it's over?

I can't believe 4 months have passed and I am back in America. It's so strange to me to be here and I think readjusting to life back in the states is going to take some time. Le sigh. Anyways, I wanted to give a brief review of my final days in Athens.


I finished my finals on Tuesday, and had the rest of the week to explore my city and spend time with the friends I had made in my program/Greek friends. Sakina and I decided to check out what was formerly the Gas Works of Gazi. It was a really neat area, in terms of architecture and use of space. Apparently they use the buildings now to hold conferences for architecture. We went in the later afternoon, around 4, just when the colors in the sky were beginning to change and the sun fade. It was so peaceful just sitting there, recounting all the experiences we had while abroad. I felt extremely fortunate to have met Sakina and be able to create such a wonderful friendship. I'm currently experiencing Sakina Mou withdrawals.

the clouds are always incredible.

graffiti <3

gas works.

create into a cafe.

sat at the top of these stairs.

The rest of the week included last minute shopping, a concert wednesday at one of our favorite bars and lovely dinners at some wonderful tavernas. It was nice to end things in a relaxed manner instead of coming directly off stressful finals. Our last nights we said our good-byes to our favorite bar/club owners in the Gaz Gaz. Our favorite bar owner, George, at Soho sent us off well and it was sad to have to leave. I had created such beautiful relationships with the people of the city and country that I felt as though I was really leaving home. 

hair cut anyone?

As many of you know, I take great pride in my hair, so I always seem to have a hard time deciding what to do with it in terms of cutting it. I'd like to think that one day I will take that huge leap and chop it all off, but we all know that day is far from today. Anyways, my good friend Yiota from CYA showed me this blog of her friend who cuts hair and takes photos of his work. He's a hair stylist as well as a photographer. Talk about amazing in art. I saw some photos of others and of her that he had done and thought he was amazing.  After mentioning to her weeks later from seeing the blog that I wanted to cut my hair, she asked me if I would want to have Alex cut my hair. Heck yeah! I was so excited but also really nervous. There have only been 2 people that have actually styled my hair when cutting, so it was going to be a big step for me. As the days came closer I played with the idea of cutting it short, keeping it straight or going with something in the middle. At last I was on my way to his place where I was meeting him and Yiota. It was after a really stressful Greek final, so in a way it was a nice shift in moods.

I arrived at his beautiful loft and immediately we got down to business. I threw out the idea of cutting it short and immediately he said "no". Haha. In a good way of course. He explained to me that with my hair, he was going to respect the length because it is just too "beautiful" as he said. I was really relieved actually because I didn't know how well I was going to deal with chopping it off. Ha, go figure. As we talked, he mentioned to me that he would really like to shoot me for his photo blog. I was ECSTATIC. Because I had agreed, he told me I would have my make up done by his make up artist friend, Renny, and that he had an idea for clothes to put me in. This had gone from a hair cut to a full blown photo shoot and I was not complaining.

The styling began and he did the most amazing job. He took off about 4 inches, which to many might be a lot, but with my hair you can barely even tell it's been cut. He also did a few layers that made my hair feel a lot lighter and look really healthy. All the dead ends and dry parts were gone. Next we talked about what to do with my bangs. He wanted to give me this new fringe. I was scared because I've always done side bangs, but began to grow into the idea. In the end we decided to keep the side swipe because it works well with my face. Whew! In total it took about an hour and a half to style and cut my hair because this head has a lot of hair. During the entire time we had some hilarious conversation about Greek life, relationships, zodiac signs and pretty much anything you can think of. The three of us enjoyed one another's company and I really started to feel comfortable.

Next we moved to the make-up and photo shoot. Romy is this beautiful German who has lived in Greece 18 years. She came here when she was 4, so she considers herself Greek. She was lovely and so pretty. She told me that my eye shape was easy to work with and that made me happy because I call my eyes big ol' fish eyes. Haha. She works in the fashion and film industry doing make-up for the productions. At last Alex showed me the "outfit" he had planned for me. It was a fun dotted type, bubble-y top with strings in the back. It was complicated to put on, but once we figured it out (3 of us), I really loved it. I was placed against a white wall with lighting, shadows, etc. So awesome. I had tons of fun being a model for a day. He's going to post to his blog and send me the link/pictures from the shoot. I'll be sure to post that link late.

