so this morning my Sites and Monuments of Athens class had to be altered quite a bit due to nagging, striking Greeks who work at all the museums and sites of Athens. apparently they strike in turns or rotation between the places they work and so today: the Agora was closed, which our class was supposed to go into. boo on them! so we had to climb an extraordinary hill to get a view over the fence. hey, we always need some exercise, right?
class proceeded as normal, until this one Alpha Male stray dog followed us and tried to guard us like a shepard, like it did last time we were at the Agora. yep, it BIT 2 different guys as they were walking though our group!!! crazy!! it was really hard to get through class worrying about this dog, having class on some random street where cars kept coming through but was supposed to be a pedestrian walkway- stupid cars... stupid dogs.... stupid striking Greeks. all i can say is: my poor teacher who had to deal and manage through it all, and i would say, fairly successfully taught a little class in between. 3 cheers for her. really!
this weekend is the class trip to the Argolid, the peninsula across the lil sea from Athens/Piraeus, before the Pelopenessos (going West from Athens, Attica region). check out a map! We're going through Corinth, and to Tyrins, and Argos, etc etc.!!! gonna be awesome!! we may even get to go swimming sometime too, which is always nice- even if the weather all of a sudden turned into 'almost sweatshirt' weather pretty much overnight this week. it thunderstormed 2 nights ago and downpoured rain all night; the the humidity was gone, and somehow the wonderful athens warmth decided to follow suit. boo.... :(
i will be rooming w/ppl i know this time: tessa and jen. so it should be fun and rowdy as usual, with lots of activity...and sites and museums.....etc etc. always fine by me- i LOVE this stuff.
should be alot less bus riding than in Crete, (which is FINE by me!- hopefully NO half-backs! ahhhh!!!), so the travel will be less tiring too, with more site-seeing instead. i mean, it's only a weekend, not a whole week. it's Mycenaean citidel weekend kids!!!! (hahahaha....) :) :) :)
in other news around here, there have been some protests in front of public and official buildings of town, some even with music that's not old greek nastiness style- but modern and rockish; so i cant say that i would complain toooo much. the protests have been very peaceful and the Greeks are so lazy, that often times ppl dont notice them when they walk by cuz all their signs are plastered to the rails and sometiems fall down, and the Greeks dont hold them like in the States. they sit around drinking Frappe and wonder if their benefits will go up.
i often walk by the prime minister's house and the parliment building, cuz it's either that street or one other to go home from school: so i figure, if any interesting will go on, it'll prolly be by the DC of Greece, not Rizari Street. all the funny national guard guys (kinda like the British Royal Guards in red suits and tall black fuzzy hats), are fun to watch too: they have beige baggy shirts with decorations and beige matching skirts and tall black stalkings, with HUGE black shoes with tap-dancer soles, and a black bunny tail ball on the tip like a demonic BOBO the clown. oh, yeah, they carry some type of rifle w/a dagger on the end. they look at you when you walk by but they never move, except when moving from post to post or marching or whatever. it gets really annoying when these HUGE mobs of old American grannies or hords of Japanese tourists get dropped by the busloads in front of the long street to stare and take pictures of these guys. it's weird cuz this is my road to school, but whatever. sometimes i stop and watch the guards' special movements when theyre showing off for the tourists. it's just funny and/or annoying when some some grannie jumps in front of you and screams with camera in hand, "THAT'S THE SHOT! GOOD JOB GERTRUDE!!" hehehehhe..........
well, i must go do hw b4 the weekend and pack for tomorrow.
take care till monday kids :)
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
xrays at the greek hospital...
so this morning i had to be up bright and early and down to school by 815am, earliest ive been so far. the reason: meeting w/CYA staff and other kids to trek down to one of the Greek hospitals for us all to get chest xrays which are required for the extention of our student visas.
Because we, the students, are all here for more than 3 months (only by 5-6 days for semester students!! which IS INDEED a ripoff....) we all have to pay an extra 147euro (approx. 160 USD), and get a chest xray to satisfy the req's for the Greeks to allow us to stay in their country. none of the other Schengen states of the EU require this xray, that i know of, and therefore we all are annoyed, but relent to it nevertheless.
