The hustle and bustle of a student abroad (views included)

Views on the acropolis overlooking the Odeon of Herodes

 Wow, this week has felt like the longest week of my life. From finishing the dig to meeting new classmates, it has been a crazy busy time.

Voula Gang Gang on the last day digging

Monday began like any other dig day, rising at 6am to meet at the site by 8. After finalizing the level at about a foot and a half down, we didn't have any time to go further. From what my group excavated, trench A8 appears to be collapse from the two adjacent building structures found in the peripheral trenches A7 and A9. Though we didn't find any structures, it does help to provide more context about the layout of the agora. Since there wasn't much to sketch, our director had us map out trench A7 to practice archaeological drawing which consisted of lots of measuring and scaling. After cleaning up the site, we all headed back to Athens and later were treated to pizza by our professor at Mystic Pizza. I split a 4 cheese pizza (which was huge, and delicious) with Melody, but the catch with this place is that all of their dough contains cannabis oils which was interesting!

Tuesday came and orientation began at 9:30am where all the students met for breakfast in the Academic Center followed by many sessions about safety and adjustments in Athens. We then had our very first (yes, after two weeks) survival modern Greek courses where we divided into classes and met with a professor to learn some basic Greek. This first day was spent going over the alphabet, which was something I basically already knew from my ancient Greek classes at PLU. During the lunch period, I ate some Greek burgers and did all of my (literally) dirty clothes from the dig. Later in the evening, the president of CYA gave the students a welcome and read a beautiful poem that I apparently forgot the name of and google is being of no help. The night ended with new friends at a taverna dinner where we all got to try new Greek foods and mingle along with some CYA staff.

The next day of orientation began with a rush to Kekkos for a doughnut from Demetrius (the owner) before heading off to the next modern Greek lesson. More sessions followed continuing in topics about life in Athens and resources available to students. At the end of the day, my flat mates and I sat down and began outlining our free weekends with trips of our own, and actually booked a flight to Rome for a weekend in March! You really can't beat a $45 plane ticket to another country.

Idk who these people are but they're cute and posed on the acropolis

Thursday began again with survival Greek and we continued to work on small phrases such as "Πως σε λένε; με λένε Κικι" (What's your name? My name is Kiki). This was followed by metro trips so students could get used to public transportation (something I have been doing for two weeks now) and my group walked to Syntagma and took the metro to Gazi, the clubbing district, which is way different in the daylight. After walking around we sat down for some coffee at one of the cafes before making our way back to campus. Following lunch, everyone trekked down to the US embassy (about a 30 minute walk) to meet the US ambassador and get some SUPER helpful*** information about Athens (***info we have been receiving all week). Basically it was an info session about how to go into foreign services which was interesting enough. My roommates and I, along with our friend Andy, spent the night winding down at a cute Irish pub near our apartment which was much needed after a long day.

Ladies of the Erechtheion

Greek time! After the final survival Greek classes, we all headed over to the weekly farmer's market behind the stadium (next door to campus) to try out our Greek and get some produce. There were hundreds of fruits, vegetables, and a random assortment of household goods all on sale. Later a few other students needed to get some class supplies down in Syntagma so we went down to shop. I ended up buying some new paints and brushes that I hope to put to use soon! Upon returning back to the apartment with all of my exhaustion, I took a nap. I then made my all time favorite meal to share with my roommates, chicken burritos. There isn't sour cream here (that I have been able to find) but I have found that Greek yogurt is a great substitute! We ended the night by going out to see a movie which ended up being an adventure including a bar, macaroons, and finally the movie Split (which was fantastic).

In front of the Erechtheion

What's better than waking up on a sunny Saturday morning to make pancakes with your roommates while listening to a breakfast playlist?? Nothing. Well, the pancakes actually could have tasted a little better, but other than that nothing. After rising and dining, we headed out to the acropolis (FINALLY) and got to see the Parthenon, city, and all the other buildings atop the acropolis. The views and architecture were absolutely incredible and I cannot wait to learn more this semester in my topography and monuments class. We continued on through Monastiraki and found a record store (yay painting) and a cafe that Katie recommended to stop for lunch. Finally we met with the rest of the Voula Gang Gang and hiked to the top of Lykavittos hill which has a view of the entire city and a monastery on top. The views were absolutely incredible just before sunset.

