Tuesday was a very heavy class day that started early. After staying up until nearly 3:00 am the night before (late excursions + lingering jet lag + free shots of ouzo [anise-flavored alcohol that is a Greek staple]), I thought I'd have a bit more of a struggle dealing with my morning ritual. But I was surprisingly bright eyed and rearing to go as soon as I saw the gorgeous view of Athens outside my apartment window.
I started my day at 10:00 am with my first "Archaeology of Troy" class. This course is taught by the Penn State prof leading our trip (Dr. Killabrew), and discusses - as you probably guessed - the ancient city we know as "Troy!" This city where myth and history combine has a decent amount of cool archaeological remains for scholars to examine/piece together (often romanticized) theories of its functioning. Arrowheads, mace heads, and golden jewelry in abundance are evidence of a highly developed civilization in modern-day Turkey. Most finds are discovered in a mound known as Hisarlik, which housed not only the city of Troy, but also a classical Greek city and a later Roman city on top (think that each city was one specific layer of the mound that was covered every time a new city was built). Overall, very interesting subject and a rather good start to the semester. Once class ended, the 3 other students in my Troy class and I went in search of lunch. After wandering around for quite awhile (we really don't know the area that well yet, nor what the good/cheap/fast places are), we found a small souvlaki place not far from the Centre. For 1.70 euros, we got a choice of pork, chicken, lamb, beef, or sausage souvlaki (which is meat on a stick, like what Americans call "kebabs" on skewers) that came with fries and a slice of good bread. The seasoning on the meat was incredible, the people who worked there were very nice (one guy even lived in New York City for awhile!), the service was fast, and it was ~so~ cheap. Seriously, this was the best souvlaki I've had in Greece so far, and I will 100% be going back. Later in the day we all had our first crash course in modern Greek. This turned out to be a serious test of my will - although I really wanted to learn as much Greek as possible while in Greece, the actual 2-hour lesson kinda broke me. There was so much information thrown at us all at once: new alphabet, new letter/sound combinations, new language....so, so hard. There are also many sounds that various letters make that Americans simply cannot pronounce easily. Consonants and vowels that don't use your vocal cords at all? Phlegm-y, airy sounds that are nearly impossible to say, especially successfully with a straight face (at one point it sounded like I was making a noise that should have a karate chop motion attached)? Nope. My brain actually felt melted once we were finished - and of course I didn't really retain that much. It was frustrating and humbling and utterly exhausting. I haven't felt that physically drained from a class in awhile. However, I was able to successfully read a few words without my self-made, phonetic cheat sheet after a bit. Though, theses words were pretty simple, i.e. plaka, Coca-Cola, pizza, mama, pharmakio, etc. Some words are better than none! I think I'll just rely on my listening and repeating skills for now. Antío, Hannah
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Monday was our first day of classes at The Athens Centre. Our morning started off with a 9:00 am orientation with our Penn State professor, who had gotten delayed by one day on her journey to Athens. We also heard a brief, jam-packed lecture about the history of ancient and modern Greece, epistemological questioning of information we've gathered through our classes over the years, and former capitals of Greece before Athens (including Aegina [pronounced "egg-in-a"] and Nafplio).
