Thursday, October 25, 2007
I swear...
Pictures and info from the trip to the Argolid, Brauron, Sounion, Ramnous and Marathon are going come soooon! But in summation - they were great and Ramnous is the most beautiful place in Greece. Kalinichta (good night)!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
What I really don't like about Athens...
There are no bagels. Anywhere. And all I want right now is a toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and lox, and I legitimately would not even know where to begin looking for one. All the pastries are either very sweet (and delicious, don't get me wrong) or heavy (with cheese, meat, etc), and there is really nothing in between. An American-style deli would make a KILLING in Athens...
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Water? Falling from the sky? What is this?
It's RAINING! For the first time since I arrived in Athens, and for the first time in Athens in literally months. They've had a severe drought that was only made worse by the fires this summer, and Athenians have all been praying for rain to help relieve the drought and also clear the air of particles that have been hanging around since the fires (people with serious allergies have been having major problems since they got here).
It started around 4:30 and has been getting steadily heavier - the streets of Kolonaki are completely flooded and extremely slick. Thankfully I was wearing sneakers (we went on a trip today to Ramnous and Marathon - longer entries about this weekend and last weekend to come very soon) and had an umbrella, so I was loving it!
Here's a picture from my balcony, if you look close you can see the lines of rain falling.
It started around 4:30 and has been getting steadily heavier - the streets of Kolonaki are completely flooded and extremely slick. Thankfully I was wearing sneakers (we went on a trip today to Ramnous and Marathon - longer entries about this weekend and last weekend to come very soon) and had an umbrella, so I was loving it!
Here's a picture from my balcony, if you look close you can see the lines of rain falling.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Pharmakeio
Between midterms, the changing of seasons, and everyone else getting sick, it was inevitable that I would get sick, too. It's nothing serious, just a small cold, but all the walking I do on a daily basis has made things a little tough. In Athens, the pharmacies are stand alone stores - you walk in, tell the pharmacist what's wrong with you, and then they prescribe something. They're everywhere, and are marked by a green plus sign outside. I went it, pointed to my throat and said "ponolemo," which is Greek for "sore throat." She nodded and handed me something called "Lysopaine," which my Greek teacher had told me earlier was what Greeks take for a sore throat. It's kind of like a cough drop and cough surpressent rolled into one tablet that you dissolve in your mouth every few hours. So far I think it's working... We don't have a kettle so I have to boil water in a pot to make tea, which is a pain. On the plus side, though, lunch in the cafeteria today was the Greek version of chicken noodle soup, which is a lemon chicken with rice in broth. Yum. Just what I needed!
Tonight I also had a tutoring session with the Greek family, and made an interesting discovery. While helping Kostis with his homework, he put on the English tape that goes with his book. When the dialogue started, the characters were all British! I was not expecting that at all, and then I felt awful that I had just assumed that they would be American. Kostis and I also discovered that we both liked the movie "Ratatouille," which I think was an important step forward in getting him to like me.
Tomorrow the program is taking us to Argolid, which is a site containing Mycenaean palaces, which should be great. It's supposed to be rainy, though, which is bad for us, but GREAT for Athens, which hasn't had rain once since I've been here. Pictures and more on Argolid to come after the weekend...
Tonight I also had a tutoring session with the Greek family, and made an interesting discovery. While helping Kostis with his homework, he put on the English tape that goes with his book. When the dialogue started, the characters were all British! I was not expecting that at all, and then I felt awful that I had just assumed that they would be American. Kostis and I also discovered that we both liked the movie "Ratatouille," which I think was an important step forward in getting him to like me.
Tomorrow the program is taking us to Argolid, which is a site containing Mycenaean palaces, which should be great. It's supposed to be rainy, though, which is bad for us, but GREAT for Athens, which hasn't had rain once since I've been here. Pictures and more on Argolid to come after the weekend...
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Taxi! Taxi!