Overall I had one of the most amazing times since being in Greece. Alex and Yiota were so fun and kind to me. We shared music, talks, advice and laughter. It still amazes me that I have been able to meet such genuine, wonderful and beautiful (inside/outside) human beings here in Greece. I'm so grateful that I can make positive impression on people to the point where they want to introduce me to their friends. I'm glad I have a friendship with Yiota and now Alex. We've planned to get drinks on Tuesday :D

People and Opportunities.

A few years ago, I was asked, "What do you have to be thankful for?" I was first thrown off by this question because you normally hear it during the holidays (i.e THANKSgiving and Christmas), but this was just an ordinary email from an old friend. I thought about it, gave a quick answer and continued with my day. However, I continue to think about my answer then and my answer now. While there are enormous differences, one thing remained constant: the people in my life. I have had incredible luck in being able to call certain people in my life "family", and not in just the literal meaning of being blood related.

I come from a very complicated past, one that resulted in a very slim number of blood-related family members being a part of my life. As a result, I found myself making my OWN family, one that included the people in my life who most wished to see me succeed and more importantly, be a part of that success. Even though I don't have my own set of parents, at Bowdoin I have found more pairs of parents that any other person I know. I like to think I'm the lucky one because most people have two parents, sometimes four with remarriages, but me, I have double that. In addition to that, I get to CHOOSE my siblings. Yeah, talk about winning! There are countless people in my life these days that I consider family and man, do I have a great family. So, I'm grateful for what happened in my past because I was presented with an amazing opportunity to create my own family.

I'm also most grateful for the opportunities that have come my way. Thinking about my past 6 months alone, I have to really take it all in. I often lose sight of everything I've done. From living in India this summer working on a project with the most amazing students I've ever met to traveling all around Europe/Greece this semester. I never imagined that at 20 I would have done the things I have done. I forget to slow down and embrace that sometimes. I am grateful because what I've been through has made me the incredibly strong person I am today.


I wanted to give a few shout outs and thanks to the following:

Casey Family
Amaez/Purnell Family
Kitch/Cooper Family
Elmer and Nicole
Rhoan
Scott, Claudia and the Admissions staff
Matoin Family
Otrickey Family ;D
My Bowdoin Lovelies
Caron Family
Dean of Student Affairs office
McKeen Center
Sakina

Sakina Mou

I wanted to take this opportunity to write a bit about someone who has become my foundation and inspiration here in Greece. Her name is Sakina, but I call her Sakina Mou (my Sakina in Greek) or 'Kina for short. We met on the first day because we both arrived late, and she was to be the roommate to the other girl to arrive on the last day. Little did I know that our friendship would blossom into one I see lasting til the end of time.

Her birthday was towards the beginning of our program, so we decided to go to Santorini. After all my travels up until now, that is still one of my favorite weekends to date. Sakina is one of the most genuinely, warm hearted people I have had the opportunity to meet. She constantly thinks about others' feelings and is quick to ask, "how are you?" In a place where we're all struggling to get the most out of our time, I think it's so vital to ask that question in order to maintain sanity. It's a small gesture, but one I don't take for granted and neither does she. We've gotten to the point in our friendship where we can look at each other and already know the mood, ideas or feelings of one another. It's something I admire in our friendship.

Not only do we connect well in terms of where our heads are at, she is always up to dance. I love dancing and never thought I'd find someone who loved it as much as me, or someone who'd be willing to dance at any time: weekday, daytime, anywhere. Sakina is my main dance partner. We can go out, just the two of us and dance our happy butts off into the wee hours of the morning and do it again the next night. #Awesome.

