My Big Fat Greek (almost) Encounter with Toula

So I've been going a little blog crazy...but with the extra downtime we've been having at The Artemis and so many new experiences I just want to tell the whole world about what other choice to I have? This one won't be as long I promise :)

Yesterday after classes most of the HUG group was in an Athens or bust kinda mood. We'd be itching to get back to the city since our first trip there two weeks ago, and just going to see the Embassy on Thursday wasn't enough. We wanted to see MORE.

In order to get to Athens, you have to hop two buses and catch the Metro. The first bus goes from Porto Rafti to a bus stop in Markoupolo at 20 minutes after every hour (so we caught the 2:20), and then you get on another from there to the Koropi Metro (leaves on the hour, so we left at 3). The buses were nice, not like the public transportation I was expecting to see. They were all charter buses, plush seats, lots of room. (Four for you Greece, you go Greece.)

This is probably not super necessary, but I felt like sharing the Athens metro. Look at the blue line all the way to the right. The first white dot is Koropi. Travel to where the blue intersects with the green at Monastiraki and that's our stop.

And then the Metro. I've never been on a metro or subway before, so I was kind of super excited. (I know, I know, super lame and overrated to anyone who's ridden one their whole life) But it's just one of those things I've always wanted to do. We didn't leave Metro til 3:45, and since Koropi is the second to last Metro stop on the blue rail, it takes about 45 minutes to reach the Monastiraki stop, our destination in Athens. Once we got there at 4:30, our group was gone. Too excited to go slowly, we all ran out into the Plaka to explore.

Alive at night.

The view from the plaka up to the Acropolis!

There is so much I wish I could write about the people. They're just fascinating. The shop owners are super friendly, albeit partly because they want you to spend your money there, but they also just love sharing stories with you. While my friends were in a jewelry shop I went to one of the many t-shirt/souvenirs shops to look around. I started talking to a guy who owned two shops side by side, telling him I was from America and the items I was looking for. And then he pulled pictures and photo books out, showing me where his family lived on the island Zakynthos and where a movie with Nicolas Cage was filmed right down the street from where they lived. He had pics of Cage on set. Really neat. (Btw, I found out the movie was called Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I don't care what your opinion is on Nicolas Cage, I thought it was cool. Read more about it here.)

And then he showed me a picture of Toula (real name Nia Vardalos), the gorgeous star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. He had a photo with her, and said she had come there several times and they were friends. I just died.

I know it's just a picture of her, and I know it's just a guy who met her, but still. Had to get a pic.

 
Then Bree, Rachel, and I ate at this cute street cafe. Feeling adventurous we went for something other than gyros. I tried this lamb and veal with pita and fries. It was all sooooo yummy. I'm so in love with the food here, y'all. I already know I'm going to have withdrawals when I get back.

We only had 3 hours in the city because it took so long to get there and the last bus to Porto Rafti leaves at 8 (meaning we had to catch the metro at 7) but we'll definitely be going back again.

Today was our first day without classes in awhile (much needed!) It's been absolutely lovely. We all slept in, now just hanging out til lunch. It actually feels like a real weekend today.

Oh hey. Guess what. I leave for Israel TOMORROW. What. is. this. my. life. i. don't. even. know. I can't wait.

Lalalalalalove,
Rachel

Monkeying Around Town

I may be digging a ditch for myself when I say this...but today was absolutely one of my favorite days in Greece so far. In between Athens and the beach and the Greek food and the soccer kids and the Peloponnese and skiing these past 2 and a half weeks it's a little bit hard to narrow it down or even think about choosing a favorite, but today was just so wonderful that it's definitely near the top. Top 5, let's say.

It started out like any normal day. Class at 8:15 (starting with a Greek quiz on common words...I know hello, good bye, good morning, good night, thank you, and how to ask for one gyro on pita with potatoes, please. I'm a real Greek now.) After Greek is chapel and then Photography, a class I simply adore because Dr. J is well, one of the most inspiring and knowledgeable person on cameras I've ever met in my life (besides dear Sandy Sawyer from high school) He won my approval when we covered aperture, ISO, and shutter speed within the first class. Definitely my pace :)

Anyways! For international studies class after that we took a special field trip to the market! Every Friday in the next town over from Porto Rafti called Markopoulo the people gather all their fruits and vegetables, clothes, goods, and other things and sell them to the local people. It was just amazing. We were given money and a certain item to find and buy in the market as a class assignment, and then given the rest of the time to look around and buy things. Cori and I were supposed to find two paring knives, which we found pretty quickly and bought from a friend of the James'. He had lived in Canada for 5 years so he spoke better English than I've heard some Americans speak haha. He quizzed us on our Greek alphabet, which we stumbled through reciting to him, and he told us to keep practicing, laughing all the while.

