Bungee Jumping over the Corinthian Canal!

Last Saturday, I travelled to Corinth, Greece, with a group of 12 college friends, to go bungee jumping! Below is a picture of the narrow Corinthian Canal that I jumped into! Scary looking, huh?!
I was the third person in our group to jump. I was so excited (I have been planning on bungee jumping in Corinth since I heard about it this summer). Below is a picture of the bungee instructor strapping me all in and instructing me on how to jump. He said I needed to jump far out and not feet first. One last picture with the instructors before I took off...

Here I am on the edge, about to jump. I wasn't too nervous, just extremely excited. Everyone counted down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....Here I am.... flying in mid air! I did a big swan dive all the way down! It was surreal and happened so quickly. The next thing I knew, I was hanging upside down, finished.I couldn't stop smiling as they brought me back up - the adrenaline rush was overwhelming and I was so proud of myself!
It was totally worth it and it didn't make me feel sick like I thought it would. What a once-in-a-lifetime thing to jump over the Corinthian Canal! I definitely recommend it and would do it again in a heartbeat!!

The Cruise.... Opa! Night

One night on the cruise ship, we had "Greek Night." We had a four-course authentic Greek dinner and then entertainment of all the Greek dances. It was so fun learning how to ZORBA!! As the Greeks say... Opa!!

The Cruise.... Day 3, The Island of Crete and Santorini

On Sunday, we stopped at Greece's largest island - Crete. It was sprinkling on us as we toured the Palace of Knossos, a huge ancient palace with over 1,000 rooms. Below Kristina and I are standing by giant pottery.

That is part of the palace, reconstructed. It was disappointing because most of the palace was reconstructed; hardly any of it was actually original. : (

Our last stop was on Sunday night, to the island of Santorini. I was really looking forward to this because we would get to ride donkeys up to the top of the island - 600 steps! Although I felt somewhat sorry for the donkeys, I really enjoyed the gorgeous view on the way up, not having to walk up on my own two legs, and trying to avoid getting smashed up against the wall by my donkey.

When we got to the top, we shopped, and then just sat on a wall and soaked it all in. That was the best part. Here, we are watching the sun set while our feet dangle over the edge of the cliff

The sun was making sun spots on the ocean, which looked like mini spotlights. This and the cool evening made the Santorini view my favorite.

The Cruise.... Day 2, The Island of Patmos

Saturday afternoon, we stopped on the small Greek island in the Aegean Sea called Patmos. Patmos is mentioned in the book of Relevation in the Bible; it is the place to which the apostle John was exiled and where John received a vision from Jesus. The weather on the island was overcast, and the island had a feeling of seclusion and peace, maybe because tourists were constantly told to keep quiet in honor of the sacred sights. Below is a picture of the mosaic at the entrance of the Cave of the Apocalyse, the exact place where, according to legend, that John the apostle received the vision recorded in the book of Revelation. The mosaic depicts Polycarp (the scribe of John, exiled on Patmos along with John) and John, dictating his vision to Polycarp. Our whole group huddled in the tiny cave and sang "Hallelujah," which echoed and gave me chill bumps. The monk supervising the cave said he had not heard such beautiful singing in all his years of service in the cave!

In a monastery dedicated to Saint John, this bearded monk watched the entrance and read.

Here is a picturesque view of Patmos from the top of the hill.

Below is the monastery of Saint John again.

The Cruise... Day 2 Ephesus

The second day, Saturday morning, we arrived early in Turkey, particularly to visit the ancient city of Ephesus. In ancient times, Ephesus hosted one of the seven churches of Asia, mentioned in the book of Revelation in the Bible. Below is a beautiful view of the whole city.
Below is the remaining facade of the Roman Celsus Library. Our tour guide said that people used to read out loud in this library, and it was not a quiet place, like the libraries we have today.

Below is a picture our whole group standing in the middle the ancient Ephesian theater, with an estimated 44,000 seating capacity. It is believed to be the largest outdoor theater in the ancient world. Because it is known for its great acoustics, our Harding group gathered in the center and sang a hymn that incorporated all tenor, bass, soprano, and alto voices. It sounded neat and many tourists stopped to watch and listen to us.

Here Samantha and I are sitting on ancient toilets - Gross! The latrine was a very popular place in ancient times, for men only, to come and sit and visit for hours and hours. The wealthy men would send their slaves ahead of them to reserve their seat and warm it up for them!
Here I am standing in an ancient baptismal. It is cool to think how long people have practicing baptism.

Also, in Turkey, I shopped a little bit... and got forced into my first impulse buy. The Turkish vendors were very pushy. I had no intention of buying perfume, but one man offered name-brand perfume bottles (probably stolen) to me for 20 euros (approx. $30). When I told him 'no' and left, he followed me. He piled the perfume bottles in my arms and whispered in my ear, "All that, for 15 euros." Overwhelmed, I gave in and bought them - having no idea what they smelled like! After I got back on the cruise ship, I smelled them and only like one of them. Next time, I need to say 'no' and say it more firmly. : )

Mediterranean Cruise!

Early Friday morning, we took a 90-minute bus ride from our hotel to the port, from where we would board our cruise ship, the Ocean Countess.

We had several hours aboard the ship before we would stop anywhere, so my friends and I lay out on the deck, which felt amazing. The sun kept me very warm, and the cool ocean breeze was just enough to cool me off. I felt like I was in heaven as I fell asleep.

Here is a map of the Greek islands. After we left from the Port of Pireaus, we visited the island of Mykonos, the city of Ephesus (or Kusadasi in Turkey), the island of Patmos, the island of Crete (or Heraklion), and then the island of Santorini.

