Had some guy lecture us for 2 hours about the American government, then expect us to know all about the EU, which is what the lecture was supposed to be about. That was pretty boring.
Met some Egyptian guy who worked for some important place. He showed us some pharoic masks that apparently no one's really allowed to see.
Met with the director of Arab Greek Commerce (i think that's what he was at least) that was kind of cool.
Today was the last day of our orientation lectures.
I got my schedule for the semester. Classes officially start Monday. Here's my schedule:
Tuesdays 4-7: Modern Greek
Thursdays 10:30-12: Intro to Humanities
1-4: Intro to International Studies
(the Thursday classes might be the other way around, i'm not exactly sure)
I decided to drop photojournalism b/c I think I'll learn a lot more from International Studies, and I also don't want to buy a new manual camera.
The other night we had wine (yay for cheap boxed wine...we're so classy...haha) karaoke night in our room. We figured out that you can plug computer speakers into an IPOD to play it through the speakers. We were so excited.
Tomorrow and Saturday we're going to Meteora to see the monasteries. It's on some big cliff so it'll be a lot of climbing.
Talk to you all later!
<3
29 September 2005
26 September 2005
Corinthians, castles, operas, Gone With the Wind, & Greece Wins the European Championship
*warning* This is going to be a long one.
And before I begin, for all of you that heard about someone dying in collapsed ruins on Santorini, we were not there.
Ok, Thursday. We went to Corinth and Monemvasia. It was really awesome seeing Corinth. I always think of it in Biblical times, but seeing it made me realize that the culture back then was all about the ancient Greek gods and stuff. The main street that I have a picture of, is the street that the people of Corinth brought Paul through to bring him before the Roman proconsul. The proconsul told them they should have taken him to the court of justice, so pretty much he told them Paul was innocent leaving him free to start the Corinthian chuch. Our tour guide explained that in Corinth, there were a ton of temple prostitutes, b/c it was a port city, and the prostitutes would go through town with arrows on the bottom of their shoes so the sailors could follow the arrows to find them. Apparently, the prostitutes always had their hair done up all nicely so that's why Paul said that decent Christian women should keep their heads covered - so they wouldn't be mistaken for prostitutes. He always explained about their banking system. They've had traveller's cheques since about 500BC! It was really interesting.
After Corinth, we went to Monemvasia, a medieval fortress built by some Byzantine emperor. (yes, if you look at the pictures, we hiked the ENTIRE way up the cliff from sea level) It was beautiful there. We spent the night at a hotel just on the other side of the causeway connecting the mainland to the mountain/cliff. Definately check out those pictures b/c there are some really gorgeous views.
Friday we went to see another medieval temple - Mystras. Another day with a lot of hiking. There was also a beautiful church there, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside b/c none have been published yet. After that we stopped in Sparta for lunch, then went to Olympia where our hotel was. There was a storm that night, and in the picture of Natalie and I on our hotel balcony, there should be a double rainbow behind us, but it didn't come out =( (explanation of the stray dog picture - there are a ton of stray dogs in Greece. don't worry, they're very friendly. one excorted us to class one day)
Saturday morning we went to see ancient Olympia. That was kinda cool. Don't really have much to say about that. We were all kind of tired of driving so much and seeing so many ruins in such a short period of time by that point. We were on the bus for hours each day. We pretty much went around the entire Pelopenus peninsula in less than 3 days.
Aphrodite told us there was some kind of performance at the Odeum of Herodus Atticus (the theatre on the Acropolis) Saturday night, so Courtney and I decided to go check it out even though we had no idea what it was. It turned out to be Paglicci, the opera. (dad, you're off the hook for going to an opera now). It was really awesome.
Sunday we went to the beach for the afternoon, then 5 of us watched Gone With the Wind. It was a lot of fun. In the middle of it, we heard people singing, fireworks, horns beeping, etc. Then the movie cut out to scenes of partying in the streets. Apparently Greece won the European basketball championships. It was crazy. It was still going on when the movie ended at 1:30. I kind of wish we had gone out to share the excitement. Some other people did, and they said it was a lot of fun. Oh well.
