Nothing too exciting happened today since I had 6 hours of class, so you can stop reading now and I won't be offended, I promise.
I watched several episodes of House, so that was extremely exciting for me, but doesn't really do anything for the blog. I haven't watched any in almost two weeks, so I've missed it.
I also went to Carrefour. I've been devouring my almonds lately. I'll almost be sad to go home and eat Blue Diamond almonds. (Key word almost haha).
As far as class goes, we had a lecture on Greek Literature, which specifically focused on a poet, Cavafy. It was super interesting; he used Greek history in a variety of ways: sometimes he wrote historical stories in the form of a poem, and other times he used general historical concepts to discuss ideals like morality. The lecturing professor did a nice job of analizing the poems for us, although we do have to do one by ourselves for homework. Could be worse though.
Tomorrow is Friday Field Trip Day! We're going to Lefkada, which will be my first Greek island :) stay tuned for photos
Love Alex
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
wax museum field trip
For our field trip today, we went to a wax museum not too far out of town. The museum has been the life work of the creator, who designed and built all of the exhibits. There were probably 40 people representing the last 200 years in Greek history. I went through the museum with Fay, my teacher, and she explained the significance of each scene, since there were no plaques aside from some names. There were many scenes showing Turkish brutality against Greeks and Greek rebellion against the Turks. It was a short field trip, but a good one. We couldn't take pictures though. Oh well.
Dinner was eggplant or a zucchini/potato dish. I had both. It was the second best meal at the cafeteria so far :)
After, I went into town with Michelle, Nicolette and Serina and we went to a cafe/restaurant near the water, which was pleasant. It's amazing how many people go out every night to get food and drinks and just socialize. They also stay out really late; things were definitely still popping when we left at 11.
The IT band is feeling better, but I don't like not running. I might try out the gym tomorrow. I've been avoiding it because from what I've heard, it's a basketball court, a tiny weight section, three treadmills, one bike and one elliptical, so it's almost as good as the IMA but not quite haha.
I also went to a pharmacy and bought some allergy medicine yesterday; I asked for something strong since I'm going on like 4 rolls of toilet paper for tissues a week. She gave me a nasal spray and I'm hoping it starts working because I've been sort of congested. Coming home and living with Kitty will be no problem haha.
Love Alex
Dinner was eggplant or a zucchini/potato dish. I had both. It was the second best meal at the cafeteria so far :)
After, I went into town with Michelle, Nicolette and Serina and we went to a cafe/restaurant near the water, which was pleasant. It's amazing how many people go out every night to get food and drinks and just socialize. They also stay out really late; things were definitely still popping when we left at 11.
The IT band is feeling better, but I don't like not running. I might try out the gym tomorrow. I've been avoiding it because from what I've heard, it's a basketball court, a tiny weight section, three treadmills, one bike and one elliptical, so it's almost as good as the IMA but not quite haha.
I also went to a pharmacy and bought some allergy medicine yesterday; I asked for something strong since I'm going on like 4 rolls of toilet paper for tissues a week. She gave me a nasal spray and I'm hoping it starts working because I've been sort of congested. Coming home and living with Kitty will be no problem haha.
Love Alex
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
you and me together, we can do anything baby
Song of the day. I love Dave :)
Monday morning brought another week of classes. In Greek, we've progressed to reading paragraphs filled with words we don't know. I feel like maybe I'm on first grade reading level instead of kindergarden, although my comprehension is still close to nonexistent except for the few words and verbs we've learned. I could have a short discussion about likes and dislikes and languages we speak, but that's about it. We're learning a little more grammar, which is helpful. Unfortunately, making a singular noun plural is more complicated than adding an "s" so that kind of throws me when I'm reading or writing, but it's still interesting, and I like learning.
In dance, we practiced our old dances, which we've got down for sure, and learned some new ones which were good too. I like the class; everyone looks ridiculous but it's entertaining and I enjoy the music.
