A Weekend in Istanbul

Last Thursday I left for a weekend trip to Istanbul...or should I say Constantinople, since that is what the Greeks still call it: Poli ("City"), for short. Can you say bitter? In any case we arrived in Istanbul/Poli around 9 pm and drove to our hostel in Sultanehmet, the old part of the city. It seemed like a perfectly fine place to be for a couple of days, nothing special, but definitely sufficient. Although it was pouring rain outside we decided to explore for a little while and walked to dinner and then around the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya. Finally, we ended up in a bar on our street playing all American rock music and filled with foreigners, since we were in the heart of the hostel district.

Finally, we went home and woke up early the next morning to go to the Grand Bazaar, which was absolutely overwhelming. One man told us there were 4,500 shops in there! I was expecting a flea market, maybe even a large flea market, but this was just enormous. My friend Jamie and I just had to throw up our hands and say, "let's get lost" because there was no way we were going to be able to find our way around in a logical manner. There was so much stuff in there that I almost didn't feel like shopping, but no worries, I still managed to buy two Turkish shirts.

Next we went to the Basilica Cistern which was built in the 6th century AD in order to reserve water in times of seige and just for general comfort. It was beautiful inside, especially the way it was lit up. Also, we got to see two Medusa colums, the origins of which are unkown - as well as their positioning, since one is sideways and one is upside down. Very peculiar, but quite interesting as well.

After the cistern, we walked to lunch and got koftes (keftedes in Greek, meatballs in English), traditional Turkish fare. Nutritious and delicious. Afterwards we visited the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya. Of the two, I preferred the Blue Mosque, but both were incredible in their own right. Of course both of them were huge and imposing, but Aya Sofya felt loud and cold in comparison to the comfort and quiet of the Blue Mosque.

Later, we took a quick nap at the hostel and then met up with the rest of our friends who were staying in a different hotel to go to Taksim Square. This is the infamous area of Istanbul for eating and going out, sort of like the downtown of Istanbul, and it definitely lived up to the rumors. The main street was swarming with people and both our dinner (where we sat around a kebab grill) and our clubbing experience were very fun.

The next morning we went to Topkapi Palace, which is where the Ottoman sultans used to have one of their many residencies. It was a huge complex, now a museum obviously, but the most interesting part was probably the Islamic relics. They had pieces of Mohammed's beard and teeth, as well as the staf of Moses, the bowl of Abraham, the turban of Joseph, and the arm and skull of St. John. I had no idea that Istanbul was such an important center of Islam, always assuming they were located in Arab countries, like Mecca and Medina, but it was definitely cool to see and very informative as well. I felt the Muslim elements of society very strongly, especially when we would see and hear call to prayer a few times a day, but there were strong secular elements as well. Many people say Greece is where East meets West - well they say that about a lot of places in this part of the world - but I felt the juxtaposition more in Istanbul than in Athens...although the two cities are very similar in their pride in ancient history and struggle with modernization.

After the palace, we went on a boat ride on the Bosphorous to get a different angle of a lot of the sites. I got to see the bridge connecting Europe and Asia and I was even a few kilometres off the coast of Asia at one point. At the end of the cruise, we drove up to Pierre Roti Hill, named for the famous French author, in order to get yet another view of Istanbul. It was beautiful and enormous from every angle.

Next, the highlight of the trip: Turkish Bath. This is a very old tradition in Turkey - you might remember an earlier post when I said I went to a medeival Turkish bath in Athens...however, that one is no longer in use, but this one is. Basically they scrub you down and give you a massage - a very nice break in the middle of a long weekend of traveling. It was definitely the best 35 Turkish lira I have ever spent!

On Saturday night, we went to a delicious dinner and then chilled in a hookah bar for the night. After clubbing the night before, it was a nice respite.

Before catching our flight the next day, we went to the Museum of the Ancient Orient, the Archaeological Museum, and the Tiled Pavilion. Especially in the Archaeological Museum, it was great to see Hellenic and Hellenistic sculpture that I have been studying in my Aegean Art and Archaeology class. You forget just how far-reaching the Greek influence was and is until you're many miles away in a foreign country and realize that those same items you see in Athens were also produced in the place you are standing in.

The weekend as a whole was interesting, exciting, and fun. I really loved the city and would go back there in a heartbeat. I always say I'm a sucker for history and the historical records and remains in Istanbul rival those in Athens, Rome, or any other ancient city. Add in the Islamic and modern aspects as well and the city of Istanbul is as unique as they come.

