The US news networks did it again... I had a preconceived notion that Athens would be bad, and this was the assumption of everyone who I told about my adventure. The US news painted a horrid picture by the video of protests and the lot, but now that I am here, the real picture is actually a beautiful one.
While I had been in Greece for 10 days last summer (Thessoloniki), People were still weary of Athens. While Athens is an International city, The population is almost entirely a monochromatic wash of light to darker olive skin tones, and this was the first big difference I noticed.
23/1/2012 After my long, sleepless overnight flight, I got into Athens and took a school sponsored cab to my apartment in Pangrati, Athens. I have 3 roommates and the apartment is in a building with locals.
Last night, after the expected welcome, a group of students from my university went to a Taverna and shared some delicious appetizers and wine and ouzo and all ordered different Greek entrees. When I asked for our bill, the waiter came and brought two different Greek desserts for the 13 of us and shots of a in-house crafted sweet wine with cinnamon which was amazingly delicious.
After the Taverna, we walked down to Syndigma Square (where the Greek Parliament Building is and where all of the Protests you see on TV are held). We were followed the whole time by a stray dog who we named Scrappy.
We then went to a Jazz bar, where two mid-20 year old Greek girls, dressed in WWII era clothes sang with a drummer and pianist. They were wailing away to some classic '50s American Jazz music, to which my new friends and I sang along to.
23/1/2012
Today I woke up and went to a little chapel across from Agios Spyridonas (St. Spyridon), the Church two blocks from my apartment. Then I headed to school for more orientation talks. I then proceeded to go to get my Greek cell phone and then lunch and then I got groceries and saw a store selling Icons. This didnt end up being just a seller of religious goods, but an iconographers studio as well! I had a nice 40 minute long talk with him.
After this was a guided tour of my neighborhood. My school is right across an alley from the first modern Olympic Stadium, so our tour included going to the hill above the Stadium, on which I could see, on one side, the Parthenon, and on the other side the Sea. Also, from my school building is a breath taking view of the Parthenon.
After the tour I took some time to catch a siesta nap of 30 minutes.
A was awoken by the church bells of Agios Spyridonas. It was Vespers time. I quickly made my way over to see what the services were like. The church was empty with only two chanters, and a handful of parishioners, I stayed for 15 mins until Phos Ileron (gladsome light) then had to leave for another talk at school.
After the President of the School talked to us, the faculty surprised us by bringing in two professional traditional Greek dancers for Greek dance lessons. This hour-long session was a lot of fun and taught me the dances I should have already known by going to a Greek college in the US and by having so many Greek friends.
After the Dancing, we had a little bite to eat and then a group of us went out exploring and looking for a Souvalki/Gyro stand. We eventually found one with 2 Euro sandwiches, which was a big hit with all of us.
