"Welcome to Socialism"

On Sunday, I went on a hike up one of the hills behind the University. We first wandered up some steep neighborhood roads, and then one turned into a dirt road to access some power lines. We followed that until it ended and then started making our own trail across the hill at the top. We had some really pretty views of the valley, lake, and mountains. Ioannina is surrounded in the distance by huge mountains covered in snow, which are gorgeous. We also found some cool old rock ruins, which my professor thinks were probably shepherds’ huts. The top was windy and rain was threatening in the distance, so we followed an old, mostly overgrown stone road for a bit and then descended, getting somewhat cut up by the dry brush that always seemed to pop up, but it was fun. Near the road again, we encountered an old man with a cane and a plastic bag who was climbing up the steep slope we had just come down. We thought maybe he was picking berries or other plant products, but we were unsuccessful conversing with him due to that whole language issue. I am also spectacularly allergic to something outdoors here; during the hike I got an awful runny nose and occasional violent sneezing outbursts. I took some allergy medicine which helped.

On Monday, we ate our last meal in the little cafeteria in the next building over from our dorm. Then we had a welcome orientation which involved some people saying welcome (shocking, I know), some introductions to our teachers, and the housing coordinator sharing rules with us in a very reprimanding manner. A cleaning lady comes twice a week to our rooms and if they’re messy (we don’t know how messy is messy), we lose 20 euros off our safety deposit. I think the point is allowing them to move around the room easily and maybe sweep, but I’m not sure. I’m also scared that I’ll have a pair of shoes out at the wrong time and loose $27. I also signed a contract saying I wouldn’t do antisocial activities such as party in my dorm room, and yes, that is the word they used.

Then we headed to our first Greek class (fortunately we split into two groups, so there are about 12 people in my class). Our teacher is a young woman who sounds exactly like the lady on the language tape when she speaks Greek. It’s uncanny. She’s very insistent in our pronunciations, and she has us repeat the same word many times, but I remember when I took Spanish 3 in high school and people still pronounced the “h” in words, so I think getting the pronunciation correct now is a good idea. Greek is challenging because it’s a different alphabet. Some of the letters look the same, but half of those have a completely different sound than English, so I’m learning. It’s satisfying to read correctly, though; it’s like solving a puzzle.

Then we had registration, which involved handing over registration papers (they always ask for you first and last name and your father’s first name), 2 passport copies, 3 passport photo copies, 150 euros, a copy of my medical insurance cards, and a dorm room form listing all the pre-existing problems.
After, we walked over to the student union building, which has the cafeteria. It’s not very close; according to Google Earth it’s .8 miles away, which is roughly a 20 minute walk one way. Taso’s introduction to the food was “Welcome to Socialism.” It was probably the second-to-least appetizing meal I’ve eaten in a very long time (the worst being guatita, aka cow stomach in peanut sauce) but fortunately this is edible. Food is free for all students (as are books and TUITION), but it means we are not getting high-class Greek cuisine, which is a bummer since I was really excited for Greek food. In light of the cafeteria, my professor said we’ll be doing a group dinner in a restaurant once a week so we can have good food and meat. He also said we’d probably never have meat in the cafeteria since it’s expensive, so goodbye protein.

Now being me and my food being food that isn’t guatita, I can certainly eat and get full, and it’s not too terrible, although the white bread and white cabbage salad at every meal are going to get old quickly.

My allergies returned, which was odd since I was barely outside (save the walk to food, I suppose), but this time I took Claratin which seems to have been more effective and I’ve stopped powering through toilet paper used as tissues.

We went to Carrefour, the K-mart, again since we decided we needed a bit more food. This time we walked there and bused back, which was a better system. I braved the cheese and milk aisles this time, so I’m hoping what I got was a good choice. I had given all my cash for the safety deposit and I forgot to go to the ATM in front of the store, so I decided to just pay with credit card to see if it worked. The check-out lady asked for my passport, but I only had my license, so she looked at that for a minute and seemed to think it was fine. But then, she indicated that she’d return shortly and took my card over farther down the line of check-out stations and was gone for at least 5 minutes. I felt bad for making everyone in line behind me wait, but I didn’t know paying my credit card was so difficult. Then she came back and the card worked and I left. Outside the store, I was waiting with a few of my friends for the remainder of our group and the lady behind me in line came up to me and started speaking Greek while making the shape of a small square with her hands. We told her we couldn’t speak Greek, and she tried again in Greek, but she gave up since we had no idea what she was saying. I had my card and my license and I think everything I bought, so I don’t know what she wanted to say, other than maybe “You’re dumb for using a credit card” haha.

Dinner was spaghetti. It was slightly more appetizing, although the red sauce was just a little bit off, as we predict most things will be. This morning, I figured I’d give breakfast a shot; I always eat it and I’ve been on a pretty early schedule for the last 4 months so I wanted to go to bed early and wake up early. My professor and I were apparently the only ones who decided on that course of action, so I had a nice conversation with him about Greek and Ecuadorian life and government. Unfortunately, Greeks aren’t really breakfast people and so the breakfast was not so nice; there was milk, coffee, small croissants, thin cheese-bread that seems typical here, and bowls with a slice of cheese and bologna. As much as I enjoyed walking 40 minutes to eat almost nothing, I think I might forgo that meal and eat in my room, so I need to go back to K-mart for the third time haha.

We came back just in time for day two of Greek class, which was a little bit easier since people were more familiar. I keep comaring everything to Spanish, and it’s hard because at my Spanish level, I’m just learning little rules and nuances and vocab, whereas in Greek I have no idea how to conjugate verbs, refer to a subject, or structure a sentence. We learned “to be” and definite/indefinite articles. Our professor’s teaching style is very fast-paced, both in material and speed of speaking, which is different than what I’m used to, but interesting. Yanna, the program coordinator popped in halfway through class, interrupting whoever was talking, and started telling my professor (Fay) that a local news station wanted to video our class. The interruption seemed to go with the fast-paced teaching style though. A little while later a guy came in with a huge video camera and recorded us talking and then had Fay say a verb several times, with us repeating each time. We’re going to be famous!

Greek class is from 9-11 Monday through Thursday, and then on various days we have either Greek culture lecture, or Relations with Albania lecture. Or both. Today was culture, so from 12-2 we learned the geography and historical background of Greece. The professor said (among many, many things) that if you add up all the coastline in the country of Greece, including all of the islands, it’s similar in length to the coastline of Africa. Two hours is a long lecture, though. I’m not sure I’m a fan.
At lunch today we had meat, which was surprising since we were all expecting to never see meat again. It was possibly the most un-aesthetically-pleasing meat I’ve ever seen (it was covered in an unappetizing grey sauce) but it tasted fine and was served over rice which actually had a bit of flavor.

All in all, I’m glad class has started, although it seems like I will be listening to a lot of long, in-depth lectures for the next two months. When I come home I will be an expert in Greek history and culture though!

Love Alex