Week 1 in Greece

I suppose its best to start from the very beginning. Since I've already been here a whole week, I'll just give a basic run-down of what I've been doing.

Saturday - My flight left Boston late in the evening. Northeastern's pre-freshman (students that were accepted for the spring semester were given the option of studying abroad in the fall) program at ACT was also leaving that night, so I was able to wait with them and meet a few people that I would see around the city of Thessaloniki. A friend from high school, Chuck, is actually in this program, so there is a little piece of home in Greece if I'm ever in need of it. It was a long overnight flight, and I didn't really sleep at all.

Sunday - Hung out in the Frankfurt Flughaven (be proud ricky, be proud) for a couple hours before boarding the plane. Once I got on the plane, I had doubts about my entire trip. I was easily the only American on this flight, and I'm pretty sure there were no other english speakers. It was 2 hours of me being seriously scared out of my mind at what I was about to do. I couldn't communicate with anyone and at that point I was seriously wishing I had chosen to go to Spain instead. However, all my fears were cast aside the minute I walked into the Thessaloniki airport from the plane. Enter Stephanos. He was holding a sign reading ACT and did the whole european double kiss thing. I must have looked at scared as I felt because he told me not to worry about anything. After a little baggage confusion and the quickest customs ("where you come from? ne go") experience ever, I met some other people from my program. Some people came with a group from their schools, but I was pleased to see that there were other people here on their own. We waited an hour or so for our bus (time is more of a suggestion here) and then were dropped of at our apartments. On our drive through the city were pleased/surprised to see some american staples, such as starbucks and mcdonalds, and even an IKEA. One of the apartment buildings, Alexandrias, is really far away from the other two and houses all of the freshmen and about 10 regular SA students. We kind of feel bad for them because its difficult for them to meet up with the rest of us, especially because we don't have our phones yet. When we got to our neighborhood Evangelistrias, we all piled out the bus and dragged our bags to the two other apartment buildings, which are only a block away from eachother. I live in Panepistimiou5. The buildings themselves look new with marble floors and and indoor and outdoor balconies. The rooms are small, about the size of a regular dorm room with a little extra space for a kitchen and bathroom. So I got settled and then a few of us headed over to the other building to meet some more people.

Monday - A day of exploring. One of the girls in the other apartment building is here for a 2nd semester and speaks fluent Greek, so she took a bunch of us around the city. We followed her around like little ducklings the majority of the day. Before coming here, I was told several times by people who've been here that many people speak english. This is not true. Very few people can speak some broken english. The only people that can really communicate in english are other college aged students, but it is still very difficult to understand eachother.

Thessaloniki is a modern city, but there are greek and roman ruins around nearly every corner. You'll be walking down the street and you'll see an arch or you'll see a part of the old city's walls, or there will be a football field sized area enclosed in a stone wall filled with ruins and roman forums. Everything is organized around the city's center. There are several squares a few blocks away from eachother filled with cafes and bars and gyro restaurants. The square closest to us is referred to as the student square because Aristotelus Univeristy is just down the street from our apartment. The actual center of the city Aristotelus Square is where the shopping is with all these designer stores mixed in with a few independent shops.

We walked around for a while and encountered the market. You can find anything you need in this market, clothing, towels, food, octopus, an entire pig, you know, anything. We are fortunate enough to have fruits and veggies, a bakery, a deli and several small markets right in our neighborhood, and the grocery store is only a few minutes away.

Later that night we decided to walk down to the waterfront (its a 5-20 minute walk that varies in time based on how many people you're with - i'm not sure why this is true but last night it was a 20 minute walk there but only took 5 minutes to get back). The waterfront is where the famous turkish White Tower is, which is the icon of the city. All along the waterfront are open-air bars and cool places to just relax. We went out way to early and sat down in a bar. Not too long after the NU freshmen walked into the very same bar. They were certainly taking advantage of the freedom of the college lifestyle, but it is not at all appropriate to be drunk in Greek culture, and it was blatantly obvious that they were American. We left pretty quickly because we didn't really want to be associated with them in that state.

