To Feel the Spotlight on My Skin

Another amazing opportunity opened itself up to me last week. I was an extra in a movie.

You read that right, an extra in a real movie. The Two Faces of January, to be more specific.  Last Thursday, some of my friends received an email (that was originally sent to their mothers who then sent it to them) about a movie that was looking for American college girls to be extras. Morgan told me that I should go with her down to the casting audition. Why not? I thought. It would be interesting to say that I went to a casting audition while in Greece.

So I went.

There were 8 of us from CYA who went to the audition. As far as “auditions” go, it was probably one of the easiest. All we did was sit there in front of Fivos (the co-casting director) and told him our names, height, weight, shoe size, shirt size, telephone number, age, and let him take a pictures of us. Then we left with promises that we would hear from him on Saturday.

Mind you, I left the audition as somber as you can be. I just knew that I wouldn’t be chosen for the part. Even though 8 girls were needed and 15 (including us) had already tried out, I knew they wouldn’t pick me. Compared to the other girls, I wasn’t nearly as pretty and, let’s face it, Hollywood (or the British equivalent because it was actually a British movie with American actors) was all about the pretty face.

Saturday rolled around. I was sitting in my room, trying and failing to do homework, when I hear Morgan answer her phone. All of a sudden she is in my room jumping up and down as she is talking to Fivos. She got the part. When she hung up, I hugged her and we jumped up and down together.

Then, my phone rang.

I didn’t know the number. It couldn’t be Fivos telling me I got the part. It couldn’t be. I answered the phone and indeed it was Fivos.

It was very surreal.

The Two Faces of January takes place in 1962. So we had to go back to the studio and get fitted for period clothing. I found out the real reason they chose me; as the nerd. I got to wear a long skirt and blouse with green and yellow triangles and squares. My hair, curly as it is, only had to be teased a little bit in the back to give it more volume. To top it off, I got these nerdy horn-rimmed glasses. I was the perfect 60s nerd*.

We were supposed to film on Monday and Tuesday. However, due to the weather on Monday, we didn’t really do anything. After getting our hair done and getting into costume (they had to sew me in because the zipper on my skirt broke) and walking all the way to the Acropolis in our 60s heels having everyone stare at us, they tell us that we are not needed. Then we had to walk all the way back.

I didn’t miss any classes on Monday, however I had to miss all of my classes on Tuesday. Since Monday was a bust, I ended up being at the studio and on set at the Acropolis for over 12 hours. Our scene was even the last one filmed of the day and it took us two whole hours to film what has to equal at the very most 5 minutes of film time! And though I didn’t get to meet Kirsten Dunst or Viggo Morteson (the stars of the movie), I did get to meet Oscar Isaac. He was the tour guide that showed us college girls around the Acropolis. And boy, was he sweet! He was so very nice and so very funny. In between takes, and during takes at some point, he would say something and we would all laugh. The crew was also very funny.

It was an amazing experience! I am so glad that I was chosen! Come 2013 (possibly 2014) you all should go and see it! In one of the takes, the camera is focused directly on my face. And some might say that my scene might get cut but I know that can’t be the case. Our scene is where Oscar meets Lauren (played by Daisy who is also 20 years old and the sweetest person I have ever met! She went to an acting school and this is her first movie as well!). Also, I heard that our scene is one of the director’s favorites and that he took extra care in picking the girls. And I was one of them!

My time in Greece has been so amazing so far! I truly am lucky to be here having these experiences.

*According to the contract I signed, I can’t publish any photos relating to the movie until after it has been released. I did take photos, but I can’t put them on the internet. Sorry. However, since most of you are facebook friends with me, you have probably already seen some pictures.

One Plate of Ambrosia with a Cup of Nectar Please!

How can I possibly begin to describe the amazing adventure that was climbing Mt. Olympus last weekend? The words would turn to dust on my tongue due to their horrid inadequacy.



