Thursday, June 15, 2006

Yay! I finally got my laptop to work...it required a three day, multi trip process involving a Greek accounting professor, a former Russian KGB agent, and several different software programs, but my wireless is finally working.  (and I am being completely serious about all of that)

I'll hopefully be able to get some pictures uploaded, I'm going to start out using my photobucket account and probably switch to webshots as the summer progresses. 

Things here are going well, I dropped one of my classes so I am only in Philosophy of Religion now.  The Greek society class I was signed up for turned out to be a lot like the two classes I took last summer, so it was decided that it probably wasn't best for me to do the exact same work twice.  A tid bit unethical.  Which was fine with me, now I have more time to focus on getting a good grade in religion and working on my Core 200 journal.

I've got to go get my reading done for class and then we have to stop by a travel agent and then price boat fares for our weekend excursion to Hydra and Aegina. 

Kali Orestia (Good Afternoon)

~RLM

p.s. I've decided to do a Greek lesson of the day, since I'm determined to learn as much as possible this summer.

GotD:  yiasas (formal) hello

*edit* 7:40pm

We are now going to Poros and Hydra.  We are taking a ferry tomorrow morning and spending the day at Poros, then camping out on the beach there and getting up Saturday and taking a ferry to Hydra for the day and coming back to Athens that night.  Should be an amazingly relaxing weekend, if all goes as planned.

I'm trying to upload pictures so check the photobucket site.

Kali Spera (Good Evening)

 ~RLM

Saturday, June 17, 2006

We got back from our island trip about 2 hours ago. It was absolutely amazing.  Easily the most fun and relaxing two days I have experienced in a good long while.

We left yesterday morning around 7:30am, took the train to Piraeus (the port) and bought boat tickets to Poros.  The hydrofoil left at 9:00 so we had about 45 minutes to wander our way over to the gate and board.  By 10:15 we were on the island eating breakfast on a bench by the harbor.  We had packed a loaf of bread and a little packet of honey, so we snacked by the water until the bus left at 11.  We spent almost 4 hours at the Love Bay, this amazing little beach on the other side of Poros; we rented chairs about 6 feet from the water's edge, a little inlet with an amazing view.  There was a bar/cafe type thing a few feet back where refreshments and snacks could be purchased-we were on a budget and had packed our own food.  We were going to try and camp out there over night, but the buses didn't run early enough for us to catch our boat so we decided to look elsewhere in town for a cheap hotel.  The beach was fantastic, we swam and sunbathed, and read a little, and generally just enjoyed ourselves-it was great. 

We caught the bus back to town around 3:30 and wandered around for a bit until this nice little old lady came up to us and offered us rooms for about 10E a piece for the night.  We didn't realize at the time that the rooms were in her house, but it was cheap, she was nice, and was going to fix us breakfast in the morning-we said yes and had some lemonade and candy.  Her house was in town, the hilly little architectural style of Santorini and other typical Greek islands and the view was amazing; we could see the harbor and town below from our windows.  We went back to the waterfront to get some dinner and ended up eating at a nice sit down restaurant that had a good variety of food.  I got an omelet (which I had been craving), Laura and Amber split a pizza margherita, and Maren got some greek chicken dish.  The food was good and a number of adorable cats sat at the foot of our table while we ate.  After dinner we walked through the various shops and bought little souvenirs, I also decided to buy a pretty silver leather purse (I seem to have a thing for those), because it was a third of the price I paid for mine in Florence and the purse I have with me is getting a bit shabby. 

We returned to our "home" to take an afternoon siesta, but our "mom" (as she requested we call her) was not there and we had no way to get in.  We passed the time until she hot home by walking back down to the harbor and watching the sunset; we sat on a waterside bench before getting ice cream and milkshakes from a cafe across the street.  She finally came home and we sat outside with her for awhile trying to carry on a conversation in her broken english and our v. minimal greek.  Her three year old granddaughter, Ioannia, came up to visit (they live downstairs) and was absolutely adorable-one of the most beautiful children I have ever seen and very personable. Her grandmother coaxed her into singing several greek children's songs for us, which also included a performance of Helena Paparizou's popular "You're My Number One."  Her mom came up later with the new baby and we got to play with him as well; she also brought a photo album and Ioannia showed us all the pictures, pointing out people (all in greek) and different objects.  She taught us the words for bunny and cake, among other things; it was one of the most surreal and incredible experiences of my life-I very nearly cried as the little girl sat there and squealed every time she saw a picture of herself.

After she finished, we walked higher up into the town to explore the area and get a good night time view.  We were exhausted and didn't last very long before going back to the house and falling soundly asleep at 11pm. 

