Reporting Live from Athens!

Hey people!

It's been, like, eons since I've written anything. (Stupid faulty internet in IL over winter break). And now I'm pleased to report that I'll be reporting from Greece for the next few months while I'm hanging out with my human while she's studying over here. Anyways, the flights over were fine and I've been chilling out in the Mediterranean sun. Despite that it's the Mediterranean, however, it's been cold (relatively speaking) here. It's only in the 40s F some days, and it's rained a few times. Here are some pictures of fun things I've done while over here though.

Here's me looking at the map of where I live. I know that the pictures isn't the best, but I'll describe it. (This is as large as I could get it). Do you see the horseshoe shape? That the Athens Stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held, and it's completed made of white marble. It's a stone's throw across from the school. By the crease in the middle of the map, there's a street called Stassinou. That's where I live. It's directly south of the light blue square.

Since I'm in Athens, I have to practice my modern Greek. Here are the numbers in the textbook. I've discovered that modern Greek is definitely harder than ancient Greek. That's just what I think (and Erika definitely agrees).

I went on a weekend walking trip with Erika and one of her roommates to Olympian Park. It was only about a half hour walk away so nothing terrible. I'm sitting outside the wall on a large piece of marble. The columns beyond the wall are the tops of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. They are huge! It was amazing that's for sure.

That's all for now. I'll be posting again really soon now that I have a stable internet connection again. I'll have enough fun for everyone while over here, basking in the Mediterranean sun (and making sure that Erika continues to do all her homework). See ya!

Olympeion Trip

Hey everyone! I took some time off from studying and ventured into the city of Athens. It was a beautiful day (60 F, sunny, and blue skies). You wouldn't believe where I went yesterday. I was wandering around Athens with one of my roommates from my program and we went to the Temple of Olympeion (Olympian) Zeus. It was amazing!!! I took a whole bunch of pictures from the trip. Here are some of the best! Enjoy!

Here's Hadrian's Arch that's on outside the Olympeion complex. It's huge! Right behind it, although you can't see it, is the Acropolis (which is only a half hour walk from my school). The medium-sized black dot in upper center of the arch is a large limestone cave to Zeus built into the side of the Acropolis.
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To the right is what remains of the Temple of Olympeion Zeus. The Corinthian columns are very tall. The tops of the columns are very ornate (below). The entire temple is made of white marble. There are three rows of columns. I stood behind the structure and all the columns are perfectly aligned. You can't even see the columns behind the columns in front.

Here's a close-up of the Corinthian columns at the top of the Temple of Olympeion Zeus. To think that the whole structure was hand carved and put together by hand. It's amazing!

One of the columns of the Temple has fallen over. Here's the base of the column along with some of the pieces. As you can see, the column isn't one large marble piece but many stacked carved, marble rounds. It's hard to estimate but it would take two or three people stretching fingertip to fingertip to encompass the column.

This is the remains of the Temple of Apollo Delphinious. This section of the Olympeion wasn't as crowded. In fact, my roommate and I were the only ones there. We walked very, very close to it and thought about entering where the most grass was since there weren't any Do Not Enter signs but as soon as we stepped in, we both decided it was a bad idea. It's strange to describe, but it felt like someone didn't want us there. It's a very interesting and sacred place; you could just tell by standing there. Beyond these ruins, is a huge grove of extremely large aloe plants. Diameters ranged from only a few inches to over six feet across! The stalks for the aloe blossoms were about ten feet tall. It was crazy! We had to be really careful walking through this area because there are cisterns everywhere and you can fall into if you're not careful and watch where you're going.


Here are the ruins of some classical houses. It's difficult to tell where each house was. With my untrained eye, I can't even tell how many there were.

Well, back to studying. I hope you enjoyed all the pictures. I'll be posting more too on all my adventures in Greece!

Arrival in Greece

Hey everyone! I'm reporting from Greece now. After a layover in Canada and a layover in Germany, I've finally arrived in Greece. The airline lost one of my bags. So are the woos of traveling. Luckily, two days later, the airport dropped it off so now I have all my clothes again. I checked in with my study program, College Year in Athens, and then headed to my apartment, which I share with five other girls. There are four bedrooms, a small kitchen, two bathrooms (one half and one full), and a small living room. It's nice. I'm living in Pangrati, an old Greek neighborhood only a five minute walk from the CYA Academic Center.  The weather is lovely here. It's a little chilly since it is January (it's in the 50s probably) but it's sunny and with clear blue skies.

The strangest thing about living in Athens isn't the people but the trees. There are orange trees everywhere! They line the streets, planted into the sidewalks. No one eats the oranges because they're bitter. Even the birds don't touch them unless they're starving. Ha ha! There are quite a few stray dogs and cats around here too. The dogs follow people around, sometimes for blocks. Yesterday, I went on a neighborhood walk with a group of classmates and a professor and the same dog followed us for over and hour as we walked for blocks and blocks. I've also decided that no one can park like the Greeks. They park their cars, mopeds, and motorbikes anywhere there's space. It's really easy to walk into them.