Not only do we share our passion for dance, Sakina and I spend a lot of time talking about serious things within our lives. I've found it amazingly easy to open my heart to her, and in return she has been able to gain the same trust and confidence. Whenever I have a problem, big or small, I know I can turn to Sakina to get a REAL, honest answer or opinion of the matter. Her rawness is something I think is hard to find no matter where you go and no matter how long you've known someone, it's never easy to be brutally honest. I would die here without her.

France was an absolute blast! As soon as I returned from the Peloponnese, I began to prep for my journey- washing clothes, quick trip to the hospital and packing! Wednesday finally arrived and I was off. On my first leg, I was unfortunately seated in the middle between two people- a super burley, wide older man and a super fashionable middle aged woman. What differences, right? It wasn’t too bad, but my leg space was mildly invaded by the man on my left. After 2 hours we arrived in Switzerland. The view just before landing was amazing and the Swiss Alps were just breath taking. I had a short layover before heading to Lyon as my final stop. I arrived in Lyon and immediately went to search for the bus that would take me to Grenoble where my love Jessica would be waiting for me! It was an hour bus ride, but the scenery was amazing. The sun was just setting, so I snagged a nice picture of it. There was a man on the bus who kept staring at me even though I was sitting behind him. I’m often glared at more than usual by minority men in Europe- something I took notice to a lot more while in France. Maybe it’s the golden brown skin or long head of hair? It was weird at first, but by now I am so use to the staring I didn’t give it much thought after a bit.

The bus finally arrived and there she was! My beautiful darling Jess was sitting in the station waiting for me. She just had surgery from appendicitis so I had to be gentle when hugging her, otherwise she would’ve been crushed! I was so excited to see a familiar face. We’re both at the 2 month mark, so it was refreshing to be with someone who knows me in and out. We began our journey to her house via tram. There was not a single moment of silence. Right away we started chatting about our different experiences and just enjoying being with one another. After a 45 min tram ride, we arrived to her neighborhood. It was after 8 and the house was waiting for us to start dinner. Upon entering the house, I met her host mom, Nicole, and host dad, Robert. I also had the pleasure of meeting two of her good friends from her program, Molly and Hannah. They were actually the ones who cooked dinner. One word: yum. I miss home cooked meals, especially since I cook most of my meals here in Greece. They do things quickly in her household. Plates are cleared after each course and no time is wasted before dishes get started on. Literally. They would wash dishes during dinner! So weird. Very different from Greece. Jess says it’s just their household that functions that way. In any case, the dinner was superb and just what I needed after all my travels. Both Jess and I were exhausted so it wasn’t a super late night. We chatted a bit more than crashed.

swiss alps!

sunset fresh off the plane!

cute home.

The next morning we had to wait for her nurse to come and clean her wounds. The first guy was a total hottie ;D After that, we headed to the tram stop to begin a day of shopping and exploring.  We both really wanted to get some boots, so she took me to a store she thought I would like. When we didn’t find ones we had liked, we decided to grab lunch before trying again. Hello creperie! I opted for a non-crepe dish and Jess went with a crepe. It was good, but way more pricey than I’m use to in Athens. After we finished, we again attempted to shop. It’s tough staying on a budget! We looked around some more and decided we needed sweet crepes to up our drive. Yummy Nutella and banana #ftw. Jess showed me a beautiful church and courtyard, then took me to the most incredible view of Grenoble. It was right off the river and the views were insane. We went on a bridge to snap some photos and enjoy the wonderful weather. We both decided we wanted to nap/rest so we headed home. Before we hopped on the train, however, I saw a pair of boots I just couldn’t resist. Success! Once home, we got a nice little surprise of none other than CREPES! Her host aunt made us mini crepes and tea for a snack. So many crepes. Post nap we watched my favorite movie, The Other Sister, then ate dinner. Again, so yummy. Guess what dessert was! CREPES! Bah, what a crepe kind of day. We finished the day with a wonderful skype session with our lovely Amilia.

chickens in the yard.

bunnies.

first day out.

st. andres church.

clouds!

quaint. 

first bridge.

fave spot.

miss these colors.

more crepes!

