Winding down...

I can't believe that we have less than two weeks left of the program. It seems to have gone by in a blur. I can't even remember half of what we did while we were in Athens this time around. Here are the highlights: We made our fourth and final visit to the National Museum and saw this amazing new gallery that just opened this week on Women and Ritual practice in Ancient Greece. Our tour was led by the curator of the exhibit, Alan Shapiro. It was extremely interesting! We also took a day trip out to Marathon and even got a chance to go to the beach afterward. It was a nice and sandy beach that was still shallow (waist high) 100 yards out. Another place we got to visit was the new excavation going on at the Agora, where my classmate from UW, Kris, is an acting supervisor at the dig. And finally today, we got to head out to Piraeus, the port of Athens, and see the ancient ship sheds and a life size reconstruction of an Athenian trireme (an ancient boat with three levels of oars). All in all it's been pretty fun and I've enjoyed being back home with internet, shower, delicious meals, and privacy. Our group has spent countless hours playing games and hanging out, and I have even managed to get in a little research time at the library.

Tomorrow we leave for our final trip up North to places such as Delphi, Thessaloniki, and Olynthus (where I'll give my site report). I am extremely excited about this part of the trip because I have only been to Delphi before, so every other place we visit will be all brand new to me. We even get to pick our own roommates for the trip, so it will be fun times with Suzy, Christine, and Kristen. Which reminds me that I should tell you a little more about Christine who is the resident Canadian in our group and is made fun of mercilessly because of it. She has the funniest way of saying "sorry" and responds to just about everything with "hi". :) She is super smart so she has a lot to say and is always the most enthusiastic of us all. I don't know where she gets her energy because I think she may sleep the least of us all. She will be a fun roommate to have on the trip.

So hopefully, I will be able to keep you updated on my adventures up north and all the new places I'll be experiencing. I can't wait...

ready, set, had to go...

Today I went to the bathroom on a bush on the side of a mountain in Marathon... victory!

The best day ever!!!

Before I tell you about the best day ever, I will say that we ended our trip through the Peloponnese well. We held our athletic race at the Olympic stadium and I am sad to say that I did not win. I did, however, reach my goal of beating one of the guys, so I think that's saying something! (Sorry, Ibuken. I just had to immortalize the moment by expressing it in writing :) Chris has been our winner of both races, but what was even more impressive was that he ran this race while being injured and he still beat us all (we are all hanging our heads in shame)... and as the ancients Greeks believed: it doesn't matter what you place. If it's not first, then it doesn't matter.
Despite all of the swarms of tourists, I really enjoyed our stay in Olympia. Our ride back to Athens was basically a day of sleeping on the bus with intermittent stops to a medieval castle (Chlemoutsi), back to Isthmia, and along the Corinthian canal. I was also frequently awakened by the downpour on my head... and by that I mean the leaking air conditioner on the bus. I always managed to get the seat on the bus where the leakage was the greatest. At one point, I set up a "window curtain contraption" to block the water, but eventually the water even soaked through that. Just another adventurous aspect of the trip, I suppose. :)

Returning to Athens is always a spectacular treat because I feel so excited to be "home". I realize that any space I can claim as my own little private sanctuary is enough to make me happy. Here I have my own room, regular meals, and clean clothes. What more could I want? So, Sunday ended up being the best day ever not only because I was home, but because our Professor had given us the entire day off! Finally a day of rest... and it was spectacular! I slept in later than usual and I woke up to go shopping! (Get excited, family! I bought you some gifts!) I had a leisurely afternoon reading and hanging out at a coffee shop just chatting with some of my classmates. I hate to admit it, but we went to Starbucks and it was delicious! I did my laundry (clean clothes is such a luxury!) and then a group of us decided to get Indian food for dinner. This was the start of a super adventure! We decided to go to the Indian neighborhood in Psiri to this Indian restaurant that had great reviews online. I read that it was in a very shady part of town, but was still safe. So as the four of us got off the metro to this area and started wandering around the streets, within the span of one block it went from being normal to extremely sketchy. There were crowds of Indian and Pakistani groups all over the streets just huddled together. Other parts had a mass of Asians, others Africans. I must say, I tried not to show it, but I was kinda scared. We Americans stuck out like a sore thumb in that area. I'm not sure how the guys felt who were with us, but I think it's in my nature to be super cautious. We found the restaurant, but it was so expensive that (despite the adventure of getting there) we decided to go somewhere else. We took a different route back and needless to say, we made it through safe and sound. Not that there was anything to be worried about, but it's in my nature to worry (I get that from you, dad!). We ended up eating at this Asian/Thai/Indian restaurant that my friend, Kris, had recommended (in a completely different area of town) and the food was pretty great! We ended our great day with a game night and today we went back to work as usual! :)

