Our Odyssey and The Iliad

“No man or woman born, 

coward or brave, 

can shun his destiny.” 

― Homer, The Iliad

We've been here a little over three weeks. I can hardly believe it! It continues to baffle me that I am actually in Greece of all places. It's a beautiful country with an exciting history, a charming culture, and delicious food. I'm in an olive, tomato, and wine lover's heaven. However, I've never been away from South Dakota this long before. This week, I found myself hit with a small bout of homesickness. Perhaps this is what culture shock feels like. The following is a passage is from a message I sent Bobby, when I was feeling particularly melodramatically helpless:

"I miss having a home in the states and I miss my sweatshirt and I miss taco bell. I miss watching tv with you and being able to read directions on the back of packages. I miss my bed and my clothes and my car and my books. I miss being able to see plays in english. I miss the theater department and not being judged for eating a burger with my hands."  

I assure you, I am still incredibly grateful to be here, but since this is a major part of the study abroad process, I thought it important to share. But on to the adventures of last Saturday. I'm starting to actually have homework and projects now, so forgive me for the prolonged post.

Our Odyssey and The Iliad

Saturday was an adventurous day, 
An Odyssey, one girl might say!
We made some plans to hit the town,
The Athens Mall and a theater round.

The day began in quite a fuss

Amanda, Jess, Anna, Debbi

We couldn't seem to find the bus! 
But thankfully the Lord did see
And sent some helpers straight to me.

The first, a graduate of our school,
Sent us to the right bus - super cool!
The second, come from Cuban dance class,
Walked us from the train - how very badass!

Once in the mall, we were very shocked,
Been weeks since we so comfortably walked.
Felt like home with burgers in hand,
(Of knives and forks, Europeans are a fan).

JOY

Shopped a lot and spent a little too much,
Greeks are such a fashionable bunch!
Amanda gave us a ride back,
Of skills, this Brazilian does not lack.

Then back on the Metro, we felt so great,
We knew we'd make it to the Iliad by eight.
One stop here, a transfer there,
Public transportation can take you anywhere!

Getting to Kallithea. 

Giggling and chatting, we had such fun,
We could make friends with anyone!
But alas, very soon, the train got tense,
A man upset with his bike? It made no sense.


But all was fine, we got off at our stop,
Just in time - that man got hot!
The doors were closed, but we had a hunch
That we totally saw someone take a punch!

...That's the only time I have ever been 
Uneasy about my safety in Athens.

Alas! We were lost! And no one could care
How much we don't want to pay taxi cab fare. 
Nothing looks like it did on Google maps,
And in Greece we don't have any data or apps.

In Kallithea, but we were so lost,
We had to give in to that taxi cab cost.
We tried to fit five of us in one small car,
He kicked two of us out - we were not getting far.

We arrived at the theater! But all was in Greek.
And looking around, we caught not a peek
Of Ancient Greek set up. We followed in line
And finally we entered the warehouse on time.

Expectation...

Reality!

Yes, I said warehouse, but it was fantastic!
And trust me, I'm not being the least bit sarcastic.
But after three hours, my friends were so done
And in English told me they were suckers of fun.

So back in the streets of Kallithea we went
To a cab to a metro and home we were sent
We stopped for a gyro at the restaurant called "MILF" *
(I know. But chill out and mind away from such filth.)

It was the best Chicken Souvlaki we have yet had.
But the fact that our big day was ending was sad.
Two girls got seconds, then we bid our goodbyes.
Our Odyssey was epic and nobody died. 

Jess, Amanda, Anna, Carissa: sucking fun.

The End. 

(tumultuous applause)










In Other News: Anna and I have still been incapable of locating some ground beef. However, we are super satisfied by the excellent fresh produce selection at the weekly farmer's market and we don't think we'll ever be able to go back to American Greek yogurt. Classes have really started to kick off for me! My favorite is Voice and Speech, though I love all the others as well. Graduation date is officially being pushed to December 2014. 