In Albanian class, our professor continues to lecture at light speed, but we've moved on to actual "Albanian" history rather than general Greek peninsula/Asia minor history. I think I will start taking notes on my laptop so I can control-F through my notes haha. After that, I went on an evening run with Anna and Katlynn. Anna used to run for UW (aka she ran a half marathon or more 7 days a week during the season) so she runs a little bit faster than Katlynn and I, but it's good to push yourself sometimes. We met up with other girls at the track and did some good stairs and lunges and 8 minute abs. I'm loving having so much time to work out and people to go with. On the major downside, my left IT band has been really painful since Monday night. I've felt twinges there before when doing abductor strengthening but this was something new. I went on an early morning (7am...) run today but it kept hurting so I'm not going to do any running for a while. I'm not sure what I'll do instead since 8 minute abs is only good for, you know, 8 minutes. Anna recommended some stretches and I found some online too. Most of them look sort of awkward but feel good. We'll see how that goes. I doubt there are too many English-speaking sports med/physical therapists here so hopefully it gets better.
In culture class, we learned about 19th and 20th century art. The professor started off right away by asking us to bear with her poor English, which was a total lie; she had absolutely perfect English and spoke very clearly and slowly, which was wonderful. I enjoyed the lecture a lot; she talked about European art movements and how they influenced Greek art, but stressed that while Greece wants to be part of Europe, they want their art to be very Greek and not European.
I took a two hour nap since I was tired from getting up early, which was great except that my room was probably at least 75 degrees, and it's only going to get hotter... The cool weather that we had when we first got here seems to be gone. I'm going to need to do some shorts shopping since my 3 pairs of jeans probably won't be useful too much longer.
We all met as a group before heading downtown for the interviews. Apparently, there are TWO HUNDRED sheets missing and they think someone or someones in our group stole them. I don't know if the housing coordinator misspoke when she said the number because I cannot imagine how on earth so many sheets would be gone, but needless to say, I'm fairly sure no one in their right mind would even keep one, since they're very starchy and not fitted, and we certainly don't have room for them in our suitcases. Apparently she came into most people's rooms and asked 3 or 4 times if anyone had accidentally or on purpose kept more than two sheets. No one had, of course, but she didn't seem to believe us. Since we're living in the "guest house" of the Stavros Niarchos center, the dorms are sort of considered to be a hotel, and they clearly have different beliefs about privacy. Last week, the housing director came into our rooms when we were on our field trip and got really mad because there were a few towels on the floor. They never really made their expectations clear, and we have different expectations coming from the US, so there are some issues, but that's why we have Taso, fortunately.
When we went to town, I was in a group with Tani and Leah for interviews. Leah' super into the interviews and she's also doing a documentary about Greek universities and the education system so she was very enthusiastic which was fun. We continued to get different answers from everyone we talked to, but they all continued to say that no one trusts the government; that's the one common theme. Actually, one man didn't even say that; we just asked him the first question about politics and he used an expletive and said "I HATE POLITICS" so we moved to the next topic.
Dinner was at a new restauarnt which was really nice and had phenomenal food. The dishes were a bit different than the other places we've been to, but that made the experience that much better. We had spanikopita (I know, yesterday I said they never serve it in restaurants but I guess sometimes they do!), meatballs, tzatziki, other spinach things, beans, salad, and more. For dessert, we had very thin orange peel drenched in a sugary sauce, which was very sweet but had the underlying orange zest flavor. Overall, quite the fabulous meal.
Tomorrow's a field trip day! We're going to a museum so I might not have pictures, but we'll see.
Love Alex
Monday morning brought another week of classes. In Greek, we've progressed to reading paragraphs filled with words we don't know. I feel like maybe I'm on first grade reading level instead of kindergarden, although my comprehension is still close to nonexistent except for the few words and verbs we've learned. I could have a short discussion about likes and dislikes and languages we speak, but that's about it. We're learning a little more grammar, which is helpful. Unfortunately, making a singular noun plural is more complicated than adding an "s" so that kind of throws me when I'm reading or writing, but it's still interesting, and I like learning.
In dance, we practiced our old dances, which we've got down for sure, and learned some new ones which were good too. I like the class; everyone looks ridiculous but it's entertaining and I enjoy the music.
In Albanian class, our professor continues to lecture at light speed, but we've moved on to actual "Albanian" history rather than general Greek peninsula/Asia minor history. I think I will start taking notes on my laptop so I can control-F through my notes haha. After that, I went on an evening run with Anna and Katlynn. Anna used to run for UW (aka she ran a half marathon or more 7 days a week during the season) so she runs a little bit faster than Katlynn and I, but it's good to push yourself sometimes. We met up with other girls at the track and did some good stairs and lunges and 8 minute abs. I'm loving having so much time to work out and people to go with. On the major downside, my left IT band has been really painful since Monday night. I've felt twinges there before when doing abductor strengthening but this was something new. I went on an early morning (7am...) run today but it kept hurting so I'm not going to do any running for a while. I'm not sure what I'll do instead since 8 minute abs is only good for, you know, 8 minutes. Anna recommended some stretches and I found some online too. Most of them look sort of awkward but feel good. We'll see how that goes. I doubt there are too many English-speaking sports med/physical therapists here so hopefully it gets better.