I have to make a correction about my description of my classmate, Josh, from my last posting. He complained that I misrepresented him by calling him 'goofy', so I'd like to take back this comment. Sorry, Josh. You aren't goofy. :) But he is loud and reminds me of my little brother because of his funny sarcastic comments. One of my other favorite people is Alex S. because he's also from Florida and reminds me of my friends from UF. For some reason everyone loves to make fun of Alex the most, but it may be because he takes it so well. He's pretty fun and is the epitome of everything I associate with Florida... right down to the subtle southern accent which he refuses to admit that he has. So, as you can see, I'm making good friends and having a good time, even though I do still miss you all.

I really like this city and I can't believe I've been here for a month now! The program is ending in a couple of weeks and I can't wait for Jason to come visit so I can show him the highlights of everything I've enjoyed the most! The weather here is depressingly hot, and rumor has it that there will be a heat wave this weekend. But the good news is that we'll be traveling up north then on our final trip, so hopefully we'll escape the scorching weather.

Hope you all are doing well also. I miss you and would love to hear from you!

I'm on a boat!... or I was...

These past couple of days have been a roller coaster of exciting activities as well as near mutinies. :) Sometimes, I think the ASCSA is a little too hard core for my taste, but no matter what we end up doing, I have to admit it has all been worth it. On Wednesday, we visited the Palace of Nestor at Pylos, which is one of the best preserved archaeological sites. Part of our museum tour was led by Jack Davis, the director of the American school. It was a fun site. However, the afternoon was filled with plenty of grumbling when we took an unexpected hike up a mountain to a closed site filled with spiders. What was worse was that it overlooked a fabulous beach at which we could only look longingly. What a tease! :) I guess it's just about that point in our trip where many of us are exhausted and homesick... and it didn't help matters that we hadn't had any breaks or lunch in hours! But the afternoon took a turn for the better when we took a boat ride to Sphacteria. (If you know the Activia commercial, it was the running joke amongst our group to sing the song, "Sphacteria!" or to call it "Bacteria!":) This is an island off the coast of Pylos where a major naval battle took place between the Athenians and Spartans resulting in a victory for Athens. It was also important during the fight for Greek Independence where a fleet of British, French, and Russians fought the Ottomans to help Greece obtain its freedom. It was very fun to stop off at the island and get a feel for the history of the place. It's one of those places where you can teach the history in a classroom setting, but it doesn't come alive until you see the terrain and you experience the place for yourself. I really enjoyed this venture!

Today was a slow-paced day. Glorious, in fact, because we had a lovely break at a beautiful cafe along the way. I think it was mostly to give us a chance to get off of the bus because of all the riding we had done on all the twisty mountian roads. :) If I hadn't been sleeping most of the time, I'm sure I would have been sick! But I must say, our bus driver, Iannis, is an impressive driver. He's also quite funny! Today, as we were leaving the Temple of Apollo at Bassae, we saw him behind one of the gates and he shouted out at the group, "I am Sparta!" This from a gray-haired Greek man who hardly speaks any English. :)

One of the most memorable moments of these past few days came from my classmate, Josh. Josh can be pretty loud and goofy, but he is one of the most entertaining people in our group. He always has something funny to say. I met Josh the first night I was in Greece because we stayed at the same hostel, so I've known him longest of anyone here. He's pretty fun and he has enough energy for all of us combined. He's honest and sometimes sweet, but he always says what he thinks... and yesterday was one of them. Here's the set up: normally before we leave to drive somewhere, our professor does a count to make sure we are all there and then he says in Greek, "endaxi, pome!" which means, "okay, let's go!". So yesterday, after we had just been on that long grueling hike and everyone was back on the bus ready to go... (all except our professor and the bus driver), Josh stands up and shouts out at the top of his lungs, "endaxi, pome!" which was out of the blue and pretty hilarious... but what was even funnier, was that Iannis shouts back, "no pome!" :) (I guess it's one of those stories, where you had to be there, but I thought it was funny.)

