I started classes yesterday, and most of my classes seem like they'll be really good. Because I only have classes on Tuesday and Thursday (YES!) I'm on campus from 11 am to 8pm. Its a long day, but its worth not having to get to campus every day of the week. My first class is an Anthropology/Sociology class focused on Gender, which I think will be very interesting. After that I have Greek, which clearly will probably be the most useful class that I'm taking. I'm already learning a lot of useful phrases, and I'm learning how to read pretty quickly too. But when I say read, I mean I can slowly sound out things that I see written, I still can't put meaning to it yet though. After Greek I have Ethics, which will probably be my favorite class. I have to take a "moral inquiry" class as a graduation requirement at Stonehill, and I'm so glad that I jumped through all those hoops for them to allow me to take it here instead. Greek students are extremely outspoken and don't care at all about what people think of them, so our discussions are uncensored and very real. On the first day of class we were given an ethical dilemma, and there were already arguments creeping through. I'm sure this class will be very interesting and thought-provoking. My last class is Econ...which i'm not all that excited about, but its a requirement at Stonehill and I think it will be easier here than at home. Classes here seem to be at just about the same difficulty level as the average class at Stonehill, which makes me very grateful to only be taking 4 classes. My professors all remind me a little of Sr. Castro, which is sort of a scary thought. English is their second language and they all seem like they might be a little bit crazy, but hopefully not nearly as crazy as Sr.

Up until this point I've been giving just a basic rundown of what I've been doing each day. Now I'll tell you more about the everyday observations I've made since I've been here. It may seem like I'm ranting and that some of these things bother me, but its just taking a little while to get used to some of the things here.
1. Everyone smokes. And not how people smoke in the states. I mean they SMOKE. In the hour or so we were on the bus with Stephano (the student that picked us all up from the airport) I could swear he smoked an entire pack. ON THE BUS. crazy. Every indoor place you walk into is smoky, which is why we are so grateful that nearly every place is an open-air cafe/bar so you can sit outside and get some fresh air. This has probably been the hardest thing to get used to, and I don't think I will ever get used to it. As college students, we come from a generation that knows how bad smoking is for you, and we're also used to the smoking bans in the states, so this is certainly an adjustment for most of us.
2. Stray Dogs and Cats. Everywhere. I don't know how all these animals ended up on the streets, but they're everywhere. Its really sad to see sometimes. I think its because when people can no longer afford to feed their animals they just let them loose in the city. By no means are these animals starving, there are countless places for them to find food, but its really sad that they don't have homes.
3. Stoop Sitting. Stoop Sitting is an extreme sport here in Thessaloniki, and I love it. People just gather in groups of varying size and sit. For hours. Sometimes they'll try to talk to us when we walk by, sometimes they'll try to imitate us, sometimes they'll say "bella" (which may or may not be the greek word for beautiful. I think its the only word they know that they think we'll understand), sometimes they'll say "I love you," which anywhere else would get really annoying but for some reason its just really funny here. If its a creepy guy saying it though we'll respond with "se agra po" which is "I love you" in Greek and then they get really confused and kind of ashamed, which is also really funny. I think the guy that owns the market on the corner sits on his stoop 20 hours a day with whatever friend has stopped by. We don't think he likes us very much, but why should he? He lives near a bunch of American college students who walk around in large groups at all hours of the day and night, laughing and talking in a foreign language. We don't blame him for not liking us, but we do give him a lot of business. In fact right now, there is a man walking down the street playing an accordian in hopes of receiving some spare change from the stoop sitters.
4. The toast man. His name is Nikos, and he is by far my favorite Greek person. Toast is basically a panini that you can put anything into, and its delicious. He also makes crepes, which before I came here I thought of as a French dessert. Crepes in Greece are a meal, anything you put into a regular sandwich you can put into a crepe. Anyway, Nikos' shop is right down the street and he is adorable. Ordering things has been our biggest challenge here (and most people must think we're idiots when we try to speak greek), but ordering from Nikos is an absolute joy. He knows basically no english, but is always willing to learn. And he tries to teach us Greek too. The other day Heather and I went down for a crepe and he had us try some cheese spread, it was a little spicy, so Heather taught him that word. We were there for a while, and we tried to chat with his as much as we could. He asked our names, and when we both said Heather, he laughed and I'm pretty sure he thought it was the greatest thing in the world, either that or he thought we didn't understand his question, we can't be sure. Last night we were walking by his shop coming back from the bus stop and we waved, and he got all excited and waved back. He is adorable and we love him, he always has a goofy smile on his face and is always so happy to help you.

Thats all for now!