In culture class, we learned about 19th and 20th century art. The professor started off right away by asking us to bear with her poor English, which was a total lie; she had absolutely perfect English and spoke very clearly and slowly, which was wonderful. I enjoyed the lecture a lot; she talked about European art movements and how they influenced Greek art, but stressed that while Greece wants to be part of Europe, they want their art to be very Greek and not European.
I took a two hour nap since I was tired from getting up early, which was great except that my room was probably at least 75 degrees, and it's only going to get hotter... The cool weather that we had when we first got here seems to be gone. I'm going to need to do some shorts shopping since my 3 pairs of jeans probably won't be useful too much longer.
We all met as a group before heading downtown for the interviews. Apparently, there are TWO HUNDRED sheets missing and they think someone or someones in our group stole them. I don't know if the housing coordinator misspoke when she said the number because I cannot imagine how on earth so many sheets would be gone, but needless to say, I'm fairly sure no one in their right mind would even keep one, since they're very starchy and not fitted, and we certainly don't have room for them in our suitcases. Apparently she came into most people's rooms and asked 3 or 4 times if anyone had accidentally or on purpose kept more than two sheets. No one had, of course, but she didn't seem to believe us. Since we're living in the "guest house" of the Stavros Niarchos center, the dorms are sort of considered to be a hotel, and they clearly have different beliefs about privacy. Last week, the housing director came into our rooms when we were on our field trip and got really mad because there were a few towels on the floor. They never really made their expectations clear, and we have different expectations coming from the US, so there are some issues, but that's why we have Taso, fortunately.
When we went to town, I was in a group with Tani and Leah for interviews. Leah' super into the interviews and she's also doing a documentary about Greek universities and the education system so she was very enthusiastic which was fun. We continued to get different answers from everyone we talked to, but they all continued to say that no one trusts the government; that's the one common theme. Actually, one man didn't even say that; we just asked him the first question about politics and he used an expletive and said "I HATE POLITICS" so we moved to the next topic.
Dinner was at a new restauarnt which was really nice and had phenomenal food. The dishes were a bit different than the other places we've been to, but that made the experience that much better. We had spanikopita (I know, yesterday I said they never serve it in restaurants but I guess sometimes they do!), meatballs, tzatziki, other spinach things, beans, salad, and more. For dessert, we had very thin orange peel drenched in a sugary sauce, which was very sweet but had the underlying orange zest flavor. Overall, quite the fabulous meal.
Tomorrow's a field trip day! We're going to a museum so I might not have pictures, but we'll see.
Love Alex
Monday, May 3, 2010
thessalonikiiiii.
On Friday, we boarded the bus at the lovely hour of 7 am. Everyone passed out immediately and after a while, we made it to a spectacular museum at the burial site of several Macedonian kings, including Phillip II, the father of Alexander the Great. The burial site itself was (and still is) a huge mound, so the museum is underground. It was dark except for lights on the artifacts and tombs, and some of the pieces were so impressive.
I snuck two pictures at the beginning, thinking they probably weren't allowed, and then I found out I was right, so I don't have any photos of the coolest things, but the facade of one of the tombs was excavated and the museum was built around it, which was incredible. There were also several gold crowns made of tiny leaves and acorns and they were probably the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
The museum was also jam packed with school groups, which was entertaining. Unfortunately none of their guides spoke English, or I would have just followed them around. When we left the museum, there were about 100 middle or high schoolers coming in. I'm glad we weren't there at the same time haha.
We headed back to the bus and drove to Thessaloniki, which is the second-largest city in Greece. It's in the northeast part of the country, and the downtown is right on the sea, which was stunning. We had perfect weather all weekend: all sun and no clouds, and it was nice and warm, but not too hot. Since everyone was planning on staying there for the weekend, we looked ridiculous as our group of 26 walked a few blocks away with all our stuff to a restaurant. Like normal, we had a ton of delicious food. Then, after we were all really full, they brought us out some small pastry and mousse-like desserts, which were yummy. Nicos, one of our teachers, helped us find our hotel, and then we wandered around the city for the rest of the afternoon. One of the major roads in the city is right next to the waterfront, and there is a wide sidewalk which we probably walked up and down at least two times every day because being by the water was so pleasant (although the water did not look very clean right next to the shore).