Rather than write the last paragraph of the paper I have due tomorrow, I will tell you about hailing a cab in Athens, because it's absolutely fascinating and says a lot about the general mood of this city.
First of all, cabs do not stop when you stick your arm out. You have to find a corner where cabs will even consider stopping, and it has to be in the direction you are going. When a cab finally pulls up to you, the driver will roll down the window and glare. You say where you want to go - "Kolonaki?" I ask. The usual response is for the cab driver to mutter "Oxi" ("no"), give you a dirty look, and pull away. That's right, cab drivers will turn you down. Often. We've asked a few Athenians about this, and they've all said that Greeks don't like to feel as though they are controlled by their job. This means that if a cab driver doesn't feel like going to your neighborhood, they'll give up a fare.
When we're desperate, we pull the "I'm an American and don't know the rules" and just get in the cab before saying where we want to go. But this just really pisses off the cab driver, and he usually takes the long route to increase the fare. The only upside of this whole process is that cabs are insanely cheap here. But when you need to get somewhere in a rush, taking a cab is among the more frustrating experiences.
First of all, cabs do not stop when you stick your arm out. You have to find a corner where cabs will even consider stopping, and it has to be in the direction you are going. When a cab finally pulls up to you, the driver will roll down the window and glare. You say where you want to go - "Kolonaki?" I ask. The usual response is for the cab driver to mutter "Oxi" ("no"), give you a dirty look, and pull away. That's right, cab drivers will turn you down. Often. We've asked a few Athenians about this, and they've all said that Greeks don't like to feel as though they are controlled by their job. This means that if a cab driver doesn't feel like going to your neighborhood, they'll give up a fare.
When we're desperate, we pull the "I'm an American and don't know the rules" and just get in the cab before saying where we want to go. But this just really pisses off the cab driver, and he usually takes the long route to increase the fare. The only upside of this whole process is that cabs are insanely cheap here. But when you need to get somewhere in a rush, taking a cab is among the more frustrating experiences.
Disliking homework is universal
To try and ease the pain of the dollar-to-euro exchange rate, I'm now tutoring an 8-year old boy in English twice a week. Last night was our first session, held at his family's house in the neighborhood of Plaka. Plaka is very chic, and their apartment is absolutely beautiful. The parents are both professors in Athens, but their English isn't perfect and they want someone to make sure their son is learning the language correctly. The kid is adorable and had no desire to do his homework, so we would alternate between playing games and studying (all in English, though, so I would try and sneak in some learning here and there). The mom even made me a grilled cheese and salami sandwich! It felt very nice and comfortable to be in a real home, I have to say.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Getting "culture"
After a full week of classes (usually we don't have class on Fridays, but this week was an exception to make-up for what we missed during Crete), I was ecstatic to finally have a full, field-trip-free weekend in Athens. Thavma!
Even though we had classes I still managed to get to the market on Friday - I love that before you buy, the vendors encourage you (sometimes pretty forcefully) to try the food first. Also, here is how I got a potato for free: I went up to the potato man, and asked for "one" in Greek. He says, "Kilo?" and brought out a bucket. I quickly said "No, no, just one potato" as he moved to fill the whole bucket with potatos. He laughed, stuck the potato in my bag, and when I asked how much, he said it was a gift. Friday night we decided to go out in the neighborhood of Psiri, and it was "Latin Night" at the club we ended up at - they had a dance instructor and everything! The night ended with us getting souvlaki sandwiches and eating them on the steps of the metro while people watching in Psiri. Yum, as usual.
Saturday my friend Natalie and I decided it was time to get us some culture. After a quick stop at the Archaeological Museum (I'm doing a class presentation there on Thursday, so I had to map it out), we walked around the corner to the museum of engravings (I forget the official name). The museum was completely empty, and was made up of room after room of slabs of marble with inscriptions from ancient Greece. It also had an outdoor courtyard with more small pillars and herms with inscriptions in rows, and some very pretty flowers. The woman in charge followed us from room to room, which was unnerving, but I understood that with such fragile artifacts, you have to be careful.