More about the cruise in my next post...

More Athens Pictures

This is my first Greek meal out on the Plaka!

This is me at the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis on Sunday!

Sounion and Athens

Saturday night, we took a bus out to the Attica peninsula to see the Temple of Poseidon, god of the sea, and the beautiful sunsets atop the Sounion.

Sounion

Temple of Poseidon

Today, we spent all day Sunday touring the city of Athens. First, we climbed to the top of the Acropolis (which means "high city"). It was a long climb up the slippery marble stairs. But seeing the Parthenon, the temple of Athena, was amazing.

Then, we made our way to Mars Hill, also known as Aeropagus, which was near the Acropolis. This is the place mentioned in the Bible, in Acts 17, where Paul debated the Greek philosophers. Paul's message had been going around, but people thought that Paul preached another god and his goddess, named "Resurrection." Paul gave a defense on top of Mars Hill, which now is just a hill of uneven rocks.

The sun on the top of the Acropolis was like a furnace, so we were all ready when it was time for a lunch break. Making our way through the Plaka, the downtown area of Athenian shops and restaurants, we had our first meal out. I don't know much Greek yet, but I quickly learned to use the word, "water" which is "neh-ROH" in Greek, because I was so thirsty! The meal was delicious - a cheese crossaint, Greek salad, chicken kabobs, and gelato.

We saw a few more sights before we headed to church at 6:00 p.m. - the International Church of Christ in downtown Athens. It has 4 services every Sunday, each one in a different language. Although the congregation was small, it was neat to observe people of many languages coming together to worship one Christ.

After we got back, gross and sweaty (it is hotter here than I anticipated), we jumped into the swimming pool in the backyard of the Artemis hotel building (where we live). That felt good!

Tomorrow is my second day of classes - Child Development, Greek, Wellness, and Conditioning. Then, as always, we have afternoons free until dinner. I'll probably go hang out at the beach.

This afternoon, after some orientation, we had free time. A group of friends and I decided to go to the Porto Rafti beach, about a 20-minute walk from the university.
It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly on the clear, blue-green water. Below, you can see a picture of the shining Aegean Sea and the city of Porto Rafti in the background.
I loved diving into the cool water after the long, hot walk to the beach.
Before we left the beach, I decided to approach an older local gentleman that had been fishing near us all day. "Costas" spoke choppy English and immediately told me use his snorkel, goggles, and flippers and go fishing. When I got all of that on, he tried to hand me his long spear that he had been using to catch fish. I could barely master the snorkel and got tons of salt water up my nose several times. The speedo was shocking to see, especially on an older man, but I was told that speedos are just Greek style. It was a great day again today, and tomorrow we start our first day of classes.

First Day in Greece

Above is my name in Greek across from my room number, 242.

After flying on four different airplanes, I finally arrived in Greece! Although I hoped to sit next to people who spoke different languages or were from different cultures, I guess I should just be thankful that the people next to me were all were kind, English-speaking people. I had never been served a meal during a flight before, so the Chinese chicken they served us as we flew over the Atlantic Ocean tasted kinda good to me. But what surprised me a lot was the breakfast we were served aboard the plane going from Amsterdam to Athens. Even though it was just a 3-hour trip, they served us breakfast - composed of all organic food - very different from the prepackaged, processed snacks they serve aboard most American aircrafts. It took a total of 19 hours to arrive in Porto Rafti, Greece, and now I'm getting used to an 8-hour time difference, but it feels amazing to finally be here!

I could tell I wasn't in America anymore when I walked into the Athens airport because people were smoking inside of the airport. The signs all over the terminal and outside of it were written in Greek. I never thought I could be so frustrated because I couldn't read! With Spanish, at least I can read each letter, and at least make a logical guess, but no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT understand any of the Greek signs! It made me mad and more determined to learn Greek quickly.

Here is the Artemis, the renovated hotel that is now Harding University in Greece. The Artemis is very spacious and has a pool with palm trees and hammocks in the back. As we entered the building, the directors showed us our a big poster on the wall with our names and room numbers listed. The hard thing was though that all our names were in Greek!

Needless to say, it took a long time finding our name on the list and then finding our room number. My hotel room a kitchenette, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a living room with a TV. It has 4 beds Jessica Berrens, my roommate, and I are the only ones staying in it, so we have plenty of room.

For dinner, Fofi, the Greek-American cook for the Artemis, fixed us an amazing Greek-style dinner. We had Greek hamburgers, spinach/cheese croissants, basil-tossed pasta, crackers and eggplant dip, and salad with oil and vinegar. It was very delicious, and the guys in my group determined that Fofi the cook was their new favorite person.

After dinner, we got a tour of Porto Rafti. It is a small town outside of Athens, but it still had many traffic jams. The people here eat "Greek-style," meaning they sit outside on the patio of restaurants and spend about 3 hours eating their meal, just talking, eating, and enjoying each others' company. I want to have a meal that way soon. Porto Rafti reminded me somewhat of Mexico because each house had a fence, gate, and dogs. Some houses were falling apart, and the house next door would be a brand-new mansion.

I know I'm going to like my new home for the next 3 months. Looking at the calendar, we have mini trips throughout the entire semester. Six days in a row is the most classtime I'll have at one time without going on a trip.

4 days left!

I'm excited because I just received my plane tickets - it feels like it is finally here! I leave around noon on Wednesday and after flying through Memphis, Detroit, and Amsterdam, I will arrive in Athens Thursday afternoon!