Achilleion Palace

Full-sized beds in an air conditioned, 5-star hotel after two weeks of sleeping on a twin in an un-air conditioned apartment are probably the most comfortable place ever.  When my alarm went off this morning, the last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed, but I was excited for the day.  And after the amazing dinner last night, I was also excited to check out the breakfast buffet.  Spoken like a true fat kid.  I was, however, slightly disappointed.  There was no milk (I can't tell you the last time I had breakfast without milk), the scrambled eggs were weird looking and mushy, and the bacon was more like undercooked ham.  I also had pancakes, sunny-side-up eggs, and some breakfast muffin/cake things that were all delicious, so I suppose it made up for it.

The Island of Corfu

Although 9am is a little early after a night out on the town, everyone was excited for our trip to the island of Corfu!  The second largest and the greenest Ionian island, the island of Corfu is located just off the West coast of Greece.  It was Homer’s “beautiful and rich land”, and Odysseus’ last stop on his journey home to Ithaki.

We made a quick pit stop around 10:30am for a bathroom break and a chance for everyone to get some food.  I got a chocolate muffin to eat there, and a ham, cheese, and tomato sauce pastry for later.  To get there, all 50 of us plus chaperones/ program leaders piled onto a giant charter bus and set out for the 4 hour trek through the mountains.  Literally though, we drove through the mountains, as in we went through tunnels inside the mountains.  I've never seen anything like it before.  Although I slept through most of it, I was awake enough to catch a glimpse of the incredible views and to read some (I've started reading "The Help").

Once we arrived at the port of Igoumenitsa, we then had another 1 1/2 ferry ride to get to the island.  I've never been on a ferry before, so that was another new experience for me.  The bus drove onto the back of the ferry, and the gates closed and we immediately took off.  I stayed on top of the boat the entire time and enjoyed the perfect weather and even more perfect views.

At around 3:30pm, we had finally arrived on Corfu!  It took a while for this massive bus to navigate through the tiny streets; there were some times I was convinced there was no way we would make it around such a sharp corner.  The hotel we stayed at was called "Corfu Holiday Palace" and was 5 stars!  It was nice to be pampered in such a nice place, even if it was just for the weekend. 

We somehow ended up a bit ahead of schedule, so there was some time to go to the beach before dinner.  From our hotel, you took the elevator down to -2 floor (SO weird that they do that here!) which was by the pool, and from there you had to take another elevator down the side of a mountain to get to the beach.  It was super tiny so it was a little scary, but still cool.  Unlike the beach at Halkidiki, this beach did have some real sand, but in the sand were much bigger rocks, making it painful to walk on.  We laid our towels out and jumped in; the water was cold and felt amazing on my sweaty, hot skin.  Just like last time, no sea creatures here!  Only lots of sea weed and a few schools of teeny-tiny fish.  Jade and I only swam around for a few minutes before we went back to lay out and I kept reading.  It was such a relaxing evening.  I went back inside a little early so I would have enough time to shower and get ready before dinner.
Dinner was served on the -1 floor on the hotel, and was a buffet style meal.  There was a salad/cheese/deli meat bar, a main course area, and a desserts area; I usually filled up one plate from each area so I could try a little bit of everything.  Because Corfu is in between Greece and Italy, it has a lot of Italian influence, which means there was lots of yummy pasta (something that is not very prevalent in the traditional Greek meal).

9pm meant it was time to load up on the bus to take us all downtown to shop and explore.  We were in such a quaint little town and it was so cute all lit up at night.  I believe the town was called Corfu Town, but I'm not positive.  We shopped around for a few hours before the whole group met up at a cafe/ bar for drinks.  A few of us wanted to stay out even later, so we went to this club called Drops that was right on the port and had a great view at night.  (If you haven't noticed a common theme, you can get a great view almost anywhere in Greece!)  It was super packed but a lot of fun.
Lots of educational adventures on the schedule for tomorrow!