We had lunch at McDonalds. It was DELICIOUS. As much as I love Greek food, sometimes there's nothing so satisfying as a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. Natalie and I were both impressed by how classy the McD's was - the walls were full of photos and objects from the Olympics when they were in Greece (McD's was a sponsor), and it was really clean.
The next stop on our itinerary was Technopolis, a museum located in the neighborhood of Gazi (Gazi is kind of like the meatpacking district of Athens...too cool, basically). Technopolis houses contemporary art, and it used to be a factory of some kind. We actually got off one metro stop too early, but it turned out to be a blessing since we had a chance to walk through a very pretty area called Thissio along the way. Lots of cafes and a public garden. We also walked by Kerameikos, which is the very famous, very ancient cemetary of Athens.
Back to Technopolis - right now it's housing an exhibit called "Destroy Athens," which is a collection of various art and mulitmedia installations about physical destruction, urban decay, the death of culture, all that fun stuff. It was absolutely huge, and divided into six parts (the six days of destruction...). As depressing and, at times, disturbing as it was, I loved it. After so much old stuff, this was a breath of fresh air. Natalie and I agreed, though, that we were especially uncomfortable seeing how much anti-American imagery there was. It wasn't that we didn't agree with a lot of it - it was just unnerving to be faced once again with the fact that the people around you blame you for destroying everything.
After a much-needed nap and delicious (my new go-to dinner party meal: pasta with feta/olive oil, greek salad, bread, white wine, baklava) dinner, a few of us headed down to Pangrati (where school is located) for a funk concert! The jazz club was absolutely packed, and the band was really good. They were an American band, and the drummer was a family friend of our friend Erika. He told us that in the U.S., they usually play dives, but that they're HUGE in Europe.
Finally, Sunday. Day of rest. Did homework in Starbucks (so American, I know, but it's the only place where you can sit for hours and spread out, and no one will bother you). Caught up on American news and some pop culture (apparently there's a new song by someone called Soulja Boy, which we downloaded and learned the dance to - five points for YouTube). And now it's time for bed.
One of the Dipylon Vases (c. mid-8th century BCE) at the Archaeological Museum (I'm doing my presentation on it on Thursday). This and other vases like it were found about a mile north of the Acropolis, and are absolutely huge - this one is over 5 feet tall!
A room at the epigraphical museum - some of the tablets had labels, but most didn't. There were also tables were scholars could "check out" tablets to study.
A french fry bag at McDonalds - Natalie pointed out how it compares daily nutrition information based on a 2000 kcal vs. 1600 kcal diet, whereas in the U.S. it's usually between a 2500 kcal and 2000 kcal diet...
Gazi has beautiful graffiti - this was across the street from Technopolis, and spanned the entire length of the block on all sides. It was a futuristic/robot scene, and we had no clue what it meant, but it looked awesome!
One art installation from Technopolis - some of the rooms were like a regular museum, some were dark rooms where you would watch videos or listen to something, and some were outdoor installations like this one. We spent a few hours there and could have spent more, but I had to get back early.
Even though we had classes I still managed to get to the market on Friday - I love that before you buy, the vendors encourage you (sometimes pretty forcefully) to try the food first. Also, here is how I got a potato for free: I went up to the potato man, and asked for "one" in Greek. He says, "Kilo?" and brought out a bucket. I quickly said "No, no, just one potato" as he moved to fill the whole bucket with potatos. He laughed, stuck the potato in my bag, and when I asked how much, he said it was a gift. Friday night we decided to go out in the neighborhood of Psiri, and it was "Latin Night" at the club we ended up at - they had a dance instructor and everything! The night ended with us getting souvlaki sandwiches and eating them on the steps of the metro while people watching in Psiri. Yum, as usual.
