Top 5 Moments in Greece

Reflecting back on Greece I am missing it quite a bit, so i decided to rank some of my favorite moments.

1) Seeing the stars at Epidauros.
--Even though this wasn't the main attraction the stars will always be engrained in my mind.

2) Lycabettus Hill
--Who could ever forget our last night in Athens? Even though it was our last night together as a group it was one of our best nights. Hiking to the top of that hill and just hanging out and taking pictures was the best.

3) Lindos at Rhodes
--Our first look at ruins was awe inspiring. I hadn't been able to comprehend that we were actually in Greece until that moment. Standing in front of massive ancient ruins was mind boggling.

4) Climbing down the cliffs of Sounion
--While the main attraction was the Temple of Poseidon the water below just looked a bit more enticing. Climbing down the side of the cliff was exhilarating and stepping into the water was refreshing. I felt like an adventurer you read about in stories. The best part was walking back up with the Kaplans through the dig site and picking up pieces of old pottery. I was actually able to hold some ancient pottery in my hands, a moment I will never forget.

5)Making great friends.
--While this may not be one specific moment there is nothing I would trade this for. I went to Greece not knowing anyone and I've come back with the best of friends I could ask for. I didn't expect anything quite like this.

Back in the US of A

Finally back home, the land of flushable toilet paper, comfy beds and....humidity. As much as I love being home I am already missing Greece. As crazy as it sounds, I am missing being around my peers 24/7. Don't get me wrong, the down time is great, I am getting in some quality "Mary" time with my xbox and enjoying every second of it; however, I miss the excitement of waking up in Greece. Everything in little ole Lakeland, Florida is a bit too predictable and boring in my taste. In Greece I wouldn't just sit around the dorm all day. I would need to walk out the door at least once to go to the grocery store, get something to drink, or to go get gelato with friends. At home I can just camp out on the couch all day knowing that the refrigerator is fully stocked with tasty drinks and savory morsels.

In Greece you are naturally more active, there is more to do and socialization is much more easily accomplished. If I want to hang out with people here in the United States it is more of a "big deal." I have to, somehow, get in contact with my friend- texting, facebook, phone call, etc.- then we have to choose the place to hang out, which is very limited, than we have to drive there and only hang for about an hour, anytime past that and it's a "waste of time." In Greece all you would have to do is walk down the road and pick a coffee shop from one of the many located on the main street. In the U.S. walking somewhere seems almost incredulous. Everyone uses a car or gets a ride from someone.

That is another thing that has struck me as I've returned to the United States, parking lots. In Greece parking lots were  virtually nonexistent and I never really acknowledged it. It's really odd to see so many parking lots everywhere and they take up so much space! It's just interesting to note some of the differences between Greece and America.

I do have to say being surrounded with people I can easily communicate with is such a breath of fresh air. There have been a couple times when I've gone to say thank you it has been my impulse to start saying "effkeristo," but than I realize I can actually speak English and be understood. I wish I could take the Greek culture and merge it with the English language and then I would be set for life.

Resident Plumber

I would like to think of myself as a fairly resourceful person, but when presented with fixing a Greek toilet I felt at a lost. The thing is built like a tank, removing the top is practically impossible and I knew that's what I had to do cause the toilet wasn't flushing which only meant one thing...the chain had come off of the flusher. In America it would have been a simply fixed problem, remove the lid and reattach the chain. But, no, it would not be that easy here in Greece. Here are some steps to fixing your Greek toilet:

1) DO NOT just try to pull the top off. You're toilet will start leaking if you do.

2) Unscrew the button pusher for flushing so you can safely remove the top of the toilet.

3) There should be a plastic rod that will stick into the center piece which has a grouping of holes.

4) Then replace lid and you should be good to go.

Stray Dogs

One thing that has really caught my eye all around Greece is the community of stray dogs. It is something I am not quite use too. Around my neighborhood there are quite a few stray cats and that is quite common place, but dogs seem so different. It doesn't seem like pets are the norm in Greece, rather neighborhood strays are the norm. Every time I walk from the dorm to the Plateia I notice that there are two bowls of dog food set outside and a bowl of water. It seems as though the strays are a neighborhood responsibility not an individuals. 

Shadow Puppetry

After my experience with Aristophanes, Clouds, I decided to accompany my friend, Katieanne, to a shadow puppet show. It was, yet again, another experience where I didn't really understand what was going on and had to rely on visual cues more so then that actual dialogue. Shadow puppetry is aimed towards the younger crowd....as in the 1 to 10 year olds. Katie and I got a couple of funny looks from the mom's there. They were probably wondering what two teenagers were doing at a shadow puppet show by choice.

So....the light shines on this translucent screen (it reminds me of those trace drawing toys I use to have when I was little, mom) and the puppets outline and color shows through. The puppeteer controls the puppets with a little rod so you don't see him at all. The puppets are usually made out of cardboard or something along those lines.