Stain Thursday

Nothing terribly exciting about today.  Woke up around 9am so I could do a load of laundry before we leave for the weekend.  I needed to wash my towels and sheets, hoping that would be the last step to get rid of the weird bug rash (which is gone now, thank goodness!).  The washer is tiny and super old, so I wasn't able to fit anything extra in like I had hoped.  Instead of paying to use the dryer, I just hung everything over the balcony to dry since it's so hot out.
Class was boring, as usual.  Although because we're generally past the basic review part, it is getting more interesting.  When class got out at 2 and we were ready to go home, we found out that the taxis were on strike for wanting higher wages.  This meant we had to take the bus back.   Public transportation here is very interesting, to say the least, and not just because of how crazy everyone drives.  First off, most of the buses don't have AC, just like everywhere else.  So packing a bus full to the point of almost literally overflowing of people who are hot and sweaty makes for one stinky and uncomfortable ride.  It was even worse today since people were forced to take the bus because of the taxi strike.  Took a nice nap, which I'm happy to say is becoming quite routine now, before heading to the center to shop with Erin.  Stopped by a few places, but all I bought was a necklace.  So proud of myself and my self restraint!  After shopping, we got some ice cream before exploring the center a little more.  The lady said the flavor I got was "cream and biscuits", which I finally figured out was cookies and cream haha.  It's so interesting to me that even though we were both speaking English, there was still a language barrier.
For dinner, a few of us girls decided to try a new place down a side street close to our apartment.  It was more of a sit down type place instead of the fast food joints that are along the main road.  We ordered an appetizer of grilled feta, and shared plates of pork cutlet and souvlaki (Greek meatballs).  It was so delicious, the people were so nice, and it was a good price, so I'm sure we'll go back again sometime.  I am gonna try and eat in a lot more this week; things add up so quickly money wise!  Came home and got ready before going out for the night.  We went as a big group to this place in the center called club Stain.  They passed out sparklers for everyone to light at the same time, it was so cool!  Here's a picture of Erin and I at the club, it was so packed that we had to stand on the speakers!  Notice my new necklace :)  It was a blast despite hot unbelievably hot it got in there.


This weekend is our trip to the island of Corfu... updates and pictures coming soon!

Bug Invasion

I wake up literally every morning covered in new bug bites.  I currently a minimum of 20 all over my body, including 4 on my face.  How does that even happen?!  That's a new one for me.  I started getting them on the beach trip to Halkidiki last weekend, but I knew they were an issue there.  I bought bug spray before that trip but forgot to put it on until it was time for bed.  Saturday afternoon in Halkidiki, I noticed a terrible rash completely covering my arms and legs, but just assumed it was heat rash.  So for the rest of that day I put on extra sunscreen and relaxed in the shade.  This morning, Wednesday, I woke up with the same rash.  It was actually really cool Tuesday night, so a heat rash didn't seem to add up.  It was when I remembered that I had used the bug spray for the night all over my body and even on my sheets that I put two and two together and assumed it wasn't a heat rash, but an allergic reaction to the bug spray.  Which means I get to choose between getting eaten alive by bugs in my sleep, or wake up looking like a leper... Awesome.  I'm gonna wake up a little early in the morning and go see if the supermarket has a different brand and try that.  But until then I'm taking Benedryl and trying to sleep it off; it usually goes away fairly quickly. (PLEASE don't freak out about this!  It doesn't hurt or itch or anything besides look really ugly.  I promise I'm fine :) ).

So besides the fact that I look like a diseased child, today was pretty normal.  Woke up earlier than usual to take the free shuttle to school, and slept in the basement of the library until it was time for class.  Our group presentation went pretty well, it was no big deal really.  Even though the material is difficult, I've heard that he's the kind of professor that is fairly laid back and just wants your participation more than anything.  We usually get about a 20 minute break the last hour of class, which is nice and helps keep me awake.  After class, Erin and I grabbed some lunch pastries at a little bakery just around the corner from our apartment.  Besides chicken, not too sure what else it had in it, but it was flaky and yummy.  Lots of carbs in the Greek cuisine, so delicious and dangerous.  Took some medicine and a nap to try and help the rash go down (it helped a little but not totally gone).  A bunch of girls were craving burgers, so we ventured over by the airport to the local Bennigan's.  Yes, Bennigan's.  I don't like that place in America, so I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea in a foreign country.  Ordered a bacon cheeseburger, but apparently bacon here means ham.  *sigh*.  It was not worth it.  I'm home now and am doing some laundry the ghetto way, aka in the sink, before I take another dose of Benedryl and hopefully sleep off the rest of this stupid rash.