The Parthenon in all her glory

Today was spent waking up at 6:30 to meet the Athens hiking group at 7. For €20 (basically the cost of transportation) we took a charter bus about 3 hours outside of Athens to do a gorge hike in the mountains. We stopped at a monastery and got to look around for awhile. There were many older structures along with the remains of a saint. We then started the hike down the mountain and in through the gorge. The views were breathtaking and absolutely one of a kind. After about 4 hours, we made it to the end of the trail and walked along a road for about another 45 minutes to meet the bus. On the way back, we stopped in a seaside town for a late lunch/early dinner right on the shore where I got some yummy chicken. After a long bus ride back and the end to a long week, I am ready to curl up and prepare for the first day of classes tomorrow.

Views from our dinner table

Finding old things, eating a lot, and bad weather

On Cape Sounio

Week two consisted of some touristy adventures, bad weather, and a crazy amount of public transportation and while it was exhausting, I remain enthralled with my surroundings. Fair warning, this is a longer post than the previous ones!

Monday the 16th after making the now routine commute to Voula, my group began digging the second layer of our trench to further investigate what was happening. After a long day of axing, troweling, and getting dirty we returned back to campus and had a class period focused on the art of artifact dating and contexts within an archaeological site. Some of the girls and I went out for waffles and ice cream at Poco Poco later that evening, followed by my apartment starting the new Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix (NPH is wonderful, in case you were wondering, also Kronk).

View from my apartment kitchen balcony

Tuesday rolled around and after making it to the site and working for about an hour or two, the rain picked up and we had to leave because apparently digging in the mud isn't helpful (or fun, I might add).

Wednesday was more or less of the same thing, we arrived on site and saw the puddles in the trenches. But instead of going straight back to Athens, we stopped by the warehouse of artifacts found from different archaeological sites within Attica which is located in part of the old Athens airport. There were some amazing artifacts including lots of black wear, other pottery, tear holders (small vessels that held the tears of the mourners to be put into the resting place of the deceased), and even some neolithic period artifacts. These were all so interesting and gave some perspective as to how much raw, tangible history is all around me here in Greece.

Black wear pottery

The latter half of Wednesday, after making it back to Athens through the rain, was spent with the Voula gang and a few other cool people that are participating in the dig that aren't currently with CYA shopping around Syntagma. Heather and I got some cool new kicks at Adidas followed by a photo shoot to show them off. We then all headed over to get Lukumades (basically donut holes that can be filled/topped to your pleasure) which are DELICIOUS, I might add. After a long day of running around, we finally made it back in for the night.

LUKUMADES

Pottery handle w inscription

Temple to Apollo Zoster

Thursday was spent continuing through the second layer of the trench while joking along with one another. I really must add that all of the people in Voula, especially my CYA pals, are really becoming very dear to my heart and I will miss digging in the dirt with all of them. Later that night, I finally got to meet up with my pal Kaylee from PLU, along with some other PLU students that are in Greece for j-term. Though it was short, seeing some familiar faces is always a way to make my heart smile.

The next day was one to be remembered. Friday, after the usual commute and digging process led to an awesome discovery within the second layer of the trench. As I was troweling/hand axing away, I came across what at first seemed to be a typical pottery sherd or tile. However, as I uncovered it more I came to realize that it was a pottery handle from a large vessel and it still had a visible potters mark (what the artisan used to mark their art) with a partial inscription. This was super exciting for me, and the excitement carried on after the dig when we visited the temple to Apollo Zoster (on the beach!!).

My first gyro

With the weekend finally here, rest seemed like it would finally come. Wrong. Saturday was packed full of adventures starting with a new tattoo. The phrase γνώθι ςάυτόν is dear to my heart as it was one of the first phrases I learned in ancient Greek, meaning know thyself. It is now permanently with me and a gentle reminder to always stay true to my roots no matter where I end up in life. We then met with the group and a new student for lunch where I had my first Gyro (pictured left, yes those are fries, the Greeks love fries).

Women's March on Athens 2017

After waffle dessert, we made our way down to the US Embassy for the Women's March on Athens. The movement was beautiful and so many Americans and Greeks alike came together in solidarity with people across America in the fight for equality, human rights, and against bigotry and were met by the Greek's own demonstration. It really comes to show that the people can and will have the power, as long as we work in unison. (Also most major cities, including Portland, have said that this was the highest attended, most peaceful demonstrations with zero arrests, and that's pretty cool if you ask me.) After supporting my fellow women, the gang went out to Gazi for the night. Well, we actually left at 12am and danced the night (morning?) away until finally making it back at 4am via a Mercedes cab. It was such a fun, well spent Saturday. 

