Ya su, America.
I’m settling in a little here in Athens, finally. I can sleep through the crazy motorcyclists and everything!
I thought you all should know that the other day I thought we were all going to die, but then we didn’t. See, we heard shouting and chanting, and it got louder, and then it got SUPER loud and there was banging and drumming and then this huge crowd of people came marching down the street, blocking traffic and pissing off motorists and everything. They had banners and such and I’m pretty sure they set one on fire, because there was smoke going down the street.
Turns out it was just soccer fans, though.
It was actually pretty cool, once we asked a Greek dude on the street and he assured us that it was for a football team and not some sort of giant protest. They came right down under our balcony and were cheering and fist-pumping at us.
We’ve started orientation classes at the university, which mostly consists of a few lectures about history and literature and things like that, and then we talk forever about which islands to visit and which neighborhoods have the best shopping and stuff.
We’re getting brave enough to go around in smaller groups now, which is nice because I can choose where I want to eat and stuff instead of just going around with the crowd of twenty-five. The group I’ve been hanging out with is maybe five people, mostly roommates of mine. We do awesome stuff like go to the giant electronics store and take the Guitar Hero away from Greek twelve-year-olds, which is fun times.
Our professor told us about a tiny little souvlaki place that is like fast food except a billion times better, you can get a pita with a fresh skewer of grilled meat and veggies and fries and yogurt sauce and stuff and they are SO GOOD. And less that 2 euro, too. There are also these kiosks like every twelve feet where you can get drinks or chips or a magazine. I bought myself sudoku there yesterday because my books aren’t enough when we have down time.
I’m super addicted to this Greek brand of fruit juice called Amita, they have flavors like honeydew grape and apple-apricot-orange and they are all delicious.
My roommates are all super-cool, I was really lucky to get placed with them because everyone gets along really well. Last night we had a chicken-off against the boys’ apartment. We bought whole chickens from the meat market (“They were probably alive a few hours ago,” said our professor). And cooked them up in our crappy ovens and then all met us and had a huge dinner with potatoes and fruit salad and stuff. It was amazing because most of us haven’t had a real nice dinner since we went out last week. Also, it was a tie. We made a victory banner for our chicken anyway though, and named it Kostos.
Today we had a class on traditional Greek dance, which everyone was terrible at but it was fun anyway because everyone had good attitudes, etc. Mostly we went around in a circle doing the steps wrong while the instructor went “oompa!” and got really sweaty. Then we went out for dinner in Monastiraki and it was really nice.
Tomorrow we spend the night at Meteora so we can see the monasteries up on rock pinnacles and cool stuff like that. We have to wake up at 6 am ewwww but I bet it’ll be awesome anyway! Toodles till then, I’ll upload pictures whenever I get to an internet café.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
I AM SO TIRED. I am not used to this “walking” thing that is so chic with the Europeans.
Yesterday was especially hard on my poor feets, as we started the day by climbing a mountain and ended it by missing the Metro and walking a billion miles with heels on (whaaaat a bad idea).
Our morning trip was to the Acropolis, which was amaaaazing. You can see the entire city when you’re up there, and it’s just mind-blowing how old and huge and amazing everything is. I took a whole lot of pictures. I also got yelled at for standing too close to a statue at the Acropolis museum, because its guards are all jerks. But yeah, it’s kind of really awesome having a big chunk of history RIGHT THERE. And our program director who takes us on tours keeps saying stuff like “Oh, there’s a cool church up on the hill, but it’s not one of the old ones, it’s from the year 200.” Show-off.
Also there were dogs all over the place. There are dogs all over the place in the city, too, but I wasn’t expecting to see them, you know, on the Acropolis. Sleeping on pillars and the steps of the Parthenon and stuff. They keep following our group around whenever we go somewhere, it’s weird.
After the Acropolis the Greek student ambassador Deo took us all to a nightclub. I never ever go to clubs but it was actually really fun, until a ton of creepy Greek men invaded the dance floor and started trying to dance with all the girls, then I left the floor and sat around. We didn’t get back until like 3am, I was so exhausted that I didn’t wanna get up today, but I did anyway because we went to the beach!
