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Published: October 6th 2010
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Nightlight
The light-up icon in my hallway Here begins my record of my time in Greece from 2010-(?). It isn’t strictly a travel blog because I’m living here (and not doing overly much traveling at the moment), but I want to record it all the same, and this seems as good a place as any.
I’m here for a variety of reasons, but the simplest answer, the one that I generally offer to those who ask, “why are you here?” is that I’m here in the hopes of studying for my Masters in Pre-historic archaeology at the University of Athens. But that statement, while true is more than a bit simplistic, not least because it sidesteps the element of cause-and-effect implied in the question “why?”
So, let me begin at, more-or-less, the beginning of this adventure. The notion was seeded in me last summer (2009) when I was working at Tel Atchana, a Bronze Age site in southern Turkey, quite close to the Syrian border. I’d met a man there called Michel, who is the main conservator of the site, and we’d hit it off. One night I was relating to him my abortive attempts at applying to grad school in the States, as well as
Hallway
This is the entry of my new apartment in Ilisia, Athens, just north of the university. my anxiety over the (still current) state of archaeology grad programs there. Firstly, few of the ones I’d want to go to were offering spots, and nearly none of them were giving any money. That being the case, I’d hit something of a crossroads: do I stick it out and wait for the economy to take a turn for the better, or do I forget about it and find something else to do, confining my archaeology habit to summer volunteer work?
Somewhere in the course of that conversation, I mentioned what I’d always thought was a pipe-dream of mine, that is continuing my studyies in Greece at a Greek university. And Michel said, simply, “Well, why don’t you apply?” At that moment I realized I’d never even given it serious thought because I’d just assumed it was impossible.
So with Michel’s help, I later made the acquaintance of the woman who will (hopefully) soon be my adviser, Prof. Eleni Mantzourani. I met her in Crete, and afterwards visited the campus itself in Athens and was quite taken with it. When I returned to the States there followed months of e-mails between Michel, Prof. Mantzourani and myself trying to
Bedroom
This is my new bedroom, complete with icons belonging to the owner of the flat. work out the details of just how all this would be done. There was already a procedure in place but it had never been put into practice because I was the first American to ever apply to this particular program (largely, I suspect, because it’s all in Greek).
When I was finally invited to apply in June, I got my paperwork together and sent it in. I tried unsuccessfully to get a visa before coming here, but found out (at length) that I can only do that after my interview for official admittance, which will be on the 11th. Then, assuming I pass the interview, I’ll have to return to the US for a week or so to get the visa, and then head back here, hopefully in time to start my preliminary year of intensive Greek classes.
So here I am now, in an apartment in the neighborhood called Ilisia, which is just north of the campus itself. I’ve been here in Greece since Thursday before last and have been in the apartment a little over a week.
Learning to live in a place is, obviously, an enormously different experience from visiting. No longer can I
Living room
My living room, which came furnished with all you see here, aside from the backpack and purse on the sofa. fall back on my paltry Greek (mostly related to finding one’s way to and from various modes of transportation). Now I must learn how to bank, send letters, pay bills, negotiate contracts and all those things in another language and place. For anyone genuinely interested in the minutia of all of this, I’ll be happy to oblige, but here, suffice it to say, it’s harder than I ever imagined.
I am fortunate, in one respect, to have my guardian angel, Michel, who has been patiently showing me the ropes and helping me to navigate all the (erstwhile) mysteries of real life in Greece, as well as giving me a crash course on how things work at the University of Athens, all of which have proven endlessly surprising and enlightening.
Right now, my major order of business is to prepare for the interview, which will be next Monday, October 11, on the campus, where I’ll be grilled by senior members of the department. I’m told they’ll be mostly curious about why on earth I chose to come to the University of Athens to do my Masters studies. I think I have many good reasons for doing that, but I’m
Veranda
View from my veranda. You'll notice the street is quite narrow. By now, everyone on the other side of the street knows how I take my coffee in the morning. most worried about whether they’ll quiz me on things I learned 2 years ago or more. So this week I’ll be brushing up on things that I’ve forgotten I remember (as I’ve become fond of saying) in the very well-stocked archaeology library on campus.
So, there is the background to my tale. I hope to provide further installments on my progress here, as well as perhaps relating any colorful episodes or observations that crop up while I’m here.
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Jim Johnstone
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Good luck
very interested in your new adventure. thanks for including us in your blog.