Yassas apo tin Athina - or something like that...

So here is it my second evening in Athens so I thought I would update everyone on the past couple of days...

My flight over was fine, not a full flight so lots of room to spread out and sleep. I chose to curl up in the back corner of the plane and actually got a fair amount of sleep. One of the girls in my program was on my row so in the morning after we slept some we chatted and did the whole, "where are you from? where do you go to school?" etc.

We arrived in Athens around 10 am Greece time (3:00 am on the east coast). Owen Hunt (a graduate student at the university and an assistant to the director of Student Affairs, Dina) greeted us and we met a few of the other students coming in. Originally the plan had been to stay at the airport until 2:30 when the majority of the students would arrive. However, they took pity on us and allowed us to leave the airport around 11:00 after about 6 of us were already there so that we didn't have to sit in an airport for another day.

Problem with leaving the airport was my theo/cousin/older Greek relative, Panagioti, works near the airport and came to say hello but after he paged me several times he found the other students and they informed him that I already left. Oh well, I'm sure I will see him soon.

We got settled into our apartments fairly quickly, and unpacked most of our things. Our apartments are beautiful. Tall ceilings, wood floors, clean bathrooms, all the necessities. After we got unpacked we went to eat lunch at a typical Greek outdoor restaurant, complete with pushy old men begging you to eat at their place. Since I was the designated Greek-speaking guide I told them that we weren't ready to eat and that we were going to keep walking. Eventually we found one and enjoyed mousaka, pastitchio, salata, and spanikopita.

In the afternoon everyone else got here so we all hung around the apartments and got to know everyone. At 6 pm we walked to our school, only a couple of left turns, less than a 5 minute walk, for our orientation. Afterwards we all had dinner together at a local restaurant.

That night, since it was our first night here, we went out to a bar called Liquid. After agreeing to only go out for an hour, we ended up having a blast and staying out until 2:30.

After fighting the alarm clock all morning and the construction outside, we finally got up and moving. We went to the electronic store and bought blowdryers and other girl things. Then we went to the phone store and bought cell phones. I get free incoming calls so if you want to get in touch with me buy an international phone card and call my cell.

This afternoon we went on a walking tour of Syntagma Square (the main square in Athens) and learned where many of the mainstream stores, restaurants, and other things were. After the walking tour we stopped to eat at a restaurant called Everest. An interesting salad/sandwich shop where you can get made to order items.

Next we met up with our Student Government and they gave us a tour of Monastiraki and other areas. They were all typical Greek and European guys, cutting up with each other and picking on one another. I struck up a conversation with one, thankfully they all spoke English farely well, and eventually it came out that I was Greek. Then he got all embarassed when he realized I could understand what he was saying and he told his friends to be careful what they said around me. They told us about a few bars and clubs so hopefully they will take us out sometime soon.

This evening we went to the grocery store nearby and made dinner. Psari (fish), vegetables, psomi (bread), and of course feta. Afterwards a group of us went walking and found a place to sit and get some glyka (sweets/desert).

Now here it is 2:30 am and we are all still awake, even though we all have class at 10 am. Oh well, when in Greece do as the Greeks do I suppose.