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