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.