Tomorrow I leave for a trip to Olympia and Delphi, so I will be sure to update when I get back!

Fillakia polla,
Mollie

My week in photos:

Since I have done so much over the past week and, not gonna lie, I'm pretty exhausted, I've decided to tell the story of my travels in pictures this time...they do speak a thousand words after all and I'm sure many of you have missed seeing my wonderful face ha ha. Enjoy--

Walking along the Thames.

British Museum - officially one of my favorites ever.

Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Such good vintage and antique shopping!

I met up with my best friend from home, Michelle, even though she's studying in Ireland right now!

Installation at the Tate Modern.

I loved Camden Market.

Parthenon friezes (Elgin Marbles)...definitely the highlight of my weekend.

The Rosetta Stone.

With my friend, Jeremy, from high school. I saw so many great friends during the weekend!

In front of the Eye.

Trafalgar Square.


I had to obviously.


So British.

With my wonderful host and good friend, Keely, in front of Buckingham Palace.
************
So that just about does it for my weekend in London. Now back in Greece!

Day trip with my program...Temple of Artemis at Brauron.


Temple of Poseidon at Sounion.


Out at the bouzoukia (traditional Greek club). So much fun!

Until next time...

Filia polla,
Mollie

Closer to God

In my last post I had mentioned my upcoming trip to Meteora and at least one person was paying attention and eagerly awaiting a summary of my experience, (hey Danielle!) so here goes.

On Thursday afternoon my friend Jamie and I took the train from Athens Larissa station to Kalambaka, which is the town just under the cliffs. This was my first Greek train ride experience and while I had heard that the train system here is usually inconvenient, I thought it was actually pretty nice and very easy. So we arrived in Kalambaka around 8:30 pm (the ride took about 5 hours) and we hopped in a cab to our hotel , Alsos House. The hotel was very nice - clean and comfortable - and we had the entire place to ourselves! I guess absolutely no one travels in Greece in the wintertime because I have not taken a trip yet where there are any other people around besides CYA kids or various other foreigners. The manager/owner of the hotel, Yannis (John), was not there but his assistant, Nelly, was and she got us set up in our rooms. After we dropped our stuff off, I asked Nelly (in Greek!) if she knew a good Greek taverna. Instead she offered that her husband would drive us to a good place in town, so obviously we accepted. The dinner was delicious and I spoke more Greek during that meal - with the waiter of course - than I had in the previous month I think. Getting away from the CYA crew is just great because I can pretend like I actually know Greek, whereas when I'm surrounded by a huge group of Americans, there's no hiding my true identity. Oh well, it was fun for the night.

After dinner, Jamie and I went back to the hotel and watched some Greek television (always amusing) before calling it a night. The next morning when we woke up the rest of our crew had arrived because they had taken a midnight train, getting in at 6 am . When our friends finally rolled out of bed, we ate some breakfast in the hotel and then set out for the monasteries. However, to get to the monasteries, we had to hike up the cliffs for about an hour - straight up. It was definitely one of the more physically challenging experiences of my life, but it was totally worth it because when we got to the top the views were incredible.

The first monastery we went to, Agia Triada, was a rather small one, but it was seated highest in the cliffs and the view over all of central Greece was breathtaking. We walked around the gardens and the church inside - which was my first Greek Orthodox church. The frescoes were beautiful and I began to become acquainted with the typical Greek Orthodox icons...some are seen here.

The next monastery is actually a nunnery now and it was similarly beautiful inside. There were also painters restoring the frescoes, which was really fascinating to watch because the details were so intricate and the paintbrushes they were using were so small. These frescoes though were much brighter than the first because of this restoration. I also squeezed by in my horrible Greek to speak with one of the nuns about the history of the nunnery. From what I could gather it used to be a lot bigger, but now it's smaller - why, I'm not quite sure. But I also learned she has a sister in Australia! Whatever, I understood something at least.

Since it was about 2:00 by the time we left and all of the monasteries close pretty early in the day, we decided to hike back down the mountain and grab some lunch. We were all really exhausted so we ate relatively quickly and headed home for a long nap. After we woke up we started celebrating my friend Josh's birthday - the big 2-2 - and headed out to dinner. And guess where we went?! The same taverna as the night before. Seriously, the options are limited in a lot of these towns this time of year, so we figured since we knew that place was good we may as well go back. However, this time it was with a bigger group, which meant more wine, and a lot more silliness. After dinner we went to a local bar for a little while, but again, we were all so tired that we called it a night pretty early.