I was happy that there was also a bike lane and people out biking and running (unlike Ioannnina). There were many people with collections of fake Ray Bans. I bought a pair of white ones and he wanted to charge me 10 euros. He pointed out the brand and Marilena said "Alex, they're real". He said, "Well, no, not real, but good." I don't know if they're good either, but I got them for 8 euros and that's a lot better than quality $100+ to me. We found a Starbucks, which felt and looked exactly like our Starbucks at home. Then, a few of us went on a half an hour boat ride around the bay, which was really nice. Since it was only about 5pm, the boat wasn't full by any means, but we enjoyed the tour a lot. Then we wandered around for a long time looking for somewhere to eat. Eventually we found a gyro place and had excellent gyros (pita, meat, tzatziki, fries, tomatoes) and slovaki (chicken on a skewer). We were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel. Showering was an experience; our bathroom was pretty tiny and the shower was a raised tile square on the floor and a shower head on a hose, but no shower curtain, so it was a challenge to not soak the entire bathroom. (We failed.)
The next morning, we woke up and went on a beach adventure. Although Thessaloniki is on the water, there's no beach for quite a while. The really helpful man at the front desk told us the appropriate bus sequence and end destination, and we caught the first bus right outside of the hotel. The buses all have cool ticket dispensers on them; some have buttons and some have touch screens. We bought all-day passes for 3 euros and rode until the end of the line which was at IKEA. They didn't even refer to that location as "__ Bus Terminal", just "IKEA". We talked with a man on the bus who was headed the same direction as we were, so he showed us where to catch the next bus. Since this was May 1, which is traditionally a labor rights day, there was a massive strike in the city (and possibly the whole country), so basically everything but cafes and restaurants was closed. The buses were running, but no one was sure when they would come. We got lucky and only had to wait about 10 minutes. We rode for a while through some smaller towns and eventually some other helpful folks told us when to get off. We got some snacks and water at a bakery and walked down to the water. The beach was really long, pretty empty, and absolutely beautiful. We parked it a little ways away from the restaurant and just laid out for four hours, which was so pleasant. We swam a bit, but the water was freezing so I preferred being out. The temperature was perfect; I was never cold but I didn't get overheated either. It was nice to be on a beach again, I hadn't realized how much I missed it since Ecuador and Hawaii. I also made good progress on my tan; I was loosing it a little but not anymore! Before we left, we walked out on the pier and asked the old man who was out there to take our picture. He seemed pretty drunk but very friendly. He asked me what my name was, and when I answered, he looked very excited and said "Me too!". I knew that Alexander meant protector of mankind, but he said that the name originates from some Greek words (Insert wikipdia here, since my Greek isn't very good: ἀλέξω (alexō) "protector of men", "to push back", "to hold off" and ἀνδρός (andros), genitive of ἀνήρ (anēr) "man"). That was neat.
We got lucky with the bus and only waited about 5 minutes, and had a fast ride back to IKEA. Unfortunately it was closed due to the strike as well, or I would have got for some Swedish meatballs :) We then had to wait about 45 minutes for the next bus, but we had fun waiting. We were all talking loudly and a kid came up and we found out he's here for a semester with U Conn. We are jealous that they get to live in Thessaloniki; it would be more interesting than Ioannina. The bus came eventually and we headed right back to the hotel and passed out. It's amazing how tired laying down all day can make you. After a nice nap, we went back to the boat and rode around again, but there were lots more people and the city was really pretty at night. We made friends with Igor, a "20 year old" guy from Serbia. We think he is at least 35, but everyone always finds out that we're all about 20, so they are too! Such a coincidence!
On Sunday, we packed up all our stuff and the hotel let us keep it in a storage room for a few hours while we walked around (aka made our default loop down by the water). Since it was Sunday, nothing was open but cafes and resaturants, but we got some Spanakopita and other pastries. Here, spanakopita isn't an entree, it's a 2 euro pastry that every bakery has. It's SO good though! Katlynn, Serina and I also wandered around and took pictures of the arcitecture (we're the people who are always lagging at the back of the group since we've stopped to take so many pictures). The city itself is filled with tall neautral-colored buildings that have stores on the bottom floor and are apartments/condos above, but there are also a ton of old churches and ruins in between modern buildings. I didn't see any signs or historical explanations, but they were all beautiful.