Let me try anyway.
For starters, we were horribly misinformed with regards to our bus ride there. I walked onto the bus ready for a nice 3 hour drive spent reading a book on my kindle, maybe doing homework if I was feeling particularly productive. It turns out the mountain was much farther away than any of us had anticipated. Seven hours I spent on that bus. I got a few good naps in and made pretty good progress on my book (I almost finished it right then and there). But oh how stiff we were getting off that bus!

Then came the 3 hour long hike to the shelter. And since we were a group of young and spry college students, we made the trek in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Go us! I wish we would have had those extra 20 minutes on the trail, however. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous! In the beginning of the trail (once we got past the awful mule poo smell) there were pines and moss covered stones on both sides of us. It was like we weren’t in Greece anymore; that kind of image just doesn’t pop into your head when you think of the Mediterranean. 

The scenery was exactly how I pictured the woods in one of my novel ideas to look and, for half a second, I expected one of my characters to simply slide out from behind a tree. The entire hike was uphill as is to be expected when climbing a mountain. My legs felt perfectly fine afterwards, if not a bit chilly from the mountain breeze. It was a very good cardio workout indeed.

Once we got to the shelter, we had to take off our shoes and place them in these cupboards. The shelter provided slippers for us except by the time I got to the crate, the only thing left was a pair of giant flip flops, far too big for my size 6 feet. Then came for what we were all waiting for: food.

I shared a large plate of pasta and a bowl of soup with Rebekah. The soup left something to be desired but the pasta was delicious simply in its familiarity. The shelter even had hot chocolate. That was by far the best part of the dinner right there. I’ve missed the feeling of warm ceramic heating your palms while the dark, sweet liquid heats your soul. Things got a little crazy when Jake spilled wine all over me as we were actually talking about libations and whether or not we should do some in hope that we would be favored the next day. That is how I became the divine instrument of the gods. I receive visions and Megan, acting as my Cybil, interprets them. Just a day in the life I guess.

Then we went outside to look at the stars.

The night sky was completely breathtaking. You could see the Milky Way so clearly. The amount of shooting stars we saw was so numerous that it was hard keeping count. We went back outside after 10:00 when the generator was turned off and saw even more stars. It was truly incredible. I also caught a glimpse of a blood moon trying its hardest to catch up to our altitude. My group of friends and I huddled together in a giant cornucopia of warmth, craning our necks, for quite some time.

This is only one part of the long bed.

The sleeping arrangements at the shelter were another thing entirely. Essentially, there were two long wooden benches with mattresses placed on top. All 26 of us (4 guys included) had to sleep right next to one another, basically cuddling to stay warm. At least that was the plan. I still froze throughout the night. Some people only slept a few hours.

I began Saturday with a nice breakfast of bread and cheese and another mug of glorious hot chocolate. Then we were off! This leg of our journey up to 200 m away from the highest peak, known as the Throne of Zeus (the last 200 m were a climb/scrabble on a 60 degree cliff face) was a lot harder than the trek to the shelter. There were times when the incline was almost too intense for my ankles to bear. I definitely got a good cardio workout. The view, though, was phenomenal! I took so many pictures.

The Throne of Zeus from our highest point.

One we reached the top (or as high as we went), I stopped to just soak it all in; the mountains below and across from us, the tiny stretch of city we could barely make out as it boarded a body of water, the crisp mountain air stirring my curls. I couldn’t believe that I had just climbed up a mountain. Not just any mountain, mind you, but Mt. Olympus! The Mt. Olympus! The gods of old were just 200 m away from me! The rush that that thought alone sent rushing through my veins was more than enough to make me giddy as we began our trek back to the shelter for lunch (and my last steaming mug of hot chocolate) and again down through the forest of my dreams to the bus.

Ending the whole experience with another seven hour bus ride was not the ideal conclusion at all, but it gave plenty of time to reflect on the experience as a whole…

…also for some endorphin-fueled shenanigans along the way as we danced to our music in the very back of the bus while everyone else was trying to sleep.

The view.

Of course, I had to get my cliff shot!