The next morning we woke up and hit up three monasteries - by taxi. First we went to Roussanou, which is also a nunnery. In the church we met a woman who works in the nunnery and asked up if we spoke French - clearly her French was better than her English. Of course I say "un peu" which meant she quickly launched in an extended soliloquy about the Greek Orthodox religion, the church, the frescoes...anything you can think of really. It was actually pretty fun though to practice my French and I learned a lot. For example, all of these churches have a standard set-up where there is a smaller outside room with frescoes depicting the violent deaths of all the martyrs and then a larger interior room with frescoes of Jesus and Mary and all of the saints. Our Greek/French tourguide explained that this outer room was for all of the unbaptized followers so that they could imagine what would happen to them if they weren't baptized in the Church, while the inside room was for worshippers such as the priests so they could be surrounded by his Holiness. Harsh eh?

Anyway, eventually we pulled ourselves away from our lovely tourguide and made our way to the Great Meteoron, which from its name obviously is the biggest, best and originally was the first monastery in Meteora. There was a lot to see here including a room containing the skulls and bones from a lot of the saints of Greek Orthodoxy. Apparently those in the religion believe these remains have healing powers - especially if you smell them. I think that's a little too creepy for me, but whatever floats your boat. There were also some exhibitions on display, including one about the expulsion of the Nazis from Meteora in WWII. The monks are very proud of their stance against the Germans I guess.

Finally, we went to Varlaam, our final monastery for the trip. At this point the grounds and churches were looking pretty typical, but finally I got to speak with a monk. He was a very nice man, probably in his late 30s/early 40s, who explained to us the establishment of the monastery (by two brothers) and the architecture of the standard Orthodox church. This was actually really cool I thought. Basically the church is shaped like the human body. At the top is the head, where Jesus is depicted because he is the head of Orthodoxy. Next is a series of windows with paintings of the Old Testament prophets interspersed because they are the "eyes" of the religion since they foresaw the coming of Christ. After that there are depictions of the 12 apostles because they were the voice of Christ and, therefore, represent the throat or voice. Finally, the saints of Greek Orthodoxy encircle the room since they are the support for the rest of the body. I really liked that idea.

After we finished with the monasteries, we took a taxi back down to Kalampaka and grabbed a fast food lunch...which in Greece means absolutely delicious gyros. Then we grabbed a coffee for a little while and finally went back to the train station so we could catch our train back to Athens.

Now back in Athina for the week, I've mostly been going to classes and doing work. I did have to get a TB test and an x-ray for my visa extension, but I seem to be healthy so that's good. Tomorrow (as in less than 24 hours) I leave for London. I've never been there before so I plan to do all the touristy stuff plus whatever my friends have in mind as well. I know a lot of people studying abroad there right now so I can see both school friends and home friends in one trip. Awesome! I'll make sure to update next week when I get back.

Until then --

Filia polla,
Mollie

Argolid and Mihalis Mou

So last weekend was a first for me: I traveled outside of Athens overnight for the first time. I went on an organized class trip to the Argolid, which is an area in the Peloponnese named for the largest town in the area, Argos. We left early on Thursday morning and first stopped at the Corinthian Canal, which connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf, on our way to ancient Mycenae. It was built in the late 19th century and effectively makes the Peloponnesian Peninsula an island.

Then we continued onto ancient Mycenae, which was basically one of the most exciting events of my life up to this point. Everything that I had read about in books for years, including Grave Circles A and B and the Lion Gate were right there in front me. In addition, my professor is essentially an encyclopedia so he was spitting out fascinating information faster than you can say "Agammemnon." Just to give a quick overview of the site of Mycenae, it was occupied from around the 5th millenium BCE until around the 3rd millenium BCE in the Argolid Plain. Legend goes that Atreus and all sons thereafter (including Agammenon and Menelaus) were from this area, but that has clearly not been proven through archaeological evidence. Besides this myth, the site is probably most well known for its "Cyclopean architecture," so called because only the Cyclops could have handled rocks this large. And let me tell you, in person I find it just as equally difficult to imagine these ancient peoples lifting 120 ton pieces of limestone as those early Greek settlers who first used the term. (You can see said piece of limestone here across the doorway of a tholos tomb.) We walked into a few different kinds of tombs, stood on top of the fortification walls, and climbed down into a pitch black cistern. I could not have enjoyed myself anymore at this point. Although the weather was awful for the majority of the weekend, it didn't not tarnish my resolve to see some awesome ancient stuff. I am seriously in my element here as everywhere I turn, there is a reminder that I am living among history and anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for history. Of course, I had to take the obligatory "I am a son of Atreus" picture (under the Lion Gate) shown here.