The gang at the Women's March

Finally, today was spent 85% waiting for and riding public transportation (while being freezing due to the crazy wind) and 15% sight seeing in Sounio at the Temple of Poseidon. The magnificent views of the temple and the sea were slightly blurred by the wind hitting my eyes, even behind my glasses. But before making our way to the sea, we all decided to try the local McDonald's to see if there really is a difference between countries, and there is (the meat tasted meatier and the bun was fluffier on my burger). Before catching the soonest possible bus back to Athens (about a 2 hour ride), we went in the restaurant for some early dinner where I got a delicious grilled cheese and some vanilla ice cream, I'm not so hard to please. After finally making it back to the apartment, I couldn't be happier to crawl into bed after finishing this post. Tune in next week for more stories of my adventures, to be focused on the conclusion of the dig in Voula and orientation week.

Temple to Poseidon at Sounio

Dirt, Dunes, and a whole lot of Food

View on the Areopagus in the sun with the acropolis in the backgroud

This past week has been spent by being jet lagged, thrown into culture shock, getting down in dirty in trenches, meeting new friends, and embracing the beautiful culture that surrounds me. As each day passes by in Athens, I grow to love this city even more than I ever could have imagined.

Trench kitty that meets us on site everyday

The first day of class began promptly at 6:30am on Wednesday where we all met the professor John Karavas in front of the CYA academic center to venture out to Voula, where are excavation site would await us. First walking to the metro station from CYA (about 20 minutes by foot) for a 20 minute train ride to a bus stop, where we would then take the bus the rest of the way to Voula (about a 30-40 minute ride). We then met with the other site directors and toured around the small site of Aixonides Halai, thought to be a monastic community as there are two Christian churches in the same area.

Soon after being oriented with the site, we were split into groups and given a 10x10 foot unit to begin the excavation process. Let me tell you, this day completely sucked. It was cold, rainy, and digging up top soil is just not fun at all. Lo and behold, we ended the dig early because of weather and got to enjoy a long bus ride back followed by the cancellation of classroom time (I think John knew how beat up we all were, I even fell asleep on the bus back). I then went back to my apartment and promptly took a 4 hour nap, which was much needed for my aching body.

5:45am rolls around the next morning and it's time to be up and ready for class again. This day was already promising as the temperature was higher and the sun was out (of course not until after we arrived in Voula). Making progress in the trenches (I'm told by my classmates to use that word loosely) my group got down past the top soil level and began to see more structural looking rocks. We began to assume that it was taking the shape of a wall that housed a shop overlooking the main square as the surrounding previously excavated units provided that context. We also found tiles and pottery sherds, even Athenian black wear sherds which are actually a rarer find even though we are still near Athens. After working (playing) in the dirt and getting a beautiful ocean view nearby, we packed up and headed back to the city.

View of the beach walking to the other site

Repeat the first two lines of the last paragraph and that's how the following day began. On site we continued our investigation of the wall formation and are now more convinced that part of it is the result of a collapse of the building due most likely to a fire (there was ash, charcoal, and a change in soil composition that lead us to believe this). Once we wrapped up on site, another director (a colleague of our professor) invited us to visit her sites that were just down the It beach from our site. We walked along the coast (pictured above) to the site of an excavated ancient road that led down to the shore. It soon will be in the process of preservation and restoration in the coming year and open to the public. Further up the beach we got to see remnants of a house that belonged to a wealthy person which most likely controlled part of the harbor and trade in the area (there was another smaller road found that led from the house to the larger road). We took the bus back and made plans to meet other people working on the site that were former CYA students for dinner in Monastiraki.

Part of the ancient road leading to the water

Ruins from the house near the harbor

I was so exhausted after the week that I slept for 12 hours Friday night and didn't rise until 11:15am Saturday morning. This day was spent relaxing at a cafe (Kekkos) with my roommate Katie and drinking delicious freshly squeezed lemonade sweetened with honey and splitting a donut. Later we met with the other roommates and trekked over to a larger store to get some living supplies for the apartment, which was followed by stopping at a Cretan shop and getting some cheese. That night we made 4 cheese grilled cheese and tomato soup and watched Designated Survivor followed by Shrek (like all cute roommates do).

