Goodbye Rhodes, Hello Athens!

Greetings from the capital! That’s right, I’ve arrived in Athens; my time in Rhodes is done.

Friday we had our final presentation in my Mythology class. We had already turned in the paper but we had to do a group project as well on Jason and the Argonauts. One girl has been staying in Rhodes Town and it was obvious from her section that she hadn’t even spent five minutes on it—not only did she have no idea what she was talking about, she struggled to read her own slides and one story she told was blatantly false. Besides that, it went well and the rest of us did a decent job. It was so sad to say good-bye to Spiros!

We went down to the seaside to a fish taverna for lunch, but they didn’t actually have that much fish. Afterwards, everyone but Nick and I went into Rhodes for the day to shop, walk around, and have dinner. They only had two weeks in Rhodes before the week in Soroni, but having been there for 5 weeks we were pretty much done; there was nothing else I could really get out of going back into the town. We washed laundry in the sink instead and just hung out, had dinner ourselves.

Once they got back around 10, Maria’s son Kostas took us to some kind of first annual festival that was going on right outside Soroni. Both Maria and Ilias met us there; Maria will be staying in Rhodes and Ilias, her husband, just arrived and will be leading the study tour. The first place we went was a stage set up in the woods that had various bands playing rock, Greece music, etc. We stayed there for a little bit and then drove out to the power plant, where traditional Greek dancing was happening. It was actually so amazing, I really loved it. It was the most authentic Greek dancing I’ve ever seen because these were just people from Soroni gathering. They had souvlaki and drinks, a stage with musicians playing traditional music on traditional instruments, and a large dance floor surrounded by fold-up tables, all outside. I danced several of the dances, the circle dances with the complicated foot patterns. I don’t know how they know which song signifies which dance, or how they all know the steps. Kostas was saying that Greeks learn the dances in schools but only really do them at weddings or festivals like the one we saw. One that I did was really complicated, with 12 steps, and I never fully got the hang of it, though I was close by the end. The other was 3 steps, which I mastered instantly and then had a lot of fun with. It was really fun and just different from what we usually do so I loved it; I liked it much better than Bar Street on Rhodes!

Saturday was a slow, internet-binge day before our flight to Athens. I packed carefully in the morning; I tried to put everything I would need into my backpack and everything else in the suitcase so that on the study tour, I hopefully don’t have to lug the suitcase everywhere and can just live easily out of the backpack. We made a breakfast of poached eggs and fried feta on bread, then we literally spent six hours wasting time on the internet. I feel really bad because I meant to walk around taking pictures of Soroni before I left but it totally slipped my mind, and now I have none. It was so beautiful, too; I went for a run one day in the early evening and it was absolutely gorgeous, there was so much vegetation, cultivated but with an element of wildness to it. After our internet marathon, the place we went for dinner was closed and we had to scramble for food and then suddenly we were our of time; we were rushing to grab our bags, get everything in order, run out to the car. Even though we had all the time in the world all day, we left in such a hurry I didn’t really get to say goodbye to anything concretely; I just ran out. And, because Kostas drove us to the airport, I never got to say a real goodbye to Maria. I didn’t realize when we left the Greek dancing that would be the last time I saw her, since I’m not coming back to Rhodes after the study tour. That was a little saddening for me; she is such a sweet woman and was so good to us I feel bad I didn’t give her a proper goodbye. The group got her a gift, though, and icon of Archangel Michael (of the church she took us to), and I think she really appreciated it.

So, even though we were kind of late getting in the car, the time it took from the moment we got in the car to the moment we sat down at our gate was probably 20 minutes, and we still had to wait 20 minutes until we could board the plane. Security was a joke; Nick somehow made it through with a lighter, but they confiscated our jar of Nutella—not a liquid! Then, less than an hour later, Athens!

We landed around 9 and hopped on the subway to Monastiraki. For a while there was a group of old men who worked at the airport next to us and I tried to listen and understand as much of their conversation as possible. For the first time ever, I saw the ‘Na’ used in real life, it was so great, and also surprising, I almost burst out laughing.

When we got out at Monastiraki station, our hostel was right down the street. You can see the Acropolis from our window—it’s amazing, you can literally see it from all over this area. As we’re walking around, we use it as a beacon to make sure we’re heading in the right direction, or to see where we are in relation to the hotel, etc. There are so many times, as we walk around, I’m just amazed at the juxtaposition between crappy, dirty, modern city and the Acropolis rising in the background. It’s surreal.

We dropped our bags and walked around Monastiraki and Plaka a little, and walked by the entrance to the Acropolis. It’s really beautiful at night because it’s lit up and even more of a beacon than during the day. We grabbed some souvlaki, of course, and just explored a little of the main stuff.