We have also booked flights to England and Italy in November. We are seeing Matilda and Billy Elliot in London and then we plan on checking out Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon and the famous Royal Shakespeare Company, possibly Stonehenge, and Canterbury (I just finished reading the tales in English class!). We also hope to hook up with my dear cousin Hillary who's been attending graduate school in England because she's ridiculously cool. In Italy, we will land in Milan and head over to Cinque Terre and then we are not sure where else. As far as flights go, here is a TIP: Easyjet.com is an excellent source for booking cheap flights in Europe! However, do it early early early early. Hence, why we are going in November. 

However, to those of you who have already traveled through Greece, England, and Italy, please post your advice for things and places Anna and I need to see! We are still lost and learning about this whole adventuring thing - we are currently facing the challenge of coordinating things like activities and hostels. I'm also slowly learning what it is like to be poor. Sending many gratitude prayers toward my parents and their support of this journey! 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about our adventures!

Σας αγαπάμε! (Sas agapáme: We love you!)
*MILF: Meat I Live For. Yeah, I know it's not much better....

Hydra Island

Note the big red star labeled "Hydra."

Hydra (Hee-drah) Island is a small mountainous Greek island just SE of the mainland and it's where we were lucky enough to spend our Saturday. Fun fact, this island is so small that there are no cars here. That's right. Breathe in... and out.... and imagine. Air without car pollution. And have you ever see water so blue?! 

But it's not so small that you can carry things everywhere on foot. That's where all of those pictures of Greek donkeys come to play. :) This island is also popular for beautiful (but rocky) swimming beaches, a lovely little museum, mountain hikes, fantastic views of surrounding islands, and a serene monastery. I swam in the bluest water on Earth and had the most relaxing of days exploring Hydra, shopping, eating, sipping frappés, and admiring the kitties. Seriously, I've never seen so many cute kitties in my life. However, I'm still getting warmed up to this whole being-abroad-for-three-months thing. And sometimes, the beauty of my surroundings gets overwhelming. When this happens, I have a tendency to occasionally chill out in the comfortable ease of "Debbi's Bubble" when maybe I should probably be jumping off of a cliff or at the very least taking pictures of other people jumping off of cliffs. So, to help myself learn from this and to keep you all accountable from making the same mistake, I made the following list. 

Things I Kind of Wish I Had Done on Hydra

(Aka, TIP: Do as I say, not as I do.)

• Ride the donkeys! And don't be afraid to bargain for it either. Two girls from our group cut the price almost in half. €10 to €6 per person for 15 minutes of donkey riding bliss.
• Stay near the leaders. This is something I have learned in the many times I have missed important details and helpful guidance because I was out of earshot of tour guides and group leaders. The important detail I missed this time was how and where to:
• Cliff dive! This is the second time in my life I have missed out on an opportunity to cliff dive. The first was in Belize and I have regretted it ever since. It won't happen again. 
• Hike to the Monastery. This isn't something I regret missing out on. Sometimes, hiking a mountain just doesn't sound fun. I'm terrible at listening to my gut when it comes to deciding what to do and order and such, so I'm glad I decided not to go. However, had I been in a hiking mood, it would have been amazing. The students who did go spoke with a monk and touched books like a thousand years old or something. So cool!
• Take pictures, idiot! You don't see this kind of beauty every day! Unfortunately, I often suffer from something called TDDD (Too Distracted for Documentation Disorder). It creeps up sometimes when I'm somewhere really beautiful or having a really good time. I always forget to document through pictures and journalling and even in this blog! (Did I mention I went to Belgium, Holland, and France last year? Nope. TDDD.)

Anna is in heaven.

However, like I said earlier, I had a wonderful time anyway - cliff dive free. The main adventure of the day was exploring Hydra, it's museum, trying new foods and swimming (keep an eye out for Anna's upcoming Hydra blog for an amusing story on my beach experience). And places like Hydra are me and Anna's favorite kind of places to go. It is the kind of place that feeds our souls. You know those places? Where you can just sit there and soak in all the beauty and the change of pace and feel good about the world. 

Photo credit to Anna 

New Foods!
Anna had her first baklava experience (success) and I had my first "Greek Delight" experience. Any Chronicles of Narnia readers out there? It's basically the same as Turkish delight. And it tastes like medicine. Some other tasty tries included fried zucchini balls and galaktoboureko (is that what its called?). The later is made with phyllo dough and custard. Dee-lish. 


