is there a bar near by?

Today Greek class got real hands on. Believe it or not, my Greek professor played wing woman to me. Yeah, I know. AWESOME! We were in class and all of a sudden she tells us all to get up because we're taking it to the streets. Ha, I felt like I was in Step Up 2. Anyways, the objective was to ask random people on the street if there was [fill in the blank] near by. I got mine quickly out of the way asking an older gentleman if there was a pharmacy near by. Whew, thank goodness I was able to mutter the correct question. Believe it or not, I also understood the answer! Aw yeah.


A few more people continued to find other people and ask their own questions. Then while at a bus stop, our professor spotted a cute, hazelly blue-eyed gentleman and gathered us to ask which girl was going to be brave enough to talk to him. Clearly I jumped at the opportunity. When would I ever had the chance again? So, I walked up to him scrambling to think of the Greek word for 'bar'. I freaked and that was the first thing that came to mind. Keep in mind it's not even 2 in the afternoon at this point. When I ask, he immediately replies, " A bar? it's in the afternoon". Of course it was in Greek- which I also understood! He looked at me funny and continued to chat and I said, "yeah, a casual beer". Bah, it was hilarious. My professor began to laugh and told me it was time to go. I was into the conversation so I was bummed we had to skiddadle.


As we were walking away, I asked her how to say, "what's your number" in Greek and she began to laugh saying, "Now, you are too advanced, Macy!" Bah, it made me cry with laughter. It was hilarious because when we were back in class, she started saying other things I could've said to him INCLUDING: "when will you be back at your house?" and "when will you be at MY house". Greatest. wing woman. ever.

Go for it.

Today brought me so much happiness, it's ridiculous. For starters, I met the family that I was paired with after notifying my director I was interested in being matched with a Greek family. The original cause of the pairing was to get in touch for babysitting gigs. I know this is going to be so much more. After calling Valia in order to let her know I was interested in spending time with her son, Alex, she quickly gave me directions in order to get to her house. Now, I'm pretty comfortable doing things on my own, especially since my experience in India, but this was to be my first solo adventure since being in Greece that required leaving my immediate neighborhood. I actually had no clue that I would have to take a 40 minute commute in order to get to the family's home. However, it wasn't too bad. I caught the right metro (these ones aren't color coated like the ones in Boston or New York in order to differentiate between the green and blue line). I was worried I kept missing the one I needed to get on, but I soon found out that I was indeed waiting for the right one. Whew!


Alas I arrive 10 stops from my original starting station to meet the lovely Valia. She is beautiful and so lively. Her and I immediately clicked and began talking about where each was from, what I was studying and more about my experiences so far in Greece. I loved her the moment she started talking. I've had my fair share of babysitting and meeting new families. I don't always know what to expect and this was no exception. I was so grateful that I was put to ease when we began talking. After a little drive from the metro, we ended at her beautiful apartment flat. It's enormous without being too much. I walked into a goofy little baby named Paul and a super energetic 6 year old Alex. I'm always worried the kids will be super shy or totally against a new person coming into spend time with them, but Alex quickly put that worry to rest. He was fast to show me his school work, drawings and his room. Before Alex and I scampered off, his mom told him, "Alex, we're Macy's Greek family because she doesn't have her family here". My heart melted. It was in that moment that I knew this was going to be more than me just watching Alex or helping him with his English. I felt absolutely comfortable and so happy.