I love being in this lively city, but am always very grateful for the weekends that are full of travel and fun.  Much needed!

Wishing it was Taco Tuesday...

Tuesday mornings there is a farmer's market a few blocks away and I was really excited to go check it out this morning, but I woke up with a massive headache.  I decided I had a few more weeks I could still make it, so I went back to sleep for a little bit.  Thankfully, the headache was gone when I woke up.  I went to the supermarket today to pick up some more milk and some detergent so I could to some laundry before our trip this weekend.  It was nice to run errands this morning before it was deathly hot out, even though the fairly short walk still made me sweat a little bit.  Got ready and went to class as usual.  Took a "quiz", but it was much different from the quizzes I've ever taken.  It wasn't graded or even taken up, and we went over it as a class when we were finished.  What makes this class most difficult is that although we understand and can follow what he's talking about, it's close to impossible to answer his questions.  I know I'm not the only one; we don't get what he's asking or where he's going with the question.  Grabbed an iced chocolate (basically a hot chocolate with ice) and a grilled turkey and cheese sub on campus for lunch.  Came home and did some homework, we have a case study to present as a group tomorrow, and took a short nap.  Four of us just now went to a place called El Burrito (haha!) to scout out a Mexican food restaurant because we've been craving it!  Don't get me wrong, Greek food is absolutely delicious, but some variety every now and then is always nice.  My quesadillas turned out to be pretty yummy.  Definitely hit the spot.
Because today was the hottest day of the week (hopefully that doesn't change), I feel super sticky and can't wait to take a shower.  Hopefully I can find the latest episode of the Bachelorette online somewhere to catch up, and then call it an early night.


More to come tomorrow!

First Full Week of Classes

Today began the first full week of classes.  I feel like these posts have become so boring!  My apologies in advance.  I will say though, it is nice to feel like we've finally settled in a little bit and are on some sort of routine.  Went to class at 11:30am as usual.  Although it's technically considered a management course, it most definitely should have been called economics.  Not only do I hate economics, but it's definitely not my strong point.  But this is the only class here that would give me any credit, and since it's a short summer session, I know I can do it!  It's just so hard to pay attention when you can see the sun shining through the windows and know you're missing out on a beautiful day exploring a fascinating city where you find something new every day.  Grabbed a crepe for lunch at our favorite spot called Mammy's and came home for the afternoon.  I tried to be a good student and look over the notes from class, but it's just too dang hot to study.  So, logically, I took a nap instead :)

Later on, while I was planning to stay in for the night, but everyone was talking about going on the boat ride around the Thessaloniki harbor, and I obviously didn't want to miss out.  A few of us were told we were going to take the 11:00pm tour, so about five of us were ready about 10:30 so we could walk to where the boat picks you up.  Too bad our group is the most unorganized group of people ever.  Because we're spread out between two different buildings and multiple floors, communication and planning always seems to be a mess.  While the five of us were waiting downstairs, we were informed that people wanted to do dinner at 11 and then the tour at midnight.  So instead of dinner, we decided to hang out on the boardwalk and meet everyone there... which, of course, never happened.  As we were walking there, we got distracted by this really nice cafe/bar that overlooked the harbor and decided to stop by for a drink.  Even though the night air was cooler, walking such long distances always seems to make you sweat.  We had such a good time laughing and just hanging out, it was really nice.

(PS- sorry for two posts in a row with no pictures! hopefully something eventful and picture worthy will happen soon!)

Also, I keep forgetting things I want to mention!  Just a bunch of random observations I've made about the city and culture over here.

-Greece runs on a cash economy, so not only do most places not take credit/debit cards, but they seem almost upset with you when you don't have exact or almost exact change.  Which is hard when you withdraw from the ATM and it gives you a bunch of 50s!

