Ketchup...

More like catching up. (Also, in case you're wondering... Ketchup here is NOT good... yet more often than not you will be served french fries with your meal.)

I think this post is going to be a little combo-two-in-one-post. Last weekend, like I wrote before, we were SUPPOSED to go to Santorini... but because of strikes in the ferry lines... we weren't able to go. Even though we were all really disappointed we decided to make the most of the weekend and we ended up doing some great things!

Lycabettes Hill is the first adventure I'll write about. The hill is a quick walk from our apartments and It's the highest point in Athens. From the top there is a 360 degree view of the city and you can see the Acropolis, and beyond it to the sea. Last weekend, we decided to climb to the top for the sunset! We were even there to watch the Acropolis light up. There's also a restaurant up there, but it's pretty pricey so you're definitely paying for the view. Here are some of the pictures!

The Acropolis at night. I love the color of the sky in this one!

Nice and close to my face. haha Sorry my head's in the way of the Acropolis... but I had to prove somehow that I actually was up there!

As the sun sank below the horizon, the city really started to light up. It was a cool time to be up there because we saw the city in three types of light; daylight, sunset and night time.

The other cool thing we saw last weekend was the changing of the guards! We really stumbled upon it actually. On our way to get refunds from the travel agent for our ferry tickets from the weekend, we saw the guards clicking down the street towards the tomb of the unknown solider (that's what they guard all day.) The changing of the guards is definitely steeped in tradition.... at least I hope it wasn't a ritual that was made up last year... because it's really pretty ridiculous looking. It's definitely worth waiting around Parliament to see though, if you're ever in the city.

I also thought it was pretty great that we saw this changing of the guards the morning after all the major protests in Athens last week. The city really was back to "business as usual" and this was definitely a sign of that. Here are some pictures!

We made it Santorini this past weekend! We just got back last night... so I'll be blogging about that trip soon! Be sure to check back!

Ariel's Father.

Well... last weekend our plans to go to Santorini were foiled. There was a ferry workers strike so we had no transportation to the island. We made the best of it though, and had some fun adventures that were more local to Athens. One of which was a bus trip to Cape Sounion. Two hours on a bus out of Athens and we arrived at this beautiful scene. It wasn't too warm out, but the sun was beautiful... and check out that water! (side note: we're headed to Santorini in the morning! whaaawhoo!!)

This was what I could see looking down from where I sat to eat lunch. (We packed a little picnic to save money! :) )

Temple of Poseidon off in the distance.

The Temple of Poseidon. I have to admit... all the temples are starting to run together... but even if I can't keep them straight... they're pretty amazing!

First Day of School!

Well... the first day was a while ago now. I guess I should update you all on the classes I'm taking. I have a pretty light schedule, which is great in almost every way! I'm taking Greek Language (it's mandated by BCA) Advertising, and Writing for the Professions.

As many of you know, I was in Photojournalism and was really excited to take Photojournalism in GREECE of all places! Unfortunately, the camera that I own didn't have a couple of the key manual adjustments that were necessary for some of my assignments. I could have borrowed a camera from a friend, but was too nervous to carry someone else's expensive camera everywhere I went. Nothing to fear though! In picking up Writing for the Professions I still fulfill a requirement towards my degree at Messiah, and it leaves me with ANOTHER full day off each week. Right now I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Pretty awesome!

As maybe only a few of you know. growing up on my street meant there were a few families that all waited together for the school bus every morning. Each year on the first day it was a tradition to take pictures out at the bus stop of our new school clothes, and most importantly, to take a picture of our shiny new first day of school shoes.

Lucky for me, my roommates indulged me and took a "shoe pic" and a first day of school picture! Our shoes maybe aren't brand new... but you get the idea!

Open Air Market

Every Friday morning just up the street from our apartments there is an open air market. A whole street is blocked off and everything is sold from paper towels, to flowers, fruit, nuts, eggs, fish and even clothes!

Every stand is manned by usually a middle aged gentleman, hollering in Greek. It sort of reminds me of those guys at baseball games who make up a little call to sell their peanuts or beer. You also have to be very careful, because little Greek women get feisty at these markets! They wheel around little shopping carts that pull behind them like suitcases in the airport. It's easy to get your toes run over. Ouch!