We went back to our room, got changed, and went to the Gazi area the receptionist recommended around 1230 where most of the popular clubs and bars are. I actually recognized it from when we were in Athens last April. It was very crowded and we just picked ones that looked fun. The first was very Greek in that you bought a drink and then didn’t dance but stood around a table. The second place was similar but had a dance floor as well, and we stalked/made friends with a group of five Brits from London with the thickest accents I’ve ever heard.

This morning we got up and went exploring again. We meet up with the study tour on Monday and we’ll go to the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, New Acropolis Museum, etc, so today we went to some of the other places we won’t see with the group. We went to the  Keramikos Museum first, which we thought meant Ceramics but actually referred to a massive burial site they uncovered, and so they had a few relief sculptures, some grave markers, and a lot of burial pottery, etc. It was really interesting because it moved throughout the ages chronologically so you could see the progression of the works. One panel was about a mass grave that was found—the disregard for the normally important burial rituals supports ancient writings about a terrible plague that struck the city. It was interesting to see how archaeology correlated exactly with ancient sources.

Next we walked around the far side of the Acropolis, getting a new view, passing Hadrian’s Gate and the Temple of Olympian Zeus on the way to the National Gardens. Which were not that impressive. It was pretty small and wasn’t really overflowing with a bunch of different varieties and colors of plant life. The zoo inside consisted of two goats, a bunch of peacocks (one dead), ducks, and pigeons, and some kind of weird mountain rabbit thing. We left by a different exit, and almost ran into the traditionally dressed guards on the way to the Parliament building to relieve the previous guard. We then grabbed a pita and headed back to take a quick nap during the heat of the day. We woke up and walked around a little more in the touristy section. Because it’s Sunday, most things were closed, and the things that were open were the touristy places selling the olive oil soaps, shoes, sunglasses, and kitschy stuff you find everywhere in Greece, but it was nice to look at. Very hot, though, all day. We got froyo to combat the heat…

I forgot about all the graffiti in Athens; there is a lot in Thessaloniki, but there is a lot in Athens. It’s everywhere. Some are cool but most are just dirty and defacing buildings. The climate in Athens is different than it was even a year ago. The graffiti is much more political, and the city feels dirtier and grimier (though this may be partly because it’s July and much more hot and sticky). There are a lot more homeless people even in the touristy areas, and a lot more permanently closed stores and restaurants. Everything has a political tint to it; we saw signs for some kind of cultural festival that’s going on around the city this month, and I went to the website to see if there was anything interesting for today or tomorrow. There are a lot of art exhibitions, all of which carry some kind of political message about their dissatisfaction with Greek politicians, the economic situation, the broken promises of the European Union, etc. There was a showing of a film about the situation, and a play of a similar nature. Athens is definitely suffering, and you can see the wear and tiredness on the city.

So that’s Athens so far. Nick and I are probably going to go shopping tomorrow, visit another site we won’t see with the group, and then meet up with the study tour around 5PM. It looks like we’ll be in Athens for a couple days as a jumping of point to visit Nemea, Mycenae, and maybe even Delphi. It’s going to be a busy whirlwind of a week and a half, so we may just stay in tonight, or find something chill to do and come back early. I’ll keep you updated on what’s going on here!

Here are some pictures I hope you’ll enjoy:

                             

The view from our window—oh hey Acropolis, whatcha doing outside my window, just hanging out?

                   

A picture of me outside the Keramikos Museum. A picture of one of the cooler pieces of graffiti that was not just scribbles and trash but…BATMAN!!!

                      

Hadrian’s Gate.

           

Me and Nick being fruitcakes in the National Gardens. I was twirling like an idiot and he was climbing trees.

                                

And then there was this weird thing in the zoo, it’s some kind of rabbit but he looks like a grizzly old mountain man

             

Some of the political graffiti we saw that was written in English. People in Greece are not happy with the current situation.

                                         

Finally, I just think the various places you see the Acropolis are so beautiful and interesting. Like, walking down a kind of gross-looking street with graffiti and trash and then oh, what’s that in the background? Only the Acropolis, no big deal…

Happy Birthday America! Love, Greece

Hello everybody and Happy Fourth of July! Here in the quiet village of Soroni, we still tried to have as American a celebration as possible; I think we managed pretty well, since we grilled out and drank beers…what’s more American than that? We grilled souvlaki instead of burgers and drank Mythos instead of Bud, but who has to know the difference?