We all met back at the hotel and had the usual difficulties of coordinating more than 20 people, but we all made it to the bus station, where we bought tickets for 22 euros with a student discount. Not like Ecuador, but the bus station and buses are nicer. There was a very pleasant cafe/bakery were we waited for a while, and then we went the GIANT building with the buses. The bus was normal-sized, but there were only maybe 8 people on it besides us, so we had plenty of room to spread out. Ioanna, the program coordinator, made us reservations, so I don't know if they added an extra bus or if they're always that empty.
The ride was beautiful; I'd been asleep the entire time on the way to Thessaloniki but I was awake for the way back, and I enjoyed the view. The area was very mountainous and green: different than what I normally would expect for Greece, but I'm glad I got to see that side of the country as well.
The bus approached Ioannina from the University side, and we literally drove past the University before driving really far around the city to avoid traffic, presumably. Then we had to pay for cabs to go back to the University, but we made it. Overall, sort of a crazy weekend, but super fun.
Love Alex
I snuck two pictures at the beginning, thinking they probably weren't allowed, and then I found out I was right, so I don't have any photos of the coolest things, but the facade of one of the tombs was excavated and the museum was built around it, which was incredible. There were also several gold crowns made of tiny leaves and acorns and they were probably the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
The museum was also jam packed with school groups, which was entertaining. Unfortunately none of their guides spoke English, or I would have just followed them around. When we left the museum, there were about 100 middle or high schoolers coming in. I'm glad we weren't there at the same time haha.
We headed back to the bus and drove to Thessaloniki, which is the second-largest city in Greece. It's in the northeast part of the country, and the downtown is right on the sea, which was stunning. We had perfect weather all weekend: all sun and no clouds, and it was nice and warm, but not too hot. Since everyone was planning on staying there for the weekend, we looked ridiculous as our group of 26 walked a few blocks away with all our stuff to a restaurant. Like normal, we had a ton of delicious food. Then, after we were all really full, they brought us out some small pastry and mousse-like desserts, which were yummy. Nicos, one of our teachers, helped us find our hotel, and then we wandered around the city for the rest of the afternoon. One of the major roads in the city is right next to the waterfront, and there is a wide sidewalk which we probably walked up and down at least two times every day because being by the water was so pleasant (although the water did not look very clean right next to the shore).
I was happy that there was also a bike lane and people out biking and running (unlike Ioannnina). There were many people with collections of fake Ray Bans. I bought a pair of white ones and he wanted to charge me 10 euros. He pointed out the brand and Marilena said "Alex, they're real". He said, "Well, no, not real, but good." I don't know if they're good either, but I got them for 8 euros and that's a lot better than quality $100+ to me. We found a Starbucks, which felt and looked exactly like our Starbucks at home. Then, a few of us went on a half an hour boat ride around the bay, which was really nice. Since it was only about 5pm, the boat wasn't full by any means, but we enjoyed the tour a lot. Then we wandered around for a long time looking for somewhere to eat. Eventually we found a gyro place and had excellent gyros (pita, meat, tzatziki, fries, tomatoes) and slovaki (chicken on a skewer). We were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel. Showering was an experience; our bathroom was pretty tiny and the shower was a raised tile square on the floor and a shower head on a hose, but no shower curtain, so it was a challenge to not soak the entire bathroom. (We failed.)
