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Published: September 11th 2008
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Doing HW at Starbucks =D Sept. 10, 2008
Just a fair warning, I am about to do a ton of bitching. Or, as the Greek say “ecw polla parapona” I have many complaints. To begin with, our oven is such a piece of crap. As I may have already mentioned, as if it doesn’t suck enough to not have a microwave, only one of our burners gets warm enough to cook anything on. So tonight, when I cooked chicken breast, rice and some “briam” (egg plant, zucchini, onions, peppers and tomatoes) I had to do so rotating using a not so carefully devised method of rotating the two pots and one pan on the one burner. Somehow, I managed not to burn anything and nothing got too cold by the time everything was ready. I have a feeling this routing is going to get old very quickly…I have yet to even attempt to use the oven not only because I don’t have faith in my farenheit-to-celsius conversion skills quite yet but who knows how long that thing takes to heat up!
Okay, enough about the oven. On to the wonderful laundry situation. I have three possible choices in how to go about cleaning my
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Spiral Staircase in the Academic Center clothes, I’ve decided. Option 1: haul my laundry over to the academic center and use the *free* archaic machines that take 1.5 hours to wash and over 3 hours to dry (no, I am not exaggerating, my room mate did her laundry today and honest to god she put it in at 4pm and its still in the dryer). Option 2: pay 6 euros a load (done myself) or 7.50 a load (done for me) at the “Express Laundry” beside the gym, which equates to $9.00 a load doing it myself and who knows what their definition of “express” is. Option 3: hand-wash my laundry in our bathtub and hang it out to on our porch (we have a special little contraption that came with our compartment for doing this). To be honest, at present, option 3 is winning by a long shot. Since the 90 degree weather hasn’t required the wearing of jeans/sweatshirts thus far, I don’t think it would take too long to do, would be free, and doesn’t involve me schlepping my laundry all over Pangrati.
On to things that I miss, in no particular order:
Planet Fitness’ air conditioning
Splenda
Places that regularly accept
Kalimarmaro
Olympic Stadium debit/credit cards
ATMs that don’t charge $7 every time I take money out
Wal Mart
Bed, Bath & Beyond/Linens & Things
Sweet Potatoes
Canned Pumpkin Pie
Soy Milk
Tofu
Dunkin Donuts - I will never complain about paying only $2.00 for an iced coffee again
American prices in general
Coffee makers
Kashi-brand anything
Veggie burgers
Fall - cool weather, changing leaves
Biking outside
Dishwashing machines
Being able to flush toilet paper
The salad bar at the UClub
Espresso Royale $2 latte Wednesdays
Libraries that are open 24/7
Being able to swim in a pool without having to get checked out by 4 different types of doctors and pass a swim test…
Okay, I guess I’ll stop there before I make myself homesick.
Of course there are plenty of wonderful, amazing things about being here, but there are certain aspects that have already made me more thankful and appreciative for our standard living in the States than I ever thought I could be. The cultural differences are incredible. Living here has really made me realize how convenience-based our lives are in America in just about everything we do. Cooking, cleaning, shopping, travel, work, errands…I could go on and on.
I guess that is one thing that I admire about the Greeks: their loyalty to their priorities of family & friends, being happy, being self-sustaining, taking time to enjoy life. Sure there are some (okay many) inconveniences that may come with this lifestyle, but they seem to take it all in stride. This is one of many aspects of Greek life that I hope rubs off on me in some small way, the ability to relax and let things happen as they may.
I’ll let you know how that goes…
Sept 11
Couldn't sleep this morning so I ended up doing my laundry in the bathtub at 6:30am. I'm sure my room mates love me being such a morning person (thanks to this summer). It actually wasn't too horrible. Took around half an hour to wash. Luckily by the time I was done and had eaten breakfast my other room mates were up so I could hang everything out on the porch - I have to go through their rooms to get there. With the incredible heat here, I'm assuming it will all be dry by the time I come back from class at 2:30.
My
archaeological class met at the National Archaeological Museum this morning. Had my first experience on the trolley, which I have discovered is incredibly easy to navigate and quite fast. I seriously think I died and went to art history heaven! Its incredible to have studied so many artifacts in classes the past few years and then finally see them in real life. I can't even describe it. Definitely going to have to go back there.
Leaving for Santorini tonight at 8pm! (getting in at 6am, and sleeping on the deck of a ferry, SWEET). Should be an interesting experience! Will tell all when we return!
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Haley
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Awe Tep we are all so jealous of you in 301! Even Pan and I were talking about you today and he said he wished he was in Athens, too. It sounds like you're having an amazing time, even if some aspects aren't as glossed over as they were the last time you visited. (Trust me, throwing toilet paper in the toilet is not that glamorous!) This will probably be the most memorable year of your life and you are so lucky to be in Greece!