Tuesday - My roommate finally arrived. Her name is Kathryn and she's really nice, we're getting along well. Her 21st birthday was Wednesday so we had a countdown and went to this place called Dante that evening and spent several hours getting to know eachother and trying to teach the bartenders some english. Funny thing - I've been thinking in Spanish since I got here. I guess its because other people are talking in a foreign language, I feel like i need to speak in a foreign language too, so they got some spanish lessons as well. We made friends with Christof the owner, Angel the manager and bartenders Socrates and Maximous, and promised them that we would be back. On the walk back we stopped for crepes and sat for an hour near one of the ruins and tried to chat with some other Greek people.

Wednesday - The first day of orientation. We finally saw ACT's campus. It is located in the outskirts of the city and is on top of one of the hills surrounding the city. ACT is part of Anatolia, where there is also and elementary school and a high school. There are only 2 buildings on the college campus, the library and the building where classes are held. But from campus there is a great view of the entire city. Wednesday night we all went back to Dante yet again. And when I say all, I mean all 40 of us walked down to the waterfront together and met up with some of the 60 freshman and the 10 other SA students from the far building. We were greeted at Dante with the double kiss and the bartenders remembered our names and the english that we taught them. We filled that bar very quickly and it was a lot of fun just wandering around and meeting everybody.

Thursday - The 2nd day of Orientation. We learned more about the Greek culture and some important phrases to know in Greek. We also got our class schedules. I only have class on tuesday and thursday!!! Its a great schedule because I can take ACTs free bus instead of using the public bus system and I have 4 day weekends to travel with. Thursday night we decided to have a traditional Greek night out. This entails going to a taverna for dinner. But dinner does not start until at least 10 pm. So we walked down to the big square where all the tavernas are and the hosts literally put their arms around you and guide you into their restaurant. They all want your business so if you act hesitant they will give you free wine. The host spoke a little english and told us "the wine is for me," we must of looked a little confused because he started laughing and said, " ohi the wine is from me." There were 11 of us girls there and we each ordered an appetizer and ate like the greeks, putting all the food in the middle of the table and sharing everything. Each dish we ordered was amazing and very inexpensive. We each paid 5 euro for the entire meal which is equivalent to $7/8. We tried to stay as long as possible because in greek culture it is rude to leave the table too soon. So we stayed and chatted and listened to the men playing the guitar around the tables and watching some other people dance. We stayed there until 1 am, but by greek customs it was a very short dinner. It was so much fun, and it was then that it really hit me that I'm in Greece.

Friday - We took a field trip to the modern village of Vergina, the burial place of King Phillip, Alexander the Great's father. The village was adorable and very much a tourist destination. On the way back to Thessaloniki we stopped at the very top of the city and saw the old city's walls and the view of the entire city. We even were able to find our own apartment building from up there. We also went into Agios Demitrios, a byzantine church down the street. Saint Demitrios is the Saint of Thessaloniki so this is the most important church in the city. Then we took advantage of the siesta time (2:30-5:30 pm) and after a quick dinner walked down to the waterfront for a drink in a new place.

I really love it here. I have never been so happy, challenged, confused, and excited all at one time. This city is beautiful and I'm so glad that I decided to come here. I'm loving every minute.

Our goals for the weekend are as follows:
1. Get enough sleep. Going to bed at 3 am and waking up by 8 for orientation is really taking a toll on our bodies. I don't know how the Greeks can do this every night.
2. Get settled enough to cook on our own. Even though you can get a meal for 1-4 euro, it is definitly time to cook for ourselves.
3. Go shopping. It is much colder here than anyone expected and I think its the beginning of the rainy season. We've been told that it is unseasonably cold and will warm up again but flip-flops just aren't cutting it. Greeks dress up for everything, so we all are planning on investing in a few nicer warmer things. Things here are very cheap. Even though the exchange rate isn't that great, the extra low prices more than make up for the difference.