Orientation Week and First Week of School (Warning: It's Long)

Hello, everyone! Sorry I'm late about updating you about my doings. I've just been so busy getting to know the city, hanging out with my new friends, and doing homework (you won't even believe the amount that I was assigned this first week) so I haven't had the chance to sit down! Also, I didn't have internet on my computer until today, so that's a kind of a big factor...

So! Orientation week. It's basically a whole week of lectures and events where we get the opportunity to learn the city, understand the basics of the culture, meet other students, and to make ourselves comfortable in a foreign city.

Day 1:
I made it to Greece! Once I found the CYA greeters at the airport, they threw us into a taxi with another CYA kid and drove us straight to our apartment. If any of you want to see where I'm living it is Erastothenous 24. I'm a door away from a bakery. You do not even know how tempting it is to get baklava every day! Anyway, I made it into my apartment even with my weird lock (you turn the major lock to the left four times, then you use your second key to actually open the door. Hmm) and when I walked in I met one of my roommates, Carolyn! She is so fun! Just a ball of energy! She has the best sense of adventure. She is extremely approachable. Her humor is spot in. Just a great girl. She drags me out of the apartment a lot and helps me be social :) She, Anna (a friend of hers from Kenyon), and I ventured out to the Academic Center to tie up some loose ends. And this is the view from the Academic Center.

That, my dear friends and family, is the Panathenaic Stadium to the left and a view of the Acropolis on the right. We are 15 minutes away (give or take public transportation) from everything everyone wants to see in Athens. I'll talk more about that later!

Carolyn and I had some extra time to hang out so we wandered into the Panathenaic Stadium and I did what every CYA student does - take a tacky picture.

I met my other roommates too! Colleen gets me. She and I match on many levels. We think the same, we laugh at the same things, we have the same tastes in friends, food, movies, music, and all that good stuff. She, like everyone else I met, is friendly and approachable too. Rachel is a doll. She is incredibly sweet and so adorable! I can't even explain it! I love the way she talks and the words she chooses and, oh, she knows it. Also, we really like each other cause we walk the same pace and think the same way about life. Can I tell you enough how much I love my roommates?

Arch of Hadrian

Day 2:
We had more orientation stuff that won't interest you. So! At one point my roommates and I became friends with Michelle and David. Also, quality people. I do have something quick to say about David though - he is a walking encyclopedia. He literally knows everything about everything. Everything.  Anyway. After lunch, the six of us ventured out and looked at history! Literally just a block down from us, there is the Temple of Zeus and the Arch of Hadrian, a Roman Emperor.

Me, Rachel, Colleen, David, Carolyn, Michelle

 After some walking, we went back to the Academic Center and started some survival modern Greek classes. We learned the basics of Greek like greetings and what to say when you are ordering. It was pretty interesting. Later that night, Emma, an alum and the social media coordinator, encouraged me to take modern Greek, so you know what I did right? Sign up for modern Greek. I have to say, no regret! It is a complex but awesome language!

We also wandered around a bit in the touristy part of Plaka (I think) and I had my first Greek coffee. Oh yum. Yum. Shoot. Yum.

The last main event of the second day was Greek Night! Zoe and Yiannis, some teachers of traditional Greek dance, came to the Academic center and taught us how to dance! Of course I was awful cause I can't tell my hands from my feet and I legitimately don't know left from right so it was a struggle haha but it was so cool to watch everyone get the moves down! We have a few American-Greek kids so they helped teach everyone the footing and, since there was dancing and a little bit of wine, all the professors and administration jumped in a joined us! The administration and professors are some fun people! They are all cool, intelligent, worldly, laid-back, and not bad on the eyes. So Greek Night was fun to say the least! (I have videos but I can't upload them so here's a blurry picture)
Sometime during the dancing I stepped aside and introduced myself to Mr. Phil, the president of CYA.  Anyway, I went up to him and we chatted about this and that but then he stopped and he said, "Creighton. Brian Martens came from Creighton. Did he get his capers?" He then proceeded to tell me about how much Brian likes capers (haha want me to bring some back, Brian? For those of you who don't know, Brian Martens is the man who introduced Classics to me and convinced me to come to Greece for study abroad)

Will at taverna excited to eat food!