It's SO fun to go and walk around, to experience the sights and sounds, and to buy yummy, fresh, and very inexpensive produce! Anyway...It's best explained with pictures... enjoy!

Olives! Too bad I still don't like them.

Grapes! This has been my favorite purchase. I buy a whole bunch of them and split them up... half in the fridge... half in the freezer. The frozen ones last all week and they're such a yummy snack!

Beautiful flowers! Not for me though. I'm on a strict budget. :)

My purchases the first week. Onions, apples, tomatoes, limes, grapes, eggs and cucumber (Although cucumber here is weird... there are hardly any seeds.... definitely not zucchini though, so honestly I don't know what I'm eating.)

The first meal I made using my market purchases. Tilapia  (which I bought from the grocery store... I'm not brave enough for the fish market... they come with heads, tails and scales. Yuck, no thanks.) and veggies!

οπα!!!

Many of you may be familiar with the title of this blog. OPA!!!! Is probably how you would read, or yell it while performing a traditional Greek dance!

As another part of our orientation course (which was quite a while ago now, whoops!) all the BCA students went to a dance studio where we spent three hours learning some traditional Greek dances. Many of the dances are performed in circles, generally somehow connected to the people next to you, whether it be by holding hands, shoulders, or on to one another's belts.

Music and dances are characteristic of the regions they originate from and each island or region of the mainland sort of has its own flavor. Some islands for example, do everything on their toes while others might stomp their feet much harder and stay low to the ground.

We also learned that men are traditionally much more liberated in Greek dances. Their dances steps are bigger and they will be the ones to jump high in the air, slap their thighs, or to yell things like OPA!

After we took the class, the following Saturday we went out to dinner in a Greek restaurant in a neighborhood near the acropolis called Plaka, where we were made to get up on stage with the dancers and show everyone what we learned. Our group can cut a rug, that's for sure! Here are some pictures!

I am almost directly opposite the camera. The man in the middle in the black was our teacher. He was a great guy and really made the lesson interesting! My friend, Kyle, is "leading" the dance so there is a break in the line between us.

This is a picture of the last dance we learned. It's the only one that we learned that is not performed in circles. This dance was in the movie Zorba the Greek! (Not that I've seen that movie... whoops!)

This is a picture of the girls in my apartment before walking down to Plaka to meet for our dinner and dancing! From L to R Ally (Messiah College), Jen (MC), me, Emily (MC), and Elena (Juniata College.)

Lucky for everyone else in the restaurant, dancers performed traditional dances without us up there before we danced. I think this restaurant was sort of a tourist trap... in a funny way it reminded me of Medieval Times or something, just Greek Dancing Style.

I didn't really get good pictures of us on stage...There we are though! Greek songs are way too long, by the way. I'm just throwing that out there.

A Little Reassurance...

This blog isn't going to have any pictures... just a forewarning.

As many of you know (or may not know... I'm not sure what the news coverage is like in the States) the Athens has been the center of a lot of protests and demonstrations lately, some of which have turned into riots. Greece's financial circumstances are, for lack of a better word, awful and the country is finding itself in need of some pretty serious measures  and some pretty serious help in order to stay afloat.

People are losing jobs, wages and pensions, and taxes are being hiked in order to cover the costs of the public sector. I don't fully understand the situation... I wish I could more thoroughly, or better explain it... but what I do know is that people are very, very unhappy. Protests have become part of the background noise for us in this noisy city... but in the last few days they have moved to the forefront.

Today, and tomorrow the public, and much of the private sectors is staging a 48 hour strike. All public transportation is stopped and almost all the stores and shops in Athens have their front door-gates (like when shops close in the mall at night) shut today. Riot police have apparently been transported to Athens in anticipation of the protests that are happening today. Today, walking to school, big blue school buses (used to transport police officers in large groups) lined a good 1/4 mile of the street leading to Syntagma Square... the location of the Parliament building, and where most of the protests happen. We also haven't had trash collection in the last two weeks because "rubbish collectors" ares striking also... which is pretty gross given that we throw out used toilet paper and don't have the option of flushing it.

BUT... regardless of all that, I want to reassure you that we are safe. We always know where and when the protests are going to occur and as long as we use our heads we will not end up in the middle of them. There is definitely tension in the air, but I have no intention of being anywhere near Syntagma in the next few days and I've found ways to walk around Syntagma on my way to and from school (even though it's way easier and more convenient just to walk right through it... darnit.)