I think that's about it from the past few days. If not, I'm sure I'll add it later.
And before I begin, for all of you that heard about someone dying in collapsed ruins on Santorini, we were not there.
Ok, Thursday. We went to Corinth and Monemvasia. It was really awesome seeing Corinth. I always think of it in Biblical times, but seeing it made me realize that the culture back then was all about the ancient Greek gods and stuff. The main street that I have a picture of, is the street that the people of Corinth brought Paul through to bring him before the Roman proconsul. The proconsul told them they should have taken him to the court of justice, so pretty much he told them Paul was innocent leaving him free to start the Corinthian chuch. Our tour guide explained that in Corinth, there were a ton of temple prostitutes, b/c it was a port city, and the prostitutes would go through town with arrows on the bottom of their shoes so the sailors could follow the arrows to find them. Apparently, the prostitutes always had their hair done up all nicely so that's why Paul said that decent Christian women should keep their heads covered - so they wouldn't be mistaken for prostitutes. He always explained about their banking system. They've had traveller's cheques since about 500BC! It was really interesting.
After Corinth, we went to Monemvasia, a medieval fortress built by some Byzantine emperor. (yes, if you look at the pictures, we hiked the ENTIRE way up the cliff from sea level) It was beautiful there. We spent the night at a hotel just on the other side of the causeway connecting the mainland to the mountain/cliff. Definately check out those pictures b/c there are some really gorgeous views.
Friday we went to see another medieval temple - Mystras. Another day with a lot of hiking. There was also a beautiful church there, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside b/c none have been published yet. After that we stopped in Sparta for lunch, then went to Olympia where our hotel was. There was a storm that night, and in the picture of Natalie and I on our hotel balcony, there should be a double rainbow behind us, but it didn't come out =( (explanation of the stray dog picture - there are a ton of stray dogs in Greece. don't worry, they're very friendly. one excorted us to class one day)
Saturday morning we went to see ancient Olympia. That was kinda cool. Don't really have much to say about that. We were all kind of tired of driving so much and seeing so many ruins in such a short period of time by that point. We were on the bus for hours each day. We pretty much went around the entire Pelopenus peninsula in less than 3 days.
Aphrodite told us there was some kind of performance at the Odeum of Herodus Atticus (the theatre on the Acropolis) Saturday night, so Courtney and I decided to go check it out even though we had no idea what it was. It turned out to be Paglicci, the opera. (dad, you're off the hook for going to an opera now). It was really awesome.
Sunday we went to the beach for the afternoon, then 5 of us watched Gone With the Wind. It was a lot of fun. In the middle of it, we heard people singing, fireworks, horns beeping, etc. Then the movie cut out to scenes of partying in the streets. Apparently Greece won the European basketball championships. It was crazy. It was still going on when the movie ended at 1:30. I kind of wish we had gone out to share the excitement. Some other people did, and they said it was a lot of fun. Oh well.
I think that's about it from the past few days. If not, I'm sure I'll add it later.
21 September 2005
BEACH!!!!!
yesterday we FINALLY went to the beach. it was beautiful. (you know, except for the guys in speedos, topless women, and overweight saggy old women in bikinis...lol) the water was blue-green and warm, and there were mountains in the distance. we laid out for about 4 hours (yes mother, i wore sunscreen). it was glorious. and there was a bar on the beach so you can go get water or soda or a snack or something.
well, we leave tomorrow to go visit corinth, spart, a couple castles, and ancient olympia for the next 3 days so i won't be back online until monday. i'm sure i'll have a ton of new pictures then.
<3
well, we leave tomorrow to go visit corinth, spart, a couple castles, and ancient olympia for the next 3 days so i won't be back online until monday. i'm sure i'll have a ton of new pictures then.
<3
19 September 2005
the acropolis & delphi
Hey everyone!