And then we explored.

Hayley, a girl in my group, found a great vendor for scarves -- for only 2 EURO. I couldn't help myself, I bought 6. It was too good to pass up :P I also found a cardi (with FROCKETS!) for 7 euro. Most everything in the market is super cheap to encourage the locals to come and buy things. The Greeks, like I may have mentioned before, are loud and don't lollygag around. They will push past you to get what they want. It's not a rude culture, but a blunt one. We had a great time though, wandering the long street the market made up, smelling the yummy meats they were cooking and warily eyeing the tables of cold fish laid out.

I wasn't joking! Haha there were several tables like this.

In case you wanted an up close view ;)

SO MANY OLIVES

Gettin creative with the macro

A cute old woman looking at all the nuts and candies.

More vegetables. I just love the bright colors and arrangements

The people walking the market street

Strawberries!

Rugs. Lots of em.

My friends digging for scarves!

Tons and tons of sweaters. 3 euro. For real.

The whole market place was like a scene out of Aladdin. If I spoke Greek I'm sure it would sound like the merchants there. "Sugar dates! Sugar dates and figs! Sugar dates and pistachios!" or "Would the lady like a pretty necklace? A pretty necklace for a pretty lady!" and especially "Fish, FISH! We catch em you buy em!" (watch the first part of this video to get what I'm talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW5n4sIOj9s)

So the first part was spectacular. And THEN, after lunch we went to THE ZOO. Now, I love the zoo at home. Love being outside, love taking pictures, really really love the animals. So when a group was formed to go to the Athens zoo, of course I had to go.

The zoo in Athens was immensely different than any zoo I've been to in the US. The pens are open, with minimal glass and enclosures. Like, the animals are pretty much in wooden fences. Which was great, because we got to see them much closer and interact with them better. (My friend reached over the fence and touched a penguin. That would never happen in America.)

the sweetest little thing with a slightly creepy  but adorable smile

Kaleb taking on the lion

And the best part...the MONKEY PLAY PEN!!! You enter this caged area and you're just in there, hanging out with a bunch of lemurs. They run around on ropes and wooden fences, swinging and jumping and climbing everywhere. And by everywhere I mean all over you. (We caught them when they were slightly sleepy, which was the perfect time so they weren't running around all crazy but they weren't too lazy to play either.) It was AMAZING.

Cori had FIVE on her at once (there's one hidden I couldn't see because there was one on my back when I took this!)

This was too precious to not make my new profile pic.

So that was my fantastic day monkeying around with the lemurs. Their curiosity and friendliness (and cuddliness!) has me convinced that I want one. I hope you're reading this mom and dad I want a pet monkey.

love, rachel.

PS Funniest part of the day? They had a cow at the zoo. They seriously had a cow in a pen and an icon on the map and everything for it. We southerners laughed and made dumb jokes like, "Woah! What is this? I've never seen THIS before!" It was great. 

The Great Ski Escapade!

Yesterday I finally got to cross off one of my real legit bucket list items. (I have two lists—the real one and the this-would-never-happen-in-a-million-years-but-would-be-crazy-awesome one. This comes from the first.)  Now, for most people this item is a yearly vacation they've been doing since they were 5. But for me, this was an entirely new experience. I went SKIING!!!

So, I'm from Texas right. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been in real snow (not sleet or ice or the drippy stuff that melts after 2 hours. REAL SNOW.) So I loved it. It wasn't freezing outside, but the snow was still a perfect powder. Probably because we were so high up. We left the Artemis at 6AM for the three hour journey to Mount Parnassus. It took almost an hour to wind our way up to the part of the mountain where we bought our tickets (that took forever. With Greeks, you have to be aggressive in line. They don't wait quietly.) But the view was totally worth it. Here's a glimpse of our drive up (taken through the bus windows, sorry about the glare)

Our group had a few experienced guys who had planned on skiing during their free travel and were totally prepared with the right clothes and skills, but most of us were pretty new to the whole thing. Nevertheless, we were EXCITED!!

Part of the group!