The Family that Eats Together...

A tradition has sprung up in my small-ish circle of friends here at CYA. Every Thursday, we gather at someone's apartment and have a very large (and very delicious) potluck. Since we've all gotten into the habit of referring to each other as "CYA family," these dinners almost immediately went from being called a "potluck" to the "family dinner."

The Thursday that just passed marked the second family dinner we have had over the course of our stay here in Athens. This time, it was hosted at our apartment.


Is your mouth watering? Because mine sure is.

Everyone arrived at around 8:00, their promised dish in hand. We had everything covered from a wine and a fruit platter, to bread and cinnamon croissants, fried chicken, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, ratatouille, and of course dessert: cinnamon cookies and monkey bread. It was all very delicious!

I made the mac and cheese and let me tell you, for being less than a novice when it comes to cooking, that was an adventure all on its own. I had to look up recipes that seemed delicious yet simple enough for me to do. Then came trying to find what I needed; Greece doesn't have everything, you know. I was really hoping for some pepper jack cheese to spice things up a bit but, alas, that doesn't seem to exist here. Then I had a few (many) problems while making the darn thing and, in all honesty, almost broke down into tears at one point. While I was adding the enormous amount of cheese in my sauce, I accidentally turned the dial past 0 (which is what I aiming for) and instead put it on the highest setting...which started burning the cheese to the bottom of the pan. It was a very interesting point of my life, standing there in panic trying to figure out what in Zeus's name I was going to do.But I persevered and finally ended up with what you can see in the picture above.

I'm not sure if the others knew I was very self-conscious about my cooking and tried to make me feel better or if it actually tasted pretty good, but either way people said they liked it. That definitely was the highlight of my day. 

Whoa, I didn't know knives were on the menu.

As with any family dinner, of course shenanigans have to occur in order for it to be a legitimate family gathering. So not only did we have a certain goof (cough Dylan cough) carrying around our fire extinguisher for no reason besides the fact that he could, Santa also appeared briefly in the form of Robbie wearing a bag on his chin.


And so we acted like a real family. We ate. We laughed. We got insane at many different parts of the night. We drank wine and got slightly tipsy (but that could have just been the atmosphere of having so many ridiculous people together in one small little apartment).

We didn't start to make our way back to our respective apartments (not hard for me since I was already there) until around midnight or 1:00, after we enslaved some of our friends to clean the dishes since we were hosting.

 







Attention to Detail (Wrong and Right)

Holy freaking cupcakes, I haven’t posted in nearly three weeks! I am so sorry! I promise that after this post, I will post more regularly with pictures and everything! Again, I’m so sorry!

Now let’s get on with the show.

Let me start off with saying—again—that the American media is really exaggerating what is happening in Greece right now. Yes there was a demonstration earlier this week and yes tear gas was used to dispense with the crowd, but this was only towards the end of the protest. For most of the day, everything was peaceful. I know, I was there in the morning. Besides the rhythmic chanting and fist pumping, everything seemed almost like a parade. There were people standing around, talking to one another and watching the different groups with the different causes. Some had even set up stands around the route and sold souvlaki and water bottles to both the protesters and the spectators. Also, when the “masked men” show up to start fights, most people leave before anything gets too serious. Thus, for the majority, those affected by the tear gas were the ones who wanted to escalate things in the first place.

I know I promised to write a post strictly dealing with my first week in Athens. But that week was actually pretty uneventful after the first day. It was orientation and so much of my time was spent in meetings with CYA professors and administrators learning about what to do and what not to do, how to remain safe, and some extracurricular activities that are sure to make us experience Athens to the fullest. I’m thinking about taking bellydancing as well as Greek dancing while I’m here.

Besides that, all I did that first week was explore Athens. I went to Syntagma square a few times. I’ve been through the National Gardens more times than I could count, both on my runs (as I train for the marathon!) and as shortcuts to get back to my apartment (I am very VERY close to the gardens).

