Putting the "Study" in Study Abroad

Last night, strong breeze and cool front rolled in, making the night air enjoyable and the morning even better!  For the first time in a long time, I felt very rested when I woke up this morning, and even had the sheet covering me.  It was such a nice change; hopefully it lasts!
Class was fairly routine.  Our professor announced that our final would be held Thursday morning instead of Friday, which is nice.  Most people have their finals on Wednesday, so they'll all be done and wanting to do fun stuff while some of us are stuck studying.  Plus I want to get it over with.
A few students were asked to stay after class and meet with a woman who runs the study abroad program at a university back home in America.  She is interested in sending some students to different colleges in Greece and stopped by to ask our opinion on our experience here in Thessaloniki and ACT.  The meeting was short, and we got free food (always a plus).  I was flattered that they thought of me to be a good representation of my time here.
After the meeting, I went home and got straight to work on finishing my paper.  Finding the information I needed to complete the research portion took the longest, and is always much more difficult for me than the actual writing aspect.  It took me all night, with a few breaks in between, and I had to miss out on hanging out in the center with the girls, but I finished it!  I tried to reward myself by catching up on the Men Tell All episode of The Bachelorette, but my computer doesn't always appreciate the illegal streaming and shut down in the middle of the episode.
Because they're doing final room checks tomorrow, my roommate and I had to sweep and start packing up so they could do a proper inspection.  I didn't realize how much stuff I brought until I had to start shoving it in my suitcases!
Tomorrow will be another busy day between studying for my final, and going out for Jade's last day here!

Let the "Lasts" Begin

Today starts the last week of classes!  I'm still in shock at how fast my time here has flown by.  It was also the hottest day of the week, at least I hope so, reaching over 104 degrees this afternoon.
Was ready to go about 10am this morning, and Jade and I headed down the street to the post office.  She wanted to get some fragile things wrapped, and I sent off some postcards.  Look for them in a mailbox near you!  Hopefully they make it there before I do!  Came home and blogged for a bit before it was time to go to school.
Class was pretty routine.  We asked if he could change the day of our final to Wednesday or Thursday instead of Friday since most other classes had done that, and so that we could have more time to travel one last weekend if we wanted.  All fingers crossed he says yes!  We always have a break about halfway through class, but today's was especially long- about 40 minutes.  During this time, I walked over to the main building and got an iced chocolate and some toast, my usual.  Although I don't have much choice considering toast is the only food they serve besides ice cream.  After class, we had to stay and take an exit survey to provide feedback for the program.  It was fairly lengthy, but I was totally open and honest with my answers so they would know what they did right and what areas could use some improvement.
Attempted to stay in the library and get some work done on my paper in the AC, but the computers are a little dated and were moving insanely slow so I decided to come home.  Getting started is always the hardest part for me, so it took me a while to get going.  I really need to crank it out tomorrow, because we're all starting to get antsy and trying to fit in a bunch of fun stuff last minute before everyone leaves and I don't want to miss out.  But I finished my book last night so I really don't have an excuse to not do it any more, so I should be able to finish it today.
Tomorrow we'll review for our upcoming final, and I'll have to start packing up some things before they do a room inspection on Wednesday.  Things are starting to wrap up around here!

The Greek Orthodox Church

6:30am came very early this morning.  I was exhausted and didn't want to get out of bed, but forced myself because I knew I wanted to experience church here at least once.  Got ready to go and met the other girls downstairs by 7:20am.  A girl on our program, Rachel, invited us to go with her.  She's Greek and therefore Orthodox, and is also a theology major, so she was our little tour guide for the day and was gracious enough to explain to us what was going on and the reasons behind everything.

As usual, attempting to take the bus anywhere was quite the experience.  We ended up going to a different church than we wanted to because we missed our stop, changed buses to try and go back, then got on the wrong bus, but it was okay.  We attended service at St. Dimitrios here in Thessaloniki, and it was very different than any other church I've ever been to, to say the least.  The outside of the building was beautiful, but the inside was something else.  Wooden chairs with rich, red velvet seat cushions, silver and gold candelabras everywhere, ancient religious relics everywhere, lots of candles, a huge floor to ceiling and wall to wall painting taking up the entire back wall, marble columns and arches making up the walkways; it was truly extraordinary.