Here's an article I found that covers what's going on for the next couple of days, in case you're interested.

It will be interesting to be here in the next few months. It's definitely history in the making for the country of Greece so that's pretty neat... the turbulence of it all is a little unnerving... but I'm not afraid, so you shouldn't be either (especially you; mom, grandma, and aunts!)

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I'm adding to this blog a day later. Yesterday was the "mother of all protests" as it has come to be called in Athens. It was a pretty scary day, even though we were watching it all on the local news (entirely in Greek) on our tv in our apartment. My roommate Ally and I walked home from school a couple hours prior to the protests really becoming violent, and were detoured around Syntagma Square... but still through streets where protestors were marching from their meeting points towards Syntagma. The marching isn't violent; it's more like a parade actually. When the protestors all meet at the Square... that's when things get violent and dangerous. We weren't ever in danger, but we sure walked fast.

Today we walked to our morning classes (Greek and Writitng for the Professions for me) but my night class, Advertising, is cancelled. The metro was on strike this morning, so we had to walk. The streets are a mess and there was still tear gas in the air from yesterday, so even with my scarf pulled up over my nose and mouth, I'm a little watery.

It is really wild to consider that we are here during this major turning point in Greek history. A little scary. A little uncomfortable. But pretty cool.

Keep this country in your prayers. Pray safety over the people, and for wisdom for the decision makers.  Pray for us too, as students here, that we would make wise decisions and would learn from the circumstance of this country.

Pet Patrol

Well, now that the excursions are over I guess I should start choosing other topics to blog about.

One of the funniest things we've noticed about Greece, and one of the hardest things to get used to is the incredible number of stray cats and dogs there are here! It's not an unusual sight to see a dog trotting down the street, or a cat running between tables, chairs, and the waiters' feet in an outdoor restaurant. For some of us, it's fun to see but it's been hard to accept the fact that you can't touch them! It's so tempting to give the dogs a scratch on the head or run your hand down a kitty's back, but for fear of ticks, fleas and parasites... you can't!

We've seen cats walking across glass roofs of restaurants and dogs chasing down motorcycles. Some are mangy, and we've even seen kittens dead in the bushes...they certainly have their fair share of mischief... but it's fun to see most of the time... especially for college students who are usually starved of animals during the school year. Enjoy the pictures!

A pup at the Acropolis in Athens...

At the memorial to Leonidas...

A tiny little kitty at Epidavros... see his fogged over eye? 

Nap at Olympia... I felt the same way buddy.

Pretty fun huh? Man's best friend is all over this country!

Cutting the Cord: Aegina

To be honest... I just really want to be caught up on this blog! For a good while we have been doing WAY too much... one thing right after the other... for me to possibly stay on pace with blogging. But now classes are starting and life is slowing down a little bit here in Athens. So here I sit, on our first thunder stormy day we've had (actually the first cloudy day at all,) discovering the joy of a coffee macaroon and thinking "hm... I think i'll catch up!"

This Saturday my roommates, a couple other friends from the program  and I decided to venture out on our own for the first time. Up until now, everything we've done and every placed we've visited has been orchestrated by Aphrodite and the BCA program. Friday marked the end of our BCA excursions, so Saturday began our own adventures. There are plenty more to come, but we started out with something we thought would be quite simple. Aegina.

At 7am my friends and I headed to the metro station, where we took the metro to Piraeus. Piraeus is the main port of Athens, where all the ferry lines leave from to go to the Greek islands. Aegina is one of the closest islands to Athens... about an hour long ferry ride. The picture above is from pulling out of port at Piraeus.

We ended up having a great day, after receiving some much needed help from a friendly fisherman who helped us communicate with the guy selling tickets at the bus station who did not speak any English. Language barriers haven't gotten in our way much until that experience. We were glad that the Greeks lived up to their friendly reputation that morning.

Anyway... we took the bus across the island to one of the coolest, and most complete anient sites we'd seen so far. The Temple of Aphaea has lasted against all odds. Most of it's pillars are still standing! We were lucky too, to arrive at the temple before any other tourists... it made for some great photos!

My roommate Ally has an underwater camera! She has some great ones... I only took this one from her for now! Candid shots are the best.