I took a weekend trip to the island of Andros. The wind there was insane; I was almost blown off a cliff and into the raging ocean on more than a few occasions. I saw the archeological remains of Ypsili; a site with the foundations of several houses with fire pits, a temple, and an alter all from the Bronze Age. I saw a 19^th century olive mill that had been restored to its former glory, complete with a video of how olive oil was made back in the day (a lot of hard work!). I also saw a monastery on top of a mountain that was built in the 11^th century! The story goes that two hermit monks were trying to find a place to worship where they would be close to God. They found an idol of the Virgin Mary and carried it to their camp. In the middle of the night the idol began to glow and walked its way back to its original place, the place where the monastery was later built. 

A shot of the painted ceiling, cross, an chandelier in the main Chapel.

The beaches there were positively gorgeous if not a little deadly when the wind would pick up sand and toss it at your face. The walks to these beaches were also arduous with many flights of stairs and steep inclines. At least I’ll stay fit! I also took a trip to the Temple of Poseidon in Sounio. Of course the ruins were located on a cliff with the most beautiful seascape behind it.

The Temple of Poseidon in Sounio is on the southern most tip of mainland Greece.

The entire program went on a five day excursion to the island of Crete last week. I was able to visit the amazing ruins of Minoan palaces at Malia, Gournia, and Knossos—even though the hideously inaccurate reconstructions Sir Arthur Evans did at Knossos really was disappointing. There were several museum visits in which I saw some amazing finds like the controversial Phaistos Disc. Was it really found in situ or is it just a hoax created by an archeologist?

The Phaistos Disc, a clay disk with 241 etched figures, was found in 1908 by Luigi Pernier near the Minoan palace of Phaistos. 

There was this absolutely gorgeous rhyton made entirely out of rock crystal! It was originally found in hundreds of pieces and had to be put back together again! One would think if that was possible, poor Humpty Dumpty could have survived his nasty fall.

I also had an incredible adventure in the form of a 16 km hike down the Samarian Gorge. It was loads of fun, if not a little arduous with all the loose rocks and questionably constructed bridges. My hips were burning the next day…and a few days after that as well.

A gorgeous mountain shot nearly halfway through the Gorge.

I also recently just got back from a small trip to the island of Santorini with a few friends. If you’ve ever seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the city of Ia looks exactly how it is portrayed in the movie! 

City view from Ia.

Whitewashed buildings with blue domed roofs sit on top of a cliff and look out towards the bluest of water and the brightest of sunsets. 

I went to the ruins of Ancient Thera and saw some graffiti from the Classical era. The hike there was interesting to say the least—about 45 minutes spent switch backing a mountain in the Mediterranean sun. I also went to a bagpipe museum that was being run by an alumnus of my program! We got a live demonstration not only of the Greek bagpipes but also of various other types of flutes with music from Santorini’s different controllers throughout the years (Venetians, Byzantines, Ottomans, etc.). She then took us out to dinner.

The highlight of this trip had to be my visit to the ruins of Akrotiri, which is basically the Greek version of Pompeii. Though it has been excavated since the 1960s, the site has only been opened to the public since April of this year. Archeologists found ash casings of people, furniture, and food! This civilization was so advanced that they not only had buildings 3-5 stories high and drainage and sewage systems, but also indoor plumbing with both hot and cold water. Some people believe that if the Thera volcano hadn’t erupted and demolished the city in the 1600s BC, these people could have quite possibly traveled to space in the year 1 AD!

The only downside to the trip was the 8 hour ferry ride both there and back. We didn’t reach Athens until 12:30 Sunday night and we had classes the next morning. Speaking of classes, they’re going great. One class in particular, Archeology of Athens, is mostly an on-site learning class. We go to the Acropolis, the Agora, the National Museum, you name it! The professors are also very personable and many of them go by their first names. So far the semester has been everything I’d expected and more!

Yesterday I also officially registered for the marathon! Oh yeah, this is actually going to happen. And since I just put down 90 euros, there is no way I’m turning back now!