Saturday my friend Natalie and I decided it was time to get us some culture. After a quick stop at the Archaeological Museum (I'm doing a class presentation there on Thursday, so I had to map it out), we walked around the corner to the museum of engravings (I forget the official name). The museum was completely empty, and was made up of room after room of slabs of marble with inscriptions from ancient Greece. It also had an outdoor courtyard with more small pillars and herms with inscriptions in rows, and some very pretty flowers. The woman in charge followed us from room to room, which was unnerving, but I understood that with such fragile artifacts, you have to be careful.
We had lunch at McDonalds. It was DELICIOUS. As much as I love Greek food, sometimes there's nothing so satisfying as a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. Natalie and I were both impressed by how classy the McD's was - the walls were full of photos and objects from the Olympics when they were in Greece (McD's was a sponsor), and it was really clean.
The next stop on our itinerary was Technopolis, a museum located in the neighborhood of Gazi (Gazi is kind of like the meatpacking district of Athens...too cool, basically). Technopolis houses contemporary art, and it used to be a factory of some kind. We actually got off one metro stop too early, but it turned out to be a blessing since we had a chance to walk through a very pretty area called Thissio along the way. Lots of cafes and a public garden. We also walked by Kerameikos, which is the very famous, very ancient cemetary of Athens.
Back to Technopolis - right now it's housing an exhibit called "Destroy Athens," which is a collection of various art and mulitmedia installations about physical destruction, urban decay, the death of culture, all that fun stuff. It was absolutely huge, and divided into six parts (the six days of destruction...). As depressing and, at times, disturbing as it was, I loved it. After so much old stuff, this was a breath of fresh air. Natalie and I agreed, though, that we were especially uncomfortable seeing how much anti-American imagery there was. It wasn't that we didn't agree with a lot of it - it was just unnerving to be faced once again with the fact that the people around you blame you for destroying everything.
After a much-needed nap and delicious (my new go-to dinner party meal: pasta with feta/olive oil, greek salad, bread, white wine, baklava) dinner, a few of us headed down to Pangrati (where school is located) for a funk concert! The jazz club was absolutely packed, and the band was really good. They were an American band, and the drummer was a family friend of our friend Erika. He told us that in the U.S., they usually play dives, but that they're HUGE in Europe.
Finally, Sunday. Day of rest. Did homework in Starbucks (so American, I know, but it's the only place where you can sit for hours and spread out, and no one will bother you). Caught up on American news and some pop culture (apparently there's a new song by someone called Soulja Boy, which we downloaded and learned the dance to - five points for YouTube). And now it's time for bed.
One of the Dipylon Vases (c. mid-8th century BCE) at the Archaeological Museum (I'm doing my presentation on it on Thursday). This and other vases like it were found about a mile north of the Acropolis, and are absolutely huge - this one is over 5 feet tall!
A room at the epigraphical museum - some of the tablets had labels, but most didn't. There were also tables were scholars could "check out" tablets to study.
A french fry bag at McDonalds - Natalie pointed out how it compares daily nutrition information based on a 2000 kcal vs. 1600 kcal diet, whereas in the U.S. it's usually between a 2500 kcal and 2000 kcal diet...
Gazi has beautiful graffiti - this was across the street from Technopolis, and spanned the entire length of the block on all sides. It was a futuristic/robot scene, and we had no clue what it meant, but it looked awesome!
One art installation from Technopolis - some of the rooms were like a regular museum, some were dark rooms where you would watch videos or listen to something, and some were outdoor installations like this one. We spent a few hours there and could have spent more, but I had to get back early.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
And then I fed a mountain goat - Crete pt. 4 finale
Before we left for Crete, we all attended an orientation session about the trip. At the very end, they handed out a packet of information about the Samaria Gorge, which we had the option of hiking down on Friday. Throughout the packet were gems such as "if you sit for more than 30 minutes, your legs will seize up" and "the falling rocks can kill you," or something like that. The gorge hike starts over 3,000 feet above sea level and goes to zero and is around 8 miles in total. The program said it was the biggest gorge in Europe, although we did find sites online calling it the second largest - either way, it was HUGE and had the most incredible views. Here's the Wikipedia entry about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria_Gorge.