I'm not sure of any official names of any of the people or things we did, so bear with me.  Also, because the service was held in Greek, I'm not entirely sure of what was going on.  We got there at 8am, but the service hadn't quite started yet.  Rachel guided us to buy a few candles, and light them for ourselves and others we wanted to lift up.  While we sat down, she went around to all of the icons and kissed their pictures.  She explained to us that they don't worship the icons (although it very much seemed that way), but they use them for inspiration and as a way to communicate to God.  She also said they kissed their pictures, on either the hands or the feet, to show respect.  Throughout the entire service, there was a group of men singing;  I believe they were called "chanters".  There was a lot of sitting down and standing back up, and everyone would make the cross on their hearts after nearly everything that was said.  There was a group of men and boys in white robes carrying large gold crosses and bibles that paraded through the church multiple times.  At one point, the head priest stood up and delivered a message.  Rachel informed us that someone had recently passed away, probably in the past four days, so there was a short death ceremony held just before communion was taken.  A few more songs and prayers finished the service, ending about two and a half hours later.

Taking the bus back was a fiasco, yet again.  We weren't sure where to get off, and ended up riding it to both opposite ends of the city.  Another 2 hour adventure.  By the time we got home, I was starving and exhausted, and could barely keep my eyes open long enough to finish my leftover pizza before taking a nap.  Woke up around 3:30pm to catch up on blogging and attempt to start my paper I have due on Friday.  I rewarded myself with little breaks to read a chapter or two in my book.  I want to finish it because I want to know what happens, but also because I want to make sure to have it done before I have to give the Kindle back!

A few observations about church this morning (I hope this doesn't offend anyone):

-I already knew that the dress code for churches in Europe was very strict, and this was reinforced in Corfu when we weren't allowed to tour the church because we had on shorts and tanks.  Today, we were told to wear dresses that were at the very least knee length, nothing too low cut, and to have our shoulders covered.  Someone asked if we could wear pants, and Rachel said that they would need to be extremely nice dress pants.  Since we're tourists and visitors, open-toed shoes would suffice.  When we got there, there were locals in shorts, in tanks and strapless tops, open-toed shoes, and in pants.  It's not that I had a problem dressing this way, it was just confusing to me.  But I would rather be dressed too nice than not nice enough.

-We were also informed that we couldn't take pictures of the church because that was disrespectful, but some people were taking pictures all throughout the ceremony.  Right after we left, a tour group came in and was taking a bunch of pictures.  I was a little disappointed because it was so beautiful and I don't have any pictures to remember it by.

-There were two gift shops inside the church where you can purchase candles, pictures of icons, keychains, jewelry, etc.  Definitely not used to that.  Also, this seems a little more disrespectful than some other things we supposedly weren't allowed to do, but maybe that's just me.

-I understand that kissing the icons is just a part of their routine, and I respect that, but I can't imagine that to be sanitary.

-When they took communion, people lined up to drink from the same cup (again, can't be healthy) up front, and then took bread from large silver bowls lining the sides of the church.  I found it amusing that most people took at least three pieces of bread; one to eat now and some to stick in your purse for later.

-The non-stop chanting got old very quickly, and to be honest was a little creepy.


Got to Skype with my family and my puppy today, which always makes makes my day and gets me through the week :)

Last week of school and last week here in Greece starts tomorrow!  Crazy how time flies.