We woke up this morning around 8 and were fed breakfast by our little grandma, before packing our stuff and heading down to the harbor to catch our 10:00 boat to Hydra.  By 10:30 we were catching a water taxi from the port of Hydra to Mandraki Beach, a gorgeous little beach where we stayed until 3:00 this afternoon.  The beach was deserted when we arrived, so we staked out prime placement chairs near the water and swam out to the floating trampoline in the middle of the inlet.  The trampoline also had a huge slide so we hung out there for about an hour or so until other people started to arrive.  The water was a gorgeous blue green and the bottom was nice and sandy, unlike Poros that had weird (gross) little plants covering the sea floor.  We spent the afternoon swimming and lounging, enjoying the sweltering heat and the incredible view.  Hydra is a pedestrianized island, with no motor transportation (save boats) allowed, the whole island appears much as it would have a hundred years ago and the site is amazing.  After we had thoroughly exhausted and enjoyed ourselves we took a sea-bus back to the port area to spend the last two hours of our afternoon.  We shopped a bit, got slushies, and sat by the water relaxing and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.  We were sitting on a bench near the boats when we realized that Mike and two other Geneseo students were standing about 5 feet away from us, looking a bit lost.  We directed them to the tourist office to get boat tickets and then hung out with them until the hydrofoil arrived to take us back to Pireaus.

It was rather sad to leave the islands, the boat picked up more passengers in Poros on our return journey and it was so funny to actually recognize the town as we passed.  Laura quipped, "It feels like we were just there" and we had been only 8 hours earlier.  

I slept for most of the boat ride back-it takes a mere hour and a half to get to Hydra, yet feels worlds away from the hustle and bustle of the city. So close and at the same time so incredibly far away.

We made dinner at the apartment and have been taking showers, scrubbing off two days of sun, sea water, and SPF 30.  Tomorrow we are planning on watching the Changing of the Guard at 11 am, then wandering around the flea market in Monastiraki for a bit before taking a long siesta and then taking the bus down to Sounio to view the Temple of Poseidon at sunset.  We may head out tonight for a walk through the National Gardens near Syntagma if we get restless, or else we are going to stay in, update pictures, and watch a movie.

GotD: kouneli -rabbit
(pronounced kho-na-la-ee) 
taught to us by our three year old friend Ioannia

Kali Nichta

~RLM

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Changing of the Guard

Today, like paper to burn
Like powder and gun and iron red sun
I'll wait, I'll stay here and wait

Today, like bending to break
Like water and sand curling on land
I'll wait, I'll stay here and wait

I'll sit and watch the changing of the guards
Iron and granite fleur de lis on the gate house
Green copper curtains, faces of stone

Sometimes I'm floating
A puppeteer's soldier
Over the plaza with paper wings and porcelain eyes
I'll wait

Today, like falling to stand
Like timing and tongue, a hero unsung
I'll wait, I'll stay here and wait
 
Today, like waiting to strike
Like staring at planes, I'm calling your name
I'll wait, I'll stay here and wait

 I'll sit and watch the changing of the guards
 Iron and granite fleur de lis on the gate house
Green copper curtains, faces of stone

Sometimes I'm floating
A puppeteer's soldier
Over the plaza with paper wings and porcelain eyes
I'll wait

 I'll sit and watch
 I'll sit and watch
 I'll sit and watch the changing of the guards

Sometimes I'm floating
A puppeteer's soldier
Over the plaza with paper wings

Sometimes I'm floating
A puppeteer's soldier
Over the plaza with paper wings

With paper wings, with paper wings
I'll wait
I'll wait

We began and ended our day with the Changing of the Guard in front of the Presidential Palace.  We walked up a little before 11 this morning to watch the big ceremony and parade that occurs every Sunday at that time.  There were massive swarms of people congregating to watch the Guard file in and out, doing their funny step-dance dressed in traditional Turkish costume. 

I got most of the performance on video, which will be edited together with Changing of the Guard by Rosebud playing in the background, accompanied by a description of the event recorded at a Jay Clifford concert.  I'm quite excited to get that worked out. 

We spent several hours afterwards wandering the flea market in Monastiraki, which occurs every Sunday from 8am to 3pm.  It basically consists of any person who can find enough junk to sell to people willing to buy it and is one of the craziest and coolest things I've ever been to-its great.  We found all the little stores that Sarah and I shopped at last year; the place I bought my Greek Adidas, our jewelry shop where I bought my cool ring, and the place where we stocked up on imitation Greek vases. 

Its odd how things are exactly the same yet totally and completely different.

I bought a pair of imitation Chanel sunglasses, mainly b/c they looked good on me and that is nearly impossible to find, but its also fun to buy black market goods every once in a while.  Adrienne and I bought little canvas slippers as well, Caitlin had bought some in Chicago so I was excited to find them here-they are adorable and v. comfortable.  I'm going to stock up before going home because they are super cheap. 

We took a glorious three hour siesta before getting up to head down to Sounio to watch sunset at the Temple of Poseidon.  Unfortunately we left too late to catch the bus so we ended up wandering around the National Gardens, which are only a few blocks walk from the apartment.  It was scorchingly hot today, so it was a nice comfortable way to spend the evening.  The Gardens are really cool, we didn't go in there last year so I was excited to see them.  We climbed a tree and took pictures, found a cool spot with Roman ruins, and spent about half an hour at the miniature zoo trying to coax a male peacock to open his feathers for a photo-op.  He never did but it was fun anyway; there were also baby goats which kept climbing all over things and an Ostrich!  We basically turned into five year olds at the sight of the animals, it was quite funny.

