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!