Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Springtime in Athens

Whew, time is flying by! I am just about to depart for Spring Break and I realized I have quite a bit to catch you up on. I was telling my Ancient Greek: Homer professor today that I'm hardly excited for Spring Break yet because I feel like this entire semester has been one big Spring Break adventure!  Every couple of weeks I've taken either an extraordinary weekend trip on my own or a week-long trip with school to explore other regions of Greece.  Let me break down the schedule of what I've been doing the last few months.  I arrived on January 22nd, what followed was a whirlwind of adjustment, exploration, and adventuring around Athens and particularly my neighborhood.  My first trip was to the Peloponnese the third week of February.  The next weekend I went to Paris with three of my friends.  Three more weeks later we took yet another week off of school and all went to Delphi and Northern Greece, where we stayed in Thessaloniki for five days exploring Roman and Byzantine Salonica as well as various sites of Ancient Macedon.  The next week was midterms and that weekend I took a weekend trip to the island of Paros, which brings me to this week.  Can you see how I feel as though every weeks is Spring Break?? I am so blessed to be in this country of so much culture and life.  In between my travels I have been able to examine the most minute of details on the Acropolis, get a solid grasp on a completely new language, and learn about the horrifying yet inspirational history of one of the most fought-over regions of the world.  This week my challenge has been figuring out my class schedule for next term, which is officially the last stressor before I sail away for the best Spring Break of my life!  Also, as I'm sure you are all wondering, it has officially become warm here! As an Oregonian accustomed to a long, dreary, and incredibly rainy season, the 65-70 degree weather is toasting me to the core! I couldn't be happier about it.  My thoughts and prayers to all my family and friends back home, hope the sun comes out soon as you celebrate the last few weeks of school!

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