After we left Mycenae, we rode the bus back to Nafplion which is where we stayed in a hotel for the next two nights. This is a quaint little town based on the city plan of Venice because the Venetians ruled here for many years in the Middle Ages. It is also the site of the first capital of Modern day Greece, so I got to see some important monuments to the Greek independence struggle as well. They were no Lion Gate, but they were still cool. That night we went to a delicious taverna, where I shared many traditional Greek dishes with my friends...mousaka is quickly becoming my new obsession. And then we went to a bar around the corner called Agora (see, history around every corner!) for a few drinks.

The next morning we woke up early to visit the site of Epidavros (Epidauros in English). This is the location of the sanctuary of Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing. Hippocrates, the so-called father of western medicine, was a priest of Asclepius as a matter of fact. People came from all over the world to this sanctuary for a type of spa treatment based on faith healing - and it is not difficult to see why; the setting is the true meaning of peaceful. Most of the buildings are not in the best condition, but they are slowly being reconstructed so it is possible to have some idea of what the sanctuary looked like at the height of its influence, in the 4th century BCE.

In the afternoon, we walked along the coast of the Peloponnese to Francthi Cave, which was a site of Pelolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic occupation from 30,000 to 3,000 BCE. My professor actually was on the excavation team for this site in the late '60s-early '70s and wrote his dissertation on it, so his passion for the subject was invigorating. Although there was little left in terms of standing structures or archaeological finds, we did get to see the trenches dug during the excavation and the pure size of the cave, which was enormous. I'm not even going to post a picture because none of the pictures I took could do it justice. Eventually, we trugded back through the rain and road home to Nafplion soaked to the bone. Later, we went out for delicious Greek food and drinks that night; always the perfect way to end an exhausting day.

On Saturday morning, we woke up for our last day in the Argolid. First we visited the site of Lerna, which is a site contemporaneous to Mycenae, but it was not under Mycenean control. There were some interesting structures, most of which are believed to be domestic structures and one even still had mudbrick walls, fully intact from the 3rd millenium BCE. Lerna is also known for the House of Tiles, which is the first appearance of public architecture in the Aegean.

Next we drove to Tiryns, which was another Mycenean fortification. It had equally impressive architecture as Mycenae, with a 30 foot defensible wall surrounding the "palace." Also the view from atop the fortification was incredible, as with most of the sites consisting of an acropolis. And I thought New Yorkers knew how to build real estate with a view!

Finally, we made our way back to the town of Nafplion and drove up - key word: drove as there are 1000 steps leading up - to Palemidi castle. This is a medeival castle from the Venetian era - again not ancient but still pretty cool. I felt like a little kid playing princess again standing atop the castle and looking out over the domain. I realized this weekend that anyone can feel like a king or a queen with the right views. Afterwards, we walked down the thousand steps and ate lunch before boarding the bus back to Athens.

Once we were back in Athens though, the fun didn't stop there. Oh no, my friends and I had tickets to a Mihalis Hatziyannis concert - think of the Greek version of Justin Timberlake plus a few more sparkly shirts and a few less funky dance moves. It was a really fun time even though we had no idea what was going on during the entire concert - with the exception of Nelly of course who basically worships the guy. My friends and I just enjoyed making fools of ourselves as "those Americans," but I still felt cool because I felt like I was doing something truly Greek - unlike when I travel with the other 170 CYA students and it's impossible to be inconspicuous no matter where you go. This is also why I love my dance class here, which I went back to again last night. The class is all in Greek so I'm sometimes a little lost, but it feels nice because I am immersing myself.

Anyway, on that note, I must go immerse myself in sleep. I need to rest up before going to Meteora this weekend! This is a town in central Greece where there are 24 medeival monastaries sitting high in the cliffs. It is supposed to be beautiful and enlightening so I am very excited. I will definitely update again after my trip this weekend!

Filia polla,
Mollie

Over the past week...

