They Say It's a Religion Major's Playground...: Athens!

On Sunday morning I got back from a wonderful visit to Athens, Greece. I arrived early on wednesday morning and made my way to Jessie's apartment in a neighborhood called Pagrati. It as so exciting! Jessie lives in this apartment with 4 other student in her program, 2 of whom also happen to be carleton students: Ryan and Joe. After being very excited and saying hello to everyone including Chuck and Lynsey who were also visiting, we headed out to get spanikopita and other snacks and see the program where Jessie's program is based. It was instantly wonderful to be with Carleton people again- nothing against the friends I've made in Israel, but these people know me so well, it's just natural to be wit them- it is so much easier than all of the relationships I have formed or attempted to form over the past three months. After hanging out, talking, and of course, checking our e-mail, we headed out on a walk around the city.

We got to see the center of town, Syntagma, and the parliament building and national gardens then we walked around the main shopping area, taking lots of breaks to sit and talk. Jessie and Ryan decided that we had to see the meat market- which was definitely a sight to see. Animal carcases were hanging everywhere. It was slightly disturing but also kind of appetizing, since there really isn't a great place to buy meat here that I have found, so I'm always craving meat. After that experience we decided to make our way to the Acropolis. Climbing up the Acropolis was cool and entertaining to hear Ryan and Jessie attempt to piece together the facts about all of the buildings. It was also the first chance I had to see the vastness of Athens.

Athens is a city of 3 million people and buildings are often no more than 6 floors which means that the city spreads out in every direction. After the Acropolis we went to chill at a cafe and Ryan left us to make dinner. That night he prepared a traditional Greek rabbit stew for us and some of his friends. Supposedly Ryan makes a differet Greek meal once a week- I was very impressed. Also, the rabbit was good- very surprising!

The next day Jessie and Ryan had class so Chuck, Lynsey, and I set off to attempt to go on an adventure to the nearest Greek Isrland, Agina. This didn't go as well as planned: first, the Metro was on strike so we had to figure out how to get to the port by bus. The we stayed on our bus too long and had to get off and backtrack. Then we barely missed an 11am boat and would have to wait another hour for get on an epensive boat so we ultimately decided to go back and meet Jessie for lunch. For lunch we ate at a little taverna and Chuck and I got a greek specialty, Musaka- it's a casserole of potatoes, eggplant, meat, and some cheese or eggs or something- it was very tasty. The we went back to Jessie's apartment and took a two hour nap while she was in class. That night there was a "Halloween" party at Jessie's school- really it was a greek party held on Halloween ever- it was a good time because we got free Greek food and got to watch some greek dancing (like Ryan Farkas!). Afterwards we got delicious gelato and sat by a small church near Syntagma where we chilled and took a bunch of pictures. That night the apartment was hopping because on top of the 5 usual residents, the 3 of us were visiting and one of Jessie's apartment mates had 4 friends visiting as well.

On friday Chuck and Lynsey headed back to Copenhagen and me and Jessie napped for a few hours after. Then, Jessie, Ryan, and I took a walk up Lykavittos Hill- the highest point in Athens. Of course, it was the hottest afternoon since I had been there, so the walk up the hill was particularly tought. The top provided more wonderful city views and the walk provided great conversation. When we got back to the apartmetn we met up with Jessie's mom and her friend for dinner and more Gelato.

Saturday Ryan and I were going to go on an Adventure to Nafplio, a town 2 1/2 hours away, but I decided that I wasn't up for it- so we stayed in town. In the morning I went on a solo shopping trip through Plaka, the tourist shopping area. I was really excited that Athens was so easy to navigate and safe and not obnoxious to be alone in, so I wanted to explore a bit on my own. I met up with Ryan for wandering and lunch and then we met up with Jessie and co. to go to the Archeological museum. We ended up getting to the museum only a half hour before closing, so we got in for free but had to rush through. We actually managed to see 6 of the top 10 items in the museum, we were pretty proud.. Then we chilled at a cafe for a couple of hours and returned to the apartment to pack. I ended my stay in Athens with a nice dinner at a Taverna with Ryan and a friend of his, Bri.

Basically, the best think about this trip was being with Carleton students in a place far away from Carleton. We spent a lot of time talking about our experiences away from school- there are a lot of things that differ but a common ground is that Carleton students are unique and there's not really anyone quite like them anywhere. This is a good exercise in meeting new people, but ultimately we want to go back, because it's really not the same.

I also loved being in a city that was respectful and accessible. We used public transportation twice- everything was within walking distance and we walked a lot. Also, we never got called our for simply being girls- it's such a nice relief. Even the store owners were not overly aggressive. Lastly, I really like that most greeks cross themselves every time they pass a church. I know its something potentially brainless, but it's also very spiritual.