Activities!

Life in Athens!

I can't believe we've been here a month already! Time flies!

Lately, we've been doing a lot of activities in Athens. I've loved them all, but I'll just highlight a few for you!

1. Toga Party!
Just for kicks, we decided to have a toga party last week. (I know, Togas are a Roman thing), but we all have white sheets and we just couldn't resist. All 30 of us got together at one of the apartments and ordered some Dominoes (yes, not very authentic either, but they have that here!). Some "Greek" pizzas and our "costumes" made for a very fun night.

2. Last Thursday, we attended a cooking class at Le Monde Culinary School in Athens. We learned how to make some traditional greek foods. By learned, I mean we watched and ate, they cooked it all and it was delicious. They did send us home with the recipes though!
Anyone who wants to buy me a fire extinguisher for Christmas may receive a milk pie!

Here's a couple shots of my program-mates ate work!

I helped make this! It's a milk pie- basically, vanilla custard in a really thin pie crust with sugar and cinnamon on it!

My friend Danielle, trying her hand at flambe-ing?

It was another memorable experience to say the least. 

3. This week we visited a few Greek Orthodox churches. 

and oh, let me tell you... it was intriguing, but really overwhelming.

A few weeks ago  we attended a service at a local church, and this past week we visited a few of the local parishes. 

For starters- we were given a set of unwritten rules that church-goers go by: 

- Cover your knees and cover your arms (I kinda figured this one, but I still had hard time finding something that did both and was cool enough to wear out in the sun and in the tiny building)

- Never cross your legs. or your ankles. I have a habit of doing this all the time, so it was a little bit of a challenge not to. 

- Women sit on the left and men on the right

More or less, this was what we were supposed to follow. 

More or less, I kind of forgot about rules 2 and 3. 

We walk in the church around 8:30, and I started to get a little flustered because I already heard singing and thought we were late. So me and my roommate Ali walk over and quickly sit down (on the right), and as I pull out my notebook to take notes, this man walks over and looks at us really strangely. 

I was crossing my legs......NOOOO..... 

It took me about 3 more minutes to realize we were on the wrong side.

Great start. So embarrassing. 

I'm still trying to mentally block it out. 

The service went on with people constantly walking in and out for two whole hours. My attention span is pretty short, especially for a mass that isn't even in English, so this was incredibly long for me.  Turns out, they chant/sing the whole time, so we weren't even "late". There is no sch thing as "late". People walk in and sit for three whole hours or the last five minutes. 

They really pump in the incense too.

The room was really hot, and the priest REALLY made sure we could smell it. I felt like I was going to pass out. Turns out, they just want all of the five senses to be engaged in worship, but it was a little too much for me. So many of the old women around us reach down and touch the floor before they do the sign of the cross, like, 7 times. It was like a really intense workout- the hot room of incense, the constant standing and sitting, the big signs of the cross, walking across the church to go kiss the Icons and wearing lots of heavy-looking clothes. I'm not surprised Greece has such a high life expectancy now. I don't know how they do it! 

The biggest difference I see between churches at home, and these churches is that they are so incredibly ornately decorated. Icons (gold painted pictures) cover every square inch of the place from floor to ceiling. They are truly beautiful, but again, really overwhelming. 

It was really, really different!


That's all I can think of now! We've been enjoying the milder weather.

Love, Kirsten