After exploring, we caught the next bus to Agia Marina, one of the best beaches on the island where we enjoyed a perfect day. Can't believe we're still on the beaches in October! (Maybe not for long after this stormy day...we think it's bringing a change in the weather.)

I'm glad to report that our first independent trip was a huge success! I would say it was one of the best days I've had since arriving in Greece.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Πελοπόννησος- The Peloponnese

We just returned on Friday from a three day excursion to the Peloponnese. Like I said in my last blog, the Peloponnese (Πελοπόννησος in Greek) is the peninsula south of the Corinth canal. Some of the most famous ancient civilizations, Corinth (as in the NT book of Corinthians), Sparta (We are SPARTANNSS!) and Olympia are all located on the Peloponnese, and were all locations we visited.


The only disappointment of this trip was that due to a strike the archaeological site of Corinth was closed for the day, so we weren't allowed to go beyond the gates. I was really disappointed because Corinth was one of the places I was most excited to visit. I read 1& 2 Corinthians in the weeks leading up to the trip just to make the experience even more meaningful. Oh well though, one thing I'm learning here is to just let myself roll with things. I think my family and I will return to Corinth when they come in November. It's a quick drive and it's something my parents will be really interested in too! Something to look forward to! Of course, I still got some pictures.

Behind me is the main temple of Ancient Corinth, and the hill above that is the Ancient Agora. We would have probably gone up there, had we been permitted inside.

From Corinth we took the bus to Monemvasia; probably the least well known of the cities we visited. Monemvasia is the result of Anicent Greek National Security measures. It is a huge rock that springs up off the east coast of the Peloponnese. From the mainland side of the rock, you can't see that on the far side there is an entire city built into the island. Greek naval generals and their families live in Monemvasia to this day. What beautiful views we had, too.

Behind me to the left is the Aegean Sea and to the right are some of the ruins of the ancient city that is located above the modern day restored city... another hike!

A view of the modern city. No roads go through the town. Outside the city wall is the parking lot for everyone who lives there. All deliveries to stores are brought only to the front gate, then carried to their final destinations.

Sparta and Olympia were both very cool also. Sparta is now one of the larget cities in Greece, behind Athens and Thessoloniki (N.T. Thessalonians). We visited the ancient city there... which as usual, was WAY above the modern city. All in the name of protection and a long hike. Seriously, no wonder the Spartans were known for being in great shape. 

Olympia was very cool as well. It's modern day town is small and touristy, but also very charming.  The Olympia museum and archaeological site were great but almost the best part about it, is that the excavation is not complete! There is still mystery to this site. We visited the spot where the Olympic torch is still lit every 4 years, and even got to jog on the track of the ancient stadium. 

Standing in the entrance to the stadium, where the athletes would parade in with their coaches.

On the pedestal where the winner was awarded with a wreath of olive branches (Thanks Aphrodite!) and the title of champion. No gold medal... or bronze or silver. Actually, 1st place is the only award given; 2nd place and 3rd place are only celebrated in the modern games.

Alright. Starbuck's internet is really killing me. Also, there's a man here who won't give up his outlet! His regular smoke/chat breaks from whatever work he's doing on his computer make his hogging of the only power source in this place all the more frustrating!

Mycynae & Epidavros

This will probably be a quicker blog than many of the rest. I have to admit that the Mycynae and Epidavros was a hard excursion for me. I was really tired and not really up for the hiking we did. Nonetheless I have some pretty great pictures.

Epidavros was a really cool place. It's one of the Ancient Greek theatres that is so famous for the advanced acoustics. One of my roommates, Emily, had the opportunity to sing there and from the very top of the theatre we could hear her perfectly!

Oops! And on the way we stopped off at the Corinth Canal. It's almost identical to the idea of the Panama Canal. It created a travel route between the Peloponnese (a big peninsula of the country) and  the mainland so that traders wouldn't need to circumnavigate the entire peninsula. Seems like a good idea to me. What doesn't seem like a good idea is that some of the kids in my program are considering bungee jumping at this canal... I think it's not high enough....

Actually... I'm just petrified. No thanks.