-I've been seeing the forecast back home in Texas, I know it's really hot over there.  While it's usually less than 100 here, it's a different kind of heat.  Because we are in a big city, it's pretty much solid concrete everywhere.  And since space is at such a premium, everything is built on top of each other, which means little to no breeze.  Add on to that the lack of A/C, and you're sweating pretty much 24/7.  IT'S HOT.

-While it may be the second biggest city in the country, Thessaloniki is not a major tourist destination.  I had never heard of it before until I started looking into the study abroad program here!  This means most people don't speak English like they would in more touristy spots.  But again, I'm learning how to say a few things.  Plus people who work in businesses usually do, and that's usually all I need.  I think that's another reason everything shuts down from 3-5pm every day and all day Sundays.

-Not only are the drivers here literally insane, but they're honking all the time!  For seemingly no reason at all.  The driving scene is a total disaster.

-Before I came, I was told that Europeans dressed much nicer on a daily basis than Americans do, aka no jeans and t-shirts or nike shorts.  I've found that to be partially untrue here in Greece; a lot of people are dresses fairly casual doing the day to day activities.  That being said, even with casual outfits, the majority of the women here wear heels (especially wedges) ALL the time!  Don't get me wrong, you know this girl of all people loves a great pair of wedges, but I can't imagine doing the type of walking we do here in shoes like that.  Especially with the streets all torn up in most places like they are.  No thank you.

-The interior design and furniture here is AWESOME!  It's super modern and funky and I love it. The mirrors, chandeliers/ lighting, and chairs are what stick out most to me.  If I could afford to buy and ship stuff to decorate my entire house in the great things they have here, I would be more than content.

Typical Sunday

Sundays in Thessaloniki are extremely lazy.  First of all, almost everything is closed.  It's even hard to find a place open for a quick bite to eat.  Secondly, it's ridiculously hot over here.  Since we're usually back from our trips by then and can't go anywhere because it's all shut down, we're left to bake in our rooms.  My roommate and I joke that we're getting really close really fast considering we usually run around in as little clothes as possible to try and stay cool.  Because it's so hot out, we leave the door to our balcony open to circulate the air.  (Just to clarify, we live on the "first floor", but that is different from the ground floor.  Living quarters are usually above the small businesses.  We're on top of an empty billiards place.)  The outside noise from people starting to get going in the morning usually wakes me up earlier than I would like.

Honestly, for the majority of the day, I just laid around in my bed alternating between napping and doing absolutely nothing.  And I must say, it was pretty awesome.  Around 5:30, a few of the girls went to hunt down some food.  Finally found an open place with quite a few people sitting around, so we assumed that was an indicator that they served pretty good food.  Looking back, I now know it was more likely because they were one of the very few places that were open.  The food was super salty and didn't really taste like anything.  As much as I like the gyro and crepe places close to our apartment that are considered "fast food", I really love when we get a giant group of us to go out and do a family style dinner at a nice restaurant.  The food is much better, still cheap, and it's much more fun that way too.

While we were finishing dinner, it started raining!  None of us thought we'd see that on this trip.  You'd think I'd be used to the lack of rain being from Texas and all, but it was very much welcome.  It was much cooler for the rest of the night.   The girls from dinner talked about going to see a movie around 9pm, but it ended up just being Jade and I.  We saw "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; it was really cute and funny!  But also made me tear up a bit... I'm such a sap.

Like I said, literally nothing exciting happens on Sundays.  I'm usually alright with that though after the hustle and bustle of the school week and traveling on the weekend.

A few things I forgot to mention in my posts about the weekend that I thought were interesting:

-I put on lots of sunscreen and I didn't get sunburned!  If you know me at all, you know this is a fairly big accomplishment for being at the beach for 48 hours.  Still managed to get a little tan though; also a feat to be proud of.

-There were almost NO animals in the sea.  We saw a few sea urchins stuck to the rocky areas, and a few tiny schools of tiny fish, but other than that there were literally none.  It was also interesting because the little fish were practically invisible to blend in with the clear water, where back home they're darker to blend in with our dirty, murky water.  Halkidiki beach was on the Aegean Sea, and this weekend when we go the opposite direction to an island it will be on the Ionian Sea, so I'll be able to compare and see if that makes a difference.