It was gorgeous, too. The water was super clear and blue and beautiful, and so salty that it was really easy to float around and relax. And the weather was amazing, so we spent pretty much the whole day there today. I feel like the sun has drained me of all my energy.
What elseee OH I had real Greek Tzaziki and it was amazing, I ate it with fries, haha. And I finally got to the store! Even though it was the crappy little corner market, I am no longer starving/eating my roommates’ groceries. We talked to some guys from New Zealand on the tram, which was neat, they confirmed our director’s warning to stay away from Omonia (a neighborhood which is apparently full of drugs and muggings, awesome!). My internet continues to suck, but I’m at least able to communicate with people back home, so I’m happy ☺ Hopefully I’ll get a phone in the very near future, till then I’ll just keep getting really excited when people leave comments here. Cause I’m a doooork.
P.S. for those you don’t have it, my Skype name is Erin McPants (I was feeling silly, okay?) so add me if you want (THAT MEANS YOU YOU SKANK. Italy is no excuse for not calling Erin McVicar).
Also it has been a day now because my internet pooped out yesterday, but I’m just going to keep adding on to make this really long and full of confusing repetitive uses of “today.”
We went to a market today that was like the other market but GIANTER. There was lots of fun stuff like whole skinned lambs with the eyeballs still on hanging from the ceiling and octopi on ice and things. I was exciting, and bought some bananas.
Also, we were in the apartment and heard really really loud chanting and drums and beeping and we all thought it was a riot and we were going to die. Turns out it was just some football hooligans, but there were a LOT of them and they were super loud and blocking traffic and stuff. They marched right down our street under our balcony and I tried to take a video but it didn’t work, which is lame because it was cool.
I got my Greek cell phone finally! The number is 011 30 690 213 3877 (outta the country is a lot of digits, yo!). It’s really expensive for me to dial the states but if you call me we can talk for a bit :D remember that I am seven hours ahead though.
I'm going to make a picture post later when the internet doesn't blow so hard. Promise!
Yesterday was especially hard on my poor feets, as we started the day by climbing a mountain and ended it by missing the Metro and walking a billion miles with heels on (whaaaat a bad idea).
Our morning trip was to the Acropolis, which was amaaaazing. You can see the entire city when you’re up there, and it’s just mind-blowing how old and huge and amazing everything is. I took a whole lot of pictures. I also got yelled at for standing too close to a statue at the Acropolis museum, because its guards are all jerks. But yeah, it’s kind of really awesome having a big chunk of history RIGHT THERE. And our program director who takes us on tours keeps saying stuff like “Oh, there’s a cool church up on the hill, but it’s not one of the old ones, it’s from the year 200.” Show-off.
Also there were dogs all over the place. There are dogs all over the place in the city, too, but I wasn’t expecting to see them, you know, on the Acropolis. Sleeping on pillars and the steps of the Parthenon and stuff. They keep following our group around whenever we go somewhere, it’s weird.
After the Acropolis the Greek student ambassador Deo took us all to a nightclub. I never ever go to clubs but it was actually really fun, until a ton of creepy Greek men invaded the dance floor and started trying to dance with all the girls, then I left the floor and sat around. We didn’t get back until like 3am, I was so exhausted that I didn’t wanna get up today, but I did anyway because we went to the beach!
It was gorgeous, too. The water was super clear and blue and beautiful, and so salty that it was really easy to float around and relax. And the weather was amazing, so we spent pretty much the whole day there today. I feel like the sun has drained me of all my energy.
What elseee OH I had real Greek Tzaziki and it was amazing, I ate it with fries, haha. And I finally got to the store! Even though it was the crappy little corner market, I am no longer starving/eating my roommates’ groceries. We talked to some guys from New Zealand on the tram, which was neat, they confirmed our director’s warning to stay away from Omonia (a neighborhood which is apparently full of drugs and muggings, awesome!). My internet continues to suck, but I’m at least able to communicate with people back home, so I’m happy ☺ Hopefully I’ll get a phone in the very near future, till then I’ll just keep getting really excited when people leave comments here. Cause I’m a doooork.