Sani Resort and Jazz Festival

Because I was so exhausted from canyoning yesterday, I was able to sleep in until 10:30am this morning!  It felt so good. to finally get some quality sleep in.  Got ready, packed up, and was at the bus stop by noon waiting to be picked up to head to the Sani Resort in Halkidiki!  If you haven't noticed a pattern, I've been to that beach a lot during the past month; 3 separate trips, to be exact.  No complaints, though :)

The resort was amazing!  It was a swanky, 5-star place that was spotted with yachts and lavish house-boats, gorgeous landscaping and crystal chandeliers.  Because it is a more touristy destination, most people spoke English, which was a nice change.  (If you're curious, here's a link to their website:  http://www.sani-resort.com/en_GB)  When we arrived, we headed straight for the beach.  Like the other areas on the beach we had been to, there were umbrellas set up with cushioned lounge chairs underneath them.  However, those were for reserved for paying guests of the resort, which we were not, so we had to use cheaper chairs to lay on and no umbrellas.  If you can't already guess, this lead to a sunburn, but fortunately it was only on my arms.  There was a pretty strong breeze all day, which was amazing and was probably why I didn't feel my skin burning.  The water was crystal clear, the perfect temperature, and shallow until quite a ways out into the sea, which was perfect to relax in.  I spent most of the day in and out of the water, and reading while laying out (I've started The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks on a friend's Kindle).  It made for the most relaxing day on the beach here so far, despite the fact that the beach was packed- not only because it was a Saturday, but also because it is such a large tourist destination and because of the festival later that evening.

Around 5:30pm, a few of us packed up and headed to the only public restroom to change and attempt to look presentable for dinner and the concert.  You'd think with it being such a fancy place, they'd not only have multiple restrooms, but would at least keep their single one clean.  If you know my issue with public restrooms, you can only assume how well I dealt with that.  Anyways, about half of the group headed to dinner around 6:15pm, because they couldn't fit our entire group of 50+ students and chaperones in the restaurant all at once.  We had to walk quite a ways across the resort, emphasizing just how large the property was.  We passed a bunch of little cafes and restaurants and some tourist shops before arriving at the Sani Beach Hotel (there are 4 hotels on the property!).  There, we went inside and downstairs to the Poseidon Restaurant, where we enjoyed a fabulous buffet filled with nearly everything you can imagine.  For starters, there was a cheese and deli meat section, and a salad bar.  There were tons of main course options, a bread area set up to look like a bakery display, and last but certainly not least, the dessert station.  I tried a little bit of everything and it was fabulous.  I probably ate too much, but it was already paid for, so why not?

After dinner, we headed downstairs to the gorgeous pool area where we were all supposed to meet before heading to the concert.  While waiting, I read some more of this addicting book.  At 9pm, our very large group headed to the top of a hill next to the hotel where concerts and this year's jazz festival was held.  Besides the humidity from being by the sea, it was a lovely time to sit outside and enjoy the night.  I'm not the biggest fan of jazz, but it was interesting for a change.  Don't know if it was part of the show, but there were fireworks over the sea!  It almost made up for missing some on the 4th of July... almost.

By the time the concert ended around 11:30pm, our entire group was dead on our feet.  The bus picked us up in front of the hotel, and nearly everyone put in headphones to listen to music and immediately passed out.  As exhausted as I was, I stayed awake for the majority of the ride home and reflected on my time here.  It's been amazing so far, and I can't believe it's coming to an end!  Got home, took a shower, and was in bed by about 1:30am.

Waking up bright and early tomorrow to head to church!

Canyoning Mount Olympus

I barely got any sleep last night.  I was too nervous I would miss my alarm and have a repeat of yesterday!  Therefore 8am came very early this morning.  Woke up and got ready to meet everyone downstairs by 9am so we could head out and start the day's adventures.  Everyone loaded up in a van and a car and we hit the road;  off to Mount Olympus!

For those who didn't watch the video from yesterday's post, today we're canyoning down Mount Olympus!  Canyoning (or canyoneering, as it's known in the US) is basically making your way down through a canyoning by repelling, jumping, sliding, walking, etc.

We arrived at the base of the mountain and started to prepare for our excursion.  The two guides gave us wet suit socks to protect our feet, and they very much hurt inside my tennis shoes.  On our backs, they tied our helmet and wet suits to our harness.  By this point, we were all anxious to get going!