Tomorrow will be the first day of a full week of classes!  This probably means nothing terribly exciting will happen, but, when in Greece...

Just Another Day in Paradise, Day 2 in Halkidiki

Laura, the ACT Student Services Coordinator that comes on some trips with us, woke us up this morning around 10:30am saying that we needed to have our stuff to the bus by noon for check out, but that we could still go to the beach for the day.  We changed clothes, gathered our stuff up, and were pretty lazy until it was time to load up the bus.

Today we did a little more exploring.  We climbed around a rocky area for a little bit to get a different view of the beach.  Erin, Jade, and I rented a water bicycle/ boat thing with a giant slide and took it pretty far out.  We were able to spot some other camps and resorts in the other alcoves that make up the beaches of Halkidiki.  Erin and I jumped in while we were far out, but the water was still clear and you could see all the way to the bottom.  Being farther away from the beach also gave us a much better look at Mount Olympus and all of it's glory.  (I'm taking two trips there later, so more stories to come!)  Had some lunch, then it was nap time under our umbrella.  We headed to the bus at 6pm to go "home" to Thessaloniki.  I took a shower when we got home, changed clothes, and a few of us went down the street to this little place called 157 to get gyros.  Supposedly this place is the best in town, and it was super delicious.  Because it's Saturday night, some people went out downtown, but most of us were too exhausted and stayed in.  I found a website where I could catch up on the Bachelorette, then called it an early night.

I had a lot of "pinch me" moments on this trip.  Still in shock that I've been so blessed in being able to come on this trip, and then to be in such a picture perfect place like the beaches of Halkidiki was just so surreal.  Loving and appreciating every single moment of this amazing adventure.

Beach Trip to Halkidiki

Club W was amazing last night!  I think almost everyone from the program was there, and we all had a great time.  The inside of the club was so nice.  They had oversized swings that served the VIP area, and there wasn't a roof so you could see the stars.  Thursday nights are what they call "swag R&B" night, and a lot of the American music they listen to came out years ago back home.  It was a blast and I'm so glad I was able to celebrate it with great new friends in this amazing country.

Friday morning, everyone had to be at the bus at 10am to load up and head out for our 2-day trip to Halkidiki!  Because it was such a late night and an early morning, everyone slept the entire way there;  it's about 2-3 hours away from Thessaloniki.  Here is a link to the camp we stayed at, it will help give you a better idea of the entire area where we stayed: http://www.thalattacamp.gr/en

When we arrived around 1pm, we made our way to our caravans, aka campers, that were our homes for the night.  Although they weren't exactly spacious, they were fine for the night since all we needed to do there was change clothes and sleep.  Erin, Jade, and I all shared this caravan.  Like any campground, there were communal bathrooms and showers just down the path.  We quickly settled in, changed, ate a quick lunch, and headed for the beach!  On the walk there, we passed this interesting set up.  Those are octopus tentacles hanging out to dry before they can be cooked to eat later!  On the beach, there are straw umbrellas set up with 4 chairs per umbrella.  The girls and I set our stuff down and immediately went down to the water.  The beaches here are much different from American ones.  First of all, the sand isn't really sand.  It's a bunch of tiny rocks, so it's so much hotter, harder to walk on, and hurts your feet after awhile.  Secondly, the water was incredibly clear up close, and therefore was a beautiful shade of turquoise from afar.  It was also the saltiest water I've ever been in; gross when you accidentally got some in your mouth, but super easy to float in.  On this beach, we were set up in an alcove type area surrounded by hills, mountains, and a breathtaking view of Mount Olympus.  Today consisted mostly of swimming and napping on the beach.  It was beautiful and relaxing and pretty darn close to perfect.

