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!