We were up at 5:30 on Friday morning to load the buses, and got to see sunrise over Crete, which was pretty beautiful. The top of the mountain was cold, but as the hike got started everyone started shedding their sweatshirts and hats and breaking out the water bottles. It was almost all downhill, and at times very steep and rocky. The guides told us to bring empty water bottles because at different points there were fresh water fountains, although I had to get other people to fill mine up since the spout was surrounded by bees. Every once in a while we would see a kri-kri, which is the Cretan mountain goat. I finally got up the nerve to feed one some almonds, but the only picture is after the fact and it just looks like I'm having a staring match with the goat.
A few times during the hike as I was concentrating on not falling, I would suddenly get disoriented as to where I was. It looked similar in many ways to national parks in the U.S., and it would take a minute or so to remember that I was in Greece. The hike ended at the southern coast of Crete, where we all collapsed on the beach for a few hours. We then boarded a verrry slow ferry for Chania, where we caught the overnight boat back to Piraeus. Could barely move my legs the next day, but it was definitely a good kind of hurt.
So no dagger from Crete, but getting through customs really would have been a hassle. The trip was incredible, and it's definitely taken a few days to get back into a normal rhythm. Midterms and paper are starting to come up, so I don't think there'll be any major adventures for a few weeks.
Entranceway to the Samaria Gorge
Sunrise over Crete from the top of the mountain. Hopefully this will give some sense of how high up we were.
A very postcard-ish view of the mountains as we were hiking.
We were warned multiple times about this. The gorge has a history of falling rocks killing tourists, so we were instructed to keep a lookout and not dawdle too much as were walking along the very bottom of the gorge. Everyone was fine and I never saw any falling rocks, but the two exclamation points on this sign give some indication of the danger.
I couldn't figure out how to turn the photo from vertical to horizontal, but this is the narrowest part of the gorge - it's about 9 feet in width.
We were up at 5:30 on Friday morning to load the buses, and got to see sunrise over Crete, which was pretty beautiful. The top of the mountain was cold, but as the hike got started everyone started shedding their sweatshirts and hats and breaking out the water bottles. It was almost all downhill, and at times very steep and rocky. The guides told us to bring empty water bottles because at different points there were fresh water fountains, although I had to get other people to fill mine up since the spout was surrounded by bees. Every once in a while we would see a kri-kri, which is the Cretan mountain goat. I finally got up the nerve to feed one some almonds, but the only picture is after the fact and it just looks like I'm having a staring match with the goat.
A few times during the hike as I was concentrating on not falling, I would suddenly get disoriented as to where I was. It looked similar in many ways to national parks in the U.S., and it would take a minute or so to remember that I was in Greece. The hike ended at the southern coast of Crete, where we all collapsed on the beach for a few hours. We then boarded a verrry slow ferry for Chania, where we caught the overnight boat back to Piraeus. Could barely move my legs the next day, but it was definitely a good kind of hurt.
So no dagger from Crete, but getting through customs really would have been a hassle. The trip was incredible, and it's definitely taken a few days to get back into a normal rhythm. Midterms and paper are starting to come up, so I don't think there'll be any major adventures for a few weeks.
Entranceway to the Samaria Gorge
Sunrise over Crete from the top of the mountain. Hopefully this will give some sense of how high up we were.
A very postcard-ish view of the mountains as we were hiking.
We were warned multiple times about this. The gorge has a history of falling rocks killing tourists, so we were instructed to keep a lookout and not dawdle too much as were walking along the very bottom of the gorge. Everyone was fine and I never saw any falling rocks, but the two exclamation points on this sign give some indication of the danger.
I couldn't figure out how to turn the photo from vertical to horizontal, but this is the narrowest part of the gorge - it's about 9 feet in width.
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