Sept 5 & 6

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September 5, 2008

Second day of classes. Had Byzantine history and another period of Greek. Byzantine history sounds like it will be interesting…as much as the subject allows for I guess haha. I really like my Greek instructor. The class is much more speaking-based than any I have taken before so that may take some getting used to, but she seems very helpful and willing to cater to our individual levels.

After class went and signed up for a membership at a nearby gym. Its rather modest, and doesn’t have much for air conditioning, but its got the basic equipment: weight machines, free weights, bikes and treadmills. I’m also hoping to try and meet local Greeks here, work on my speaking and learn more about life in Athens. On my way back to the apartment, discovered a huge grocery store that I will definitely have to go back to - fresh fish, chicken, salad mix and tons of fruits and veggies.

Cooked dinner with the room mates last night. We discovered only one of the burners on our stove is hot enough to boil water, by the time we figured that out it took us almost 40 minutes to make pasta. I also made up a big batch of frozen veggies I had bought a couple days ago and since the chicken was far too frozen to be unthawing anytime soon, we each ate a can of tuna. Hey, whatever works, right?

After dinner we all got dressed up to head over to STOMP at Lykavittos Theater. Unfortunately, none of knew exactly where it was and we ended up essentially walking around the entire mountain until we finally came to the one road that you could walk up - we didn’t dare take any chances on walking up one of the paths in the dark, although apparently this is what you’re supposed to do. Next time, we’re taking the funicular ride to the top lol. We ended up being about 45 minutes late to the show, but luckily we still got in and had pretty decent seats. The show itself was incredible! I think I may have been the only one of my room mates who had never seen it before. Watching it in an open air theater with the city of Athens sprawling out in the background made it an unforgettable experience - one I thoroughly appreciated after our 80 minute walk haha. After the show, we made the mistake of following the crowd and ended up on the exact opposite side of the mountain than we wanted to be on, so once again walked back around Lykavittos back to the Kolonaki neighborhood. By this time my knee had had enough, so I said good night to the room mates and continued back to the hotel. Called them when I got back to check in, and they had found a cute crepe place to get a late night snack from - one I made them promise to bring me back to!

Got up rather late this morning - last night was pretty long. Walked to the academic center only to find that it doesn’t open until 1pm on Saturdays (3pm on Sunday!!) jeeesh….so I wandered around Pangrati until I came to a decent looking café. Got a chair, ordered a frappe - kind of like a frothy iced coffee, quite possibly one of the best things ever as Rozlyn and Fiona I’m sure would agree! Then settled in and began my first homework of the semester. Doing Greek homework while sitting in a café in Athens with people speaking Greek all around me was actually a pretty cool experience and will probably become my new routine. After I finished my homework, walked to the big grocery store near the gym and stalked up on all sorts of good stuff - finally found salsa!

Got wireless on my computer at the apartment when I got home, yay! I feel so cut off from the world here with no internet, tv, radio, etc. lol. Guess I’ll have to start reading the English language newspapers to stay in touch with the world.

Not really sure what the plan is for the rest of the day. May try to go for a run if it cools down at all, 32 degrees Celsius! (multiplied by 9/5 + 32 = about 90 Fahrenheit!). At least its not too humid. May also try to find the sushi place in Syntagma that my Greek teacher told us about yesterday. We shall see!

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Comments

[Rozlyn Petersen]

I'm pretty sure I know what Creep place you're talking about, even though there are tons. Its right on a corner below the big hills. I'm so jealous that you may be going to Cario, that's deff on the bucket list!