"This is so going in my blog."

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things. Of shoes, of ships, of sealing wax, of cabbages and kings.

Hi everyone! So it's been awhile, but that's mostly because of how busy I've been here and not necessarily because of lack of internet connection. I actually get a pretty good unprotected network here in my room, but I barely get enough time on it each day to check my email. I don't have much time now, either, but I figured it was time to drop you all a line and at least attempt to fill you in on what I've been up to.

A typical building in the Agora

First, the stuff around Athens. We've so far walked around our area and visited the Acropolis and Agora. I've already marveled at the perfect beauty of the Parthenon and the slightly more unique style of the Erechtheion, so that was review for me. The Agora, however, was new, and it was an interesting venture. Dr. Cohen brought up the issue of preserving ancient Athens while also allowing modern Athens to flourish. Much of the Agora is covered by shops, homes, and railway tracks; do we tear those up to find more of the ancient buildings underneath? It's a tricky subject and while there might be some amazing find underneath the new buildings, and while I feel like I'm betraying my archaeological roots in saying this, I think it's best to let what's already there be, especially in this case. I believe we know at least about the other buildings that once filled the Agora, and while uncovering the buildings would help contribute to our understanding of ancient Athens, it shouldn't be done at the cost of the Athens that flourishes today. It can be hard for the Classics student to realize that ancient Athens isn't the only Athens that matters. It also reminded me of when Tony and I went to Rome, as this city was also struggling, and still is, to find a balance between its past and its future.
A similar problem to this is the question of rebuilding: do you attempt to reconstruct the ancient buildings, or do you leave the ruins as you find them, open to interpretation for years to come? There's a stoa (a large covered pavillion that likely held shops and served as a common meeting place) in the Agora that has been completely reassembled and on the one hand serves as a great representation of what stoas back in the day where like, but on the other hand a poor understanding of the ruins can lead to people to misinterpret the ruins for years to come. A good example of that is Knossos, but that's a discussion for another day.

Modern theater in an ancient setting

Anyway, after all our sightseeing in the sun, we had the special opportunity of seeing an opera live in an ancient theatre at the base of the Acropolis. Well, the theatre was Roman, but we'll overlook that. The group went to see the opera Aida, set in ancient Egypt, in the Odeon of Herodus Atticus one night last week. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but there you go. I also have a video, but I'm afraid of posting it on here. Ask and I can send it I suppose, unless you're a member of an official law enforcement, in which case I don't know anything about a video. So yes, the opera was beautiful and amazing and it was incredible to be sitting in an ancient theatre actually watching a show, but the opera was 4 hours long and started at 9pm, so we, the exhausted Americans, had to cut out at the intermission.

"This is the land of Argos" --Elektra

But, the most exciting thing by far: we got out of Athens. I must say that 6 weeks here is more than enough time to spend in the city, and I was thrilled for the chance to move on. Our first stop was in Mycenae, the capital, if you will, of the Mycenean era. Sadly, the mighty have fallen, and all that remains is the all-too-familiar ruins. The first excavator, at least I believe he was the first, of Mycenae was a rather unfortunate character by the name of Schliemann. I've mentioned him before, as his house is now the Numismatic museum, and I'll mention him again now if only to explain that he's everything wrong with Classical Archaeology. He basically set out treasure hunting and decided that he wanted to find Troy, a city whose existance is supported mostly from the epic works of Homer. Upon uncovering a golden mask he'd found there, he proclaimed it to be the "face of Agamemnon", a king in the tale of Troy. Well, science has been done to the site since his time and he was a little off by a few time periods, which shows the danger that Classical Archaeology faces; while the literary sources we have are great, relying on them too heavily can lead to bias in interpreting archaeological finds. If you set out determined to find Paris's castle or Odysseus's palace, you're likely to ignore what you've really uncovered.

Nafplio: the most gorgeous city in the world

After a walk around Mycenae, we set off for the most beautiful city in the world: Nafplio. The whole city seems to have taken the castles of Scotland, the scenery of Crete, and the peace and charm of Carmel, California, thrown them all in a melting pot, and viola! Perfection. The first sight I saw as we turned into the city was the Venetian prison/citadel in the middle of the port, perfectly preserved in all its regal beauty. It literally took my breath away for a moment, and I felt a mix between feeling like I'd discovered the lost castle of Camelot, a few countries removed, and feeling like I was in a Monty Python movie. I really wish I could describe how lovely the city was, but I don't think there's enough time in the world for me to cover it all.

