven.  I was so stuffed!
     After eating gyros, we all - Emma, Sam, Kendall, Max, John, Emilie, and I- decided to stop at a little wine shop.  We had noticed this shop containing various barrels of wine, so we thought it necessary to check it out, and boy were we in for an experience!  We walked in and a man named George greeted us.  He was an elderly man who seemed, well, a bit out of it.  He offered Sam a glass of wine.  We thought of it as being a glass of wine for all of us to share to taste, but George proceeded to pull out more glasses and fill them up.  Soon, each one of us had a full glass of wine in our hands.  Then George sat down and talked to us.   He asked us who we are, what we are doing in Greece, where we want to go, etc etc.  When one person finished his glass of wine, George pointed at Sam and told him, "Give everything to everyone," by which he meant for Sam to pour more glasses of wine.  So Sam did.
     George then invited us all to sit at a large dining room table in the back of his shop.  So we did.  He went upstairs and came down with a bowl of olives and a pitcher which he placed in front of us.  He told us that the olives were from Crete and "Crete is Crete."  Yeah, I know.  I don't get it either... He handed the pitcher over to John and told John to "Do it, " meaning to fill the pitcher and then refill everyone's glasses with wine.  When we asked more about the olives and Crete, he went upstairs again and came down with more olives of different kinds and cheese and bread.  This time the Olives were aged, and I cannot imagine they were cheap.  He said the cheese was from Crete, and boy was it nummy.  He was incredibly generous, likely incredibly drunk, and we talked about Greece.  He did not make much sense in how he spoke.  When he did speak, he seemed to take on the voice of a philospher.  I tell, Greeks sure like philosophy;-) He gave us his words of wisdom saying, "Life is life," "Life is love" "Crete is Crete," "Give everything to everyone."  A wise man this George character is.
     Every time the pitcher went dry, he told John to "do it."  We had to have been there for at least 2 to 3 hours, and George wouldn't let us go!  He said he had more food for us, and we insisted that we were stuffed.  We really were!  We just ate gyros for pete's sake! But then he got upset that we interrupted him and told us, "You must listen before you speak."  He then went upstairs despite our begging and came down with a dish of hot peas and lamb.  This ended up being quite the feast for which we all showed major gratitude, and since we did not want to offend him, we ate it all.  We ended up buying some wine to bring back with us, but not before we met his friend Mario who he called to come over and meet us.  When Mario arrived, George greeted him calling him, "Mafia!"  Ha!  What?!  This was a crazy cool experience.
     Greeks are so very hospitable.  "Give everything to everyone" really is applied in Greece.  Here, you really get a lot of bang for your buck.  Gyros are giant!  Restaurant experiences are made very special.  People really go out of their way in Greece to make you feel welcome.  People here are genuinely generous and kind, and to many Greeks, like George, it is the company of friends which makes him rich.

Hmm...what else...

Just last week I attended a riot in Syntagma Square.  After class Wednesday, November 7, I went to A sandal shop called Meliffinos' Sandals.  They are also known as "poet sandals."  I went there with Bethani and Emilie, so we could all buy some sandals of course.  This sandal-buying was an experience in and of itself.  The sandal shop has been around for forever and passed down generation to generation.  They have customized sandals for famous actors and singers such as John Lennon, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bob Saget.  They are called "poet sandals," because the original shoe-maker wrote and read his own poetry.  I walked into this tiny shop with sandal-covered walls and pointed at a pair I liked.  A man grabbed the pair and laced them on my feet.  Then he fiddled with them and tightened them around my feet.  He then took them back to his shop and hammered away.  After this shop, we all went on a hunt for different sandals, since Bethani did not find any she liked.  We wandered through Monastiraki Square when we noticed a large group gathering at the center of Monastiraki holding one giant banner and a few picket fence signs.  At this moment they were just standing, not yet chanting, but they were just standing, gathering, and readying themselves for a march down Ermou Street leading into Syntagma Square, where the eventual large riot would take place.  At this time it is around 5 p.m. and we began to walk back to our apartment.  In order to do so, we must go through Syntagma.  As we walked down Ermou Street, the large group followed us holding up their banner and signs and chanting something in Greek.  They were not obnoxiously loud and certainly not the barbarians as they are depicted in U.S. news.  When  we got to Syntagma Square, we noticed many more groups gathered in the center holding up more banners.  They were not loud.  There were just a lot of them.  They were simply conversing with one another as they gathered in front of the Parliament Building.  The only chanting came from the groups with banners who were marching to meet up with this large group.  Otherwise, the crowd was just that.  It was a crowd of people chit-chatting.  I went back to the apartment to drop off all my things and headed straight back to the "riot" in front of Syntagma.  When we got back, nothing had changed except there were ten times as many people as before.  It was funny to look around and see street vendors among this crowd.  They were selling souvlaki, drinks, and masks (the white masks you see painters and woodworkers wear).  It was just a massive crowd.  It was a crowd gathering to demonstrate their views.  It was a demonstration that existed because these people had the democratic freedom to demonstrate.  It was so cool to see this demonstration, especially on the day after another day of democracy back in the U.S- the elections.
     Overall, the "riot" was rather peaceful as much as I saw.  It was almost like a festival with all the vendors. It got to be close to 7 p.m. and time to leave since I had a cooking class to attend.  Walking away from Syntagma I saw a few men wearing black gas masks and I heard a big "boom!"  As I walked back toward the school, it began to POUR rain!  I was dripping wet by the time I made it to the school.  Then the cooking class commenced.
     First we made baked feta with tomato and peppers- man was that tasty!  Then we glanced over at the TV screen at CNN News, and there was Syntagma Square on the screen.  Only it was up in flames and sitting in a cloud of smoke.  WHAT!!?? We were just there!