The next morning, we woke up and went on a beach adventure. Although Thessaloniki is on the water, there's no beach for quite a while. The really helpful man at the front desk told us the appropriate bus sequence and end destination, and we caught the first bus right outside of the hotel. The buses all have cool ticket dispensers on them; some have buttons and some have touch screens. We bought all-day passes for 3 euros and rode until the end of the line which was at IKEA. They didn't even refer to that location as "__ Bus Terminal", just "IKEA". We talked with a man on the bus who was headed the same direction as we were, so he showed us where to catch the next bus. Since this was May 1, which is traditionally a labor rights day, there was a massive strike in the city (and possibly the whole country), so basically everything but cafes and restaurants was closed. The buses were running, but no one was sure when they would come. We got lucky and only had to wait about 10 minutes. We rode for a while through some smaller towns and eventually some other helpful folks told us when to get off. We got some snacks and water at a bakery and walked down to the water. The beach was really long, pretty empty, and absolutely beautiful. We parked it a little ways away from the restaurant and just laid out for four hours, which was so pleasant. We swam a bit, but the water was freezing so I preferred being out. The temperature was perfect; I was never cold but I didn't get overheated either. It was nice to be on a beach again, I hadn't realized how much I missed it since Ecuador and Hawaii. I also made good progress on my tan; I was loosing it a little but not anymore! Before we left, we walked out on the pier and asked the old man who was out there to take our picture. He seemed pretty drunk but very friendly. He asked me what my name was, and when I answered, he looked very excited and said "Me too!". I knew that Alexander meant protector of mankind, but he said that the name originates from some Greek words (Insert wikipdia here, since my Greek isn't very good: ἀλέξω (alexō) "protector of men", "to push back", "to hold off" and ἀνδρός (andros), genitive of ἀνήρ (anēr) "man"). That was neat.
We got lucky with the bus and only waited about 5 minutes, and had a fast ride back to IKEA. Unfortunately it was closed due to the strike as well, or I would have got for some Swedish meatballs :) We then had to wait about 45 minutes for the next bus, but we had fun waiting. We were all talking loudly and a kid came up and we found out he's here for a semester with U Conn. We are jealous that they get to live in Thessaloniki; it would be more interesting than Ioannina. The bus came eventually and we headed right back to the hotel and passed out. It's amazing how tired laying down all day can make you. After a nice nap, we went back to the boat and rode around again, but there were lots more people and the city was really pretty at night. We made friends with Igor, a "20 year old" guy from Serbia. We think he is at least 35, but everyone always finds out that we're all about 20, so they are too! Such a coincidence!
On Sunday, we packed up all our stuff and the hotel let us keep it in a storage room for a few hours while we walked around (aka made our default loop down by the water). Since it was Sunday, nothing was open but cafes and resaturants, but we got some Spanakopita and other pastries. Here, spanakopita isn't an entree, it's a 2 euro pastry that every bakery has. It's SO good though! Katlynn, Serina and I also wandered around and took pictures of the arcitecture (we're the people who are always lagging at the back of the group since we've stopped to take so many pictures). The city itself is filled with tall neautral-colored buildings that have stores on the bottom floor and are apartments/condos above, but there are also a ton of old churches and ruins in between modern buildings. I didn't see any signs or historical explanations, but they were all beautiful.
We all met back at the hotel and had the usual difficulties of coordinating more than 20 people, but we all made it to the bus station, where we bought tickets for 22 euros with a student discount. Not like Ecuador, but the bus station and buses are nicer. There was a very pleasant cafe/bakery were we waited for a while, and then we went the GIANT building with the buses. The bus was normal-sized, but there were only maybe 8 people on it besides us, so we had plenty of room to spread out. Ioanna, the program coordinator, made us reservations, so I don't know if they added an extra bus or if they're always that empty.
The ride was beautiful; I'd been asleep the entire time on the way to Thessaloniki but I was awake for the way back, and I enjoyed the view. The area was very mountainous and green: different than what I normally would expect for Greece, but I'm glad I got to see that side of the country as well.
The bus approached Ioannina from the University side, and we literally drove past the University before driving really far around the city to avoid traffic, presumably. Then we had to pay for cabs to go back to the University, but we made it. Overall, sort of a crazy weekend, but super fun.
Love Alex
Thursday, April 29, 2010
our dance teacher's got some moves
My days here really aren't too exciting so I apologize for the boring blog entries. In Greek class today, my teacher brought us tiropita, which is like spanikopita but with cheese/egg instead of spinach inside. Her grandma had cooked it for us, and it was delicious. During my hour-long break, I worked on an absolutely gigantic post-program survey for Ecuador. It asked questions I could have written essays for, but decided that I had better ways to spend my time. I still didn't finish the survey though, I spent 30 minutes on it later as well. We then had our culture lecture on Ancient Greek Art. The professor talked really slowly; I don't know if it was because he always does or just because he was unsure of his English sometimes (for the record, he had basically perfect English and a large vocabulary(, but I wasn't complaining about the speed since we were actually able to follow the topics. After lunch I went to Carrefour (AGAIN) but I've gotten the shopping trip down by now so I was able to pick out all my foods pretty quickly. After, I went up on the roof again and finished Dear John. I can't decided whether or not I wasted 3.5 hours of my life reading it or not. I had heard it was bad so I didn't have high hopes, but I'm a little disappointed in Nicholas Sparks; his other books were better. However, I've gotten my bad romance novel fix for the next year. Leah said she has Motorcycle Diaries so I think I'll steal that when she's done with it; it's probably better.