Friday was another beautiful day. Again after waiting for the nurse, we headed back into town. This time we were going to ride these mechanical ball shaped things to the Grenoble Bastille. Before we made it up though, we hit up the farmer’s market for sweet fruits/veggies then we ran into one of Jess’ friends from her program named Travis. He was nice and we all went to eat kebabs at a place called Batman’s. It was here that we met the owner who, when he saw me told me, “You’re Mexican”. I was kind of thrown off and when we continued to say we were all from America, he responded (pointing to Jess and Travis), “You, yes” and then to me, “You, no”. Bah, thanks for telling me what I am! NOT. We tried to explain that I was mixed with Native American as well as Latin American roots, but he wasn’t having it. It was interesting and mildly upsetting for him to immediately label me the way he did. It’s not uncommon in America for people to judge by looks, but it was just annoying that he continued even after I explained my roots. We left there and separated from Travis. At last we were on our way up in the bubbles! Everything was beautiful and so incredible to see. We spent about an hour there, then decided we needed some rest before dinner with Jess’ friends. Before we hopped on the tram, however, we made a cool friend named Jonathan. He was talking to people in order to raise money for this program he works for, but looked like he was failing. I had initially tried to avoid him because I don’t particularly like to say no, but I could see he was struggling so decided to stop and chat. We stuck up a friendly conversation that included names, where we were from and what we were doing in Grenoble. He had been there for a year so far, so I thought he was a good person to ask for places to dance/drink. I asked for his suggestions and decided that since we were pretty much buds, we should get his number. So I asked. He was more than obliging and excited. I told him that with Jess being here until December, it would be nice to have a contact into the younger crowd in Grenoble. Win.

That night we ate at a Mexican restaurant (fitting right?). A few of her friends came out with us and that was nice. We had some tequila poppers as well as margaritas. So yummy! After dinner Jess showed me her favorite pub called London Pub. We also made a swift entry into Plan B- so offensive. They had shots called ‘Abortion’. Gah, so wrong. We then went to the bar that Jonathan recommended to us. It was playing great music. Jess began to feel crappy, so we called it a night and headed home. I had a nice night.

farmer's market.

craving mangoes forever.

fountains=everywhere.

baby-sized coffees.

bubbles.

view from bubble.

heading up.

awesome.

best friends.

yellow!

bastille.

hey, grenoble.

barberousse!

london pub.

We spent Saturday being bums. This included laying in bed most the morning, watching movies and a quick little walk into her neighborhood shopping center. While there, we bought desserts and a baguette. We sat in a park eating avocado (bought at the farmer’s market) with the bread. It was nice to sit and have chats about life. It’s awesome to see the ways we’re growing. I’m so blessed to have her in my life. We then headed home with a quick trip to the store for Jess to buy me millions of airport snacks. Before we arrived home, Jess showed me the park where she usually runs. There was a random circus going on, so we got to see some cute animals and enjoy the wonderful sun setting in the clouds. We watched Bridesmaids after dinner and waited for 9:30 to roll around for my departure. I had a 7 a.m. flight the next morning, but since it left from Lyon, I had to take a bus the night before since there wasn’t one that left early enough the next morning to get me to my plane in time. PROBLEM: I read the schedule wrong and thought the last bus left at 11…when in reality the last bus left at 9! We looked for every possible option: trains- all were gone and like the bus, none left early enough the next morning, taxis- cost an arm and leg. We had hoped that when we told her host family what had happened, they would offer to drive me in the morning since they had a car. When Jess explained to them what happened, there was no such offer. We were both really upset because we thought they would offer since I had limited options. Her host dad instead insisted that my ONLY options were to pay for a taxi or switch my flight to later in the day when I could take a bus to the airport. It was frustrating since host families, in my opinion, should support their kids. This wasn’t the first time they had failed Jess, so she was disappointed. Luckily her real parents are freaking incredible and came to our rescue. Her dad managed to get Swiss on the phone to switch my flight to a later time. Thank goodness. I am so grateful for them. In the midst of everything, Jess and I kept positive and made a list of everything positive from missing the bus: more time together, no waiting in the airport for 7 hours, an extra hour due to daylight savings ending and of course a snuggle session.

view from jess' window.

marshmallows. 

amazing.

puff puff.

host parents.

jess stuffed my purse with snacks for the airport.