     I learned later on from my art history professor that we left at the perfect time.  She says that as soon as you start seeing men in black masks, you leave.  She has a theory that the Greek government has some sort of deal going with these men in black to spread the tear gas in order to disperse the crowd.  I also find it super interesting that there are cameramen out and about during the peaceful part of the riot with their cameras turned off.  They only begin to roll their cameras when the Molotov cocktails explode.  Huh.
     I am not sure how things are set on fire or by whom, but when I was at the riot it was nothing like what I saw on TV.  It was crazy to watch it on TV and see exactly where I was standing now engulfed in smoke.  I saw a booth in front of Costa Coffee (where I grabbed java earlier that day) up in flames.  Jeepers!
     What a day!  Here I was soaking wet in the safety of the cooking class, and there's where I was right on that TV screen.
     So.  Cooking class. It was awesome.  I learned how to make baked feta, dill chopped salad, Biftecka and potatoes with lemon.  For dessert, our chef made us baklava.  For beverage, white wine.  It was delicious to say the least.  Ask, and I'll make it for you!
     Then it was back through the pouring rain to the apartment.  When I got back, I found out from Bethani via facebook that another girl from cooking class got tear gassed on her way to the apartment, which was strange because she walks the same route as me to her apartment.  When  asked her, she told me a gust of wind must have carried it.  Wow.  What a day!
   
10-11-2012

      I am now leaving Santorini, which is (surprise surprise) gorgeous!  We arrived at our hotel, Dana Villas, around 4 p.m. and all of us were astounded, struck with awe, blown away by where we were.  The sea could not have been bluer.  The buildings were all white with blue shutters and blue painted domes.  Our hotel was basically one giant terrace.  Each room had a large terrace with white beach chairs over-looking the sea.  Our hotel was situated in the middle of Fira, the town in the center of the island.  Everything about Santorini was incredible.  Frankly, words nor pictures do the place justice.
     Around five o'clock, the sun set.  It was absolutely breath-taking.  Then all the girls headed out for dinner at a taverna in Fira.  I shared a plate of souvlaki with Ana as well as an appetizer of grilled feta and a dessert, which the waiter brought us for free.  Like I was saying earlier, people in Greece are so hospitable!!! "Give everyone everything" applies everywhere in Greece.

     The next morning I went downstairs for the best breakfast of my life - scrambled eggs, sausage, super thick Greek yogurt with honey, a piece of zucchini with cream cheese and smoked salmon, grilled peppers,  a tiny chocolate-filled croissant, and a Greek bruschetta salad.  After breakfast, Max, Emilie, and I took off for a hike from Fira to Oia.  On the way, we stopped and explored a little island jutting out from Fira and wandered around there for a while.  We climbed rocks, we threw rocks, we walked, and we talked.  From there we continued our walk toward Fira and picked up a doggie pal along the way.  This dog led us all the way from Fira to Oia.  We named her Stella, and she was great company for our three hour hike.
     When we got to Oia, we walked around, we soaked in the sights, we saw the famous windmill that has been photographed so much, we found an isolated restaurant with tables with an incredible view of the sunset.  Oia was deserted!  There were barely any open restaurants or people walking around.  At the isolated restaurant, we climbed up to the rooftop terrace.  There, we pulled out wine and chocolate and watched the sunset.  It was my own personal honeymoon.  After sunset, we walked around, took pictures, and eventually found a place that sold gyros.   We took a tax back to our hotel where we relaxed in the hotel room and planned out the next day.
     The next morning, we awoke, ate another fabulous breakfast, and headed out.  We walked to the port where we rode a donkey up to the top of a hill.  Then we took a taxi to a horse ranch where we rode horses from the countryside to the seaside.  The man who owned the horse ranch took us out on our horse adventure.  We chatted a while about Greece's culture and politics.  Along the seaside, however, everyone on horseback was silent.  It was too beautiful.