ANYWAY...
this morning about 15 of us went down to the hospital like a herd of cattle (moooooooo....) and followed the directions of Maria, our Greek helper. basically we were taken from room to room and showed and were handed different papers for about 2 hours. after stripping topless for the (female, at least) technician in the xray room and then proceeding to the exam room to look at the xrays and some other stuff- we were done and wasnt that bad. BUT, every other freakin doctor was smoking at their desk! INSIDE THE HOSPITAL!!! WTF?!? what are they thinking? well, theyre Greek, so yeah, they dont really. Greeks smoke all the time and everyplace; it gets really uncomfortable and there is no such thing as 'smoking etiquette' as in the states, so yeah. just accept and move on. o hyeah, and run away!
i just wanted to share this to all the friends and fam at home who live in America and are so highly protected by all our wonderful laws about everything. we take for granted our health care systems and clean everything, and the like. so yeah, dont have a heart attack in Greece- your health care will be MUCH different. if any of you followed my adventures this past summer you'll know that i was in another hospital on Crete for a piece of pot sherd in my eye and that was just as 'fun'.
not to mention, i used the bathroom at the hospital this morning- felt like i was at an old gas station. most unsanitzed, dirty bathroom at a health facility ever. again, another thing we take for granted at home. from my experience, public bathrooms in the US are generally easier to find and cleaner, despite what we might usually call 'dirty.' :/~
so anyway, that was my 'cultural experience' for the day.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH! yay for 22....whoo....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE CAROLYN! yay 50!....wow......
alright kids, off to work and lunch i go
isnt that what i usually do? how boring....
i still havent gotten any mail from you guys yet....
:(
ok, no more complaining........... bye
link of the day:
lookoutforgrannie!
Because we, the students, are all here for more than 3 months (only by 5-6 days for semester students!! which IS INDEED a ripoff....) we all have to pay an extra 147euro (approx. 160 USD), and get a chest xray to satisfy the req's for the Greeks to allow us to stay in their country. none of the other Schengen states of the EU require this xray, that i know of, and therefore we all are annoyed, but relent to it nevertheless.
ANYWAY...
this morning about 15 of us went down to the hospital like a herd of cattle (moooooooo....) and followed the directions of Maria, our Greek helper. basically we were taken from room to room and showed and were handed different papers for about 2 hours. after stripping topless for the (female, at least) technician in the xray room and then proceeding to the exam room to look at the xrays and some other stuff- we were done and wasnt that bad. BUT, every other freakin doctor was smoking at their desk! INSIDE THE HOSPITAL!!! WTF?!? what are they thinking? well, theyre Greek, so yeah, they dont really. Greeks smoke all the time and everyplace; it gets really uncomfortable and there is no such thing as 'smoking etiquette' as in the states, so yeah. just accept and move on. o hyeah, and run away!
i just wanted to share this to all the friends and fam at home who live in America and are so highly protected by all our wonderful laws about everything. we take for granted our health care systems and clean everything, and the like. so yeah, dont have a heart attack in Greece- your health care will be MUCH different. if any of you followed my adventures this past summer you'll know that i was in another hospital on Crete for a piece of pot sherd in my eye and that was just as 'fun'.
not to mention, i used the bathroom at the hospital this morning- felt like i was at an old gas station. most unsanitzed, dirty bathroom at a health facility ever. again, another thing we take for granted at home. from my experience, public bathrooms in the US are generally easier to find and cleaner, despite what we might usually call 'dirty.' :/~
so anyway, that was my 'cultural experience' for the day.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH! yay for 22....whoo....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE CAROLYN! yay 50!....wow......
alright kids, off to work and lunch i go
isnt that what i usually do? how boring....
i still havent gotten any mail from you guys yet....
:(
ok, no more complaining........... bye
link of the day:
lookoutforgrannie!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
long weekend, even longer monday & tuesday
i dont think ive really slept much and/or gotten caught up on just that since before crete. been gone every weekend it seems like, and this weekend is the argolid trip, then the holiday- seriously, i cannot wait.
this week and next is midterms and stuff before the break and is going to be very stressful, especially with a whole weekend taken up by a field trip in which little to no hw will get done. i mean, i am reallllly looking forward to going to the Argolid, but still, doesnt mean i cant have conflicting interests! so yeah, sorry for so little update this last week or so.
this past weekend i went to Santorini and saw a truly pink sunset, whic was absolutely fantastic. the pictures are just like the postcards....i swear, cross my heart! i went to dark sand beaches in these red rocks, which made the 2 colorado kids think of the Red Rocks ampitheatre in their homestate. it was very beautiful too, and relaxing as usual. the field trip was optional, so it came out of my pocket, which was an interesting experience in realizing why my tuition is so high for the semester. it must seriously be all the field trips that sucks our tuition money dry. quite honestly, though, this program would not be so awesome without them.
