Slack much on the blog, Pete? I guess you could say that. I received a funny email this weekend from one Peter Maag with the subject line "more blogging, less not blogging." And nothing else was written. Classic Maag right there. So, alas, here I am cramming my rambling thoughts onto this computer screen with no regard for proper grammar or concern about any of those writing conventions I was taught when I was younger.
Let's just jump right into Santorini and go from there. I mean, I guess if the picture doesn't do it for you, well then you just have really high standards. That being said, go check out the rest of my Facebook album if you want to see the rest of the beauty that is Santorini. I highly recommend it. So we left Friday night at midnight and boarded a massive ferry that took 9 hours, yes you read that correctly 9 #^@*#&!#@&*@! HOURS, to reach Santorini. We rolled off the boat and a bus picked us up and took us to our hotel where Sean and I promptly passed out for the next two hours. After that part of the group wandered into town, Fira, and checked out the local shops. Ate some good Greek food and perused all the knockoffs that they had there. Bought a bitchin pair of Ray Bans for 10 euros. I think I will be able to get all of my Christmas shopping done here real easily. Then our entire group met back up and we were picked up in two vans and taken to a different port where we did a 5 1/2 hour boat ride. We stopped at the Red Beach and swam in the water for a while which was again incredibly blue and salty. Then we rode in the gorgeous sun for a while and anchored just outside the volcanic rock part of Santorini where we swam about a 1/4 of a mile to a hot springs. The water was insanely warm, but it was an interesting juxtaposition when a wave of cold water hit the lower part of your legs and the top half was in hot tub like water. They then cooked us dinner on the boat and as we finished up food, the winds REALLY began to pick up. Our boat ride quickly turned into a roller coaster and then people's smiles and colored faces rapidly vanished and were replaced with whiteish green faces and unhappy looks. Gotta love seasickness! Mercifully the ride ended with only a few people getting sick, but a few more looking like had the ride been about 10 minutes longer and they would've been donezo. We returned to the hotel and went out to a bar called Murphy's where we celebrated one of the girl's 21st birthdays. But more importantly, I got to watch Arkansas and Alabama play in the bar. I forgot how much I missed college football. I really would be using this blog as a chance to talk about sports as well, but frankly it is almost impossible when I am reading up on everything a few days after it happens. Fear not though, when I return to BC and am on a real time zone again, my sports thoughts will be shared with the world!
Sunday was a nice, relaxing, and stunningly beautiful day as Sean and I walked around the island for 4 hours by ourselves. Enjoyed some truly wonderful moussaka for dinner and boarded the ferry to return back to Athens. Let me tell you, two Advil PM will make a 9 hour ferry ride pass in the blink of an eye. We rolled off the ferry, caught the metro, caught a bus and still made it to Greek class at 10.
Phew. Brevity, Pete, brevity. I just don't think I will ever learn it. Believe me, I left out alot of stories and things that I wanted to say only because this damn post is so long. I guess this just means that I will have to post again tomorrow with all the thoughts that I have remaining! So make sure you tune back in tomorrow and tell your friends (as long as they are my friends too)!
Coming tomorrow: more U.S. vs Greece differences culturally and a report on my first practice with the basketball team here.
So on Saturday we all boarded a ferry and took a little trip to the island of Hydra. It is a very small island about an hour and a half off the coast of Athens that was used as a stronghold for the Greeks in their war of independence. It consists of only about 2,000 people and cars are outlawed on the island. The only way to get around is to go by donkey or walking. And I must say, this might have been my favorite part about the entire island. Sitting a little ways above the port, where all of the action on the island takes place, without the sounds of cars, trucks and motorcycles, the silence we experienced was unlike any I have ever heard (or is it not heard?). The subtle sound of the sea crawls through the thin alley ways and gave me a sense of ease that I'm not sure can be replicated. Never underestimate how at peace with the world one can be when they are in silence.
However, the water and the sea itself was as breathtaking as the peacefulness of the island. No picture could ever do it justice. There is something that cannot be explained about diving into that water, feeling the salt rush through your nose and mouth, being able to float without effort because of the salt density, all while being able to see the fish swim right underneath or around your feet. You could look straight below you, and even though the depth was probably about 40-50 feet, the ground was crystal clear. The temperature of the water felt amazing and we all splashed around on the beach for about 2 hours.
After that, we were treated to a multi-course Greek lunch that was to die for. If only I ate like that on a consistent basis, rather than my standard meal of noodles with olive oil, salt and pepper...
Alas, we took the ferry back and on Sunday, with two girls in my program, we went to one of the public beaches in Athens and spent the day there. This beach, however, was not quite as pristine as the Hydra beach, as there was trash floating around in the water and cigarette butts as far as the eye could see. A gorgeous day made better by our lunch we had on the beach as the sun set on the water. Fresh calamari and cod, combined with a Greek salad made for a delicious meal. And a Mythos to wash it all down (think Heineken but lighter). I think I can get used to this life.