That's all for now! I'll report back later with more Greek news soon! Remember, Greece is the word! :)

Trip to Gawain Country

Now that I'm done with my first big exam, and prospects in Latin look good, I can post the adventures I had on January 1st of this year, when I went to Lud's Church in Staffordshire, England. This is the location some scholars think the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight had in mind when he was writing the climax of the poem. Here we are looking at Back Forest ('Back' as in the thing that goes popcrunch in the morning, not 'Black' as might be expected for such a notorious locale as the Green Chapel).

Because the sun is so low here due to the latitude, sometimes you'll see that one half of a valley is covered in snow, while the other side is bare. You'll see this as you're walking to get across the river to the path, and it gives you a good idea of the terrain. It used to be a hunting ground, and not only just in the poem, either. We didn't see any deer, boar or fox, but lots of sheep  

 Here is about where our path synched up with what is described in the poem. (IV, ll. 2144-5) "and ride a route through that rocky ravine till you're brought to the bottom of that foreboding valley". Here we can see an old stone staircase, and off the right of that (the left of anyone who had come down said slope's left) is the path. We'll see the orignial medieval path later. Pretty, but overgrown.

 

 Turns out Gawain's guide gives lousy directions. Like Gawain, we too got lost missing the (admittedly well camouflaged) signpost. For our trouble, we got to see the old medieval road, now overgrown and covered in leaves. The rock formation over here is Castle Rock, in a little clearing, presumably the spot where Gawain wandered about before finding the 'Chapel'.

 The Chapel itself appears right out of the side of a hill. In poor light, you could easily walk right past this.  

...and suddenly you're in this great, gaping crevasse in the side of a hill... That's Richard Morris, by the way, awesome professor, great guide, carries a giant map, and usually takes us to pub for lunch during field trips. Awesome.

 The walls are about 50-55 feet here (i'm pointing the camera almost straight up here).When everyone quiets down, there is no noise whatsoever, totally serene. That's probably for the best, as there are lots of icicles hanging about, not to mention rocks.

Here's our group. To those of you who are wondering what has happened to the cave entrance that Gawain had to go into to get into the chapel, there was a cave here that was explored in the 19th century, then sealed up by the landowner. The Miner they sent down into the cavern described an unearthly roaring and images on the wall "No Christian man should see". These are probably the roar of an underground river, which i hear are common in these parts, and prehistoric cavepaintings, which have also been found in this general area of England. Either way, the landowner chose to seal up the cave entrance, which sounds more like a challenge to me than a proper obstacle. Picks, anyone?

 Leaving the crevasse, we came to this area, known locally as the high desert [Hautdesert, anyone?] Once upon a time this constituted a proper Forest... Apparently, a woodland isn't technically a Forest unless it's a land officially designated for hunting. It was here that I found my own, personal Holly bough (extra points for those of you who catch the significance).

This was a fantastic daytrip, an opportunity for me and my classmates to nerd out about even the potential inspiration for a poem that most of the population isn't frightfully aware of [but should be], and to wander around in the forest and hilly hiking trails, which is quite a relief for this guy, who finds Leeds active, but rather industrialized and lacking in proper woodlands for casual perusal and enjoyment. 

Prospective Traveler?

I guess this is my post to the students and faculty who have gone through this: Is it hard to be away from family over the holidays? What have you guys done to either compensate or has it not even been a big deal because you don't have the hype of Thanksgiving between Halloween and Christmas? Just wondering since if I was to go abroad, it looks like it would be in the fall, and that is one of the problems I am trying to figure out.

Hope to heard your input!

Experiences While Abroad

The best part of studying abroad is gaining experiences, not just going to school (although that is the reason you're there, right?). Granted, there can be both positive and negative sides of studying abroad. So here's the question to ponder: 

What are the best experiences you've have abroad?

Special Afternoon

Hey there everyone! Geez, it's been a while since I've posted stuff. (I blame that entirely on Erika; she's being a computer-hog.) Anyways, I have some pictures of an afternoon out with a great friend of mine, the Black Beast of Aarggh. He's a really fun guy and we had a wonderful time reenacting the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. We both had a fantastic time strolling around campus and enjoying the unnaturally warming weather. As you can see, it took some serious skill from both of us not to fall off, me from the railing and the Black Beast from the wall.

Anyways, I have to get ready for Thanksgiving Break here with Erika. Gotta love free, all-you-can-eat food, right? Have a great Thanksgiving everyone (and watch out for those crazies on Black Friday)! Enjoy the pictures!