Through Him all things were made: Meteora

This past week we went on a two day excursion to Meteora. You probably think you've never heard of it, I didn't until I saw pictures of where we were going, but I guarantee you'll recognize it when you see the pictures. Meteora in Greek means "suspended in the air." Ancient Greeks believed that the rocks came down from the sky... like meteorites and just sort of took over this field.

Anyway... a 5 hour bus ride brought us to Kalambaka, Greece, a small town that completely thrives on  tourist activity. Kalambaka sits right at the base of Meteora and was bustling... even on a weekday night.

Meteora was mind blowing. God really used the couple of days to reveal himself to me. On the way to Meteora I just happened to read Psalm 19, and it just replayed in my mind the whole time I was there. God's majesty, power, and love for us was completely on display for me. What a perfect place for monasteries. (At one time there were 24 of them!) Anyway, here's the portion of the chapter that I meditated on the whole trip.

The heavens declare the glory of God; 
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them. 

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world. 

Meteora was the quietest place we've been thus far, but the rock formations, caves, moutains and sky powerfully communicated the greatness of our heavenly Father. It was almost instinctive to whisper, even when there was no reason to. I wish the pictures really captured it.

Monastery of Saint Nikolas... I think... Anyway... the monks get to ride across in a cable car... we had to climb all the way down, then take a HUGE staircase that is carved into the side of the rock.

(This is cool... it's a big cave that contains a bunch of other little caves with wooden platforms that the first monks lived on before the monasteries were built... what a life.)

Like my skirt? The monasteries don't allow women to enter without one... sleeveless dresses for women and shorts for men are also not permitted. A small price to pay for how cool it was to see these places. This picture was taken on the back terrace of Grand Meteoron... the first and largest monastery in Meteora.

Anyway... thanks everyone for your prayers for me while I'm here. God's working in my heart and teaching me a lot while I'm here. So excited for the rest of this semester!

Our Excursion to Delphi...

Last week our group went on excursion to the ancient ruins in Delphi. These excursions really are incredible trips that have made us all feel like we've seen way more of Greece than we probably ever would have on our own... even better... we always eat SO well on excursions. We usually get meals in great restaurants that are not subtracted from our stipends, cha-ching!

It's also awesome to have Aphrodite there to tell us about everything we're seeing. Because of her, we're not just wandering around, we know what happened in the places we're standing, which really makes it even cooler to see.

Anyway... a three hour bus ride (tour buses in Greece are unbelievable!) took us to Arachova... a cute little town where we stopped for coffee and were given free baklava by a women who owned a pastry shop there. Our group also had our picture taken on the sly by an old Greek woman. :) We really do stand out wherever we go as a bunch of American students, and I guess we were quite the novelty standing outside the coffee shop waiting for one another.

 

Baklava is not traditionally made with the date on the top, like in the picture, but holy cow was it good!

Back on the bus for another 15 minutes and we were at the ruins. The Oracle of Delphi drew people from all over Greece to receive prophesies. A woman called the Pythia would chew on bay leaves, inhale some sort of smoke, and enter a trance from which she would babble a prophesy (usually a riddle) that the priests would translate for the person who came to receive it. Along with the Oracle, there Delphi boasts a theater, stadium and the treasuries of many cities.

The first stop on the way to the Oracle was at the fountain of Castille, where those who came to receive prophesis from the Pythia would purify themselves.

After sitting a while for a lecture, we proceeded uphill (as usual! what a hike!) to the ruins. The most famous is probably the Temple of Apollo.

Then Emily, one of my roommates was convinced by Aphrodite to sing in the Theatre at Delphi to test out the acoustics... apparently this isn't "technically" allowed, but Aphrodite allows it every time. She's really the funniest. I'll have to do a blog all about her sometime.

Then we climbed further uphill to the Stadium, which unfortunately was almost impossible to photograph... at least I didn't get any good ones.

Finally we visited the Delphi museum which had some really cool artifacts found by French archaeologists during the excavation. The picture in the middle is the first written music found to date!


Before heading home we had lunch at the Delphi Palace, at hotel and restaurant famous for it's beautiful view. The Kennedys and Clintons stayed at the Delphi Palace when they visited. We had an incredible meal, and an even more incredible view of the mountains and the Corinthian Gulf. God has been unfailingly reminding me of his artistry and majesty in Greece. Check this out.

We've done a lot in the last week or so... I'll catch up as fast as I can! Check back pretty often!