We'll be Olympia for the next couple of days and tomorrow we'll have a racing rematch at the ancient Olympic stadium. It should be fun! I'll keep you posted on the results!

my life among ruins...

We had a short stint in Sparta... just enough time to see the "highlights". And by that, I mean a few rocks and foundations mostly from the Roman period. When our professor brought us to the top of the Spartan acropolis, he jokingly said, "this is Sparta?" We had started our day off right with our customary hiking and even made a trip to the Olive Museum, but the best part of our stay in Sparta was celebrating Kristen's birthday and staying at a fabulous hotel. It even had a tub! Now that's luxury! :) In celebration (of Kristen's bday, not the tub), we had a free lovely dinner at the hotel complete with yummy cake! The food was great and the conversation was even better! All of us teachers sat at the same table and gabbed away late into the evening. That's about all I can say about Sparta because there isn't/wasn't much there.

Today was a fantastic day. My favorite days are when we go to a fun site and then our professor lets us loose to explore on our own. We did that at our two main sites: Mistra and Methoni. We hiked up to Mistra and then spent two hours wandering down the mountain to explore the different ruins along the way. There were several monastaries and old buildings along the way until we reached the bottom. I had so much fun. We also got to explore the Venetian fortress of Methoni, which translates to 'drunken ass' in reference to the great wine that is made in that region... it's so good, the fumes cause the donkeys to get intoxicated by the fumes?? :) I capped off my day by playing frisbee and enjoying the beach (despite the body numbing cold water!). We will be in Pylos for the next couple of days, so it should be a fun stay!

My roommate here is Suzy, who is one of the funniest girls I've ever met. She's the other asian girl in the group, and the running joke is that because we're both asian, you can't tell us apart... this is only because one of the other girls mistakenly called us by the wrong name a couple of weeks ago. Suzy's pretty funny and she makes some of the less interesting things that we do on this trip more exciting because of her comments. She's pretty fun!

Well, here's hoping for another exciting day tomorrow! We'll be taking a boat ride to Sphacteria, so that should be quite an adventure! Until next time...

i scream you scream we all scream for more gelato!

Wow! I apologize that I haven't kept you all updated as much as I would like. We've had a whirlwind tour around the Peloponnese so far that has left me extremely excited and tired! Our first stop on this trip was to Isthmia (one of the cities on the athletic circuit... just like Olympia where we get our Olympic games) where we saw a really great Roman bath complex with some cool mosaics... it made me crave a spa day! We also spent that evening climbing AcroCorinth, a ginormous hill with a fortification at the top and an amazing view of Greece. It was quite a hike, but it was optional, so I have only myself to blame for putting myself through the fantastic torture of climbing to the top. But the view was well worth it.

Another exciting place we've gone is to Nemea (another city on the athletic circuit) where in ancient times they used to hold the Nemean games. At the museum, we got to see this amazing video about how they think the race course starting gates were set up in ancient times. Then we got to head to the stadium where a large number of us had our own competitive race. We didn't run barefoot and naked in ancient style, but I must say, I did pretty well running in flip flops. Fun times. :)

The best part of this trip around the Peloponnese so far is the fact that we have been staying in Nauplion the past three days. It has got to be one of my favorite Greek cities. It's right on the beach and has spectacular views. Kristen, Alex, and I have been to the beach twice and I wish we had time to go more. The city is pretty quiet and laid back, but in the evening it comes alive on the main square and there are all of these families there just chatting and having an extremely late dinner while their kids are running around wild. It is so fun. We've had great gyro dinners and the most AMAZING gelato. There is this Italian gelato shop just down the street from our hotel and I am proud to admit that I've had gelato every day! Yum! There is also a Venetian fortress at the top of one of the large hills called the Palamidi or Fortress of a thousand steps. It doesn't really have a thousand steps, but pretty close (we lost track counting, but it was still short of 1,000). Our bus took us to the top of the citadel and then after we explored, we walked down back into the city. One of the really cool things we found at the citadel was what we thought was a cistern. But as we climbed down the spiraling staircase into the semi-darkness inside one of the fortresses (there are three on this hill), we found this underground room that had plaster falling off the walls and under some of the grafitti we could see canvas decorated with images of Christ and the apostles. There were pictures everywhere! This room must have been converted into a church. We felt like we had stumbled upon something absolutely amazing. It was pretty fun. (That was this afternoon.) Later I spent hours at the beach tossing the frisbee around with one of my friends. It was super fun.