Oh yeah, school goes on once in a while too. But nobody cares about that.
First, the perception that their culture is kinda lazy and people don't really like to work is true as far as I can see. That is not to say that they are bad people. The fact that the cafes, bars and restaurants are constantly filled throughout the day is a testament to the strength and the cohesiveness of their community. However, I just want to yell at them, "DON'T YOU REALIZE WHY YOUR COUNTRY IS IN MASSIVE ECONOMIC RECESSION?!?" They are remarkably carefree people but at some point they need to recognize that shutting down the entire city on Sundays and for three or four hours randomly on Mondays is not the best way to kickstart the economy. And I guess I shouldn't say lazy since I just think they enjoy spending more time with their friends and family than they do working. Really interesting to see from the scope of American culture in which I spent my entire life.
Second, dogs and cats wander the city. Everywhere. But they all have specific collars on to distinguish them from strays. What makes them not strays you ask? They are basically owned by the city. Vans of people go around to make sure that the dogs and cats have the appropriate shots and whatnot and then they are allowed to roam the city. I guess they survive on the scraps they can find and what people will give to them. And given their size, I'm guessing not many people feed them for fear of their constant return to beg for food.
Third, we stand out. Americans that is. Thus far the Greeks have been fairly hesitant in approaching us, to the point where through three full days of class not a single Greek student had said anything to me. But yesterday in my stats class, the professor cracked a joke in Greek and everyone laughed...but me. The girl nexted to me laughed and goes "Do you speak Greek at all?" We proceeded to have a nice conversation about what we were studying and blah blah blah. It raised the question in my mind: if I were back at BC, would I approach someone who I knew was a study abroad student and ask them about how they liked it, where they were from, etc? I would like to think yes but I'm not positive. Sometimes human nature is to avoid all things different and stick to what is most comfortable, even if that thing is as simple as a small conversation with someone from another country. It has given me a little more courage to step outside my comfort zone just a little bit further and see what else the world can offer me.
Oh, and the Greek language is really hard. You try learning one alphabet and language for twenty years and then be asked to learn an entirely new alphabet where they have FOUR E'S and then tell me you don't feel like a kid in pre school. It's impossible. This Saturday we are off to Hydra so I just have to get through the week and make it to Saturday. Missing the states but loving it here.
The first two days of class were basically what I expected: syllabus days that practically put me to sleep. In all three of my classes on Thursday, the teacher asked if there were any native English speakers in the class and I was the only one to raise my hand. That generally led to questions by the teachers about where I was from, whether I was on an exchange program or a study abroad student, etc. But everyone's English is pretty solid, although there were a few students that I found pretty difficult to understand. Unfortunately, for behavioral statistics, my professor's accent is so thick I can barely understand him. Greek I is going to be a pain in the ass though, I can already tell that. Thank God that class is basically our entire study abroad group. That's enough about classes though because those are boring and I don't like talking about them anyway so let's move to more interesting stuff.
My roommate and I went to the gym to shoot around and hoping to hop in a pick up game since it was like 5 o'clock so the courts would be busy, right? Two people were there shooting around and that's it. At BC if you went down at 5, you have to wait and wait to get on the court and in a game. Evidently that's not the case here. A few more kids showed up but everyone just shot around on their own hoops and the general skill level seems low at best. Maybe this will be my best chance to win an intramural championship.
Our orientation leader reserved a table at this club that we went to last night, so 7 of us took two cabs to get there since it was along the beachside. It was about a half hour cab ride and it cost only 28 Euros. Freakin brilliant. That would have cost roughly an arm and a leg in Boston. This club was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Music BLARING, extremely swankified interior, flashy outfits, a fifth of Smirnoff delivered to our table with glasses and orange juice and lemonade, more second-hand smoke than anyone should have to endure in their entire life. The Greeks we'd talked to up to this point said that they usually stay out till 5 or 6 in the morning and catch the Metro once it starts up in the morning. I didn't think that they were really that serious about it but we left the club at around 5:15 in the morning after having hung out and danced there for almost 5 hours. I rolled into my room after the cab ride back at fell asleep at 6:30. I don't know how they do it. The people here are crazy. So I didn't get out of bed till 3:30 and I'm updating this as we endure a huge thunderstorm. Latin dancing tonight, so that should be interesting.
In my next post, I have some stuff that I want to talk about with regards to cultural differences between the US and Greece. Some interesting stuff there actually. Here's hoping to a Ducks blowout of Tennessee and an Eagle's victory today!