In dance class, we did the 12-step dance better than before, which was good. We also learned some cool moves like spinning or bending down and then jumping up to spice up some dances so that was fun.
Tomorrow we're going to Thessaloniki and we're staying there till Sunday, so I doubt there will be any new posts until then.
Enjoy the weekend!
Love Alex
In dance class, we did the 12-step dance better than before, which was good. We also learned some cool moves like spinning or bending down and then jumping up to spice up some dances so that was fun.
Tomorrow we're going to Thessaloniki and we're staying there till Sunday, so I doubt there will be any new posts until then.
Enjoy the weekend!
Love Alex
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
lesson on how life is hit or miss, greek-cafeteria-style
Yesterday was a pretty normal Tuesday. In our culture lecture, we learned everything about the Byzantine Empire in a two hour lecture by a blind professor who spoke great English and had everything memorized, which was really impressive. Since he covered a HUGE time span, our notes only touch on the very major aspects, but it was interesting.
We also went into town for Ethnography interviews, part 2. It was nicer today so we tried just approaching people walking in the street. We had a number of people who said they didn't speak Greek or who didn't have time to talk to us, but we had three good interviews with people who all said pretty different things. In response to questions about Albanians and immigration, though, two of the interview-ees made the point that "We're all people!" and nationality shouldn't matter in your opinions of others. We also had another delicious dinner at our typical restaurant, although I think we're going to try somewhere else next time.
On the walk back to the bus, we saw a huge group of riot police and just up the road, a huge group of people just milling about and partially standing in the street. There was going to be a demonstration of some sort, but it hadn't started yet and I didn't really want to get caught up in that so we continued on home.
Today, we had more Greek class and then right after we went to the Ancient Theatre of Dodoni, which is only about 20 minutes away. It's a huge auditorium built into a hillside which can seat 18,000 people. This was also a sanctuary with an oracle and the Temple of Zeus.
It's also a pretty incredible location:
We came back to the BEST lunch we've had so far. There was green salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese and eggplant with sweet, cooked onions on top, which is delicious. This was a meal I legitimately would have ordered in a restaurant, so I was very satisfied.
I spent part of the afternoon reading on the roof, which was really nice. The emergency exits on either end of the building go all the way up, so I just grabbed my yoga mat and "Dear John" (I'm glad it's an easy read, because I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time reading it...) and soaked up some sun.
Albanian class was really long since I was tired, but he did talk a little bit more slowly, which was definitely an improvement.
After, Michelle and I ran to the track, were we were informed by another exerciser that that Track Coordinator had said they use pesticides on the grass, so we stopped stretching on it. Why they would use pesticides on a University field which has plenty of soccer players on it and runners next to it, I don't know. It also amazes me that the gate is perpetually locked and that lock is perpetually ignored. They really should just keep the gate open since I'm sure at least 50 people a day hope the fence, if not more.
We walked up to dinner after, which was unfortunately the worst meal we've had there yet haha. The entree options were either mystery soup with meatballs (although I don't know what kind of meat they were) or meat-stuffed cucumbers, which we had at dinner last night, and they weren't good then, so I certainly wasn't going to try these. There was also feta cheese, custard, and of course apples and bread.
Jenny and I ate apples, bread and water. Michelle, who can't eat wheat, had apples and water. I was so entertained by how horrible dinner was that I didn't mind too much, as long as that doesn't repeat itself too often.
We also went into town for Ethnography interviews, part 2. It was nicer today so we tried just approaching people walking in the street. We had a number of people who said they didn't speak Greek or who didn't have time to talk to us, but we had three good interviews with people who all said pretty different things. In response to questions about Albanians and immigration, though, two of the interview-ees made the point that "We're all people!" and nationality shouldn't matter in your opinions of others. We also had another delicious dinner at our typical restaurant, although I think we're going to try somewhere else next time.