Around 8pm, we headed in to shower and get ready for the evening.  We ordered some handmade pepperoni pizza, which was delicious, and went to watch the game with the locals.  The camp had set up a few big screens so everyone could watch the Greece vs. Germany soccer game in the EuroCup tournament.  Although I'm not a big soccer fan, it was really exciting to watch it while surrounded by the people of Greece.  When Greece scored, the place went nuts.  Everyone started screaming and jumping out of their seats in celebration, it was really cool to experience that.  (On a side note:  Greece ended up losing 2-4 to Germany, and therefore is out of the tournament.)  Went to bed pretty quickly after the game was over.  Swimming, the sun, and the beach are all exhausting and we knew we were in for another full day tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Today is the day... my BIRTHDAY!  I'M 21 YAY!  I can't imagine a more beautiful place to be spending it.


Was actually able to sleep in a little today.  Decided against taking the bus super early; it is my birthday, after all ;) and yes, that was definitely my excuse for everything today.  Probably even this weekend, too.  Class was a bit more interesting today, but he's still doing refreshers over basic topics before we really get into anything.  After class and lunch, I was able to Skype with my daddy for a few minutes before he had to go to work.  He showed my picture to Trina, and she was going crazy when she heard my voice.  I miss everyone back home a lot!  When we hung up it was still quiet time, so I took a nap.  Went shopping and got dinner with some girls before coming back to get ready to go out!  Tonight we're going to a place called Club W; apparently all of the "Americans" always like it haha.  I'll be posting pictures of that later!  Nothing too exciting today, but I can't complain because this experience as a whole is so amazing.
Today I noticed just how nice the Greek people are.  I've heard that about them before, but didn't fully experience it until today.  I think it helps that I'm learning to say a few things such as "hello" and "thank you".  Even something so simple lets them know that you're trying and will make them more patient.  Because of the lack of festivities, I didn't take any pictures today.  Someone took this one of the, though, and it's so typical Heather.  No matter what country I'm in, I will always threaten to steal your puppy :)

First Day of Classes

It was a little weird going to campus and class today.  I know that's technically the main reason I'm here, but it seems so unrealistic in such an incredible place!  My class isn't til 11:30, but I rode the free bus that leaves at 8:30 and just hung out on campus.  The class I'm taking is called Business in Greece in the European Union, and while it's considered a management class here, it will transfer back to Texas Tech as a marketing class.  Although my professor is Greek, he does speak English; I had a feeling he would considering we're at an American University.  He is very nice and seems like he would be funny, but humor translates differently across the slight language barrier.  Classes are two and a half hours, which just seems to drag on and on.  Although the building has air conditioning, so I know I should cherish my time in there.  Here are some pictures of my campus.  We climbed some of the stairs so we had a great view.

After we got home from class, it was quiet time, which for me means nap time!  Always much needed after late nights.  About 15 of us went to a seafood place for dinner around 7:30, and the food was absolutely incredible.  Before I left for my trip, I thought I would lose a bunch of weight because I'm so picky about my food and wouldn't like anything.  Now that I'm here, it's quite apparent that it's the exact opposite.  Everything is so delicious!  I've been so proud of myself and have tried everything that's been put in front of me.  I know it's part of the experience I don't want to miss out on.  Tonight, we ordered crab cakes, sardines, calamari, and octopus.  The crab cakes and calamari were out of this world, and I can only assume that everything is fresh considering we're two blocks away from the sea.  I was super brave and tried the sardines and octopus, and although they weren't awful, they weren't exactly delicious either.

When we left, we went across the street to the boardwalk and watched the sunset.  I know out in West Texas I'm spoiled with some gorgeous sunsets, but they're pretty breathtaking here too.  Then some girls and I went and got some ice cream as an early birthday thing for me.  A few people went out, but most are on a fairly tight budget and stayed in tonight.  The first floor of our building is all girls, so tonight was filled with lots of giggling and girl talk :)

Tomorrow will be a really busy day, especially since it's my BIRTHDAY!  Finally 21 :)  lots to do to prepare for a busy night out, and a trip with my program this weekend.  Classes are only Monday-Thursday, which leaves the weekend free for travel.  This weekend, we're going on a beach trip!  I won't be taking my laptop, which means a blog won't be up until Sunday probably.  When I get back and have some free time, I'll make a few posts at once from each day.