Yesterday I gave my site report on Asklepios at Epidauros. He is a greek god who had a healing sanctuary nearby the city of Epidauros. I think my presentation went well and I had some of my classmates volunteer to read inscriptions of some of the 'cures' that people claimed happened at the site. It was all pretty funny. But the best part was that after we visited the site, we got to watch a modern play (Racine's Phaedra) in the ancient theater of Epidauros!!! This theater is one of the best preserved classical Greek theaters and we were sitting there right inside it watching a play! One of the leading actresses was Helen Miran! It was really great and the acoustics were incredible. The theater was set up to reflect nature through perfect mathmatical ratios/proportions and the end result is seating that allows for perfect distribution of sound. Usually, if you take a tour here, every tour guide will have you sit at the very last seat at the end of the theater and drop a coin down at the front of the stage and you can still hear it. Well, we got great acoustics last night. I was thoroughly impressed. It was a fun night for all.

I think I promised in my last entry that I would start introducing some of my classmates because I want you to get to know some of the fun people I've been hanging out with and who are keeping me from feeling too home sick. I think I'll start off with Kristen because I know her parents are also reading this blog. :) Kristen is super fun because she asks a lot of great questions and is always pretty excited about the places we are going to and the things we are doing. She hardly ever complains about anything and she's so friendly to everyone. She makes me laugh and I am thoroughly impressed by how fast she can fall asleep on the bus. We all pile in and the next moment I look over, Kristen is fast asleep. :) She adds spunk to the group and she's always willing to go swimming at the beach with me, so I'm glad she's around. She's one of my favorite people.

Well, I hope I haven't bombarded you with too much of an update. We've been doing so much, I can only hit the highlights, but I'm feeling at home here and loving almost every moment of this trip. Tonight I'll say farewell to Nauplion, but I will meet you all again when I'm in Sparta!

playin' at la playa (or since I'm in Greece: πλαζ)

My stay in Athens has been short but sweet and we're off tomorrow on our next trip down to the Peloponnese. I am super excited about this leg of the journey. We are going to some aMAZing places, including Epidauros (where I'm giving my site report ), Mycenae, and Olympia. One of the best parts is that we will be staying in the town of Nauplion, which is one of my all time favorite places in Greece. There is this great Venetian fortress and a cafe situated on the water. The beaches are beautiful and there is this fabulous gelato place... hands down the best I've ever had. :) I sometimes crave gelato from this very shop, so I can't wait to finally taste some yummy gelato again!

This past week in Athens has been filled with fun travels and lots of walking and standing in the sun. I must say, I don't think I will ever fully catch up on my sleep. Yesterday we went on a day trip to Eleusis (and other sites) which was pretty fun. In Ancient times, the Athenians would walk to this city, but now that the city is built up, it ended up being a little over an hour by bus. There was plenty of napping! :) The sites were really cool, but the real treat was being able to go to the beach on the way back! The water was fantastic after such a long, hot day and a few of us even managed to bring along a good frisbee to toss around. It reminded me of how much I miss Madison (I hope you're winning games, frisbee team!).

I must admit, despite how much we're run ragged with all of the traveling we do, it has been nice coming home every night to a late dinner (8:30PM) and the rest of the evening free. I'm sure gonna miss that while we go on this next trip. But since I've gotten to know a group of the students pretty well, we've been using the free evenings to have some pretty competitive game nights. It's made this trip even more fun. It gets pretty crazy. New time I'll have to give you the inside scoop on my fun new friends.

Well, I'm off to the Peloponnese for the next ten days and I'm not sure how much access I'll have to the internet, but hopefully I'll be able to keep you updated on all of the excitement! :)