Maria brought over a little charcoal grill for us and we went to the butcher and got some souvlaki already on kebabs with some veggies. I bought all the ingredients to make tzatziki and it turned out really well—seven of us devoured a kilo of it. We couldn’t find any corn so had to do without, but it still turned out really well. It took forever to grill the souvlaki because we didn’t actually have enough coals (although, trust the boys to keep playing with it and lighting stuff on fire to try and “help”), but everything worked out. We carried two tables up to the roof and pushed them together, and had souvlaki pitas, Mythos, and watermelon, and played  Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Maria came for a little bit and tried my tzatziki, which got her stamp of approval, so it must be pretty good!

Grilling and eating actually took up a large part of our afternoon, especially as we took an unintentionally long nap afterwards. Last night we didn’t really do anything fun because those of us in the Mythology class had to write a paper and make a group presentation for Friday. My paper is on the Orphic cult, which is actually pretty cool, and then the group project is on Jason and the Argonauts. I had flashbacks to watching an old 60’s movie about it and we found some clips to include that hopefully he will find funny instead of blatantly inaccurate…..

Slow day again today, class and then just chilling. It was still hot today, of course, but not so painfully, unbearably, sluggishly hot as yesterday. We had lots of souvlaki left so heated it on our one burner. We also took a bunch of peaches and made an impromptu peace sauce that turned more into a peach soup…don’t ask me what we are going to do with that. Then the core five of us—Me, Nick, Margo, Eric, and Mary—did ab and butt work out on the balcony. I have to say, when these new kids came three weeks ago, I was pretty skeptical about whether we would get along but it turned out really great. They are much goofier than I initially gave them credit for and we are all pretty comfortable with each other now and joke around and have a great time. And they’re all coming on the study tour, so the fun will continue!

Soroni

Hello all! I’ve left Rhodes Town and have been staying in the little village of Soroni for the past two days. It is very different from the touristy Rhodes Town. Soroni seems to exist almost out of time; I feel like I’ve been here forever. The pace of life is very slow but not unpleasant for a week.

We had a pretty slow day on Sunday. We had to check out of the hotel by 1200 and just walked around until Maria came to get us around 530. Nick and I had a card and framed picture for Despina but no one was home and everything was locked up. We left it in her flowered plants by the door, obvious enough to anyone who would water it but not necessarily apparent to anyone walking by. It wasn’t ideal but the gift is also worthless without sentimental value, so hopefully she receives it. It’s weird to think about, but I will probably never know whether she gets it or not.

We got to Soroni and moved into the apartments. They are even worse than the place I lived for 5 days in Thess, but for a week I’ll be fine. Only one room has air conditioning, and it’s not mine. Mine gets the best internet connection though, and I have a big fan I keep pointed at my face at all times. It’s still hot, though—never in my life have I dealt with such a constant, sticky, sweaty heat. There is no escape. I’ve just resigned myself to being a sweaty gross mess for the next couple days. Even my room is disorganized and messy, and I’m always neat!

The curtain in the bathroom is a good foot and a half off the floor, but at least I have one. I also found a massive cockroach in my bathroom the first night, that was a pleasant surprise. Everything is also just kind of stale and dusty, and the burner in my kitchen is the only one that works in the whole building. But even then, it’s livable, and I don’t really mind as it matches my gross sweaty self.

Every night we get a free meal at the restaurant across the street, a relative of Maria. Maria said that half the town’s 2000 inhabitants are her relatives, and the other half are her husband’s Ilias’ relatives, so all the bases are covered. Everywhere we go everyone stares at us because we’re the only new thing in this town, and they all know who we are and why we’re here. There are a lot of closed down, abandoned stores, shops, and restaurants; it looks like anything living here was killed off by the crisis. On the main street, however, there are three cafes always filled with the old men having their Greek coffees and gossip for the day.

It’s really beautiful to walk around, though. Seeing grassy lawns is really rare, but there is lots of greenery. There are so many beautiful flowering plants that smell delicious and provide lots of color, and all kinds of vegetation as well, like limes, lemons, oranges, wheat, grapes, olives, dill and other spices, etc. Everything is very spacious and quaint, and makes for a picturesque walk. The beach is not far, about 10 minutes straight down the street.

We have class two minutes up the road. It’s continuing on much as before, still interesting and fun.

We decided to do as much cooking as we can with a fridge, one burner, and no oven. We already made candied almonds and devoured them. We also tried to make a veggie curry stir fry but it never got hot enough and turned into something more like stew—it was absolutely delicious anyway! Tomorrow for the Fourth of July Maria is bringing some kind of grill over and we’re grilling (albeit souvlaki) like real Americans, and we’ll have corn too! And I’m making tzatziki, although Maria wondered why I didn’t just buy it at the store…I guess even though it’s a Greek food, it’s not a Greek food you take the time to make from scratch!