The trek started off with an excruciating 40 minute hike up the mountain.  Apparently the last half was at a 45 degree angle uphill.  It was rough.  That was was definitely not mentioned in the informational meeting.  By the time we reached the top, we were all exhausted, sweating buckets, and terribly thirsty.  Good thing we had the river with fresh spring water to drink from!  It was honestly the best water I've ever had, so crisp and clean and delicious.  We put our wet suits in the water to get the wet, which was supposed to make them easier to put on.  We all looked ridiculous and it was hilarious.  We were all anxious to get started, but had to go through a short safety lesson before we made our way to the first waterfall.
We were told that this first waterfall was the shortest, but was also the most difficult.  We had to repel down it, but it was wet and slippery and at a funny angle.  Not  at all intimidating at all for a beginner.  I, as well as most of the others in the group, was extremely nervous, but at that point it's not really an option.  I just went for it.  I wasn't very good at first, and slipped a few times before reaching the bottom.  Despite the fact that the ropes were very strong and secure, I was terrified.

After a short walk, we had reached the next cliff we needed to repel down.  This one was dry, but it was 60 feet tall!  I slipped and hit my knees against the rocks a few more times on the way down, convinced I wouldn't be very good at this canyoning thing.  When I reached the bottom, I walked a few steps to another 40 foot drop.  This time, you had the option to choose between jumping off the side, or sliding down the waterfall into a large pool.  I chose to waterslide.  It was so much fun!  The water was absolutely frigid, and hurts going up your nose as you enter, but it's such a nice change from the blistering heat that I wasn't complaining.
To get to the rest of the waterfalls and drops, we had to do a bit more walking through the river.  The part I found most amusing was that I struggled the most with simply walking!  The rocks were usually mossy or smoothed out from the water constantly flowing across the top, making walking extremely complicated.  I slipped in the water more times than I could count, and it kind of became the running joke of the day.  This fact made it a bit scary when I had to get on the very edge of a rock to either jump or get my harness hooked to the rope.

The next waterfall we came across was my favorite.  It was the tallest, probably around 70-80 feet tall, and led into a deep blue pool of water.  This time around, I was determined to make it all the way down without slipping; and I did!  Practice makes perfect, I guess.  The rope was cut just short of the water, meaning at the end you had to jump backwards and just fall into the water.  This water, because it was shaded and was the deepest of the pools, was ice cold and was quite a shock as you hit the water.


After climbing out of the pool, the leaders had set aside some snacks for us in a waterproof container.  It was mainly just granola bars and such, but since we hadn't eaten since breakfast and had been using so much energy we were starving.  I finished my snack and climbed up the side of the rock to where one of the leaders was taking pictures, and decided to be brave and jump off into the pool.  It was scary, had to have been at least 50-60 feet, but fun at the same time and I'm glad I did it.
More walking through the river, or for me falling, and a few more short jumps and repels.  The last area we got to zip line down, and that was really fun too.  We had about a 15 minute hike around the side of the mountain that led us to a small pool where some local families were hanging out and swimming.  We all took our wet suits off and slowly got in the freezing water for a quick swim before heading home.  In the process, I got stung by a wasp of some sort on the finger.  I had never been stung before and wasn't sure if I was allergic, so I wasn't sure how to react.  Nothing happened though, so no worries.
We gathered all of our stuff up and headed back to the cars to dry off, change into dry clothes, and pack up.  It was after 5:30pm when we left!  None of us could believe it took us all day.  By this time, all of our adrenaline had worn off, and we realized how exhausted we all were.  Not a single person was awake for the ride home.  I came home and took a nap before the girls and I went down the street to Roma Pizza for dinner.  I only ate half and brought the rest back to save for later.  Decided to call it an early night tonight.  Not only am I still exhausted from today, but we have another long day planned tomorrow!

Maison Crystal

Somehow managed to sleep through my roommate waking up and getting ready for school, two of my alarms, and friends coming by to knock to see if I was ready to go.  Needless to say, I didn't make it to class today.  Slept until 11:30am, which is exactly the time class starts.  The only explanation I can think of is the heat, which makes me not be able to sleep until odd hours of the night and therefore exhausted come time to wake up in the morning.