A typical street in Nafplio

The shops in the old city were lovely, and we spent a whole day at the beach, which was incredible. I found myself without a bikini, but had been planning on buying a new one for awhile anyway, so I found a reasonably priced one and joined my friends at the beach. The water was perfect and I must say that I don't think I've seen a more amazing sight: the entire city is surrounded by the remains of the Venetian fortifications, and they cover the steep cliffs that encompass the beach. I can't explain how amazing it was to be swimming in the Mediterranean and look up to see Venetian fortresses and stunning cliff faces surrounding me. I really don't think a picture can capture it. The boutiques in the area were a little pricy, but not unreasonably so, and I treated myself to a shirt that I fell in love with at first sight. Two of my friends found a really nice shoe store there, and they got Greek-style shoes that look classy and avoid looking too touristy. It was a wonderful city.


There's one last excursion I have to discuss, but that one will include at least one video, which I don't feel like staying up to upload, so I think I'll write more about that one later. Until then, γεια σας!

Our apartment--Betsy, Alex, Megan, and I--enjoying the view

Moving... Again

The sun sets on my time alone in Athens...

Well the RMWC group will be here soon, on Sunday in fact, so it's time to start packing up the stuff thrown haphazardly across my apartment and brave moving across Athens again. This will be something attempted over the next two days, as I have a very large and very broken suitcase which I will not be using, and a small duffel bag which can support a few handfuls of clothing per trip. Yep, this should be fun. Anyway, I already know where my next apartment will be, I've walked past it many times in fact, so it's just a matter of getting the keys on Sunday and then going to meet the group at the airport for fun.

There's some stuff I wanted to get done today (laundry, cleaning, lines, etc) but I'm way too exhausted; it's been a busy day. I woke up with Tony at 7 this morning (and again at 7:40... oops) to go on a walking tour of modern Athens with the UChicago group. It mostly consisted of the Academy, Library, and University, with a short jaunt to Schliemann's house, now the Numismatic Museum, for fun.

Athenian Owl coin at the Numismatic Museum

The Numismatic Museum was pretty interesting, and it's a shame that we only got about 10 or so minutes to walk around it. It brought up memories of my Classical Archaeology class with Dr. Stevens, where we were each entrusted with a Roman coin to study and date. They had examples of counterstruck coins--coins that were struck once but were struck again years later for the sake of not wasting the metal--which are a huge help in figuring out the dating of coins, and examples of coin hoards, which are also pretty interesting and helpful.

The recent Athenian graduates in the University building. They're on stage, in the blue; click picture to see them clearer.

After the museum we were supposed to go to the University for a guided tour, but it turns out today was Graduation. Oops! But instead of turning us away at the door, they ushers invited us in and before we knew it we were soon witnessing, by complete accident, a University of Athens graduation ceremony. They had caps and gowns, though their caps were a different (much cooler) design than ours. They were all dressed in blue. The ceremony itself seemed to go a lot like an American one: a few people read, people get announced to get their diploma, and at the end everyone throws their hats in the air. Tony found a copy of one of the diplomas lying around, so now we have a Greek diploma. It was fun to watch, and eerie to think that that's going to be me in a year. Except, you know, not in Greece. And the ceremony will probably be in English. Hopefully.

Somewhere in the stacks, I'm sure you'll find Belle.

Next stop was the Library and Academy, which were both very pretty on the inside but not really all that fascinating. The Library, however, reminded me of the Beauty in the Beast library just a bit, and I took a lot of pictures for a friend back at home who would probably want to move in there.

Anyway, most of the rest of the day was spent with Tony in classes and such, and that evening we got to catch up with Dr. Schwartz, who flew in early for the program beginning on Sunday! It was a lot of fun to see him after a year away and it's gotten me all excited about the group coming in two days! We took him to a taverna we've heard great things about to keep him from falling asleep too early, and it of course turned into a 2 hour affair (as all trips to tavernas normally do), so we achieved that goal. The taverna we went to was actually AMAZING. It was a really cute place with a wonderful owner and the food was incredible. We all got the lamb for an entree, and it was literally falling off the bone; I think it was some of the best meat I've ever tasted. Everything else was good too, and for dessert he brought out some homemade chocolate. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds. Sadly, no pictures for dinner, but expect tons of pictures soon once the group gets here!

Informational Portion
As for the group goes, let me fill you in on what that actually is. The program is called Practical Wisdom and it's a 3 week long course in Athens with two professors and a handful of students from my home campus in Lynchburg, VA. The course with cover topics in Ancient Greek philosophy and drama, and the highlight is a Greek play which we'll perform at the end of the trip in an Ancient Greek theater. The play is called Alcestis, and it is the Centennial Play, counting from the very first Greek plays put on at Randolph-Macon Woman's College that started in 1909. It's about a wife who, Alcestis, who dies to save her husband, Admetus, from death. Admetus and Apollo had tricked the gods into sparing his life, but in return he had to find someone willing to die in his place, and that turned out to be his wife. I'm playing Admetus. I'm a little daunted about the acting demands this play will have on me, but I'm sure with time in rehearsal I'll be able to do my best to pull it off.