We hope to tour more of the islands at some point, but boy are we having troubles narrowing down places we want to go in general. We're hoping to make it all over Greece and take some weekends in Italy and the UK as well. If we had it our way, we'd also make it over to Spain, Austria, back to Belgium and France, and maybe even Norway and Germany. It seems a shame to miss these places when tickets by train or plane are so cheap! Who would have ever thought that three months would seem like such a short amount of time? 

Also, I promise that the next blog will actually probably be more in depth on my thoughts and feelings and the things we've learned and such. You know, "my spiritual journey," or whatever. (But like I said: TDDD. It's a real thing.)  I've been here two weeks - time for the real adventuring to begin! 

www.telegraph.co.uk

Yia sas!

When in Greece, Do as the Greeks Do!

I have now been here barely over a week (What?!)--we have learned a few of the necessary Greek words (hello, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me) and have sort of caught on to the routine and daily life, presented below!

A Day in the Life of a Young Greek Person

(From an Amateur's Perspective) 

8 am: Work/School 

I have been in classes since Monday and am enjoying every single one thus far! This semester, after having to switch some things around, I'm enrolled in British Literature (with a very difficult professor apparently), Modern Greek History (40% of my grade is essay, 60% is a test... wish me luck), and three theater courses (Voice and Speech, Movement, and Acting). I added so many theater classes because I'm pretty sure I'm extending my college career by one semester. If I don't, I will probably die from the course load next semester (English + theater + 2 colloquiums + biology + everything else = death, obviously). I probably won't get to walk with my class which is disappointing...at a small University, it's kind of a big and heartfelt deal. But spending a semester in Greece with one of my best friends is definitely absolutely worth it. Everyday, I thank God for this opportunity!

But anyway, on with our day.

grhomeboy.files.wordpress.com

Breaks/Between Classes: Sip a Greek Frappé

In one of my theater classes, the professor told the students to take me out for coffee to get to know me and learn from the way I speak. And guess what? They actually did! It was lovely! Despite a slight language barrier at times, we talked about everything from music to love to our dreams and ambitions. And they taught me how to drink Greek frappes. TIP: In Greece, if you consume this foamy deliciousness too quickly (though it will be tempting), your friends will laugh at you. ("Haha, silly foreigner!") The foam lasts hours and that is how long Greeks take to sip their frappes. To quote my new friends, "In Greece, you take a sip, wait three hours, take another sip. That is how we drink frappe!"

2 pmish - 4 pmish: Citywide Quiet Hours and Siesta

This is something that took a little getting used to at first, but I have quickly adapted (hello adult nap time!). Many stores shut down during these hours and many young Greek people get a majority of their sleep during this time. You'll soon find out why.

UPDATE
4 pm: Lunch! 

The above quoted Greek friend, Peggy, has cleared something up for me. I was wondering whether and when Greek people have lunch. Apparently, here, lunch is the most important meal of the day. But they don't eat it until late afternoon. Breakfast is generally until noon and it's usually something small. Then, Peggy says that if they eat supper at all, it will be something like a yogurt some time around:

9 pm: Dinner Time!

I haven't quite gotten the hang of this yet. Greek food is so good and Anna is such a good cook! After a long day of class and siesta, why wait this long to eat? But this is the dinner rush in Greece. Many grilles may not even get turned on until 7 pm. TIP: In Greece (and many European countries) the tip is already included in the bill at restaurants. If your service was excellent, 50 cents to 1 or 2 euros is an appropriate amount. 

12 am: Hit the Bars!

Though Anna and I tend to stay in, this is the time for Greek nightlife. Supposedly, it is very crazy and often bars stay open until 6 am. Can you imagine? Thank goodness for Siesta! I did go out Friday night (I'm 21, it's allowed, don't judge me) and was surprised to see that not a lot of people were even really dancing. Mind you, this adventure took place at a beach club with live music. And people weren't dancing! You could tell where our group of Americans were by where a majority of the movement was happening. I asked one of my Greek classmates about it and she said people don't dance to that kind of music (which just sounded like club music to me). I'll let you know when I find out what kind of music Greeks do dance to. (UPDATE: It's Greek rock. Though I still haven't heard anything but daft punk playing anywhere.)