Then we had our first real class of the trip: Ancient Greek Sport and Competition. The class studies the origins of the Olympic Games, social structures around competition, gender dynamics that existed with regards to sport, and even ideas of democracy and meritocracy. I'm very excited about this course. Fun fact: The Games of Hera, an all-female version of the original Olympics, existed and were practiced at the same time as every Olympic Games since their start. This is a little known and often overlooked aspect of history - perhaps due to threats to the idea of male dominance in athletics, culture, and society in both antiquity and modernity. After class, we all went on another walking tour of the nearby area. We visited a natural reserve, the Zappeion, and Parliament (where we saw the guards on duty that looked similar to the British royal guard). We also ventured around Syntagma Square, the Plaka, and Monastiraki Square, some of the biggest and most popular squares in Athens. Ketti then took us to a very traditionally Greek souvlaki place where we ate lunch. I ordered insanely delicious beef-lamb kebaps that came wrapped in a pita with tomato, onion, cucumber, tzatziki, and fries. Another great aspect of this meal: it cost less than 2.5 euros. You can't beat that. With full stomachs and happy faces, we later made our way to an authentic leather shop. Ketti knew the artisan, so we got to have a full tour of the workshop. The artist showed us pictures of the tanning process where hides of raw animals are cleaned, worn down, and painted a variety of different colors. He also explained some different types of leather (very stiff for soles versus soft for belts) as well as pointed out how to tell real leather from fake. If there are wrinkles, bug bites, scars, or other marks that make the leather slightly flawed or give them patterns, that's a fairly good guarantee that the leather is authentic. Before we left, a few of us bought some handmade leather products. Personally, I chose a really soft, metal-studded leather bracelet (that I haven't taken off since). Since we were all pretty tired from our first real day of school, we headed back to our apartments to get some sleep before our welcome dinner later in the evening. Around 8:15 pm, we went to a very nice little restaurant near The Athens Centre for a 3-course meal shared with students, professors, and faculty. I had roasted lamb with frites as my entree, which was practically like eating butter. The meat was so well done that it fell off the bone. For dessert, the waiters brought out a very simple plate of peeled, sliced apples with honey and cinnamon. It was super tasty - and I will definitely be making it in my apartment a lot this semester. Until next time, Hannah
Kalinychta (or, kaliméra for me since it's currently 1:00 am here in Athens)!
As of approximately 7 hours ago, I arrived in Athens, Greece for a Spring 2017 study abroad program. After flying out of Philadelphia International Airport on Friday evening, transferring in London early Saturday morning for a 5-hour layover, and then flying into Ελλάδα/Hellas (Greek for "Athens"), I was beyond ready to have my legs back on solid ground, some delicious local food in my stomach, and fresh clothes on my back. While the trip was long, it went fairly smoothly for the most part. I voyaged with 3 other women from my study abroad program, and eventually met up with a 4th once in Athens. Having some travel buddies made the long, tiring, and - frankly - rather sweaty/grimy journey a bit more bearable. However, there were some minor blips in the trip:
Thankfully, our cab driver was very nice, normal, and helpful - which was relieving after a full day of travel consisting of several minorly-annoying incidents. After a few minutes of silence in our taxi and then passing through a toll station, I got the urge to ask our cabbie how to correctly pronounce some words in Greek that I was having difficulty reading/saying, most significantly "thank you." In Greek, the word is "ευχαριστώ/efcharistó," which is obviously a bit flustering at first glance. I soon mastered that pronunciation (including the phlegm-y sound you make for the "ch" in this word), as well as the words for "you're welcome," "hello," "good morning," "good evening," and "good night." Once I got out of the cab and paid the fare, I made sure to use some of my new vocab ("efcharistó, kalinychta!). The cabbie gave me a nod of approval, and I smiled as I entered the lobby of the apartment building that will be my home for the next 3 months. Finally, once the 5 of us arrived in Pangrati (we were the last ones to make it), we quickly showered, changed clothes, and headed downtown to the square to find some food. The combination of jet lag, notable hunger pangs, and seeing nothing but Greek words/letters everywhere made me a bit overwhelmed, honestly. Learning a new language is hard enough on its own, let alone learning an entirely new alphabet at the same time. We eventually decided on a little restaurant right in the square that looked good....and had menus that contained absolutely no English words on it. Embodying the stupid, culturally insensitive American stereotype, we asked for English menus and got seated. Unfortunately, the restaurant staff did not seem to like us or our large presence very much. It took over an hour to get our food - and it took nearly 40 minutes after our other table had already received and finished their food for the rest of us to be served. Oh well. That chicken souvlaki (basically chicken kabob with veggies and fries) made up for it. Next time I'm totally getting spanakopita (spinach pie) and at least trying to butcher my pronunciation of "efcharistó/thank you, " even if the waiters are highly unamused. TTFN, Hannah |
Hannah BisbingStudent @ Penn State. Figure skater. Writer. Traveler. Coffee fanatic. Foodie. Semi-professional people watcher who recently returned home from backpacking around Europe. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise noted.
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