I have officially started school here in Athens! I have 3 classes on Monday/Wed and 2 on Tues/ Thurs. They're early every day, but it's nice to be done early in the day and have time to wonder/sleep. I'm going to plan on naps everyday. Haha. But, before I get into the first day, I want to share about my first real adventure!
Sunday a few girls of us decided to conquer the public transportation and head to the beach. Well, getting to the metro/bus station was the easy part, finding the right ones to take came with a tad more difficulty. It wasn't too long before we found the right bus, but it took forever to come. We opted for the metro instead. What do you know, the one we need to connect to isn't running that day. There have been a lot of strikes with the workers, so it was down for the weekend. We then saw an alternative bus route. By then we lost some of the girls because they were over the whole thing. NOT ME. I was dying to get in the wataaa! Alas we meet out first wonderful stranger. As we asked for the right bus, he came up to me and asked where I was headed. When I told him I wanted to go to the beach, he quickly began telling me the routes and how he would show me where to go. When my friend, Sakina, came to me he asked if we were sisters. As we kind of laughed he began to say, " The most important thing in life is to respect one another". He then asked where we were from and upon learning we came from the states, he replied, " Ah, the same planet, so we are all human. All humans deserve to be respected". As we continued to walk toward the bus stop, he explained to us that education is the key to living a valuable life. He stressed the importance of having the strength to think and how many ways that skill will help us in our lives. I fell in love with this older man. I genuinely enjoyed meeting him and was glad that looking a little lost meant he was kind enough to offer his help.
Once we were headed in the right direction, we could relax a little and enjoy the bus. There's limited sitting space so we mainly held onto the bars and rope things. I'm not a city kid, so my terminology is not the best. Anyways, the scenery of Athens is absolutely breathtaking and so busy. There are buildings everywhere and cars all over the place. I really enjoy the balconies and roof top terraces. Falling in love for sure. Our bus stopped at the ferry port, so we had to jump on yet another bus to reach the coast line. FINALLY, we arrived and I don't think I've been more happy to see a beach. And that says a lot since I was practically raised in the ocean. The water was beautiful and warm. The people, very proud of their bodies- something I really admire about them. Coming from America where you have to have the best beach bod in order to rock a 2-piece, it was nice to see full figured woman and men flaunt their bodies. Truly something so different from home. After walking through a pathway with men whispering, "I want to f**k you" and " You want to experience Greece, do me", we finally got to a spot where we wanted to make camp. This beach, I never learned the name, was really rocky and I ended up slicing my toe. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the scene.
That was until I saw the creeper in the abandoned hut thing in the hills above the cliff we were located on. I looked up from the water to find this man naked and masturbating! I was so ridiculously appalled and thrown off. I shared with the girls who I was with and while we were all really grossed out, we decided we weren't going to let him ruin our time. We had finally gotten to the beach and we not in the mood for it to be tainted by this perv. We ignored him and continued to have a nice time. It was so relaxing and I was super happy that we decided to stick with the plans even though the journey proved to be harder than expected. I liked to be challenged and I liked to figure things out. I know the major bus stations/ bus numbers and I know how to navigate the metro. It was so worth all the ups and downs to be able to learn that in such a quick time. I'm glad I was with girls who were down for the challenge.
The next person we came across was Nikolas- the man in the cafe we ate at for dinner who is from Cyprus and absolutely gorgeous. Too bad he's older (high 30's low 40's). He joked with us and chatted with us about what we were up to while here. He didn't work at the cafe, but since he's there a lot he took our order and even brought it to us. He's good friends with the owner I guess and so he's comfortable talking with the customers. I was happy that he was willing to chat because to my surprise, not many people actually know English. Boy was I wrong. So being able to chat to him was a nice break from the non-English speakers who just smile and kind of shrug whenever we are talking. I ran into him today as I was walking to my next class. This space is right next door to the school, so I hope I run into him often and get to chat more.