Though I did get a dance lesson the other day on our Athens tour. Yai sas for now!

It's All Greek to Me

The heart of man plans his way, 

but the Lord establishes his steps. 

Proverbs 16:9

Hello from Athens! Now it is time for a REAL update. From the beginning.

After a day or so of attempted jetlag recovery time (we are 8 hours ahead of SoDak), Anna and I finally  ventured out of our dorm and headed toward the nearest market with a group of our fellow study abroad students. Let's talk about about culture shock a little bit. This is something I have heard about my whole life but I've never really understood it. I still don't. However, when I walked into the grocery store and realized that close to nothing is labeled in English (let alone, using the latin alphabet), it began to hit me. I'm not in America anymore.

Our first market adventure!

I mean, duh, but still--Athens is a city and for the most part, a city is like most cities. And it's not like I haven't been in cities in foreign countries before. (I realized the other day that Greece is the 14th country I have traveled to!) But this is the first country that I've had to learn to really live in. The first time I've had to buy groceries abroad. Anna and I ended up being so overwhelmed, we only came home with instant coffee (that we thought was regular), tea, Nutella, and sweetened condensed milk (that we thought was coffee creamer--though that's apparently what they actually use here!). Thankfully, the school also provided us with some basic groceries in our fridge before we got here. Which was real nice. Groceries are a process.

But, it's starting to settle in a little more. We completed orientation yesterday and it was super weird to realize: Whoa. This is an actual school. People actually go here. There is a campus and there are teachers and advisors and students and.... everything! The people who have been emailing me all summer actually exist! What?! Classes actually start Monday!

After orientation, I joined a couple girls on a hike up a nearby mountainyhillthing. It was fantastic! From almost to the top, you could see ALL of Athens--literally. On our way back down, we ran into a professor from our university who let us look through his binoculars to see PARTHENON! It was again like: Whoa. We aren't in just any foreign country with a different alphabet. We ARE in Greece. We are in GREECE!

The little babiest hill in between the two bigger hills is the ACROPOLIS! 

Today, we toured our neighborhood and downtown Athens. It was an excellent introduction to the area to kinda help us get a little more solid idea of where in the world we are. Everything is made of marble. The buildings, many sidewalks, everything. It's the building material here--like cement or wood. In the next couple weeks for sure, I'll start to feel a lot more comfortable in the our area. There are many restaurants and shops nearby--even a Pizza Hut within walking distance! It will be a very fun neighborhood to experience one I've gotten the swing of things.

There is talk of going to the beach tomorrow. And in the morning, Anna and I are going to try and actually grocery shop. We've already compiled a grocery list and translated it to Greek. Wish us luck! Or, as they say in Greece, wish us success! That is better then luck.





ADDITION: If you want to see fun factoids and pictures from our walking tour of Athens, check out my new friend Carissa's blog. She's a smarty-pants and way better at remembering details of things then I am!

My New Home - A Virtual Tour

As you know, this semester, I am studying abroad in Athens, Greece. This post includes a few pictures of our apartment, in case anyone is really curious about our living situation. We are staying in a lovely little neighborhood (kind of like a suburb--think maybe the Brooklyn to NYC's Manhattan... minus the bridge). Though we are about five minute's walk from our university, there is a big green fence around campus and the nearest entrance is a few blocks up the hill.

Our building is basically a dormitory with laundry facilities in the basement, a living room area downstairs, and apartments above. All of the study abroad students are staying in this building. There are people from all over the USA, Brazil, and Egypt. I have had wonderful conversations today that I can't wait to tell you about in my next blogs. Our roommates are two girls that also came from a school together and are very sweet.

(All photo credit goes to Anna!)

Welcome to our home!  >>>


This is our kitchen. It is stocked with every cooking item we could ever ever need. At our college, there is a cafeteria (and Starbucks!) where we can pay for meals and drinks and such, but there is no meal plan. Which is excellent--I love cooking and can't wait to learn how to cook some classy Greek food! Now, we'll continue the tour through the open door...

Sneak right past me....

Keep going--don't be shy!

Pretty homey, right?! 