P.S. for those you don’t have it, my Skype name is Erin McPants (I was feeling silly, okay?) so add me if you want (THAT MEANS YOU YOU SKANK. Italy is no excuse for not calling Erin McVicar).
Also it has been a day now because my internet pooped out yesterday, but I’m just going to keep adding on to make this really long and full of confusing repetitive uses of “today.”
We went to a market today that was like the other market but GIANTER. There was lots of fun stuff like whole skinned lambs with the eyeballs still on hanging from the ceiling and octopi on ice and things. I was exciting, and bought some bananas.
Also, we were in the apartment and heard really really loud chanting and drums and beeping and we all thought it was a riot and we were going to die. Turns out it was just some football hooligans, but there were a LOT of them and they were super loud and blocking traffic and stuff. They marched right down our street under our balcony and I tried to take a video but it didn’t work, which is lame because it was cool.
I got my Greek cell phone finally! The number is 011 30 690 213 3877 (outta the country is a lot of digits, yo!). It’s really expensive for me to dial the states but if you call me we can talk for a bit :D remember that I am seven hours ahead though.
I'm going to make a picture post later when the internet doesn't blow so hard. Promise!
Friday, September 25, 2009
EDIT: GUYS I FIXED MY LINK hopefully. Aghh I kept waking up in the middle of the night! City traffic is the worst when you are used to zero cars going by ever. Also sometimes Greek people play very loud music from their balconies or ride around on scooters and shout at each other.
We went to an open-air market today! So instead of having no food at all, I now have…two tomatoes and some fruit. Which is okay until I get to the grocery store, I can keep living off my roommates’ bread and Nutella.
The market was so coooollll! We bought things by pointing and holding up fingers and probably letting the stall owners overcharge us for everything. Though there was one guy who got really excited when he heard us speaking English and even MORE excited when we told him one of us was from New Jersey because he recognized it. The he said it was his birthday and gave us all free pears and apples and it was generally fun times.
I had my first day at the college, we learned a few words in Greek and got talks from the nurse and the class roster lady. We get to take two classes, plus the mandatory Greek Language and Greek Culture classes and oral language lab. I’m taking a classical art class and some sort of psych course, I find out which tomorrow.
Thennnn we walked around and looked in some shops, got milkshakes at a McDonald’s, took naps, made pasta. Pretty boring day. But here, have a list anyway!
Some Rules of Greece:
*TOILET PAPER IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE TOILET. Apparently it makes the plumbing blow up or something, which is a bit of a design flaw, in my opinion.
*Crossing the street is always terrifying. There’s no right-of-way for pedestrians and Stop signs are more like slow-down-and-maybe-beep signs. We frequently have to break into a run halfway across the street to avoid being killed by busses.
*NO PEANUT BUTTER ANYWHERE. No pretzels either, just weird sesame bread hoops. Also no tea and not much chocolate. And the grocery store is way expensive compared to the open-air markets.
*If you own a store, you can open it whenever you feel like it, close it in the middle of the day to take a nap, and then maybe open it or maybe just call it a day and go home. Seriously, the hours are so weird that I’ve been stuck with no phone since I got here because we keep missing the store when it’s open. But then there are also places that open till like 3am, it is weird.
*Greek music videos are on a lot of acid.
Oh I took some pictures today! There’s my room in the apartment and the market and some random streets. Tomorrow we go see the ACROPOLIS so I’ll take plenty more then ☺
We went to an open-air market today! So instead of having no food at all, I now have…two tomatoes and some fruit. Which is okay until I get to the grocery store, I can keep living off my roommates’ bread and Nutella.
The market was so coooollll! We bought things by pointing and holding up fingers and probably letting the stall owners overcharge us for everything. Though there was one guy who got really excited when he heard us speaking English and even MORE excited when we told him one of us was from New Jersey because he recognized it. The he said it was his birthday and gave us all free pears and apples and it was generally fun times.