Trip to Vergina and Tour of Thessaloniki

Today was day two of orientation.  It was long, hot, and exhausting, but easily the best day I've had here so far.  Everything we saw today was so breathtaking, I couldn't stop staring and just soaking in the beauty of this incredible country.  I could go on and on about how seriously beautiful was, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Everyone piled on the bus around 9am to start our hour long bus ride to Vergina.  On our way there, we had a tour guide giving us the history of Greece and the sights as we passed them.  Here, we visited the museum that houses the Royal Tomb of King Philip (father of Alexander the Great).  This hill was built around the tombs immediately after their completion in order to conceal and protect them.  The tour guide led the way through the museum.  It was awesome to see how perfectly some things were preserved, and to hear the stories, myths, and legends behind all of the artifacts.  Learning about the history of Greece provides you with so much insight on the way things are today and why they are done that way.  Greeks have a reason behind everything they do, and are extremely proud of their culture and rich history.
Vergina was a quaint little town with picture perfect scenery.  It is more of a village, and everything was spread out, much different from the city.  We stopped in a little indoor restaurant for lunch.  No lie, this was the first meal I've eaten inside since I got here; it's usually too hot to sit inside because of the lack of A/C, and then when it gets cool at night everyone likes to sit outside to enjoy the weather.  Some of us roamed the streets and explored the few small shops before getting on the bus to head back.

While we were still on the bus, we took a driving tour of Thessaloniki.  The city is the second largest in Greece, only second to Athens, and is much bigger than I would have ever expected.  The area we drove around in was a bit nicer, and had cute apartment buildings painted with all different colors.  The main point of the tour was to visit the city walls and castle.  Most of the walls no longer exist since they had to be torn down to make room for expansion.  The castle is at the highest point of the city (this is why the housing is nicer in this area), and provided a panoramic view from which you could see for miles.  Potentially the best view I ever have and will ever see.
Sitting here typing, I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of everything I've experienced in the short time I've been here.  I am absolutely loving every minute of it.  Feeling extremely blessed today.

got my guns up all the way in Greece... wreck 'em Tech!

Going to the boardwalk for dinner and drinks tonight, probably with a pretty big group.  Tomorrow is the first day of classes, and will give me a sneak peak of "normal" life.  Stay tuned for more!

Orientation, Day 1

Although it sounds pretty boring, orientation was actually fun and interesting!  I think I learned more in this one day than I have the other days combined.  My roommate, Lauren, and I woke up a few minutes early to head down to a nearby bakery to grab some breakfast before everyone loaded the bus to campus.  It's a pretty long drive, and would be about a 40 minute walk.  Good thing the public transportation system here is fairly reliable and runs from about 5am to midnight.  We spent the day going over everything from faculty/ staff introductions, housing orientation, an acculturation workshop, safety/ conduct/ medical issues, financial needs, academic orientation, overview of student activities, and tech support; normal orientation stuff.  We also had a "survival Greek" lesson, where we went over basic Greek words and phrases that will be helpful during our stay here.  This was definitely the hardest part of the day, maybe even the entire trip, because Greek is considered one of the hardest languages to learn.  Although I'm still struggling like a true foreigner, I'm picking up a few things here and there.  I'm trying, though :)  Before we left, we went on a campus tour.  Turns out, the entire campus is called Anatolia, which includes an elementary school, high school, and the college I'm attending, all of which are American schools.  The campus is big, and on a giant hill, which means lots, and I mean lots of stairs.  We then made a quick stop at Ikea where I was finally able to pick up some sheets; I had been sleeping on the mattress pad for the past two nights.  Then it was time for a quick power nap before heading out for Greek night!

Around 9:30, we went to a restaurant downtown in the center (in Greek it's called the cendro, pronounced ken-dro... see I am learning!), which was fabulous as always.  After about 3 delicious appetizers, the usual around here, the main course was served.  It consisted of pita, Greek meatballs, chicken covered in tomato sauce and cheese, and pork in some sort of yummy sauce.  We were also served white wine, which everyone mixes with Coca Cola.  There's usually someone sitting outside the restaurant playing live music, and since the ACT faculty and staff had come with us, there was dancing!  Everyone claps to the music and yells "oopa!" and has a really good time :)  3 hours later, the entire group headed out to a bar called Monroe Backyard where everyone splits drinks and snacks.  The Greeks stay out super late, something this girl is gonna have to get used to!


