Slippers & Americans

January 3rd, 2011

5:57pm

Aghia Paraskevi

Athens, Greece

     Last night my jetlagged roommates had completely wound-down by 8pm here, so I conked out as well. Actually I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before Linh even finished unpacking. But at least that got me up bright and early! We soon found that 5 girls to one shower (with only one mirror in the entire apartment might I add) was not a good thing. So as I was the last to shower which was around the time everyone was doing the finishing touches to their makeup and hair, requiring the bathroom, and I actually ended up showering with everyone with me. A different experience I must say, especially since our showerhead doesn't have a holder, so you have to hold it between your legs when you're washing yourself, and it kept spraying into the bathroom, all over the floor. Not good, but really funny!
     Linh and I got all cute, went and got Brendon and Caroline, and went out exploring- apparently that's all that ever happens? Armed with fearless Linh who loves to ask directions, we easily made it from purchasing our tickets, to the bus, to the metro, to Syntagma Square. In great time might I add. Then we browsed around the shops, got 2 euro gyros again (they just never get old) and went to the flea market. So awesome there and so many shops. I ended up buying a Greek pop cd (quite nice) and Linh haggled over some Byzantine slippers at a nearby shop for awhile and walked away happy. Once we had decided to leave I stopped at one of those kiosks to find my much needed English to Greek dictionary, only to find the plastic wrapped dictionary I had purchased didn't transliterate. Bummer! But I'll just get more Greek writing practice this way translating the words from Greek into the English translation of them.
     The funniest part of the day by far was meeting up with others from our program and literally running after a bus. Did I mention we had to run across a busy intersection first and then catch the bus? Way to be obviously American, right? Tavis, one of the guys in our group, was the leader of the sprinting Americans, waving his arms and yelling things I'm sure they couldn't here.
     Back at 'home' after trudging through more rain with my pretty rainbow umbrella and arm-locked roomie in tow, I decided to hang out in the study area for awhile. Sadly I found the Greek textbooks I had just purchased there (I wish I would have known this!) and some poem books that were really interesting. I stayed there just reading up on Greece, talking to our RA for awhile, and just enjoying some quality alone time. Then it was off to the layer for me, reading over some Greek words and getting ready for dinner. A huge group of us all went down the street to Oktoberfest at around 8, and all the college students started showing up at around 10. By the time I left (many of our group stayed to enjoy some social drinking) the place was just getting crowded and jovial. Then our small group went to an amazing gelato place and walked back home. And here I am, all ready for bed and finishing up my blog post!
     Something struck me today as interesting. I realized that Brendon really is my best friend and that it's extremely nice to have someone who knows all about you, your past, your likes, dislikes, and just has inside jokes and past experiences shared with you. Being in a foreign country is well, 'foreign' enough as it is without knowing a single soul, and even if you do make friends you're always going to need someone to turn to that you don't have to fill in on all the nitty gritty details of your life. That's why I'm especially appreciative of my first great college friend today, because him just being there makes me much more comfortable and open to new experiences than I might have been traveling alone. I guess the John Lennon quote really is true that "I get by with a little help from my friends."

Happy and excited for our feature film!

Susie

Photo 1-My roomie brought a flat stanley too! Buddha and Gerassimos!! haha
Photo 2- Me and Linh outside Syntagma Square, with Gerassimos
Photo 3- Linh really liked my bracelet selection today haha