On our way back home from the gardens we walked right past the guard station at the Palace so we stopped to have our picture taken with them since there were no crowds.  Since it was only 10 till 8 we decided to stay and watch the smaller hourly Changing of the Guard performance, which turned out to be a good idea because I got a fantastic video clip of the entire thing.  It really is a cool ceremony and I love the idea that they still honor the Turkish traditions, its a perfect example of how the two cultures blended and can never truly be separated again. 

We ate dinner at the apartment and I baked brownies.  Sounds pretty normal except we had to mix the brownie batter in a pot and bake them in a skillet because we have no bowls or baking pans.  At least we now know that you can bake a plastic handled skillet at 175 degrees celcius without the handle melting off.  And the brownies tasted fantastic, so it all ended well. 

I'm headed to bed a bit early, in hopes that I will wake up a bit early tomorrow (aka before noon) and not feel like I've wasted my day before going to class at 3. 

Kali Nichta.

~RLM

GotD: poso kani - how much is it?
one of the most useful phrases to learn

Monday, June 19, 2006

Today = very productive.

We got up early, made bacon & eggs for breakfast, talked to several travel agents about our now canceled trip to Germany, made a daily plan for the next 4 weeks incorporating everything we want to see, went to class, did laundry, went to Doukas for groceries, made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (from scratch) for dinner, did homework, got pretty, did a little shopping, and went to see V for Vendetta at the rooftop movie theatre in Plaka.

Now I'm exhausted and going to bed.

Tomorrow's itinerary: Olympic Stadium (old) and Temple of Olympian Zeus in the morning then classes in the afternoon.

~RLM

P.S. everyone should see V, it is amazing.  I realize I am jumping on the bandwagon quite late, but its better late than never. 

GotD: moro mou - my baby

Thursday, June 22, 2006

10:25pm

We made a traditional Greek meal for dinner tonight; it was a group effort and the results were delicious.  We had lemon roasted chicken, carrots, and potatoes, and corn with fresh baklava (from a bakery) for dessert. 

Our philosophy professor was 25 minutes late for class and I was getting ready to leave when he showed up (of course).  He thankfully went over the essay questions we'll have on our exam next week, so I was glad that I stayed, but that class is incredibly hard to make it through each day.  It doesn't help that it is actually warmer in our classroom than it is outside b/c there is no air conditioning and the breeze doesn't really reach inside. 

We're having a night in for a change tonight, Adrienne is going to stay the night since we have to leave at 7:30 tomorrow morning, so we're probably just going to hang around the apartment and pack. 

I'm thinking of going to Thessaloniki the weekend after our Santorini trip instead of going to Ios as we had planned; I wanted to go there last year and I don't really see the point in going to more Cycladic Islands when we could see a completely different part of the country.   Plus, Pella is only half an hour from there, which is where Alexander the Great was born and taught by Aristotle-which is just too cool to pass up.

I'll update when we get back from our excursion on Sunday.

Kalispera sas - good evening to you.

~RLM

2:37 pm

Tuesday and Wednesday were rather productive days, we stuck to our schedule and got to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium, and the Cycladic Museum in the mornings before our afternoon classes.  On Tuesday night, I went with Ryan to the rooftop movie theatre to see V for Vendetta again b/c he had missed it the night before and then last night Laura and I hung out in the other Ipitou apartment with Alpin for awhile b/c they have air conditioning and we do not.

We are in the middle of an Athenian heat wave, which means the temperatures near 100 every day and it is stiflingly hot all the time.  Even with the windows open, it is barely cool enough to sleep without any blankets or sheets.  Hopefully it will be a bit cooler on the excursion this weekend, but it probably won't be.

We leave for our tour of ancient Greece tomorrow morning around 8 am; we will be seeing Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, Epidavros, Nauplia, and Corinth.  I'm hoping we stay at the same places as last year because they were really nice and the food was delicious. 

We finalized our travel arrangements for next weekend; we are heading to Santorini for the fourth of July weekend again, which should be a lot of fun.  We are taking a night boat on Thursday at 10 pm and will arrive around 7:30 Friday morning.  We have a gorgeous hotel on Perissa, one of the black beaches, and will be staying until Monday when we leave at 7:30pm for another night boat that puts us in Athens around 5:15 Tuesday morning.  We have off from school on Tuesday for the holiday so we are going to spend the day at Sounio to see the Temple of Poseidon and then come back that afternoon to be American and grill out on the boy's barbecue grill. 

The following weekend we are planning another trip to the Cycladic Islands, because Maren has friends living on Ios who are going to let us stay with them for free.  We'll probably hit another island or two on the way to Ios just because they are so close-I'm hoping to go to Milos because it looks really awesome.

Thats all for now, I've got class in twenty minutes.

~RLM

GotD: parakalo - please