We had a busy weekend. Friday night we went to this Greek restaurant with folk dances. It was a lot of fun. We even got to go up on stage and dance with them which was a little crazy b/c half the restaurant went up. Saturday we visited the Acropolis and saw the Ancient Agora (marketplace), Parthenon, the Erecthium (shared temple of Poseidon and I think Athena), & the oldest theatre in the world - the theatre of Dionysus. We also got to see this one hill/place where the orators used to speak from, and Paul preached from there. It was really awesome knowing I was standing in the same place where Paul used to preach. There was another theatre there, built about 7 centures after the original buildings on the acropolis, where Yanni played, so it was cool seeing that. Sunday we went to Delphi and saw the ruins there. On the way there we stopped at this really cute village and on the way back stopped at this hotel restaurant with an amazing view. Go check out the Picture link because I have a bunch of pictures up now. We did so much walking...I'm going to be in amazing shape by December - at least my legs.
People in Greece eat almost no junk food. Last night I was craving some so I got a little container of this chocolate ice cream with pieces of chocolate, fudge, and brownies in it from the kiosk outside our apartments (there are little kiosks everywhere in Athens...pretty much every block) It was sooo good, but expensive. It was E1.70 for an individual size container. One of my roommates, Amanda, and I were saying we could kill for a Hershey bar. haha.
For all of you worried about how safe it is here, it's incredibly safe. I think the biggest safety hazard here is crossing the street. It's seriously like playing frogger, except you're the frog. We were told to forget about all traffic laws when we got here. The pedestrians definately do NOT have the right of way.
Well, I hope you're all doing well!
Love,
Mary
We had a busy weekend. Friday night we went to this Greek restaurant with folk dances. It was a lot of fun. We even got to go up on stage and dance with them which was a little crazy b/c half the restaurant went up. Saturday we visited the Acropolis and saw the Ancient Agora (marketplace), Parthenon, the Erecthium (shared temple of Poseidon and I think Athena), & the oldest theatre in the world - the theatre of Dionysus. We also got to see this one hill/place where the orators used to speak from, and Paul preached from there. It was really awesome knowing I was standing in the same place where Paul used to preach. There was another theatre there, built about 7 centures after the original buildings on the acropolis, where Yanni played, so it was cool seeing that. Sunday we went to Delphi and saw the ruins there. On the way there we stopped at this really cute village and on the way back stopped at this hotel restaurant with an amazing view. Go check out the Picture link because I have a bunch of pictures up now. We did so much walking...I'm going to be in amazing shape by December - at least my legs.
People in Greece eat almost no junk food. Last night I was craving some so I got a little container of this chocolate ice cream with pieces of chocolate, fudge, and brownies in it from the kiosk outside our apartments (there are little kiosks everywhere in Athens...pretty much every block) It was sooo good, but expensive. It was E1.70 for an individual size container. One of my roommates, Amanda, and I were saying we could kill for a Hershey bar. haha.
For all of you worried about how safe it is here, it's incredibly safe. I think the biggest safety hazard here is crossing the street. It's seriously like playing frogger, except you're the frog. We were told to forget about all traffic laws when we got here. The pedestrians definately do NOT have the right of way.
Well, I hope you're all doing well!
Love,
Mary
15 September 2005
Greetings from Athens!
Hey everyone,
I made it here just fine, but haven't gotten to a computer until now. Our apartments are pretty nice. We even have a little balcony, which is awesome! The flight wasn't too bad. We left around 7:45pm, and they served us dinner. It was pretty good - chicken & rice, wine (yes, they serve wine on the plane), yogurt, and some kind of cake. Then I think I dozed off a little b/c I woke up around 1:30am and they were serving breakfast. Of course 1:30am is actually 7:30am Paris time. We got to Paris around 8:30am, their time, sat around the airport for about 3 1/2 hours, then boarded the plane for Athens. I fell asleep before we even took off, woke up when they served food, then fell asleep until shortly before we landed around 6pm Athens time. (11am your time) We then went out for dinner at a taverna (inexpensive restaurant) and then went to bed. Yesterday we began our orientation. Afterwards we went grocery shopping. The grocery store is about a 15 minute walk from the apartments. It was interesting trying to figure out what everything was. Some of the labels are in Greek and English, but not all of them. I hope I got butter! Syrup I guess is a luxory here because I was going to buy pancake mix and syrup, but the syrup was 6 or 7 euros and the pancake mix was pretty expensive too. We get 12 euros a day for food which is really good. I got pita, eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, water, sugar, cereal, and pasta for under 15 euros. (Next time I need to remember not to buy all the heavy stuff at the same time!) We went out for dinner at this fast food place which was really delicious and inexpensive. I had spaghetti and a soda for 4.50 euros. You could get gyros or souvlaki for under 3. After that we explored a little bit of the city then went to bed. I think I'm pretty much caught up on sleep now.
