The Rhodes Less Traveled

Writing to you from day five of my Rhodes experience! Things have fallen into a nice rhythm and I’m finally on the right sleep cycle. I have Greek class from 11-1, and then have the rest of my day to do whatever. I actually have a lot of alone time during the day and really only see people for dinner and to hang out after. In the afternoons I wonder around Old Town, relax on a beach, or grab a frappe at a café with free wifi and check up on e-mails or study Greek.

Greek class is really fun, albeit mentally exhausting. I study a lot outside of class to nail down these verb tenses and conjugations, but it’s very complicated! My teacher is great, though. He doesn’t speak much English so the class is taught pretty much entirely in Greek, which means I’ve also had to learn the Greek words for “past participle” or “future continuous”. He speaks slowly and clearly though and I understand most of what he says. The only trouble comes when I have a question about something technical but don’t have to words to ask it, but I usually make a note of it and then look it up later. His son teaches the Ancient Greek class before mine, and he’s really nice too. They’re both really friendly and open; they  said that some weekend they would have me and the Ancient Greek kids to their summer house in Faliraki for swimming and barbeque.

I’ve been to both of the beaches in Rhodes Town and they’re very different than I expected. The “nice” beach is about 20 minutes away and is different from the one close to us only in that it is on the less windy side of Rhodes so the water is calmer, and there is a giant diving board out in the water you can swim to. The water gets deep pretty fast so there’s no wading but lots of swimming! The sand is also not sand, but smooth stones instead—it’s not actually that uncomfortable to lay on but walking on it can be a pain. Today I went to the beach 50 meters from my hotel, and it was the same except windier; there are actually waves and crashing surf, and when you try to swim you’re bobbing and tossing about but it’s fun in its own way.

As far as the other kids on the program, I don’t see them much during the day but we hang out at night and they all seem pretty nice. There are only 14 of us here; I don’t know why but I expected the program to be much bigger. We’ll go out to dinner or hang out and watch Greek TV in the evenings, or go out to the bars. I’ve been out once already—the street that is full of bars is super euro trashy and full of Scandinavians, actually, but it’s a lot of fun and the kids who have been here a while already know some of the people that work at the bars and got us discounts. We’re going on a pub crawl tonight as well.

I have the most fun with Nick, another student here. He’s staying here the same amount of time I am and is looking for the same types of experiences out of the program as I am. He’s also Greek-American but wasn’t brought up speaking the language, so he’s here to learn. He wants to explore the culture too; last night we went down the side-streets of Old Town off the beaten track and ate at a tiny non-touristy restaurant. The food was delicious, and cheap, and the owner gave us free ouzo for speaking Greek. We also both like to go out but not crazily, so I’ve got a buddy to stick with no matter what.

That’s pretty much it so far. Still trying to get to know the town, having my favorite foods like bougatsa and gyros again. I actually haven’t taken any pictures yet but I’m thinking tomorrow I will bring my camera around and take some pictures to show you all what I’ve been up to.

ΡΟΔΟΣ

Welcome to Rhodes! The blog is back up and running now that I’m back in Greece! I will probably be posting less frequently but I thought I would update you all on what I’ve been up to so far.

I got on the plane at 4:50 at JFK on Saturday and landed in Rhodes at 3:30 on Sunday. I was picked up by Maria, the summer program coordinator, and taken to the hotel. She’s the cutest, sweetest little Greek lady ever; she calls us all παιδιά and is really helpful with anything we need.

I unpacked and then took a nap in my room. I don’t have a roommate again and it’s a lucky thing; there is even less space here than in Thessaloniki, though there are two beds. There’s a tiny little balcony too. The bathroom is as clean as the one in my room on Papakyriazi but as small as the one that I moved out of the first week in Thess—I feel like a giant.

I was an idiot, however, and remembered to bring my passport but left my wallet with my debit card, credit card, and cash in my car at home! Luckily I have some other money that I was able to exchange for now, and my parents are mailing me my wallet ASAP, but it was pretty nerve-wracking for a while there!

I took a quick nap and then some of the kids took me to the school’s cafeteria where lunch and dinner are free. I don’t know how much I’ll be eating there; the food is free, but it’s unappetizing, bland fair with one option to choose from, and as a foodie, that’s just not going to fly when every restaurant we pass smells so delicious.

Some of the kids showed us around the immediate area a bit but I have to admit, I was so tired I was pretty out of it. I went to bed fairly early and slept like a log. Today I explored after class, and I recognized a lot of the places they showed me and was able to place them spatially in my head.

At 9:00 I met Maria in the lobby and she took me to my class—the university buildings are spread out all around this part of the city, and mine happens to be on the same street as the hotel, literally 2 minutes away (The program is set up in 3 week installments; I’ll be spending three weeks studying Greek language, the next three weeks studying Greek Mythology, and then we’re embarking on a ten-day study tour around the mainland. Some of the kids have been here for three weeks already and left yesterday, some are staying, and some are new like me and may be staying for 3 or 6 weeks). The building looks deserted, and I’m pretty sure my professor and I were the only people in there. I am the only person taking Greek level three, and when I found out I would be alone I was a little nervous because I was not sure if I put myself in the right level, if it would be too hard, etc. As it turns out, the book we use is the same one my class in Nashville used, and he started us out earlier in the book. We did a lot of grammatical review today, which was helpful, but he said I spoke much better than he anticipated so we will be able to move along quickly, seeing as I’m the only one in the class. My professor is an adorable little old Greek man who does a lot of “Now the word ____ comes from the Greek word ___, meaning ____” like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I’ll have class for 2-2 1/2 hours every day in the mornings, and the afternoons are free to do what I like.

This afternoon I explored Rhodes by myself. The weather today (and expected for the next week) is 75-80 and perfectly sunny, and since it’s an island it’s always a little windy so that helps to keep cool. The city itself is absolutely beautiful, there are gardens and parks everywhere. My hotel is in New Town two streets back from the beach—the beach on this side of town is more rocky and windy, but there are still plenty of crispy red tourists to be found. A nicer beach is ten minutes away on the “calm side” of the island; apparently it will never really take more than 10-15 minutes to walk anywhere. Old Town is the medieval part of Rhodes that was there when Rhodes had knights; its two walls and a moat (dry now) are still there separating it from New Town, and once you cross over you step back in time to a place of cobblestone streets, small alleyways, and Byzantine architecture, complete with castle and a mosque. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and I explored a lot of it today.

That’s how most of today went; exploring by myself and with some of the other kids after dinner. There are a lot of cool places we came across, and others the kids who have been here for three weeks already showed us. There’s a café with free wifi in New Town that was beautiful, with lights and a fountain, a bar in Old Town that’s so tiny you can’t even go inside but they have dollar shots on Fridays and Saturdays, and Bar Street about three minutes from our hotel. I’ll fill you in on more as I discover more.

As for now, it’s still relatively early but I’m still exhausted from the traveling and the time difference, so I’m heading to bed. I can’t wait to fill you in on all the fun, exciting things that are sure to come my way!