Alex and soon began to vibe one another and it was an instant connection as his mom said. She told me later that she had never seen him get to comfortable so quickly. I got even happier. Ha ha. After about an hour and a half of playing trucks, dinosaurs and reading, it was time for me to go. Alex was sad to see me leave and asked for me to stay or come back tomorrow. We decided on once a week, on Wednesdays. I am so excited. Soon Valia walked with me to show me the buses I will take the next time. I'm happy to be challenged to find my way to and from her house. It also gives me some time to be alone and get away from the same thing day in and day out. I am beyond ecstatic to spend more time with my new Greek family :D


Once I finally got off the metro and started walking home, I came across a game of volleyball. I have been looking so hard for games and people to play with, so I immediately become psyched to see it. I almost walked by, but I decided that I was going to ask to play. One side only had 5 people, so it was perfect. I gathered my courage and went for it. They said yes! I jumped in and got right to settling in. I guess they were pretty impressed because every time I made a move, they cheered and gave me a high five. I guess they underestimated me at the start. My side won :D I was mildly bummed that it had ended so quickly, but my new friend made it better by asking me to pepper. Gah, so much fun. In between our reps we exchanged names and where we were from. His name is Rahmat and he's from Afghanistan. He was super sweet and very good at volleyball. He was excited that I had the fundamentals and could actually maintain consistent peppering. He had no idea how happy I was and how much I had felt in my element. We set up another time to play and I'm seriously so excited.


To finish my awesome day, I made a quick stop at a little market across the street from my apartment to buy some milk. When the cashier told me the total in Greek, I understood! I was so proud of myself and completely content with my day. A shower and bowl of cereal to finish off the greatest day this week. Going on my own adventure today and putting myself out there to the strangers really pushed me to go for the things I wanted. This new family is going to offer me a nice change to my daily life and playing volleyball with the guys allowed me to enjoy something I love to much. I'm grateful that I can take these risks, but also grateful that I have the opportunity to test my gully :D

and things you will learn.

I'm learning Greek! It's actually quite difficult with the professor I have teaching it to me. Her philosophy is "sink or swim". During certain activities all she will say is, " SWIM!" I appreciate the intensity of the course because it really does force me to learn the words, but at the same time it's very intimidating. There's no time for catching up and my homework doesn't contain a single word of English in it. There are no explanations of what to do, all I can do is swim! Although it's proving to challenge me in ways I haven't really had to deal with since it's been over 3 years since I've taken my last language class, I'm liking the challenge.

I talked with a friend about this the other day and he made a really great point. He said that because I was fully immersed in a place where I have the language being spoken all around me, I'll constantly be practicing. He was right. The shop owners and even the women who work in the dining halls all speak Greek or have a hard time trying to put their English together. Challenging, yet also very helpful. Most the people who I try talking to are super nice and will help me figure out the right words. I've made friends with a wonderful woman at my favorite cafe and she helps me to learn Greek through conversation. She's patient and makes the best shakes. I spend so much time there working on classwork that she'll bring me free pastries and chat with me. I'm glad that there are people like her who are so willing to help.

On top of the language, I'm learning tons about the Greek culture. For example, there is no Greek word for the term "privacy". This is often proven when the men on the street come very close to my face to say hello. I think my time in India kind of prepared me for the gender dynamics, so I'm not too thrown off by them. Although the Indian men did keep a distance, haha. I've also learned a lot of the importance of the family to the Greek culture. In each of my classes I have read about how family always comes first, no matter the context, and even being around the cafe I see how the family works together to successfully run the business. It makes me feel very close to the people around me because they are making an effort to bring me into their families. My Greek professor considers us all her grandchildren and is constantly giving us advice in order to keep us healthy, safe and happy- or as she says, "Full of joy!" Another importance lesson I've learned about this culture revolves around their identities. It was only last year that people who were born in Greece could legitimately be Greek in terms of citizenship. For the longest time it has been blood that makes you a Greek, not whether you were born or raised here. There is so much pride in being Greek. It's amazing. Coming from America has definitely taught me that to be American has so many definitions and pretty much everyone can be an American. To see that blood makes you who you are is something so new to me and while to some people I'm sure they don't agree, I find it extremely interesting.

While these lessons have been incredible to learn, I think the most important lesson I am learning and will continue to learn during my time abroad is how to be a citizen of the world. It's one thing to go to a place, visit and leave, but it's a whole new game when you're living in the community as a member. We must take the time to learn before we assume and even more importantly, we must learn before we get too comfortable in our own ways that we stop learning from the community around us.