Tomorrow night we're going to a Greek restaurant with tradition dancing. That should be a lot of fun. Here's a quick look at the trips they're taking us on:
9/17: the Acrocopolis
9/18: Delphi
9/22-24: Ancient Corinth/Ancient Olympia - Peloponeesus
9/30-10/1: the monastaries at Meteora
*PS Hey Michelle...guess what they have here...Pizza Hut! haha
I made it here just fine, but haven't gotten to a computer until now. Our apartments are pretty nice. We even have a little balcony, which is awesome! The flight wasn't too bad. We left around 7:45pm, and they served us dinner. It was pretty good - chicken & rice, wine (yes, they serve wine on the plane), yogurt, and some kind of cake. Then I think I dozed off a little b/c I woke up around 1:30am and they were serving breakfast. Of course 1:30am is actually 7:30am Paris time. We got to Paris around 8:30am, their time, sat around the airport for about 3 1/2 hours, then boarded the plane for Athens. I fell asleep before we even took off, woke up when they served food, then fell asleep until shortly before we landed around 6pm Athens time. (11am your time) We then went out for dinner at a taverna (inexpensive restaurant) and then went to bed. Yesterday we began our orientation. Afterwards we went grocery shopping. The grocery store is about a 15 minute walk from the apartments. It was interesting trying to figure out what everything was. Some of the labels are in Greek and English, but not all of them. I hope I got butter! Syrup I guess is a luxory here because I was going to buy pancake mix and syrup, but the syrup was 6 or 7 euros and the pancake mix was pretty expensive too. We get 12 euros a day for food which is really good. I got pita, eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, water, sugar, cereal, and pasta for under 15 euros. (Next time I need to remember not to buy all the heavy stuff at the same time!) We went out for dinner at this fast food place which was really delicious and inexpensive. I had spaghetti and a soda for 4.50 euros. You could get gyros or souvlaki for under 3. After that we explored a little bit of the city then went to bed. I think I'm pretty much caught up on sleep now.
Tomorrow night we're going to a Greek restaurant with tradition dancing. That should be a lot of fun. Here's a quick look at the trips they're taking us on:
9/17: the Acrocopolis
9/18: Delphi
9/22-24: Ancient Corinth/Ancient Olympia - Peloponeesus
9/30-10/1: the monastaries at Meteora
*PS Hey Michelle...guess what they have here...Pizza Hut! haha
11 September 2005
I'm leaving on a jet plane...
Depart: Newark, NJ - 7:45pm (9/12)
Arrive: Paris/DeGaulle - 8:50AM (9/13)
Depart: Paris/DeGaulle - 1:20PM
Arrive: Athens, Greece - 5:35PM
I lose lots of hours in there b/c of the time changes.
Arrive: Paris/DeGaulle - 8:50AM (9/13)
Depart: Paris/DeGaulle - 1:20PM
Arrive: Athens, Greece - 5:35PM
I lose lots of hours in there b/c of the time changes.
currently in athens
6:40pm (the time posted is indeed Athen's time)
82 degrees and sunny
departure in: 32 hours
82 degrees and sunny
departure in: 32 hours
less than 2 days to go
Dear adoring fan club of my life,
So I don't have to try to remember to email everyone regularly while I'm gone, welcome to my study abroad blog =) I'll try to update as often as possible with what's going on and pictures, so enjoy, leave me comments, and send me mail!
So I don't have to try to remember to email everyone regularly while I'm gone, welcome to my study abroad blog =) I'll try to update as often as possible with what's going on and pictures, so enjoy, leave me comments, and send me mail!
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