We woke up the next morning, hopped on the tram and began my departure back home. We made the bus with time to spare so we grabbed a quick croissant and a final chat session. There was a cute guy looking at us in the bus station, who after I boarded the bus began to talk with Jess. I found out later he’s Egyptian and been in Grenoble for 2 years. Another connection for her. Score.  All in all, my trip to France was splendid. I was able to spend time with one of my best friends, rest, EAT and meet some new people. I’m grateful for situations that challenge me and even more grateful to have such wonderful people in my life. I was happy to return home to Athens though :D 

just don't speak.

I love Athens. I full heartedly love this place. It's amazing. Today while walking in the open air market (greek version of a farmer's market+ flea market) with Sakina, I stopped, looked around and realized I am in love with this place. The sounds, sights and even the smells-including the garbage. The mounds of garbage are daily reminders that the people of Greece are standing up to their government in order to have better lives. If this means garbage collectors on strike as well, so be it. I know at first the smells of the trash annoyed me, but being here and talking to the people in Greece, I have a better understanding and appreciate for the strikes. Speaking of which, there has been a 48 hour strike of all transportation in Athens. Pretty intense and weird to see the streets full of cars but nothing else: buses, trams, and taxis. I have enormous respect for the people of Greece. Do your thing :D

On a different note, I had a wonderful evening today with Rahmat from volleyball and his Greek friend Areti. She's a lawyer who met Rahmat when they were working with minorities in Greece to get them better treatment. He translated for her. I absolutely loved chatting with her. We discussed the lack of appreciation for work with less fortunate and how if we had it our way, volunteering would be our careers. We all know we can live off volunteering, so it becomes a difficult path when there doesn't seem to be jobs in this field. Talk about my entire emotional roller coaster during the summer in India. It's so amazing to share views on these kinds of things with people in different parts of the world. We also had an enormous chat on the increase in immigrants to Greece from the Middle East. Because Greece is the eastern border to Europe, it gets so many people coming in from abroad looking for work and a better life. Sound familiar? I'm in a European version of America. So.many.similarities! It was intense, but also refreshing to be able to honestly talk on the subject. She touched on the fact that Greece, right now economically, can not, as she said, absorb the large amounts of immigrants. I've craved this kind of conversation and boy was I pleased after it all. She is extremely intelligent and I can't wait to spend more time with her. When I asked her what she thought I was ethnically, she said I could pass as Greek- as long as I just don't speak. Ha, I was happy for the compliment and encouraged to work on my Greek. She said that my round eyes, golden skin and wonderful hair make me appear like a natural Greek. Aw yeah! #winning.

The dinner was so delicious. After weeks of having to cook for myself, having a homemade meal was so  wonderful! What made it even better was that Rahmat opened his home to share with me a little of his Afghani culture and ways of cooking. We had incredible chicken with rice and then a chicken based soup that packed a punch. I MISS SPICY FOOD! India totally spoiled me in that realm, but here in Greece, I don't think they believe in spicy foods at all. I haven't had one spicy Greek dish. Maybe I just haven't found any? Anyways, I was in heaven. It was the funniest moment though when Rahmat brought our a Greek salad! Here we were having a Middle Eastern meal and then BOOM! Just goes to show the ways in which living in a different culture for a while begins to have its influence. Overall, the meal was ever so yummy.

After dinner, the 3 of us bonded over music- each showing one another which songs we liked. I totally passed on showing American music and opted for my new love of Bollywood music. It brought back a flood of memories from India and prompted me to share stories from the summer. Areti thought I was well spoken and versed for being so young. She's 26 and said when she was 20, she had no idea about stuff going on in the world. Shout out to my liberal arts educations and the opportunities it has granted me to travel! I felt proud to be able to hold my own with this well-educated woman who has done so much for the people around her.