First off, let me say this. If you've never skied before, it's probably best to start with the bunny slopes. You're going to have a much better time, embarrass yourself a lot less, and most importantly learn how to turn, and oh yeah, stop. We found out fast that was pretty important ;)
A group of us, ready to jump right into it, hopped onto closet ski lift after riding the gondola lift up the first part. And, well, we went up. Like, ALL the way up. To the top of the mountain.
(Also, let me say this. My exit off the lift was horrible. Horrible as in my foot got caught and was drug around and they had to stop the lift to make sure I was alive. I was THAT person.)
ANYWAYS. At first we we're like WOAH. Dude this is awesome.

THE VIEW. It felt like we we're touching the clouds.

And then we figured out we were going to have to get down...skiing. Which we barely knew how to do (I couldn't get off a lift right...and now I had to get down??!) The experienced ones took to it like pros and were gone, and the rest of us scrambled around, falling and losing our skis in the snow for a while. It was definitely an experience hahaha.

This is my sad trail down the steep slope. I got really good at skiing backwards. It kept me from losing control hahaha.

Finally, I reached the end of that slope with a few others. Turns out that the first slope was part of the red course (aka, the hardest) and we had reached the green course (the middle one), which was where I really had a blast. After finishing it we took a break and then did the same one again (and, I might add, I got off the lift perfectly the second time. So there.) It was so fuuuuun! Just wish we had more time. Apparently January 30 is a holiday in Greece (for the three holy hierarchs? Not sure.)
Oh yeah. Did I mention I had my baby, my really nice SLR Canon rebel T1i camera with me the whole time? I should be given an award because that baby is fit as a fiddle, no harm done at all! (I really wouldn't advise it though haha, I was more focused on protecting it when I fell than I was about falling correctly) I'm so glad I did though. Totally worth it to me for pictures.

Overall, the day was a success. I'm so so glad I had the opportunity to go skiing while I was here in Greece and had an amazing time. Standing at the top of the mountain gives you this feeling I can't even describe. It feels like the whole world is beneath you at your feet. It's beautiful. Feeling super sore and tired today though hahaha.

Today was not nearly so adventurous, but interesting all the same. We got to set foot on American soil for the first time in over 2 weeks. How is this possible, you may ask? Today, the HUG group visited the US Embassy! Alas, I have no pictures to prove this feat, as you're not allowed to take electronics into the building and you have to go through security and have your passport examined. Dr. J had set up a special meeting for us with them just to go over safety basics, how to travel, what to look out for, etc.

Greece fun facts:

• People don't drink to get drunk here, like in America. They drink socially here, which means they'll be sipping on one or two drinks over the course of a couple of hours. They rarely get rowdy drinking. It's just not how they do.

• They DO however, like to protest. Having protests is like an art form to them, and they will do it daily. Most of the time it is peaceful though, and it's not how it's depicted in the media.

• The main thing to worry about when traveling here are the pick pocketers, especially when riding the Metro to Athens or the ports, really touristy places. They will appear friendly or try to distract you, but take advantage of your wallet and your ignorance and naivety if you let your guard down.

 I was able to talk to the vice consul of the embassy, John Reed Payne, for a little bit afterwards which was awesome. Seriously thinking about interning or working with something like this in the future. Wouldn't that be the greatest job ever? They have a two year post in a country, then are moved to a different one. That's the dream life, baby. I want to travel like that. Being here in Greece had opened my eyes to so many more opportunities, changed my view of the world. It's so much bigger than I ever imagined. There are so many possibilities.

Ta ta till next time!

<3 Rachel

PS LEAVING FOR ISRAEL IN T MINUS 4 DAYS :)))

Walked where Paul did. No big deal.

We're baaaaack! From where you may ask? The Peloponnese. The southern part of Greece that consists of a large peninsula and is the site of many important historical events and mythological stories. This raw country is so so breathtaking I have no words for it. I might even dare to say that it's more beautiful than the mainland of Greece. As we drove into the Peloponnese over the Corinth canal we all just stared in amazement, green mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. I've never seen anything like it and I have no pictures to do it justice. >Heads up, this post is going to be pretty long. I've got a lot to say whether you want to read it or not ;)

The Corinth Canal (You can bungee jump off of this!!!)

Wednesday January 23, 2013 - Day 1

First stop: Corinth.

Paul spent 18 months in Corinth on his second missionary journey where he stayed with Aquila and Priscilla and worked as a tent maker while speaking in the synagogue.We were able to walk through the agora, or marketplace, where Paul once walked and preached to the Corinthians (to read the full story go to Acts 18 - I read it on the bus after and kept thinking I've been there. I've been there now!)

Our guide, Constantinos, talking in the Corinth ruins. This guy's hilarious.

CORINTH!!!

Walking up to the agora.

