Crete

Tuesday was the first day of our school field trip to Crete. I was really excited to visit Crete because I’d heard a lot of interesting things about it. One of the professors gave us a lecture about Crete before we left and said that it is basically the unlawful part of Greece. He said that while Athens and the rest of Greece have low crime rates and hardly anyone owns guns, everyone in Crete has a gun. In 2007, the police on Crete tried to enter one of the mountain villages because of suspected drug activity and they were ambushed by shepherds with AK-47s. Apparently the mountains are still a very dangerous area of Crete and no one goes up there not even the police (the professor said that when the Nazis occupied Crete during WWII even they stayed out of the mountains). Despite, this I had a very nice time on Crete and didn’t think it was a dangerous place at all.

We left Monday night and took an overnight ferry. The ferry was actually nicer than I expected. I think it was about an 8 or 9 hour trip but I slept for most of that time because we all got cabin rooms with beds. We got into to Crete about 7am Tuesday and it was a very busy day. The first city we were in was Heraklion and we had a walking tour of Heraklion and the old Venetian fortress that surrounded the city. At the top of the fortress the author of Zorba the Greek was buried. After the walking tour we went to the National Archaeological Museum in Heraklion and saw artificats from the Minoans and Myceneans. For lunch, we visited a traditional Cretan village that is being restored by the EU so it can be a traditional village yet function in the modern world. Apparently, it was voted one of the best villages in Europe or something like that. The village, Archanes, is also in the process of switching all its agricultural practices so all of the village’s products are organic. In ARchanes we also visited an olive oil refinery, which wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would. We watched a video on the benefits of olive oil and then saw an old oil press that wasn’t used anymore. I thought we would get to see olive oil being made or at least taste it, but we didn’t.

After visiting Archanes, we went to Knossos, which was, I think, the largest Minoan palace. I was excited to visit Knossos because I’ve been learning about the Minoans in my Monuments and Sites class, but I was disappointed when I found that most of the structures were restorations. However, Knossos was huge and still very interesting to visit.

The second day of our field trip we went to see the ancient city of Eleftherna, which I think was a Minoan city. We had to drive up into the mountains (all of Crete is very mountainous and pretty) and hike to see the parts of the city. The city was all spread out among the area we were in so we saw the city’s tower, caves that had been used as storage facilities, and the remnants of the city’s layout. It was a very pretty hike but was also kind of tiring.

For lunch, they drove us to another little village, Margarites, that is known for its pottery. There was literally a ceramics store on every block. In the afternoon we visited the Arkadi Monastery. I didn’t know anything about this monastery before, but I learned that it is Greece’s equivalent of the Alamo. In the 1830s after the rest of Greece had gotten independence, Crete was still under Ottoman rule and there were many uprisings, one of which was at Arkadi. When the Ottomans, surrounded Arkadi in one of the uprisings someone (I can’t remember from which side) blew up the monastery and killed all the people hiding inside and the people attacking it. After this it became a symbol of Cretan uprisings. The monastery was really beautiful and peaceful.

Wednesday night we stayed in the town of Rethymnon and Thursday morning had a walking tour of the town. My favorite part of Rethymnon was visiting the old Venetian fortress of the town. Wednesday afternoon we went to Chania, which is one of the largest cities on Crete. In Chania we visited the last remaining synagogue on the island and walked around the old town and harbour.

Friday the whole school was supposed to go hiking in the Samaria Gorge but something changed with the ferry schedule and we couldn’t go so they said we could either stay in Chania or go to the beach. I decided to go to the beach, which was very nice and relaxing after all of the sites and museums I had to visit the rest of the week.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Caitlin.A.Foster/Crete#

Monday night I had my first Greek cooking class. The cooking class is an activity sponsored by the school and I thought I would try it out to learn more about Greek culture and food (and it means one less dinner I have to worry about during the week). I didn't really do much cooking, I basically just stood there while Chef Stavros ordered everyone around, but the food was very good. We made tzatziki (which is a yogurt, cucumber, garlic dip), fried pitas to eat with the tzatziki, lentil soup and some type of meat and rice which I did not eat. Some of the people in the cooking class went to go buy wine from the wine store around the corner from the school from which I learned to stay away from homemade wine that comes in big water bottles. I'm really excited for our very last cooking class which is going to be devoted completely to desserts!

On Tuesday we had a school wide meeting about our trip to Crete next week. We leave next Monday night and take overnight ferries to the island and stay until Friday. They didn't explain much about what was going to happen on Crete but I'm pretty sure we're going to Knossos, the ancient Minoan city, and I did learn that the last day of the trip we have to get up at 5 am to go hiking to the place where the ferry is leaving from. I'm excited to go hiking through Samaria Gorge but it sounds like a very intense excursion. The hike is 16Km and they warned us about falling rocks, the heat, and Cretans with guns (although I think the last one was not serious). Tuesday I also bought my plane tickets for fall break. My roommate, Alex, and I are going to go to Dublin, Edinburgh, and London. It will be a lot of traveling but I'm very excited.

