Here we go...
Hello from Athens!! I finally have some time to sit down and write. I do not get internet at the apartment where I am living, so I have to come to the Athens Centre (our homebase while we are here, basically a place where we have class and can get wireless internet). The Centre is open on weekdays only, so posts on weekends will be scarce, but I hear that there is a cafe with free wireless nearby. Athens is beautiful!! I'm still getting used to being here and trying to start familiarizing myself with the city. It's a lot to take in. Here's what has been going on in the past few days:
I arrived in Athens on Friday, March 26th in the afternoon. Everything with my flights went smoothly with no delays. I planned to read as much as possible of A Traveller's Guide to Athens, our assignment for spring break, on the fight. I was on page 3 of about 300, which was supposed to be read by the time we arrived in Athens because there was a quiz today. I finished about half of the book on my flights.
I was surprised that I didn't have to go through customs or passport control once I got my baggage, then I remembered that once you enter the EU you don't have to do that if you stay in the EU. They stamped my passport in Warsaw, so I just walked out of the airport once I got my luggage. Once I got to the taxi line, I realized I forgot to call the Athens Centre (our "home base"), so I dragged myself and my luggage back inside and bought a phone card then called. Then I made my way back to the taxi line and finally got a taxi. The taxis are very nice and new. I remember reading that somehow taxi drivers got new taxis for the Olympic Games. The cab ride cost 40 Euros, but I was definitely not going to haul all that luggage on buses and trains when I had just flown 12 hours. The taxi driver spoke English and even though he wasn't really familiar with the address I gave him, he used his GPS and I got to the apartments fine.
I'm sharing my room/apartment with another girl in my program and we have our own bathroom and kitchen. The kitchen is really small, but has everything we need: a refrigerator, toaster oven with burners on top, microwave, sink, dishes, and utensils. All it's missing is food, but we have to buy that ourselves.
When I started unpacking, I realized that I had brought A LOT of clothes with me. It didn't seem like that much in my room at home, but this entire apartment is not much bigger than that, so it seems like a lot now. I managed to fit everything in our closet, and now everything has a home. :)
All of the students in my program are living in this apartment building, but other "normal" Athenians live here too. Maybe I'll get to meet some of them. Both rooms next door to mine are occupied by UChicago students.
We also have a BALCONY!! The view is amazing! We can see the Acropolis. It's even lit up at night! The weather was beautiful and sunny. While I was in the cab, the temperature said 22C.
We went out to dinner at a local taverna. The food was good, and we got Greek salad, tsadziki, and entree (I had meatballs filled with mozzerella), dessert (I don't know what it was called...) and some dessert wine for 10.50 Euro. I was really surprised that it was only that much!
On Saturday, we had an orientation at the Athens Centre then we took a walking tour of Pangrati, the area around the Athens Centre where we are living. There is a square a few minutes from our apartments with a bakery, gyros place, and other things. There is also a grocery store a few blocks from us, which is very convenient. After the tour, I went to get a Greek cell phone, since, for some reason, mine won't work with the SIM cards here. I also went to the grocery store. It has pretty much everything I'll need here. I don't know if this is the case at most grocery stores here, but at this particular one, you weigh the produce yourself and print out a label for it that you bring to the cashier. I had no idea that you had to do this, and the cashier didn't speak English or slow enough Greek for me to understand what I needed to do, so the cashier (not very happily) had to do it for me. My first "culture shock"? When I got back to the apartment, I read more for class. In the evening, we had a welcome dinner with our professor and Athens Centre staff at another local taverna. I'll write a post about Greek cuisine later (this post is already VERY long, but so much has happened!).
On Sunday morning, it was Daylight Savings Time in Europe, so we lost an hour of precious sleep. We had another walking tour, this one was of central Athens. I was surprised how close central Athens is to us! The National Gardens and Constitution Square are about a 10 minute walk. For lunch, we ate at an outdoor cafe. I had souvlaki, which is like a shish-kebob. Simple and delicious! In the evening, I finally finished the assigned book!
Today (Monday) was our first day of classes. This morning, we climbed Mt. Lycabettus to get an amazing view of Athens; this was our first lecture. This afternoon, I had Modern Greek class and another lecture, in which we had a quiz, on the general history of Athens. My Greek teacher doesn't speak English to us, which I like! This way I'll remember more of the Greek I've learned these past two quarters and actually use it!! Tonight, I'll be doing more reading for tomorrow; after all, I am here to learn.
Check out the top link for pictures!
Για σασ!
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