anywho- went w/7 kids from class and my prehistory prof, Mimika (Kriga). she's greek and has worked at the main big site of Akrotiri on Santorini, so we got ALOT of special priviledges on our trip. any other prof. even would not have gotten in to where we did. first of all, the site is under some major maintenance progress so it's closed to the public- but WE got in! we also toured the labs and storerooms. then later we went to the town of Fira/Thira, north of Akrotiri, and wen to the museum. there we AGAIN got special treatment and visited the basement storerooms, labs, and saw new acquistions such as some of the rare frescos and newly found daedalic statue under conservation before its study and display. way cool!
so yeah, it was a very educational experience; despite the price it waas soo worth it. :)
plus, getting to know kids in a small group was really a big highlight of the weekend. i got to know this girl Tessa, who lives in my building too, but 1st floor, more. i met her on the Crete trip, and have gotten to know her and i think she's a wonderful person. also i got to know 2 other kids, Stephany and Mike. Stephany is surely a southern california girl: "peace and loving man!" "zot zot zot!"
yesterday, i realized how far behind i actually am in classes after not having the weekend to play catch up. ooops.... Like i said, this week and next are gonna be killer as far as academic load. but ill manage; i always do- somehow. then this morning, after last night not feeling good and being extremely tired, i managed to get the stomach flu for the day. ahh great. still a bit sketchy now and only eatn a banana and 2 pieces of bread and it's 4 in the afternoon. but hey, it's better than going back to the porcelain throne. these things go away as long as youre nice to your system and just follow what it wants. let me catch up on sleep a lil this morning, while missing one class (despite not having slept at all last night), and forced me to slow down adn take care of myself better. i thought i was doing a decent job until... WHAM! nature yells at you and tells you otherwise. well, 'que sera sera'.
well, as you have read, im not feeling well and have much to catch up on- so i am off to take care of just that.
love,
chris
this week and next is midterms and stuff before the break and is going to be very stressful, especially with a whole weekend taken up by a field trip in which little to no hw will get done. i mean, i am reallllly looking forward to going to the Argolid, but still, doesnt mean i cant have conflicting interests! so yeah, sorry for so little update this last week or so.
this past weekend i went to Santorini and saw a truly pink sunset, whic was absolutely fantastic. the pictures are just like the postcards....i swear, cross my heart! i went to dark sand beaches in these red rocks, which made the 2 colorado kids think of the Red Rocks ampitheatre in their homestate. it was very beautiful too, and relaxing as usual. the field trip was optional, so it came out of my pocket, which was an interesting experience in realizing why my tuition is so high for the semester. it must seriously be all the field trips that sucks our tuition money dry. quite honestly, though, this program would not be so awesome without them.
anywho- went w/7 kids from class and my prehistory prof, Mimika (Kriga). she's greek and has worked at the main big site of Akrotiri on Santorini, so we got ALOT of special priviledges on our trip. any other prof. even would not have gotten in to where we did. first of all, the site is under some major maintenance progress so it's closed to the public- but WE got in! we also toured the labs and storerooms. then later we went to the town of Fira/Thira, north of Akrotiri, and wen to the museum. there we AGAIN got special treatment and visited the basement storerooms, labs, and saw new acquistions such as some of the rare frescos and newly found daedalic statue under conservation before its study and display. way cool!
so yeah, it was a very educational experience; despite the price it waas soo worth it. :)
plus, getting to know kids in a small group was really a big highlight of the weekend. i got to know this girl Tessa, who lives in my building too, but 1st floor, more. i met her on the Crete trip, and have gotten to know her and i think she's a wonderful person. also i got to know 2 other kids, Stephany and Mike. Stephany is surely a southern california girl: "peace and loving man!" "zot zot zot!"
yesterday, i realized how far behind i actually am in classes after not having the weekend to play catch up. ooops.... Like i said, this week and next are gonna be killer as far as academic load. but ill manage; i always do- somehow. then this morning, after last night not feeling good and being extremely tired, i managed to get the stomach flu for the day. ahh great. still a bit sketchy now and only eatn a banana and 2 pieces of bread and it's 4 in the afternoon. but hey, it's better than going back to the porcelain throne. these things go away as long as youre nice to your system and just follow what it wants. let me catch up on sleep a lil this morning, while missing one class (despite not having slept at all last night), and forced me to slow down adn take care of myself better. i thought i was doing a decent job until... WHAM! nature yells at you and tells you otherwise. well, 'que sera sera'.
well, as you have read, im not feeling well and have much to catch up on- so i am off to take care of just that.
love,
chris
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