Rahmat also had things to share with us other than his amazing cooking skills- pictures of his family back in Afghanistan! He has 6 siblings- 2 older sister, an older brother, 2 younger brothers and a baby sister. They're all 3 years apart. INSANE! I told him his mom is my hero. Haha. It was so nice to hear him tell us all about them and shows us his parents/siblings/nieces/nephews and people from where he grew up. I thought, "Wow, here are 2 genuine people sharing pieces of their lives with me". I don't think it could have been a better night. We continued to chat, drink coffee and listen to music. Soon Hussein (another guy we play volleyball with) came over for a bit. He's one of my favorites from the group, so I was happy to see him and hang out. It was getting late so Hussein offered me a ride back to my house. His English isn't as great as Rahmat, so we struggle communicating with one another, BUT he did know enough to say, "Now, we are friends". Gah, these wonderful human beings. I wanted to melt.

I'm really proud of myself for taking that first step to play volleyball with them. From taking that step, I have been blessed to meet some amazing people. They are kind, funny and easy going. It's a true blessing to meet people that honestly change your life. And I can whole heartedly say that they are changing mine. How beautiful, don't you think?

service?

This weekend a few of us "volunteered" for an event called Dance for a Cause. People would pay 10 euro to participate in as many dance/aerobics courses as they would like for a day. The money would then be donated to two separate cancer organizations that specifically work with children.They even had a kids area where the kiddies could play, hear stories, get their faces painted and many other fun activities. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful event and soon was chosen to be the leader/organizer of the other students in my program who signed up to volunteer. I was SO stoked to be able to sign up to volunteer because this past year, volunteering has become an essential part of who I am. I had the responsibility to get everyone together in order to commute to the location and divide the team into groups to work the different shifts- one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

When we arrived, we were instructed to hand out flyers and stand around the stadium directing people. It was really tough and frustrating for me because these tasks required interactions with the people we were trying to inform about the event- and they all spoke Greek. My Greek is not even close to being good enough to understand substantive conversations, so we all had a hard time with this. I felt as though my abilities as a volunteer were not being used to their proper capabilities. There was a lot going on, and I felt as though I could have contributed more if I was asked to complete manual labor or some form of activity that required me to really do something. There weren't many people to hand flyers to in the area because the stadium was located in an awkward area and the language barrier just proved to be too difficult. I didn't know what the people were asking, so most of the time I just pointed while they stared at me aimlessly. Our shift was from 10-3p.m. and I have to admit that I didn't feel as though I contributed at all. I was really frustrated and almost left early. I recognize that big events are stressful and a lot to handle, but the woman in charge didn't listen to what I had to say about what I could contribute and as a volunteer, I didn't feel put to good use. It was a tough day and I was really challenged to stay positive.

my team! 

lovelies waiting for the tram <3

peace and friendship stadium

area for the kiddies.

i wanna jump!

face painting :D

While our actual contribution to the overall event seemed to be not as great as I had imagined, we were able to meet some great new friends. The students pictured below all go to the same school and made our day that much better. They were telling me how their school requires 150 hours of 3 things: 

1). action- i.e. sports/exercise

2). service-i.e. Dance for a Cause/ beach clean up

3). creativity- i.e. arts/music

I thought that was absolutely amazing! Having such requirements encourages students to be more well rounded and connected to their community in a way that doesn't really happen during the high school years. I'm glad we had the opportunity to share experiences and have first hand encounters of internationalism. I spent a greater amount of time with the two guys in the front- Frank and Chris. They were some funny characters and really brought me back to my high school days. Ha, how long ago that actually was!

new friends! [bffl Frank on my right and Chris to my left]

I think it's experiences like this that really make me look for the positives in anything I do. The day was trying, but I met new and wonderful human beings.