Today after class and after the lunch we cooked, we went to the Valley of the Butterflies. It was really pretty; actually, it looked a lot like Connecticut, but with more streams and little waterfalls. There weren’t as many butterflies as there will be, when they will coat every single surface, but there were still a lot. One of the first big trees we saw seemed normal, until you noticed that half the leaves were actually butterflies. From then on out it was much easier to spot them. The whole valley made for a pretty hike, I’m glad I got to see it.

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. It’s quiet, and slow here. And hot. Oh, so very, very, hot.

Weekend Recap

Ok, quick recap of the past few days. My mythology class was taken to this little, tiny church up in the mountains about a half hour outside of Rhodes town for a service that Spiros' family had there every year. It took us a little while to find it because the directions were kind of hilarious. We were told to turn right after the barrel and got a little lost. Then, when we stopped to ask a farmer for directions, he said to turn around and turn left at the donkeys. So, barrel and donkey found, we made it to the church. It was a tiny little church next to the 5th century AD ruins of an older church built on top of the ruins of a 5th century BC temple, so a lot of history going on there. There service was really interesting and there were about 60 people crammed inside and spilling out the doors, members of Spiros' family and the local village. Afterwards, everyone had brought some kind of pastry or food and we got to try. Daniel and Stamatina were there, and she had spent 4 hours that morning making a huge tray of some of the most delicious dolmades I've ever had, maybe as many as 200 of them! There was a little spring of cold mountain water nearby that supposedly had healing powers, so we visited that as well and drank a little. Daniel invited us to his house in Faliraki on Sunday and I got all excited, but it turns out they have a wedding to go to that day so it's not going to work out. Thursday was also the day I was a little beat up. My flip flops had broken and I bought new ones that gave me massive blisters within ten minutes of wearing them. Then, Nick and I did an abs/arms workout that definitely beat me up. Then we went to the beach, and the waves were bigger than we'd ever seen before. They were actually cresting and coming ashore. It was so fun, because Nick taught me how to body surf! I sort of got it, I could only really catch the wave half the time but when I did it was awesome! The only problem was that they were cresting really close to shore, so we quickly discovered if you didn't push back and stand up before it got too shallow, the waves would literally drag you onto shore. There was one massive one that took Nick and I both and tossed us head over heels and then dragged us along the bottom. I got a little scraped and a little bruised on my side, one knee, and a little my palm, but it was definitely worth it. Battling those waves for so long on top of the workout earlier definitely left me tired, but it was a good tired, and with the exception of the shoes, a good kind of beat up. I fought nature a little, she fought back, but I prevailed and it was great! It's strange how these things go, because while Thursday was the windiest day we've seen Friday may have been the calmest. There was very little wind and the waves reminded me of lake waves, not really anything. We hung out at the beach for a little bit. I had my mythology midterm earlier in the day; it went very well. The class itself doesn't feel like work because it's just so interesting, and so much fun! Since we're moving to the apartments in Soroni for the next week on Sunday,weren't to Kosta's for the last time Friday night. It was actually pretty sad; if I come back to Greece it's unlikely I'd come back to Rhodes, so it was the last time to see someone so good to us. Even worse was saying goodbye to Despina. We stopped by afterwards to check in on her, and he restaurant wasn't open but she was there. She wouldn't open before we left, the recovery was coming along slowly, so we'll never have her delicious food again. We told her we were leaving and she told us how much she loved us, how she would always remember us and was so proud to have been our Greek mom and would alway wait for us if we ever came back. I'll admit it, I cried a little. She really was so great to us, and I think she was really touched that we kept coming back to make sure she was ok. Today we went to a photo store and printed out a photo of her, me and Nick and got a little frame for it, and a get well card, and are going to give it to her tomorrow as a thank you. I don't know if it's a little presumptuous to gift her a photo of us, but I hope she will like it. Today was a pretty slow day. I went to bed early last night because I felt sickness coming on, and sure enough woke up today with a sore throat and half my voice gone. I feel alright but sound like crap. I took some kind of writing composition exam for Rice this morning that pretty much checks to make sure I can spell and form a correct sentence, but I had to take it sometime this weekend in order to register for classes. So tonight is our last night in Rhodes town. Well probably go hang out in old town for the last time. I'm sad to leave the people I've come to know, but honestly I'm ready to go. Rhodes is beautiful but very touristy. A week trying village life in Soroni will be fun, and a refreshing change, and from there on to the study tour!