I had my first day at the college, we learned a few words in Greek and got talks from the nurse and the class roster lady. We get to take two classes, plus the mandatory Greek Language and Greek Culture classes and oral language lab. I’m taking a classical art class and some sort of psych course, I find out which tomorrow.
Thennnn we walked around and looked in some shops, got milkshakes at a McDonald’s, took naps, made pasta. Pretty boring day. But here, have a list anyway!
Some Rules of Greece:
*TOILET PAPER IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE TOILET. Apparently it makes the plumbing blow up or something, which is a bit of a design flaw, in my opinion.
*Crossing the street is always terrifying. There’s no right-of-way for pedestrians and Stop signs are more like slow-down-and-maybe-beep signs. We frequently have to break into a run halfway across the street to avoid being killed by busses.
*NO PEANUT BUTTER ANYWHERE. No pretzels either, just weird sesame bread hoops. Also no tea and not much chocolate. And the grocery store is way expensive compared to the open-air markets.
*If you own a store, you can open it whenever you feel like it, close it in the middle of the day to take a nap, and then maybe open it or maybe just call it a day and go home. Seriously, the hours are so weird that I’ve been stuck with no phone since I got here because we keep missing the store when it’s open. But then there are also places that open till like 3am, it is weird.
*Greek music videos are on a lot of acid.
Oh I took some pictures today! There’s my room in the apartment and the market and some random streets. Tomorrow we go see the ACROPOLIS so I’ll take plenty more then ☺
Thursday, September 24, 2009
HI GUYS. From ATHENS.
In case you are wondering why I’m saying hi from Athens now instead of two days ago like I was supposed to, it’s because this week sucks a giant butt. I was taking an antibiotic for an infected bug bite on my leg, which was an alternative to the antibiotic I’m allergic to. Except guess what? It turns out that I’m even MORE allergic to the alternative! Surprise!
So yeah, I got to miss my group flight while I got injected with hardcore steroids and things to get rid of my gross disgusting rash that sucked, and ended up flying by myself instead.
Which was SCARY. I pretty much never travel by myself. Here’s a list of things I did by myself for the first time ever today:
*boarded a plane
*hung out in a foreign airport
*rode in a cab
*followed around a taxi driver who had a sign with my name written on it
*sat for eight hours between two unconscious French people
*bought really gross coffee from a vending machine
*watched the airport security guards use metal detector wands to search a man’s giant
afro
Then I got picked up and driven to the apartments, which means I got to learn about the rules of Greek driving. Rule number one is accelerate really fast whenever you can. Rule number two is get as close to other people as you possibly can. I think this is because if you leave more than five inches of space a crazy person on a motorcycle will swerve in front of you, possibly with like a TV or something strapped to the back of it. Also pedestrians are five points each.
Also, I just went to dinner at an awesome café place with the thirty or so other BCA students, it was really really nice and outdoors and the owners got real excited and started relocating Greek customers so they could push a bunch of tables together for us. They also gave us free Greek yogurt with honey (BEST THING EVER) and free shots of Grappa (it burned). Also you could SEE THE ACROPOLIS FROM THE TABLE OMG OMG. Annnnd we walked around a lot and there were a bunch of bootleg merchants and dogs, and I can’t unlock Greek doors because they’re weird and have a knob in the middle for no reason. And I haven’t slept in over 24 hours now, I think, so I’m going to go take a crappy hand-held shower and go to bed.
In case you are wondering why I’m saying hi from Athens now instead of two days ago like I was supposed to, it’s because this week sucks a giant butt. I was taking an antibiotic for an infected bug bite on my leg, which was an alternative to the antibiotic I’m allergic to. Except guess what? It turns out that I’m even MORE allergic to the alternative! Surprise!
So yeah, I got to miss my group flight while I got injected with hardcore steroids and things to get rid of my gross disgusting rash that sucked, and ended up flying by myself instead.