So yesterday was the first day of orientation for all of the freshman, international and study abroad students. When we first walked up as a group, you could feel the eyes focus in on us. That was the first time that I have ever been in the minority and it was truly a bizarre feeling to know that everyone was looking at you as you came up as a group. Most of the looks we got were skeptical at best and Marios (the Greek American in our group) said that we should probably expect alot of that at first. Our orientation leader, however, said that the upperclassmen are more accustomed to American students and we would expect a warmer reception when classes started. Orientation was as boring as anticipated and was EXACTLY what you would expect from a freshman orientation session. So that didn't change. The other thing that didn't change is how comically/pathetically awkward the freshman were around each other. It was exactly like orientation at BC and basically what everyone else in my group said theirs were like. So clearly newcomer awkwardness reaches all cultures and continents. Sean and I passed most of the day laughing as we watched doe-eyed newcomers stand around and engage in forced conversation to try and meet people.
Quick side story: everyone, with the exception of the Americans, thinks that I am a weirdo now, probably. I was really really bored during some downtime and I saw a tree that I wanted to climb. So I swung up on it and made my way up a few branches, probably no more than 20 feet off the ground and I looked around, and sure enough, all eyes were on me and their faces said "what in god's name is this kid doing?" All the kids in my group found it amusing and I didn't think it was weird, so I guess tree climbing isn't a big activity here.
Today was an interesting experience and I have now had my 15 minutes of fame in Athens. We got a tour of the Aghia Paraskevi area and were personally greeted and shown around by the mayor. He knew we were coming so he talked about how Athens needs to go after more American students to help boost their economy. So when the press got wind of this, they wanted to follow us around on our tour and get our thoughts on Athens. Two television stations and three newspapers followed our group through 3 hours of our tour. When they asked for a television interview and nobody volunteered, I went ahead and said that I would do it. The one I interviewed with, our dean who is originally from England said, is also televised in England as well so there is a good chance I will be on both Greek and English television tonight for that little segment. I also gave two different interviews for newspapers and they asked alot about what I was studying, where I was from, what I thought of Greece so far and then a million questions on the economic crisis. I found this to be funny because I could tell from the get-go that they were itching to ask the question but they did not want to spring it on us right off the bat. I stayed very vague and made conservative statements that basically said I didn't know a whole lot about it except for what was reported on the news. Overall it was cool to do the interviews and share my thoughts, but damn annoying to have photographers following us down the street and taking pictures of us as we looked in stores and spoke with the owners of the stores. I was looking at a book in the bookstore and a guy literally swooped underneath my face and snapped three pictures. No wonder celebrities snap after all of that.
Phew, I need to learn brevity clearly. I just always have a lot to say. We're about to go up to the pool which is BREATHTAKING and chill there for a few hours. I will snap a few more pictures of the campus and then upload those to Facebook tonight. Classes start tomorrow, lame. But my history class got canceled so now I am taking Greek I with basically everyone in our class. It should be a blast. Hope everyone is doing well in the states.
21 hours of traveling sucks. There is no other way of saying it. Taking an Advil PM to try and sleep on a plane only to be woken up every five minutes due to lack of comfort sucks worse. But looking out over Athens from the window of the plane makes one forget about his troubles awfully quick.
First, a couple of random thoughts. When someone has their headphones on and is reading a book, don't try and start a conversation with them. Especially about how much you enjoy weaving, knitting, and crocheting. And when you are a middle aged man. Come on man, can't you see that I am busy? Second, flying into Zurich was very cool mostly because of how quaint the villages and little towns looked. All very simply, along the same style and very much how one would picture Zurich.
Upon arriving at the airport, our RA and director of international studies were there waiting for me with a sign and they drove me back to our apartments. I got a chance to meet my roommate, Sean, as we woke him up to come answer the door. He promptly fell back asleep and I unpacked and did the same. When we actually got to talking, we found out that we have a TON in common and everyone was remarking at dinner how shocked they were that we didn't know each other before the trip (roommate gods shine on me once again).
14 of us went out to dinner last night at a traditional Greek restaurant in the square down by our apartment. Snagged a giro and a beer (sorry Mom and Dad) for under 6 Euro. I think I can get used to that pretty easily. We went to a free concert in the square afterwards and when the band broke into Bob Dylan, our group got a kick out of that.
Today we wandered around the city just checking out some of the sites. There is only one other guy in our program (15 girls for those counting at home) and he was born and raised in Athens till he was 11. His name is Marios and he is a total G (something about those kids named Mario seem to be good luck for me). He has done all the talking and directing for us and it has been a total godsend. Going to snag dinner tonight as a group and then probably check out the city a little more. Orientation starts tomorrow. Gag me.
Sorry that this is such a rambling post. They will have more structure in the future, and won't be as long. I just had to catch all my loyal readers (are there any?) up to speed. Pictures to come soon.
PS My Skype name is Peter Sean Mertens (or look it up as peter.mertens11). Add me if you do not have it.