Day 3:
I'm looking at my schedule and it is basically more introductory stuff like texts books, rules, information and the works. The main thing that really went down was Taverna. Basically a group of 8 to 10 kids get together and go to a taverna (a restaurant sort of place) with professors and administrative people. We had mainly environmental studies professors, but I sat next to the coolest chick I've met, Vasso. She, Anna, some students partnering with CYA, and I laughed and talked and chowed down. There was so much food. Lamb. Meatballs. Tzatziki. Souvlaki. Salad. Cheese pie. Spinach pie. It was a table of food!! Ha. So a lot of the kids had a small appetite cause it was hot and everyone had jet lag and were too tired to eat. I, coming from England and only adapting to a two hour time change, had energy galore. I literally had half of everything, the other half being split between four other people. I do not regret anything. It was glorious. Next to godliness.
Day 4:
More school jargon. Let's talk about fun things! David, being the walking encyclopedia that he is, heard of this small, but really cool museum called the Benaki museum. Holy cow. There were artifacts from every era of Greece, from every era of ancient Greece all the way up to Byzantine period and Ottoman period! It held so much more than I anticipated! Jewelry, busts, icons, fine china, altars, everything. It's not a typical place people go to when they come to Athens, but for anyone who has a basic understanding of history or is curious about the transformation Greece undertook and how it appears in art, should go to the Benaki museum. Oh! And when we were walking there, we happened to walk by just as they were changing the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of Parliament. And apparently you can take pictures with the guys, so why the hell not?

Day 5:
To test our basic understanding of Greek, CYA brought us to the farmer's market. So. Let me tell you. I hate tomatoes. I despise them. I'm indifferent to grapes. They're okay. Apples and bananas are cool. Just not my preference. But once I was at the farmer's market, I bought all of those things and inhaled them while we were walking around. The fruit there is so incredibly fresh! And the grapes - whoa. Sweet. Juicy. Yum. And since we are on the topic of food, and since I didn't do much else that day except adjust, I'll just tell you that we got dinner. It was fun just because I got to know my roommates, Michelle, and David better!


Day 6:

David, Carolyn, Rachel, me, Michelle, Colleen

Now this was a busy day. Carolyn and Michelle went to the beach during the day, but Colleen, Rachel, and I didn't really want to wake up early, but once we did, we made our way to the Acropolis museum and spent the whole day there.

The Acropolis museum is really cool and also really sad. It was made in 2009 to basically prove to England that they are able to house the artifacts from the Parthenon that Lord Elgin took way back when. This guy was like "Oh. I like these statues and Greek isn't in the strongest state so I'm going to take it!" And now it's in the British museum. Everything on the top floor of the Acropolis museum is just casts of the metopes that should be there. So that's what makes it sad. But what makes it awesome is that you can see the ancient city underneath it! On the platform that leads into the museum, and on the ground floor of the museum, is this super thick glass that looks down on the roads and houses lying beneath it *gargling sound* Rachel, Colleen, and I were, to say the least, losing our shit. To quote Rachel, "This is why I study dead things!"
Another great aspect of the museum is that the museum houses a multitude of objects found on the Acropolis. So there were koroi, korai, columns, votive statues - the works. And of course, the lovely karyatids. You also can have a great view of the Acropolis and have a coffee. I didn't do it that day, but Rachel and I plan to go back soon and study there!

Eventually, Alex and David met up with us and we went and got dinner with Carolyn and Michelle. Oh my gosh, Alex. What. A. Sweetie. He is so sweet he makes sugar taste like salt! And his laugh is so contagious! He's wonderful company. And he's going to take on the Greek Marathon! Mad respect. I can't wait to cheer him on while I eat chocolate and drink soda.

David, Rachel, Colleen hiding in the back, Alex, me, Carolyn, and Michelle

After dinner, we went to my favorite experience of Greece so far. David suggested we get tickets to see the play Philoctetes by Sophocles. I can't even explain it. The play took place at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which is placed right under the Acropolis. I want everyone to go to Greece during this time to watch a play here. Oh my gosh, and the play itself? A whole other story! There were only 9 actors: Odysseus, Neoptolemous, Philoctetes, and the chorus. There were no props except a few boxes and wood planks. There were no backdrops. There was no English. I experienced that play as it was. The actors gave me chills they were so incredible. I could tell what was going on even without knowing Greek. But it made me want to learn Greek even more. I knew the play raw. Now I want to appreciate the play fully.

People filing into the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Parthenon and propylaea on the Acropolis. Stage bottom right.

 The coolest thing about the atmosphere of the play was the people. Everyone was crowded together. People were sitting hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder, knees in other peoples back. It was packed. But no one cared. No one moved. No one spoke. It was silent during the play. The only time there was some audible chattering was when David would lean forward and give me a detail here and there about the play. I want to go back and see all the other plays offered, but sadly more plans came up.
This was my favorite event in Greece so far. It was just too authentic to even believe. People long ago sat in the same seat as me (even though it has been renovated) under the same sky, looking at the same Parthenon, watching the same stage. I could not handle it all.

