Ελλάδα-Italia 2012: A Slightly Better Chance of Survival

"A green light in Athens doesn't mean go. It just means you have a slightly better chance of survival."
-My History Prof

Our history Prof Robert Pitt told us that on the first day of class, and boy is it true. The streets of Athens are crazy to say the least. The weird thing is that since everyone is an equally crazy driver, there aren't really that many car accidents. I don't get it, but I am getting better at reading the roads to know when to cross. Athenians get the gold medal in jaywalking. Anyways, here's a wrap up of the week.

After my last blog post last Sunday, I was able to watch the Vikings beat the Jags in overtime through a sketchy website. It wasn't pretty, but a 1-0 start is pretty sweet. Taking on the Colts tonight, Go Vikes.

I've also started to plan my travel for the week break I have in between the Athens and Rome programs. So far I have a flight from Athens to Munich and from Prague to Rome booked. I'll probably spend 2-3 days in both Munich and Prague.

Monday
-Our Greek Culture class spent the morning walking though famous parts of Athens and then taking a tour of Parliament. It was a really cool experience, even though we had to wake up early to catch the bus. We were given a lesson in Greek politics while sitting in the seats of the 300 delegates that make up the legislature. I think the four other political science majors and I enjoyed this a lot more than everyone else.
-Along with the other classes that started last week, we also started Art History and Ancient History. Both seem to be interesting and the profs seem very knowledgable.
-As I mentioned last week, I picked up a bad cold. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were the worst of the days. I spent a lot of my down time napping.

Tuesday
-For our Study Abroad Seminar on Music, we are doing a project where everyone picks and presents 3 songs that represent them. I presented on this day. My 3 songs were: "Death Letter" by Son House, "Heroes and Villains" by The Beach Boys, and "Fake Empire" by The National.

Wednesday
-On Wednesdays, our Art History course is spent on field trips looking at the actual art. Today we went to the National Archaeological Museum. Our professor, Anne Stewart guided us through different sculptures and what they meant to the people who built them. Our school ID gets us into most museums for free, so that's a plus.
-We invited one of the girls apartments to cook dinner with us. We spent the afternoon at the grocery store buying chicken and other things for dinner. We had a fun time cooking and hanging out, and the food actually turned out pretty good.

Thursday
-Thursday is a rough day for classes. We are essentially in class straight from 9 to 6:30, with little breaks in between.
-For Ancient History, we walked through the city along where the ancient wall of Athens once stood. We climbed one of the old hills and our professor lectured us on the topography of the city.
-One of our professors was able to get free tickets to a play, "The Wanderings of Odysseus." The whole group went. The play was put on by Stanford University, so it was mostly in English. It was an interesting play, but very long.

Friday
-We got up early to go to Pireaus to catch a ferry to the island of Aegina. Aegina is a fairly large island only about an hour and a half away. Here's a map:

-The boat ride was fairly smooth and we got to the island around noon. We checked into a nice little hotel right along the sea.
-After checking in, we went and had lunch at a nice little restaurant right along the coast. It was one of the best meals we've ever had. The food, the atmosphere, the people were all spectacular. After lunch, about half the group and I took taxis to the South of the island to a private beach. We payed a little extra to get in, but it was worth it. We spent all day at the beach swimming, napping, making sandcastles, and hanging out. Definitely a highlight of the trip thus far.
-After getting back into town, we walked along the port and admired all the fancy boats and little shops along the harbor. We ended up eating waffles and crepes at small cafe while watching some European soccer.

Saturday
-After breakfast we got on a bus that took us to the other side of the island, to the Temple of Aphaia. Aphaia is a temple dating back to 490 B.C. that is still mostly intact.
-After returning from Aphaia, we went back to the same restaurant as the day before. Taverna Avra if any of you are planning to travel to Aegina.
-We also explored to ruins of the Temple of Apollo. This one wasn't really standing anymore, but it was cool to explore the ruins of the temple and the surrounding city.
-Our ferry back to Athens left at 4:30, right when a major storm hit the harbor. We were delayed a bit because the boat couldn't get to the dock. It was a rocky ride back, but luckily I didn't get sick.
-We finally got back to our apartment that night. We all gathered in one apartment to listen to the Johnnie Tommie game on the radio. The Johnnies couldn't quite pull it off, but it was fun nonetheless.

Sunday
-Today is the first time I've seen rain all trip. It didn't even rain in London, where rain is expected. I haven't even seen a cloud in the sky here in Athens until today. It's been raining off and on all day.
-We got up early to go to a Greek Orthodox mass. We are required to go for our Theology class. It was a really interesting experience. The mass started at 8:30, and we got there about 15 minutes early. The priests were already there doing chants and psalms. The people filed in slowly, and the church really wasn't full until 9:30. The mass lasted about 2 and a half hours. Makes you appreciate how fast Catholic mass is. The entire mass was either sung or chanted by 3 different priests. Those guys had some pipes. Overall a really interesting experience, one that is not easily described.

Next weekend we are traveling to the Peloponnese, a large peninsula where some of Greece's most ancient history lies. We will be exploring Olympia, Nafplion, and Mycenae.

Sadly, as many of you have heard, the NHL is officially in a lockout as of last night. I know I'm supposed to be studying and enjoying my time over here and not worrying about things back home, but c'mon Bettman. Three lockouts under your tenure? That's not how you run a sport. I guess I have to become a T-wolves fan now.

Here's some pics from the weekend, enjoy!

Dan