I miss my brothers Elmer and Rhoan. I was, and still kind of am, super upset that I missed Elmer's wedding. Even now I'm tearing up just thinking about it. It's really hard knowing that if I wasn't in Greece I would've been there. But then I know I can't think that way. Studying abroad is such an incredible experience and I am so grateful I have this opportunity. It's just one of those things that hurts, ya know? I know with Elmer being in Columbia and Rhoan starting school at the University of Washington, it's going to be a lot harder to communicate and stay up to date with things. I'm so proud of both of them and even happier to know that their lives are headed in amazing directions. Love you <3
Sunday a few girls of us decided to conquer the public transportation and head to the beach. Well, getting to the metro/bus station was the easy part, finding the right ones to take came with a tad more difficulty. It wasn't too long before we found the right bus, but it took forever to come. We opted for the metro instead. What do you know, the one we need to connect to isn't running that day. There have been a lot of strikes with the workers, so it was down for the weekend. We then saw an alternative bus route. By then we lost some of the girls because they were over the whole thing. NOT ME. I was dying to get in the wataaa! Alas we meet out first wonderful stranger. As we asked for the right bus, he came up to me and asked where I was headed. When I told him I wanted to go to the beach, he quickly began telling me the routes and how he would show me where to go. When my friend, Sakina, came to me he asked if we were sisters. As we kind of laughed he began to say, " The most important thing in life is to respect one another". He then asked where we were from and upon learning we came from the states, he replied, " Ah, the same planet, so we are all human. All humans deserve to be respected". As we continued to walk toward the bus stop, he explained to us that education is the key to living a valuable life. He stressed the importance of having the strength to think and how many ways that skill will help us in our lives. I fell in love with this older man. I genuinely enjoyed meeting him and was glad that looking a little lost meant he was kind enough to offer his help.
Once we were headed in the right direction, we could relax a little and enjoy the bus. There's limited sitting space so we mainly held onto the bars and rope things. I'm not a city kid, so my terminology is not the best. Anyways, the scenery of Athens is absolutely breathtaking and so busy. There are buildings everywhere and cars all over the place. I really enjoy the balconies and roof top terraces. Falling in love for sure. Our bus stopped at the ferry port, so we had to jump on yet another bus to reach the coast line. FINALLY, we arrived and I don't think I've been more happy to see a beach. And that says a lot since I was practically raised in the ocean. The water was beautiful and warm. The people, very proud of their bodies- something I really admire about them. Coming from America where you have to have the best beach bod in order to rock a 2-piece, it was nice to see full figured woman and men flaunt their bodies. Truly something so different from home. After walking through a pathway with men whispering, "I want to f**k you" and " You want to experience Greece, do me", we finally got to a spot where we wanted to make camp. This beach, I never learned the name, was really rocky and I ended up slicing my toe. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the scene.
That was until I saw the creeper in the abandoned hut thing in the hills above the cliff we were located on. I looked up from the water to find this man naked and masturbating! I was so ridiculously appalled and thrown off. I shared with the girls who I was with and while we were all really grossed out, we decided we weren't going to let him ruin our time. We had finally gotten to the beach and we not in the mood for it to be tainted by this perv. We ignored him and continued to have a nice time. It was so relaxing and I was super happy that we decided to stick with the plans even though the journey proved to be harder than expected. I liked to be challenged and I liked to figure things out. I know the major bus stations/ bus numbers and I know how to navigate the metro. It was so worth all the ups and downs to be able to learn that in such a quick time. I'm glad I was with girls who were down for the challenge.
Spot where creeper hid
The next person we came across was Nikolas- the man in the cafe we ate at for dinner who is from Cyprus and absolutely gorgeous. Too bad he's older (high 30's low 40's). He joked with us and chatted with us about what we were up to while here. He didn't work at the cafe, but since he's there a lot he took our order and even brought it to us. He's good friends with the owner I guess and so he's comfortable talking with the customers. I was happy that he was willing to chat because to my surprise, not many people actually know English. Boy was I wrong. So being able to chat to him was a nice break from the non-English speakers who just smile and kind of shrug whenever we are talking. I ran into him today as I was walking to my next class. This space is right next door to the school, so I hope I run into him often and get to chat more.
I miss my brothers Elmer and Rhoan. I was, and still kind of am, super upset that I missed Elmer's wedding. Even now I'm tearing up just thinking about it. It's really hard knowing that if I wasn't in Greece I would've been there. But then I know I can't think that way. Studying abroad is such an incredible experience and I am so grateful I have this opportunity. It's just one of those things that hurts, ya know? I know with Elmer being in Columbia and Rhoan starting school at the University of Washington, it's going to be a lot harder to communicate and stay up to date with things. I'm so proud of both of them and even happier to know that their lives are headed in amazing directions. Love you <3
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