Fresh lemonade with honey from Kekkos

Today was incredible as ever, and although there are not very many stores open on Sundays, the flea market is popping. We traveled back to Monastiraki (20-30 minute walk) for the open flea market and shops. There were so many trinkets like old cameras, coins, art, and some straight up junk to look at and buy. I ended up purchasing an arm band made of metal (??) after we lunched at a restaurant with delicious food (I got a club sandwich which was delicious in case you were wondering). We ventured back to the Areopagus and got some more non snowy pictures of the city and the acropolis and then found a gelato shop where I got some more fresh lemonade and finally made our way to an orthodox church from 1840 which was absolutely stunning. I got to see the interactions between the Greeks and their church (which involves a lot of kissing, crossing, and praying).

19th century Orthodox church

Now I sit and type as we wait for the group to come to my apartment for a potluck dinner/gathering later where there will be a large assortment of snacky foods and drinks. Looking back on this week, it has been full of adventure, awe, exploration, and lots of sleep. I look forward to the next week in the dirt followed by the arrival of the rest of the students and then orientation. I guess that's all for now, yasas!

*Disclaimer* I am not really allowed to post pictures of the excavation site online so I'll try my best to describe what it is, but no promises.

The first 24 hours

View from the Areopagus

 

Well, it's been 24 hours since I have arrived in Greece and it has already been the craziest adventure, from the 22+ hours of flying and waiting in airports to the crazy bus ride. While on my flight to Greece from Munich, I sat next to the nicest Greek gal named Fata who is from the same area of Athens that I am living in (the Pangrati neighborhood), and after we landed we met her boyfriend at the airport and they both helped me to navigate the bus, carry my luggage, and find the CYA academic center. They were the sweetest couple and really helped me out in my first few hours in Athens.

My living digs for the next 5 months

After arriving at the academic center, I was shown to my apartment which is about a 2 minute walk from campus. The apartment is on the 4th floor (but actually 5th because ground floor is 0) and there are three rooms with four of us living in the space.We have a small living area with some chairs and couches, a table, and a bookshelf, a full size bathroom, a funky storage closet, and a kitchen. Noa and Jamie have their own rooms and I share a room with Katie. There is the cutest Juliet balcony that runs along outside of the three bedrooms which has a street view.

My roommates and I atop the Areopagus (Jamie, Katie, myslef, Noa)

It took me about 30 minutes to unpack all of my belongings and set up my room which came along with getting to know my roommates and living space. Around 7pm we met the other students who came early for the dig and were introduced to some of the faculty with Dominos pizza. After a short orientation, Jamie (one of my roommates) showed us some shops around our apartments as she has been here since the fall and knows the area. Once we got back to the apartment, I showered and relaxed a bit before the jet lag hit me and I passed out around 9:45pm.

The Acropolis behind snow covered trees

We were up and out the door by 7:15 this morning to meet our professor for the dig at 7:30 with a short stop for coffee on the way. When we got to the academic center, our professor John Karavas found us and let us know the the site was closed due to SNOW because it had snowed overnight all over Athens. With the day to ourselves, and our own personal tour guide (Jamie), we spent a majority of the morning and early afternoon touring around and getting acclimated to the city.

 View from the Areopagus

 Rex the tour dog

Starting with going to a small cafe close to campus, we met the kind owners and got some pastries and coffee before heading out to the rest of the city. Walking around Athens is beautiful with vast amount of culture and sites that led us to visiting the acropolis, which was also closed due to the snow. The Areopagus was right next to the acropolis so we went on top of the site for an amazing view (pictured above). We then continued down next to the agora and towards more shops and restaurants and were met by a local tour guide stray dog, Rex who was happily pet and excited to lead us around. Stopping for an early lunch at a cafe, I got a delicious sandwich while the group relaxed for awhile. From there we continued to walk around for quite some time and found a phone store where I was able to get a SIM card along with a Greek phone number so I can access internet/make calls to other Greek numbers.

After shopping around for awhile we finally made our way back to the apartment, where I sat down to relax and start this post before taking a nap. The group made plans to get dinner which we did around 7:00 at a place called Poco Poco, a 24 restaurant with Americanized food and I got a burger (sorry, I know I'm super American) which was delicious (they also deliver so rip my bank account). It has been a day full of adventures and getting to know the city along with my classmates which has really helped my transition into Athens. The first day of digging begins tomorrow and I am so stoked to get out into the field.

*Editors note: Stray dogs, like Rex, are taken off the street and spayed/neutered and collared with a name and released back out into the public to live freely. I am told this is because dogs are a symbol of Greek democracy and it wouldn't be right to kill off such an important symbol.