Some interesting things I have learned about Greece so far:
-People here don't feel productive during the hottest part of the day, so there is law required quiet time from 3-5pm, when most businesses will close and everyone goes home to take a nap.  I have a feeling this is why things happen so late in the evenings.  There is also mandatory quiet time from 11pm- 7am.  Quiet time is only in residential areas where you will disturb people sleeping; the main streets don't have to follow these rules.
-The sun rises super early, around 5:30am, and sets super late, around 9:30pm.


I know I have so many more stories to share, but by the time I get home at night and have time to blog, I've forgotten everything I was planning to say.  Thank you for being so patient with me!

Lazy Day in Thessaloniki

Here are a few pictures from last night.  I don't have a camera here besides my phone, so I'll steal them from other people whenever I can!  One is a group shot, although not everyone is in it.  We had a huge group of at least 20 with us at dinner!  Did family style with so much yummy food and wine, and even complementary dessert!  Lots of places give you free things when you go with a large group :)

I'm here!

Okay, so this is my first blog post ever.  Hopefully I don't ramble on too much, obviously I won't post every little detail, but I have a feeling my voice will be clearly heard in my writing :)  After a very long and exhausting 14 hours of traveling, I have finally arrived in GREECE!  It still hasn't hit me that I'm actually here.  Side note, I'm sorry this post is a little late; today has been busy!
A little about my trip in general:  I am in Thessaloniki, Greece to study abroad at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT).  A lot of people, specifically my nutty and sometimes overprotective family, asked me why I was going halfway across the world to take a class that I could just as easily take at Texas Tech and get the same amount of credit...  In my life, I have never had much opportunity to travel, especially out of the country.  So when the opportunity arose for me to study abroad, why not take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity seems to be a more fitting question.  Also, as much as I love the great state of Texas, I know that there is so much more to the world than my little world in Lubbock and Cedar Park.  I know that this experience will be life changing, both personally and professionally.  It will give me the upper hand in furthering my career in the business world, and will also force me to be more open-minded and outgoing on a social level.  Another benefit is that the timing worked out well; I have some time to find myself as an individual before I graduate and start my life in the adult world.  To say that I feel blessed beyond belief to be on this journey would be a tremendous understatement.  I could not be more grateful to my friends and family who encouraged me to go, and will support me throughout the process.
Just a little about my travels:  Because I'm so used to flying Southwest for the hour long trek between Lubbock and Austin, things were obviously different on other airlines and especially different on the international flights.  Meals were provided and there were television screens on the back of the headrests, so I watched two movies on my insanely long flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Munich, Germany.  "This Means War" and "We Bought a Zoo" were both so cute, and I had to hold in my laughter and tears (big surprise there) as to avoid stares from strangers.  No matter which airport I was in, everyone was super nice, and thankfully most people spoke English.  This was very helpful because this rookie had a lot of questions!
A little bit of what happened today:  I was met at the airport by some ACT faculty members who gave me some quick instructions and helped me into a cab, who was a crazy driver, by the way; I have a feeling everyone drives like a mad person over here.  He took me to the apartment where I was met by my adorable RA, Tanya, and some other study abroad students who helped me up the stairs with my luggage.  I took a quick nap before we took short tour around our neighborhood to start getting acquainted with things.  This is a picture of the boardwalk by the harbor.  We are in a more residential area, and you can see downtown (also called the center) in the distance.  As usual, the picture does not do it justice.  I unpacked everything, then took a quick shower before we got ready for dinner.  We were supposed to head to dinner around 8 or 8:30, but didn't get to dinner until 9:30.  Apparently late late dinners are the norm.  It was really delicious though, so at least it was worth the wait.  While most of the group went out after, a few other students and I headed back for the night.  And now here we are.  As expected, I am experiencing major culture shock.  Nearly everything is different.  It will definitely take some getting used to, but I'm excited to immerse myself into this beautiful culture and soak up every moment I can.
I hope to post on a fairly regular basis.  Hope this gives a little insight into what my daily life will be like for the next 5 weeks :)