Last night everyone at CYA was invited to the CYA president's house for a garden party. The president lives in the northern suburb of Kifissia which took over an hour to get to because of the traffic. On the drive I got a glimpse of the Olympic complex from 2004, it looked really amazing so I will definitely be taking a trip back there. The president's house was extremely nice and also very big--his backyard was big enough to fit enough tables for over 160 people and there was still a lot of space left over. The food was very delicious. I had a pita with tzatziki and grilled vegetables and some type of Greek potato salad. I'm usually not sure exactly what I'm eating but it's always very good.

Today, I had to get up early to go to the hospital for a TB test so that I can get my student visa extended until I leave. That didn't take very long, so this afternoon (because I don't have class until 5:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays) I decided to go walking around Athens. First I went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which I got to see for free because I'm a student. Most of this temple has fallen down, but it was still amazing to see. Then I walked to Plaka which is the old area of Athens but it was so crowded with tourists that I think I'll have to go back and visit again when it gets cooler and less people are visiting. I walked back through the NationaGardens, where I saw two turtles fighting (I didn't know Athens was a native habitat for turtles). This was probably the highlight of my day.

Pictures from Aegina: http://picasaweb.google.com/Caitlin.A.Foster/Aegina

Friday, while everyone else here went to Mykonos, two of my roommates and I and a couple of other girls went to Aegina. Aegina, compared to Athens was very relaxing and quiet. To get to where the ferries are, Piraeus, we had to take the Metro which was actually quite easy to figure out. Then after waiting in the rain we took a flying dolphin (which is basically just a high speed ferry) to Aegina. The entire ride only lasted about a half hour. The weather on Aegina was not much different from Athens, it was a little chilly and rainy, but we still had a fun time.

When we got to Aegina, we had some trouble finding a place to spend the night. The first few hotels we called told us that we couldn't have more than two people to a room and there were 7 of us. But after walking around we found a tourist agency that had rooms to rent for the night that were only 15 euros. The rooms weren't very fancy but they were nice enough.

Friday afternoon we just walked around the main harbor area and when it started to get colder and rain harder we found a cafe to sit at. For dinner we ate at a taverna overlooking the water. It was really pretty to sit right on the water. We had traditional Greek food--like Greek salad, tzatziki, fried zucchini, and spanakopita--and at one point during dinner a traditional Greek stray cat sat between my feet.

On Saturday the weather wasn't much better but we were able to visit the Temple of Aphaia. I don't exactly remember who Aphaia was but I think the story had something to do with Zeus and Aphaia killing herself. The temple was on a really high point of the island and you could see to Athens from up there. The views were amazing. There was also a monastery on the island that we wanted to see but the bus schedule was very irregular and by the time the bus came back for us at the temple we didn't have enough time to go to the monastery.

We left Aegina on Saturday afternoon but unfortunately we weren't able to take a flying dolphin. Even though the ferry we took did take a little longer I think it was worth it. On this ferry I was able to sit on the top and see all the islands and scenery (the flying dolphins are completely enclosed).

Last weekend I went to see the archaeological sites at Brauron and Sounion. Even though the professor that went with us explained what the sites were, I'm still kind of unclear about what the sites were actually used for. Apparently the Brauron site had a temple that was dedicated to Artemis. Greek families used to send their daughters there to worship Artemis, it was almost like a summer camp. I can't remember anything about Sounion except that it was the temple of Zeus. I tried to pay attention but since I'm not a classics major I was more interested in the actual structures and the landscape and less interested in the actual history/mythology behind them. The Greek countryside is so beautiful. There are olive trees and mountains everywhere. Even though the land is really dry, it's still really pretty. After we went to Brauron and Sounion we went to a beach to go swimming. Swimming in the Aegean was so refreshing and the water was so clear and pretty! Last Saturday was the hottest day of the week and even though I enjoyed the field trip the heat at the sites and on the bus (it didn't have AC) was horrible.

That field trip was Saturday and on Sunday morning I decided I wanted to go to the flea market at Monastiraki, which turned out to be a bad choice. Even though I left relatively early for the market, by the time I got to Syntagma Square, it was already so hot that I decided to turn around and go back to my apartment. Since Sunday it's really cooled down in Athens (it was probably 65 today) so I think I might try to go back this weekend.