We had the option of buying sheets from the university, but opted to bring our own kinda crappy ones instead. We figure we can always leave them behind for more luggage space! (You know, so we can bring back y'all some cool stuff?) I am on the right and Anna is on the left. My boyfriend, Bobby, is on the picture on the wall. :) But wait, there's more!

Through the next door...

Onto our balcony!

Pretty fab, right?

This is our life. :) 

Also, this is our bathroom. 

Dancing Whales: Alaskan Adventures

Last week, I stepped off of a 7 day Alaskan Cruise. No big deal.

Just kidding. It was a big deal and it was awesome. There were 23 members of my extended family aboard this ship and it was a blast. On this vacation, we saw whales aplenty, a couple glaciers, flipping salmon, adorable seals, fantastic performances, beautiful scenery, ate fine cuisine, and danced our butts off. I don't get to see my extended family often, and this vacation, now that I'm 21, it felt like a lot of doors were opened to that I could get to know them better. And by doors, I mean the doors to the club. I hope that doesn't sound stupid, but you know? When you're under 21, you kinda have a limited time with people. You live on a different sleep schedule then those who have the privilege to go out at night.

Speaking of going out at night, this vacation, I totally got my groove back. I don't know why, but the last couple years, I haven't been myself on the dance floor. I've been self-concious and just trying to be silly instead of seriously dancing. Maybe it was just being around my crazy family that brought it back out, but I danced my heart out almost every night of vacation. One night, I actually was given the fabulous opportunity to compete in Dancing with the Stripes (like dancing with the stars, except you're dancing with the officers of the ship). Based on audience applause as judgement, I believe I got second place! The winner was a cowboy who flipped his dance partner--after that, I knew my chance was probably gone. But for the rest of the cruise, I got compliments from strangers on my performance! It was sweet.

Here are my TIPS from this trip:

Pre-Disillusionment of Frog Legs

• Frog legs do not taste like chicken. Unless that chicken was braised in fishy river water.
• When you go on a cruise or to a resort that charges extra for everything, either buy packages for things like drinks in advance, or have a budget prepared. Those Pina Coladas could add up. I was very grateful for my package!
• Don't bother paying for internet unless absolutely necessary. There will always be time to find an internet cafe or a Starbucks in port. 
• When you travel to someplace new, you have two options:
• Either a) Care and learn about a little bit of history about the destinations before you arrive! It is so much more exciting to see famous landmarks when you know why they are famous.
• Or b) Go on excursions! It's an easy and fun way to learn about the landmarks and quirks of the area, especially if you have a friendly tour guide (so make friends with him/her).
• On a cruise ship, you are going to be around the same people for a week. Get to know the people you are eating lunch by! I met people from all over, and almost all of them could talk about theater (which made a happy Debbi!)
• Bring two sweaters and a waterproof jacket. Your dad will thank you when he doesn't have to give his up because your sweater got soaked with glacier water. 

Mendenhall Glacier

The COOLEST Things I Saw

• The Hubbard and Mendenhall Glaciers. I've heard it said that soon, all of the glaciers will be gone. It was absolutely mind blowing to see something so old and to actually hear the thunderous breakage of it's melt. 
• The Whales. I mean I never saw one full out porpoise (which means jump out of the water like every stereotypical dolphin), but the blast from they're port hole (if you will) and appearance of the back and flip of their tale was an amazing enough sight for me. 
• Leaping Salmon. I couldn't BELIEVE how many salmon I saw and they were all continually shooting feet out of the water! SOmething to do with trying to break their egg sacks... Ketchikan, our third stop, is the salmon capital of the world. It's so funny to me that in the lower 48, salmon makes a fine meal, but in Alaska, of course, its poor man's food. But that doesn't make it any less delicious. 

I'm signing off now from my layover in Montreal. Did I mention that I'm on my way to Athens, Greece right now? To study abroad for three and a half months with my dear friend, Anna? Our first flight left Sioux Falls early this morning (shout out to my WONDERFUL boyfriend Bobby who drove me to the airport before 5 am) and it still hasn't sunk in that I won't be at USF this semester. Keep us in your prayers! And look forward to a blog very soon. <3