Anyways, the show was pretty simple to understand even though I couldn't understand the language. The best part was all of the children laughing. Since I wasn't quite as "into" the show as the rest of the audience, it gave me the chance to make observations about the people coming to the show. It seems to me that going to the shadow puppet show was a weekly occurrence for some people. As they would come in the ticket lady would greet them with a kiss on the cheek and a light conversation. It goes back to that idea of the "in" circle in the Greek culture. In America some families may go to the movie theater once a week, but it's not like we greet the person at the ticket counter with a kiss on the cheek.  It would look extremely out of place for me to greet the ticket counter person in that way and it just demonstrates the difference in quality of relationships in Greece vs. America.

The lady at the shadow puppet show would see these families with their children every weekend and could start a relationship with them. There was a trust it wouldn't be a waste of time and that efforts out forth wouldn't be brushed aside. If only people could be just as welcoming in the United States, there would be less of the superficial relationships and more of the meaningful ones....even with the ticket lady at the movie theater.

Another quality of Greek culture we were made aware of before we arrived in Athens was the dancing. I hadn't seen too much of it just out and about since we've been here, but the little kids know how to party it up at the shadow puppet theater. When the music came on for the finale of the show there were several children that got up in front and started jamming out. It was almost like watching a mini version of Zorba with one of the kids. He was over in the corner with his parents and he had his hands out, doing the snapping and the whole lot of it. It just goes to show that the tradition of dancing, although not as prevalent, is still being passed down from generation to generation.

Aristophanes, The Clouds

Alright, so I know I haven't been doing the best at giving you guys updates on what I'm doing so I'm going to try to catch everyone up. This past friday I went to a performance of Aristophanes, Clouds at the theater in Epidaurus.  Let me tell you, it was amazing to sit in the same place that the Ancients did and to see a show they would have seen as well.

The play was in Greek which made it difficult to follow, but it was kind of fun. I had to focus on the visual aspects of the play a lot more than I would have if they were speaking English which made for a different experience. I got the jist of the play, however, there were plenty of moments where the Greeks would laugh at a joke and I would find myself completely clueless. The audience would suddenly roar with laughter and I would look at my fellow classmates with and expression of "ha...ha?" There were plenty of moments of contagious laughter too. I might not have understood what was going on, but when the audience would laugh I would join in.

However, even though the play was quite good, my favorite part of the whole evening was looking up at the stars. Any moment when the lights would go down on stage my head would turn up to the heavens. The theater in Epidaurus was literally in the middle of no where, completely away from any large city or town. That means there were no lights to take away from the brightness of the stars. I don't think I have ever seen so many stars in my life, I was completely mesmerized. Gazing up into the dazzling evening sky made me realize why the ancient Greeks believed in so many Gods and Goddesses. How could one not think there is some greater being out there when you are looking at something so purely beautiful?

Out of all of the wonderful experiences I have gained from this trip this one will be my most treasured.

The Influence of Soccer

One thing I have noticed since arriving in Greece is the culture of soccer and how it influences how Greeks live their lives. It goes back to a previous post where I discussed my personal experience with playing with some locals. In America it is really hard to find a place where people of all ages can come together to play a pickup game of any sport. In Greece it would seem ludicrous to suggest anything otherwise. I just got to thinking, what does this say about our cultures?

Soccer is a game of working together, but it also has moments of individual accomplishment. Every player of the field has to have an idea of what they are going to do if they receive the ball and they must always be actively thinking about what's going on on the field. When a player receives the ball they must be fully confident that the decision they make with it is the right one. It seems a lot like the Greeks ideas of shame and honor.
The Greeks, specifically men, are raised to believe their actions are always right and to act with pride. In soccer it is much the same way, when you receive the ball the decision you make with it is the right one. There are many instances when a player is given a penalty and they argue with the ref because they feel their actions were right and the ref has no right to give them a penalty. Soccer--or futbol-- seems to carry the customs and ideas of the culture that values it so highly.

Soccer is not quite the main sport of America as of yet, so what is? We have so many sports that get attention. Some would argue that baseball is the true American pastime, while others would say it is football. In some regions you might even hear Nascar as the response for the "true" American sport. Without a strong unifying sport, like soccer, what does that say about America?

It would, first, explain why we do not have fields for kids to have a pickup game late at night. There are too many different veins of games to play. You cannot just set up a soccer field in every neighborhood because not every child plays it. This also demonstrates how America is a melting pot of many different cultures. Yes, there may be a stereotypical idea of who an American is in general, but there is clearly no way to pinpoint it. There are too many different options for Americans, with a melting pot of cultures we have never quite gained the unity through soccer that the rest of the world has.