And the super fun part about all of this is that we'll be posting our adventures not only on a blog on the college website, but in Podcasts, too! More news on the Podcasts to come; until then, CLICK HERE for the blog website so you can follow along with mine and the others' adventures during our program.


In other news, I've told Dr. Irwin my story of how I managed to get from London to Crete, and he's proposed that I write a Tales from Reading entry about my opportunity. I'll be doing that soon (hopefully within the next day or so, before Sunday evening) and once it's posted it'll end up here, at the Tales from Reading website. Read the other stories, as well; they're well worth the read!

I don't know how readily I'll have internet connection once I move out of my humble abode here, so I may be saying goodbye for just a few days, or for as long as the next 3 weeks; I guess we'll find out soon!

Old Friends, New Friends, and Adventure Hiking

Halfway up Mount Parnitha, the tallest mountain in Attica!

Hi everyone!
So it's been awhile. I guess we've been up to things, but not much of interest until the past few days, mostly just the same old stuff. Greece is great but, honestly, the actual city of Athens can get pretty smelly, ugly, mean, and boring after the first week or so there, especially on your own. But anyway, I'm settling in here a bit more. I faced the same problems I had in England as I did here, I'd just forgotten: the first month or so is all exciting and new and you're adjusting to the new country, but around the second month you're over it and all you want to do is go home. Luckily, the third month is when you start to settle in and actually enjoy yourself, and I've finally stepped over my pit of homesickness and have arrived at that point. That and I've been out and about and actually interacting with more people my age, and that's helped immensely; before I was getting so horribly lonely, especially when Tony left on his trips. Anyway, one of the people I met up with here in Athens is Tina Li. That name probably rings a bell with my parents, but for everyone else, she was basically my best friend in middle school. We were seriously inseparable and could fill a book with inside jokes, you get the picture. Anyway, thanks to the wonders of Facebook, we discovered that we would both be in Athens at the same time, and finally arranged to meet last Wednesday.

Tina and Katt do Athens!

We've known each other for 7 years, and if someone walked up to us in Rice Village two years ago when we last met and told us the next time we'd see each other would be in Athens, I don't think we'd believe them. But here we are! Trust me, it's in Greece. See the obvious Greek trees and hobos? Definitely Greece. Anyway, she invited Tony and I to come to a going away dinner with her and her friends the next evening, so we definitely went. It was a bit of an adventure (it was all the way over in Glyfada, on Athens's coast) but it was a great dinner and all of Tina's friends were really sweet and fun. We had Indian food; it was good, but I'm partial to England's Indian food personally. Especially that chicken korma my parents and I had Covent Garden... mmmmmmm.... Oh, but yea anyway. It was there that we discovered curry can cure intestinal cancer. True story.

A hiking group ready to set out! We had a name and everything!

Our next most exciting day was today, when we participated in a mountain hike just outside of the city with people from the Athens Center, a little center that teaches Greek courses and where Tony's been taking his classes with UChicago for the past several weeks. We climbed Mount Parnitha: the highest mountain on the Attic peninsula (1,413 meters, a good place for beginners to start). It was a pretty intense climb in some places, and our trail guides seemed to enjoy picking out the most precarious trails for us to brave. But it was sooo much fun and I met a lot of people, including two girls from Tony's group, a few from another college group, the fun trail guides (one was a real troublemaker; you had to keep your eye on him), and some Brits! Oh, how I miss the Brits. One lived in London for most of his life but moved to Australia and has been there for the past 30 years. I mentioned that not only had I lived in London, but my sister lived in Australia, so between the two of us we know where he's coming from.

Finally at the top! With a great view of Athens in the background. May they bow down to our mightiness! Or... give us free souvlaki? Score.

But the best part of the hike was what was waiting for us at the top. Apparently the local village (I use the term 'local' very loosely) decided to have a party at the top of the mountain, so they brought a bus load of people, music, dancing, and free souvlaki. It was pretty exciting, and I even dabbled in some Greek Line Dancing. Rather poorly, to tell the truth, but at least I tried, and the locals were nice about letting me give it a go. Here's a video of the grand event; I'm wearing a green shirt with jean capris, and I'm second from the end of the line. The guy at the end is our trail guide (the troublemaker!) and the girl next to me is Kristen, a student from UChicago.

And here's how it's really done, by some skilled line dancers:

I think that's all to report; I'll hopefully have more to say soon! It was great to catch up with Tina, meet some new people, and go on a hike. I think the past few days have been the best I've had in Athens, and today was definitely a winner.

Our successful group at the top! (BTW, you can click on any of these pictures to see a larger copy)

Athens at Night