When Jade got back from class, we headed to the pool.  We decided to go to the closer one down the street this time instead of all the way across town to Bennigan's.  It was called Maison Crystal, and was obviously THE place to hang out.  Like most of the nice places here in Greece, the decor and outdoor furniture made the place super sophisticated and posh.  I have a feeling that's part of the reason things are so expensive, you're paying more for the environment than anything else.  We accidentally entered through the restaurant part instead of the pool area so we initially thought it was empty, but when we rounded the corner we saw that it was totally packed.  We had to wait for someone to leave before we even got lounge chairs.  The pool was so refreshing and was exactly what the doctor ordered on a scorching July afternoon.  We laid around and chit chat for awhile, ate some overpriced club sandwiches, and relaxed the afternoon away.

Came home and took a quick shower before getting ready for yet another group dinner.  So many people in our group have birthdays this summer!  We walked to a close place called Olive and Lemon, and our overwhelming presence pretty much dominated the place.  Typical.  What else is typical?  We ordered and ate too much food.  It was delicious and cheap, which always makes the food somehow taste better.

The group all went their separate ways after dinner, some going out, some going home, some off to the movies.  A few of us went to the boardwalk to enjoy the breeze and the view.  Talked and laughed until a little after midnight, when I came home and tried to get plenty of rest before tomorrow!  It's gonna be a big day.  Here's a link to a sneak peak at what I'll be doing tomorrow:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f3hBWdwgvs&feature=youtu.be:  

Details of that adventure coming soon!

I Love the Mall

Today may have been the hottest day of the week so far, although they mostly blur together between all of the sweat and heat exhaustion.  It was a pretty typical day:  yogurt for breakfast, cab to school, trying to stay awake through class, awesome nap in the library after.  Right after nap time, we hopped in a cab and headed to the mall!
Jade didn't come with us the first time, so it was all new to her.  By the way, there are two Jades that I hang out with, maybe that will clear up some confusion haha.  The first time I went, we only explored the top floor;  we didn't want to look at everything and get bored since we knew there would be other unbearably hot afternoons we'd want to spend there.  The bottom floor was much different from the top.  There were less clothing stores and instead were sit down restaurants, a pet store, the movie theater, electronic stores, and a book store.  We started in the pet store since we're both obsessed with our little ones- her kitty, Mister, and my sweet puppy, Trina.  I wanted to buy her this cute little pink argyle sweater, but it was too expensive.  I was disappointed that we weren't allowed to play with the bunnies and puppies and kitties, though.  Went to the bookstore next and picked up a book for the flight back- Safe Haven by Nicolas Sparks, of course.  It was so exciting to finally find a place with books written in English!  My favorite stop was in the Swarovski store.  I felt like a little kid in a candy store, dying and drooling over all of the gorgeous, sparkly jewelry and accessories and everything else they could think to bedazzle.  I had to try not to squeal with joy the whole time.  It was pretty much what my dreams are made of.  After exploring for about an hour or so, we went to TGIFriday's for a small snack before dinner.  I ordered a chicken bites something appetizer, but it ended up being a ton of food.  It was yummy though!  Before we left, I went back to a store a bought a cute maxi dress I had seen earlier and couldn't stop thinking about.  Still proud of my self-containment while shopping!
Came home and relaxed a bit before getting ready for dinner.  Almost our entire study abroad group went out together this time, since it was one of the girls' last night here (she had to leave early to go on a mission trip to Nigeria).  We went downtown to a place called Bit Bazaar, a place our business professor and some other students in our class suggested earlier in the day.  They said it was a place where a lot of students and young people gathered.  It was tucked in the center of a bunch of buildings, blocking what little wind there was and making it miserably hot.
Dinner was family style, and of course the Greek people ordered entirely too much food, nothing out of the ordinary.  We started off with a bread basket, a Greek salad, grilled feta, and tatziki, and had chicken souvlaki skewers, pork in red sauce, and Greet meatballs as a main course.  Despite it being a ridiculous amount to eat, it was delicious.  While a few people went out after dinner, I was feeling drained from the heat and just wanted to go home to sleep before heading back to school tomorrow.


Sad I'm missing out on Free Slurpee Day at 7/11!  Can't wait to enjoy one of those when I get back.