Day 7:
Alex, the roommates, Michelle, and I hit up the National Archaeological Museum. They have the mask of Agamemnon, the Dipylon vase, the Sounion kouros, stele, stele, stele, the striding Zeus/Poseidon, works made by Praxiteles, the Antikythera, a bronze Augustus. So much. We only got to see the Neolithic work and all the sculptures. I can't even tell you the other exhibits because we just stayed in one!

Well, later Alex, Chris (Alex's friend), Michelle, Maddie, Colleen, Carolyn, Rachel, and I went to an open air cinema. It's pretty self explanatory. There were rows of seats set outside on this giant roof facing a huge projection screen. Like every other place, you could see the Acropolis from your seat. We saw this pretty eh movie called Magic in the Moonlight. It was eh. The best part of the night was when it rained, everyone panicked and vacated, then the rain stopped and we got trash bags to sit on while we finished the movie. The weather is just as fickle as the Midwest. The temperature is the same, but in a day it can be hella windy, broiling hot, or a deluge.

Day 8 and 10:
Actual learning! My professor of Modern Greek has high expectations and puts a lot of stress on you in class, so I'm learning it quick because of that, but also because I'm practicing outside of class at cafes (and getting free coffee because of my efforts!) I've never taken a modern language before so I'm nervous to see how my brain works with it, but even if it doesn't, I'm going to MAKE IT WORK because I want, need to learn Greek. I also have this friend that I say hi to everyday that speaks Greek and Albanian and I want him to be my best friend so I have an even greater reason to learn Greek! Aaaand the guy at the coffee shop said that if I learned a few Greek phrases every day and can hold a short conversation he'll keep giving me free coffee...hehe

Philosophy is awesome. My teacher is a hippie hardcore. She talks quietly and like she's a little out of it, but she is genius. We read a summary of the Milesian thoughts before class and when we came in, we had an in-depth discussion. We started the talk at a pretty vague point, but some how this professor got us from this vague question to the point of the Mileisan thought. She hardly guided us and she had no notes. I do not know how she did it but it was awesome! I have never been so excited for philosophy as I have been with her! This class is so much reading, which usually makes me nervous with philosophy cause it flies over my head, but I have no fear with this professor to guide me to the right thoughts.

Day 9 and 11:
Archaeology of Athens is the most intimidating class ever. Dr. Pitt is like this seven foot tall, dry-humored, way-too-intelligent-for-his-own-good British guy that is obsessed with topography and bibliographies. No joke. His class is STRICTLY on-site. Not only do I have to hurry to class at 8:45am, I have to write a small dissertation for him on two subjects, teach half of class (I will be teaching my peers about the Dipylon and Sacred Gates, which I know nothing about) and read a good 70 pages a night. We had our first on-site class today (the 11th) and I nearly died. Since Dr. Pitt is a freaking giant, he took ten steps and he was up the hill. My stride equals three of his so it took me forever to catch up. But he brought us to the best place to have the first class. We climbed up Filipappos Hill, or the Hill of the Muses. And it was surreal. Every country I've visited, I have encountered one thing that stole my breath away and this was it. Every picture I took only captures 1/100th of the beauty that it was. The sky was blue. There was greenery all around. The city was sprawling. Mountains enclosed us. The ancient monuments were as apart of the city as much now as they were then. The acropolis looked us in the eye. I saw Athens for who she is.

Ha. Ha. Poor planning on my part, my next class is Ancient Greek Sculpture, which is also mainly on-site. So wherever Pitt brings us, I have to run to the location my other professor assigned us to meet. Today I ran from Filipappos Hill to the National Archaeological Museum in 40 minutes. And it's a 30 minute walk, so I can't afford to get lost and I'm really good at getting lost. But some days I'm running across the damn city! Imma be so fit from this!

So we met at the museum. Man. A must see museum. I ranted about it before, but being there with Professor Stewart just pumped me up. I get to sit in there for an hour and a half and learn about an object with the piece actually in front of me! I can look at it from the front, from the back, from the side. It's so much more interactive! Ahhhhh

This is the life. I am living the dream. I can't imagine a better life than the one I'm living right now. The experiences I have had, the opportunities that will come. The places I have visited, and the places I can still explore. The things I do know, and the things I can learn. I can't even put into words how incredible the trip has been and it's only my 11th day!