On the walk back to the bus, we saw a huge group of riot police and just up the road, a huge group of people just milling about and partially standing in the street. There was going to be a demonstration of some sort, but it hadn't started yet and I didn't really want to get caught up in that so we continued on home.
Today, we had more Greek class and then right after we went to the Ancient Theatre of Dodoni, which is only about 20 minutes away. It's a huge auditorium built into a hillside which can seat 18,000 people. This was also a sanctuary with an oracle and the Temple of Zeus.
It's also a pretty incredible location:
We came back to the BEST lunch we've had so far. There was green salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese and eggplant with sweet, cooked onions on top, which is delicious. This was a meal I legitimately would have ordered in a restaurant, so I was very satisfied.
I spent part of the afternoon reading on the roof, which was really nice. The emergency exits on either end of the building go all the way up, so I just grabbed my yoga mat and "Dear John" (I'm glad it's an easy read, because I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time reading it...) and soaked up some sun.
Albanian class was really long since I was tired, but he did talk a little bit more slowly, which was definitely an improvement.
After, Michelle and I ran to the track, were we were informed by another exerciser that that Track Coordinator had said they use pesticides on the grass, so we stopped stretching on it. Why they would use pesticides on a University field which has plenty of soccer players on it and runners next to it, I don't know. It also amazes me that the gate is perpetually locked and that lock is perpetually ignored. They really should just keep the gate open since I'm sure at least 50 people a day hope the fence, if not more.
We walked up to dinner after, which was unfortunately the worst meal we've had there yet haha. The entree options were either mystery soup with meatballs (although I don't know what kind of meat they were) or meat-stuffed cucumbers, which we had at dinner last night, and they weren't good then, so I certainly wasn't going to try these. There was also feta cheese, custard, and of course apples and bread.
Jenny and I ate apples, bread and water. Michelle, who can't eat wheat, had apples and water. I was so entertained by how horrible dinner was that I didn't mind too much, as long as that doesn't repeat itself too often.
Monday, April 26, 2010
don't eat fish soup. you know, just in case you though that sounded good...
Today was pretty normal; nothing too exciting happened. I had greek class, during which we learn another conjugation pattern. It's getting easier to read although we're still all slow. Listening to us read must be like teaching 5 year olds how to sound out words haha. We also talked about birthdays. Here, you invite your friends out and you pay for everything, not the other way around, even if you're a kid. You also celebrate both your birthday AND your name day. Each saint has a day so if your name is similar to theirs, that's your day. There's also a day for everyone else who doesn't have a saint with the same name.
In dance class, we were more or less successful at the semi-complicated 12 step dance. We also learned two other dances which aren't in a big circle. In one, couples form a line and walk around in a circle for a while and then make a big tunnel which everyone goes under, which is fun. In the other, couples face each other with all the girls standing shoulder to shoulder and the boys in front of them. Then, the girls line walks backwards 8 steps and the boys like walks forward 8 steps. reverse, repeat, reverse repeat, etc haha.
We had Greek/Albanian class. The professor continued to talk really fast with his accent and use poor handwriting. I would find the material really interesting if I could understand it better, but oh well.
At lunch, I ate a salad and a soup with fish in it. That was a mistake, I think, because when I tried to go on a run later, I did not feel very good. I went to dinner with the other girls who had gone to work out, and we stayed for a really long time, leaving a little after 9. It was freezing out so we all ran back since we had workout clothes on (the only downside being that we get SO many stares in the cafeteria), which was fun and way faster than walking.
Love Alex
In dance class, we were more or less successful at the semi-complicated 12 step dance. We also learned two other dances which aren't in a big circle. In one, couples form a line and walk around in a circle for a while and then make a big tunnel which everyone goes under, which is fun. In the other, couples face each other with all the girls standing shoulder to shoulder and the boys in front of them. Then, the girls line walks backwards 8 steps and the boys like walks forward 8 steps. reverse, repeat, reverse repeat, etc haha.
We had Greek/Albanian class. The professor continued to talk really fast with his accent and use poor handwriting. I would find the material really interesting if I could understand it better, but oh well.
At lunch, I ate a salad and a soup with fish in it. That was a mistake, I think, because when I tried to go on a run later, I did not feel very good. I went to dinner with the other girls who had gone to work out, and we stayed for a really long time, leaving a little after 9. It was freezing out so we all ran back since we had workout clothes on (the only downside being that we get SO many stares in the cafeteria), which was fun and way faster than walking.
Love Alex
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