 Before we walked in the agora though, we went through the museum and the temples, looking at all the statues and reading the history of the Corinthians. And wow. It really hit me staring at all the tributes these people made to gods how desperately broken they were. These people devoted their lives to worshiping these gods. Not just money and time and sacrifices, their lives. How lost they must've been. How much they lived in darkness despite all their wealth and knowledge for their time. Thousands of these people lost together, praying to gods that weren't real, gods that could never answer their prayers, gods that could never save them. It's just so sad. As overjoyed as I was to be in the beautiful ancient city, I just couldn't wrap my mind around this Greek world's mythology. Sure, I've studied it, read stories, watched movies for entertainment. But this was their life. It was real for them. It breaks my heart. But I know why Paul was there, was his purpose was. What a light he must have been.

The temple of Apollo by the agora.

Cheesy ground picture, but this is the ground Paul walked on. Yes.

The agora ruins.

 The 2nd stop of the day: the Acrocorinth. "Acro" means upper, fitting because this was the acropolis of ancient Corinth. The view was incredible.The whole city, the ocean, the mountains, everything was beneath us. Normally we follow Constantinos around with our whisper sets on (headsets to listen to him) but here we were given time to run around and explore, a part we all enjoyed.

View from the castle.

Just chillin on a castle. You know.

The Corinth town below.

Showing that Grecian spirit at the top!

3rd stop: Cenchrea. An old important port on the coast.This is where Paul stopped to cut his hair (also on his 2nd missionary journey) to fulfill a vow (Acts 18:18)

The old port of Cenchrea.

4th and final stop of the day: The cutest little village called Tolo where our hotel was. Our room was  RIGHT next to the water and we had the most spectacular sunrise in the morning.

GOD IS AMAZING

Friends leaning out of our hotel room. Right on the water. WOWZA

The precious sleepy town of Tolo. It is their off season right now so not many people were there.

And that was day one :)

Thursday January 24, 2013 - Day 2

First stop: Epidaurus. A small town in the Peloponnese famous for its theatre and healing center, Epidaurus held many wonders for our group.

Apparently people would come here and pay to spend the night in the enkoimeteria, a big sleeping hall. In their dreams Apollo's son Asclepius would tell them how to cure themselves. 

At the bottom of the theatre you could here a coin drop. Fantastic.

2nd stop: Nafplio. A seaport town that I am madly in love with. Firstly, there was a castle there with a to die for view. Secondly, the town is out of a fairytale. We walked the streets after lunch and I couldn't believe it was real life.

3rd stop: Mycenae. Okay, history nerd that I am, I was super excited about this. Mycenae is the old site of Agamemnon's palace. (Troy anyone?) We walked through the ruins and Constantinos told us that even after Agamemnon died he would still reside there, watching everything. He said, "Turn to your right and look." And BAM.

Do you see it?

Okay, closer look. His outline is in the mountains! You can see his face, nose beard, chest. (I know it's dark, it was about to rain)

I just ate that up. So cool.

Entrance to his castle.

The burial site.

Afterwards Constantinos showed us an old honeycomb shaped temple lower down. It echoed beautifully, and someone had the idea to have the group sing in it. We sang three 4-part songs, "All Praises Be", "Magnificat", and my favorite, "The Greatest Command". Wow. Wow wow wow. Our group of about 40 blended so well. It was just one of those moments you want to hold on to and stretch out, relive again and again. I'll never forget that. Constantinos humored us even though it was raining outside and wanted to move us along faster to the museum. (and everyone know Greeks don't like the rain!)
After the museum we hopped on our bus again and headed to our hotel in OLYMPIA!

Friday January 25, 2013 - Day 3

Okay, first off let me say that our hotel, a best western called Hotel Europa was way cool. It was a five star and super duper nice in that chill cabin kind of way. I tried rabbit for the first time. Tasted kind of like chicken. Anyways.

1st stop: OLYMPIA

We toured the site for a couple hours, learning about the history of the games. It started in 776 BC. Fun fact. They used to run with loincloths but one guy's fell off and it was considered good luck, and welp, they all ran naked after that. Weirdly enough, we were there a long time and learned more there than anywhere else but I don't have much to say about it. Probably because I mostly remember it starting to pour and us trying to all cram ourselves into the museum to get out of it with a bunch of Japanese tourists chattering at each other. It was cool though, I ran on the stadium where they used to race.

Ready to race!

SO. That was my journey Peloponnese. Sorry it's super long! Didn't want to forget anything.

The places we visited starting with Corinth and ending in Porto Rafti back at the Artemis