Which was SCARY. I pretty much never travel by myself. Here’s a list of things I did by myself for the first time ever today:
*boarded a plane
*hung out in a foreign airport
*rode in a cab
*followed around a taxi driver who had a sign with my name written on it
*sat for eight hours between two unconscious French people
*bought really gross coffee from a vending machine
*watched the airport security guards use metal detector wands to search a man’s giant
afro
Then I got picked up and driven to the apartments, which means I got to learn about the rules of Greek driving. Rule number one is accelerate really fast whenever you can. Rule number two is get as close to other people as you possibly can. I think this is because if you leave more than five inches of space a crazy person on a motorcycle will swerve in front of you, possibly with like a TV or something strapped to the back of it. Also pedestrians are five points each.
Also, I just went to dinner at an awesome café place with the thirty or so other BCA students, it was really really nice and outdoors and the owners got real excited and started relocating Greek customers so they could push a bunch of tables together for us. They also gave us free Greek yogurt with honey (BEST THING EVER) and free shots of Grappa (it burned). Also you could SEE THE ACROPOLIS FROM THE TABLE OMG OMG. Annnnd we walked around a lot and there were a bunch of bootleg merchants and dogs, and I can’t unlock Greek doors because they’re weird and have a knob in the middle for no reason. And I haven’t slept in over 24 hours now, I think, so I’m going to go take a crappy hand-held shower and go to bed.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
HI GUYS.
I'm using this blog to keep all of you lovely people up-to-date when I head off to Athens for my semester abroad (from September to December). I'm writing it for friends and family, though if you somehow randomly find this you can go ahead and read too. It might be rated PG13 for language sometimes, sorry.
Right now I'm in the final stages of preparation for my journey, i.e. pretty much not packed at all and also covered in gross bumps because I'm allergic to some medicine. I'm waiting for my questionable voltage converter to arrive in the mail so I can maybe charge my laptop without it exploding, which would be nice.
My current opinion of the Greek language is that it has way too many syllables, though I am disproportionately proud to announce that I learned all my subject pronouns (I plan to study more during my five billion hour trans-Atlantic flight and six-hour layover in Paris).
My current opinion of Athens is that I probably won't be prepared for it at all, even though I've been doing as much research as I can. All I know is that it is awesome and smoggy and, according to Google Earth, it was some really weird bendy roads. Plus it will be amazing.
The time difference is +7 hours, so keep that in mind if you plan on giving me a fun long-distance phone call (my cell number may change, I'll be sure to post it later)
My mailing address in Greece will be:
Erin McVicar
City University - Athens Site
1, Karitsi and Kolokotroni Str.
105 61 Athens GREECE
If you mail me anything keep in mind that the Greek postal system can run a bit slow.
I'll try to get some pictures up for everyone as soon as I can, rest assured that I will spend all 3 months taking pictures of everything like a crazy tourist woman.
Wish me luck!
-Erin <3
I'm using this blog to keep all of you lovely people up-to-date when I head off to Athens for my semester abroad (from September to December). I'm writing it for friends and family, though if you somehow randomly find this you can go ahead and read too. It might be rated PG13 for language sometimes, sorry.
Right now I'm in the final stages of preparation for my journey, i.e. pretty much not packed at all and also covered in gross bumps because I'm allergic to some medicine. I'm waiting for my questionable voltage converter to arrive in the mail so I can maybe charge my laptop without it exploding, which would be nice.
My current opinion of the Greek language is that it has way too many syllables, though I am disproportionately proud to announce that I learned all my subject pronouns (I plan to study more during my five billion hour trans-Atlantic flight and six-hour layover in Paris).
My current opinion of Athens is that I probably won't be prepared for it at all, even though I've been doing as much research as I can. All I know is that it is awesome and smoggy and, according to Google Earth, it was some really weird bendy roads. Plus it will be amazing.
The time difference is +7 hours, so keep that in mind if you plan on giving me a fun long-distance phone call (my cell number may change, I'll be sure to post it later)
My mailing address in Greece will be:
Erin McVicar
City University - Athens Site
1, Karitsi and Kolokotroni Str.
105 61 Athens GREECE
If you mail me anything keep in mind that the Greek postal system can run a bit slow.
I'll try to get some pictures up for everyone as soon as I can, rest assured that I will spend all 3 months taking pictures of everything like a crazy tourist woman.
Wish me luck!
-Erin <3
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