Yasue!
Thats Greek for Hello (to all my dearest friends and family).
Athens has been a little different so far. We were taken from the airport on the bus right to our neighborhood, so we really haven't seen much of the city yet. When pre-traveling, we were immediately seeing the sights and touring the tours. So far in Athens, we are taking the city in one sip at a time.
We've been exploring the neighborhood (Pangrati). It's a working class neighborhood filled with old men playing backgammon under canopies, tons of stray cats and dogs, and small, family owned corner markets and bakeries. We do have a nice walk to our school buildings (5 mins, 4 blocks!) and the Olympic stadium is right next to school.
My friend Danielle (a Track and Field star) and I went for a run this morning to the stadium. However, we haven't quite figured out how to get in, so we ran up and around the whole neighborhood around it a few times. An hour of navigating and exercise was refreshing and good to gain a sense of where we are.
We spent the afternoon walking through the national garden to Syntagma Square where we all were going shopping for clothing and supplies. Not much luck finding things, but its nice to know I'm close if I need anything.
Speaking of clothes, mine are sooooo gross. After ten days of travel, I seriously need to bring them to the laundry. But, much like everything else here- its expensive. Even through the school its around 5 euros (8 bucks!) to do one load.
So here's my solution: about 2 hours ago, I filled up the bathtub with hot water and shampoo and gave all of my sweaty clothes a bath.... eh?
They're drying on a rack now in my room, they dont look great, but they definitely smell like citrus herbal essences :)
I'll splurge next week.
We went out to dinner tonight. To be honest, one of my biggest worries about studying abroad here was the food. I'm a notoriously picky eater (For example, I only ate pickle and cheese sandwiches from Subway until I was 16). And I was pretty sure that I would be importing jars of Jiff.
BUT
The Taverna we were at tonight was fantastic. It was a super expensive meal at a really nice restaurant- paid for by the school so that we could sample (and overfill on) traditional, delicious, Greek cuisine.
Plate after plate arrived for our three tables of ten. We had first, a drink customary to the natives of Crete, made of the skin of green grapes. They call it "Cheapiro" and its nasty. Andrew and Will downed theirs like it was a shot of vodka (apparently the right way to do it if your a traditional Crete) and I let it sit on my tongue. Big mistake. Its very bitter and very strong.
Better food followed. My favorites were a grape leaf filled with rice and feta cheese. So delicious. Also, Tomato balls (Deep-fried tomatoes stuffed with cheese). Spiced Pork sliced up really small was good too. We ate with our professors and enjoyed our meal for over 3 hours.
Now, I'm in a food coma and I must sleep.
I finally organized my london pics! Check them out!
Goodnight! The first day of school is tomorrow!
KP
No comments:
Post a Comment