This weekend is our first entirely free 3 day weekend and after much discussion and research, two of my roommates and I finally decided that we are going to go to the island of Aegina. Basically every other person at CYA is going to Mykonos this weekend. But the weather isn't supposed to be too nice this weekend and Mykonos is supposed to be extremely crowded so I decided it wasn't worth it to travel that far. Aegina is only about 40 minutes from Athens and has a lot to do so I'm sure it will be a lot fun. My next island stop will be Santorini!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Caitlin.A.Foster/BrauronSounion#

I had my first classes yesterday and I think I’m really going to like them. Greek was really hard for me at first because of the alphabet but I’m starting to get the hang of it and I’m actually able to read the Greek words now even though I have no idea what they mean. I think it’s going to be a useful class. I also think I’m really going to enjoy my political science class on international relations in the Mediterranean. On Wednesday Greece’s prime minister called for an election that will happen on October 4^th. So I think it will be interesting to see all the demonstrations and everything that goes on in Greece before an election. The professor for this class (who is Greek) also seems really nice and funny. He already told us how much he hates George Bush, thinks Bill Clinton is the best recent president we’ve had, and that he loves Hillary and Beyonce. I’m also taking a class about the culture of Athens and our big project is to interview Greeks about a particular part of their culture. I don’t know how I feel about interviewing a complete stranger especially when we don’t speak the same language, but it doesn’t seem like a very hard class. I’m also taking a class about the sites and monuments of Greece (which we mostly have at the sites themselves) and a comparative religions class.

I’ve only been in Athens for less than a week but I think I’m starting to become a pro at crossing the street. The drivers here are so crazy that crossing the street is very intimidating. There also aren’t many pedestrian cross walks and even if there are the green walk signals only stay lit for a couple of seconds. Basically, if you want to cross the street you have to wait for a break in traffic and run across the road. Usually I just wait for a Greek to come by and follow them. One of my professors said this morning said that she has at least one student every semester who is bumped by a car.

I think I’ve also finally figured out the shower situation in Athens. The first couple of days I was here, I took freezing cold showers until my roommate informed me that before you take a shower you have to turn on the hot water switch. Even with the hot water on the showers are still a little cold and the hot water runs out very fast. I’m not sure if I’m ever going to get used to showering here.

I'm still not used to all of the ancient ruins that are here in the city. The old olympic stadium is right next to our academic center and earlier today I was studying on the third floor of the school and looked up and had a perfect view of the acropolis. There are old ruins like that everywhere, even in the middle of busy shopping areas. Tomorrow we have our field trip to some archaeological sites so I’ll get to see more ancient sites and will finally get to see more of Greece than just Athens.

Yesterday I did my first shopping here in Greece. My roommates and I went grocery shopping at Alpha Beta, a Greek grocery store chain. Everything was in Greek so I wasn’t really sure what to buy so I mainly just bought cereal and yogurt. It’s way too hot here to eat a lot and we get a really big lunch at school.

Today I had to do some stuff at school in the morning but then two of my roommates and I went to explore central Athens. We took a bus to Syntagma Square not realizing that it was only 10 minutes away from our school building. Syntagma was so crowded and touristy. I hadn’t realized what a residential part of Athens we live in until going there. In Pangrati it seems like we are the only Americans but in Syntagma there were tons of speaking English and French and a lot of other languages. The majority of the square area was all shops and stores, so there really wasn’t much to see.

After leaving Syntagma we went and walked through the National Gardens. The garden was so pretty and quiet. It was also a lot cooler so it was a nice place to sit and rest. There was a little zoo thing in the middle of the garden with birds and goats but since I couldn’t read the Greek I’m not sure what the point of it was. I still haven’t seen any ancient ruins or anything but we went by the Temple of Zeus today and I’ve seen more of the Acropolis but from really far away.

Walking around today I saw tons of stray cats and dogs. But all the dogs are fat so someone must feed them. One dog followed us and it looked kind of crazy so I hope it didn’t have rabies. I also saw a German shepherd sleeping on a corner of Syntagma but the traffic and people didn’t seem to bother him.

Tonight we have a dinner at a traditional Greek taverna and tomorrow I start classes which I’m really excited about.

I have some pictures so far but not many: http://picasaweb.google.com/Caitlin.A.Foster

I finally got to Athens yesterday, after almost a day of traveling and no sleep. Flying in to Athens, I was amazed by how big the city is. Even though we flew into the airport that is in Athens it took us almost an hour by taxi to actually get to the apartments. The taxi driver we had was a crazy driver, but it seems everyone is here. They told us at orientation today that although Athens is the safest city in Europe it has the highest rate of motor vehicle deaths.

My apartment is nice but also small. We do have a balcony with a table and chairs, which is nice. Our apartment is in the Pangrati area of Athens, which is only about ten minutes away from the Academic Center. We have air conditioning in the bedrooms but unfortunately the one in my room is broken. It is so hot here! It’s also a lot more humid than I was expecting. There is a really nice bakery directly across the street from our apartment and the woman who works there is half American and has already taught us some Greek phrases.

I haven’t really seen much of Athens yet, just our neighborhood and the academic center but we have a walking tour tonight and almost all of tomorrow to explore. Hopefully, I finally get to see the Acropolis and other famous sites. This weekend we have a field trip to some archaeological sites and then a picnic/swimming on the beach. I think next weekend my roommates and I are going to go to Mykonos and then the next weekend Santorini.

I only get steady internet access in the school building but sometimes we get it in the apartment so I’ll try to update often.