April 10, 2008
Yasas-
I hope this finds you all splendidly well. It's another dreary day in Athens. It's been rainy and grey for the last week and although weather reports say it's supposed to be sunny, it doesn't look like the clouds agree. It's actually getting hot though, so now we can be muggy instead of really cold and rainy. I finally found some sunscreen at the supermarket today though (I've looked for it before, but I guess it wasn't the season yet) so I have hope that the weather will improve.
Yasas-
I hope this finds you all splendidly well. It's another dreary day in Athens. It's been rainy and grey for the last week and although weather reports say it's supposed to be sunny, it doesn't look like the clouds agree. It's actually getting hot though, so now we can be muggy instead of really cold and rainy. I finally found some sunscreen at the supermarket today though (I've looked for it before, but I guess it wasn't the season yet) so I have hope that the weather will improve.
First off, let me say this email is a little disjointed. I've had to start and stop a few times, so feel free to skip around to what ever interests you (I've highlighted some things in bold to make it easier).
BTW. If anyone wants to be taken off this list (I know mass emails can get tiring) just let me know! No offense will be taken. For serious.
This past weekend was a whirlwind of touring the Peloponnese with Arcadia. I both like and loath group trips. On the one hand, we get to see some very cool sights and do some really interesting things and it's all paid for already. On the other hand, it means being with the group which to say is a trying experience is putting it lightly.
Let's just focus on the positive things for now.
Cool things we did:
Day 1. Saw some caves with stalactites and stalagmites. Very cool formations. Very cheesy music playing and the whole cave was set up with a strange light show that sort of worked as the tour guide. You were supposed to follow it around as it highlighted different parts of the cave.
The Wonky Church. It was extremely wonky. An interesting experiment in architecture. If I ever get my photos uploaded (I'm experiencing some technical difficulties) you will be able to see for yourself.
Tour of a winery. Everything is grown organically and their philosophy is that it's not just about profit, but about the people and the environment and the important cultural role wine plays in the world. And it was tasty too.
This past weekend was a whirlwind of touring the Peloponnese with Arcadia. I both like and loath group trips. On the one hand, we get to see some very cool sights and do some really interesting things and it's all paid for already. On the other hand, it means being with the group which to say is a trying experience is putting it lightly.
Let's just focus on the positive things for now.
Cool things we did:
Day 1. Saw some caves with stalactites and stalagmites. Very cool formations. Very cheesy music playing and the whole cave was set up with a strange light show that sort of worked as the tour guide. You were supposed to follow it around as it highlighted different parts of the cave.
The Wonky Church. It was extremely wonky. An interesting experiment in architecture. If I ever get my photos uploaded (I'm experiencing some technical difficulties) you will be able to see for yourself.
Tour of a winery. Everything is grown organically and their philosophy is that it's not just about profit, but about the people and the environment and the important cultural role wine plays in the world. And it was tasty too.
Day 2. Cheese factory tour. Stinky, but interesting to see their process.
Played with goats and sheep. I guess Arcadia is friends with a shepherd so he let us all into the pen and we got to hold them and chase them around and stuff.
Visit to Kalavryta. Both the site for the start of the War of Independence from the Ottomans and then site of a horrible WWII massacre. It was a really interesting history lesson and an eerie, but pride-inspiring place. Greeks don't take you-know-what from anyone and you could really feel it there.
That evening some of us went to the archaeological site of the Sanctuary of Hera. Really really beautiful. One of the coolest sites I've ever been to. And no one was there so we could climb on everything and watch the sunset over the Mediterranean.
Played with goats and sheep. I guess Arcadia is friends with a shepherd so he let us all into the pen and we got to hold them and chase them around and stuff.
Visit to Kalavryta. Both the site for the start of the War of Independence from the Ottomans and then site of a horrible WWII massacre. It was a really interesting history lesson and an eerie, but pride-inspiring place. Greeks don't take you-know-what from anyone and you could really feel it there.
That evening some of us went to the archaeological site of the Sanctuary of Hera. Really really beautiful. One of the coolest sites I've ever been to. And no one was there so we could climb on everything and watch the sunset over the Mediterranean.
Day 3. Rain, rain, rain. We visited the site of Epidavros (the demi-god of medicine and healing). It's a huge archaeological site where people used to come for medical attention all the way up through the Roman period. There is also an incredible theatre there that has hardly had to be restored and is built perfectly based on (forgive me music people) some important music scale. Supposedly you can hear people whisper from the stage in the top row because of this physics phenomenon (but I wouldn't know because the people in my group are so loud).
Day 4. Ancient Corinth and AcroCorinth. We had a great tour at Ancient Corinth from a young woman who works on the site and who did the Arcadia program herself. The Ancient Corinth site is run by our director's husband, so we got some nice insider attention. The season started the next day at 5am though, so we didn't get to meet him personally. We did however get a tour of Acro Corinth (this HUGE fortress on top of a giant mountain above Ancient Corinth) with Tim-something, the leading Byzantine scholar (in the world?). He's apparently written all of the books on this stuff and was an incredibly informative guy. Great story telling as he took us through and made the whole place seem to come alive. Another cool thing was that from the top of the sight we had an amazing view of almost the entire Peloponnese. You could barley make it out because of the clouds, but on a good day you can see all the way to Delphi. PS. All of this archaeology stuff this weekend re-sparked my interest in all of the whole excavation/dig thing...I'm trying to figure out now how I might work that into the schizophrenic career path I'm developing...hmmm.
Then it was back to Athens the next day.
Then it was back to Athens the next day.
Monday night I happened to read in the paper that David Sedaris (author of Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, etc.) was speaking at the Hellenic American Association, so I rallied a few people and we went to hear him. It was HILARIOUS. He is such a good speaker and naturally just a really funny guy. He read a few stories that connected in ways to Greek Easter and his Greek-American heritage and made really funny remarks about his encounters with Greek Greeks and Greek Americans. I could identify with a lot of it and it was really good to be able to laugh at it all.
Since then, however, the last few days have been kind of sad. A young man who was studying abroad in Athens was in a really bad pedestrian-car accident last week was in critical condition since last Thursday. We found about about it when we got back from the trip because the hospital was asking anyone who could to donate blood. I went on Tuesday to give and it was really impressive the amount of people who had already gone. I guess the 3 major study abroad programs had sent out emails and there was a really good response. Despite all of the help though, the young man passed away yesterday. My heart and thoughts have been really going out to him and his family. It could have happened anywhere and to anyone, and for me is just a huge reminder of how precious and unpredictable life is. I don't want to end this on a down note, but I just want to take a moment and acknowledge this. It's been on my mind a lot the last few days and it doesn't really feel right to gloss over it. Times like these I wish I had a quiet Meeting to go to, but no such thing exists here, so I did the next best thing today and found a (mostly) quiet corner in the Acropolis and sketched for a while. (Despite all the tourists, it's one of the quietest spots in Athens--above all the traffic and noise pollution).
Anyhow, if you've made it this far, I'm impressed! I wish I could give you all a cookie, or better yet a baklava! Mmmm..
Ta leme,
A.
A.
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