...I have done many varied and exciting things. Last week was pretty normal in terms of classes and everything. The only thing that really stood out was climbing Lykavitos hill with Nelly on Thursday afternoon. This is the hill in Kolonaki with a small church on top and a 360 degree view of Athens. It was supposed to be the hill where the Parthenon et. al would be built, but after leveling it off, it would have ended up being lower than the hill where the Acropolis stands now. It was a gorgeous view, made more beautiful by the weather and the fact that it was not too rough of a climb, so I definitely recommend to anyone who plans on visiting Athens in the future. It's kind of difficult to see in the picture below because of the back lighting of the sun, but this is a view of the Acropolis in the foreground and the Piraeas (port) in the background from the top of the hill:

If you tilt your head, you can see the church on the top of Lykavitos.

On Thursday night my roommates and I went out in Gazi. This area is basically the equivalent of the meatpacking district in New York. In other words, it was once an industrial neighborhood (gazi = gas in Greek...you figure out the the rest) and is now the site of many hip bars and clubs. We went to a few bars, one of which had a DJ who was playing mostly American music - of course. This is always amusing because the Greeks sing along with the American music, but who even knows if they know what they're singing.

On Friday I had a field trip for my History and Politics of the Middle East class. First we went to the Jewish Museum. It was small but educational. I learned about the Romaniote Jews, who had a complicated relationship with their Greek and Turkish neighbors, to say the least and that 87% of this Jewish population was wiped out in the Holocaust. Needless to say, the current Jewish population in Greece is a very small minority and is managed by a national federation, which oversees all synagogues, senior services, NGO's, etc. After that, we went to a medieval Turkish bath, which also had a modern art exhibit on display as well. What was odd was that although the baths seemed antiquated, the modern art did not seem out of place at all - in fact, it fit perfectly. Then following the baths, we went to the Museum of Islamic Art, which also had many beautiful pieces. The museum was organized so that the pieces were displayed in chronological order as you moved up through the floors, which was helpful. All in all, it was a pretty cool experience and helped cement in my head the confusing and complicated role religion plays in Middle Eastern history and politics.

On Saturday, I traveled with a large group of CYA students to Aegina (Eggina in Greek), off the coast of Athens. After having some trouble with getting to the Piraeas (the metro was closed in both directions for no apparent reason...don't ask), we finally found the ferry and within an hour we arrived on the island. Since it is the off-season, it was pretty quiet, but we had a great day anyway. First, we went to the Temple of Aphaia, which was built in the 6th-5th cent. BCE but was extraordinarily well preserved. Aphaia was a local goddess of unknown origin, but was later associated with Artemis and Athena.

After the Temple, we walked to Ayia Marina, which was the town on the other side of the island, opposite from the port. It was also pretty dead, but we found one open taverna and had a traditional Greek lunch by the sea. Finally, we finished lunch and went outside to wait for the bus back to Eggina town (the port)...except that the bus never came (again, typical Greek transportation...I'm learning quickly). So we called a few taxis and made it back to the port with an hour to spare before our boat left so we grabbed a coffee. On the ferry back, we basically all fell asleep and once in the Piraeas, we hailed a taxi to take us back to Kolonaki. Our taxi driver was a very nice guy who talked to us about Athens and motocross racing in the States (I guess he's a fan). We took his number at the end of the ride so we could call him and give him business any time we need a taxi.

On Sunday, I mostly had a lazy day, lying around, going on the internet, and doing some homework. However, on Sunday night I went with my History and Politics of the Middle East class to dinner at a Kurdish restaurant in Omonia square. It was tasty, but seemed like any other Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food I've had.

This week has mostly been filled with classes and boring everyday activites. But on Monday night, I went to a Modern dance class at a studio around the corner from my apartment which was super fun. I met some really nice Greek women also, so maybe I can finally make some Greek friends! I definitely want to try and go every week just so I can have something to keep me busy and I think it will help me with my Greek as well. Also, yesterday morning I went with my Aegean Art and Archaeology class to the National Archaeological Museum, which had the best antiquities exhibit I have ever seen. Literally everything I have read about in my Classics books for years was right there in front of me! It was so cool...I can't wait to go back.

Tomorrow I leave for a CYA trip to Argolid (basically the site of Ancient Myceane). It's supposed to rain all weekend but I don't even care because I'm going to see such awesome stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to post soon after that so I can keep you updated!

Be well.
Filia polla,
Mollie

While I eat my frozen spanikopita...

...I figured it would be a good time to give an update. So basically last time I wrote, I was recovering from my illness. I think I can safely say now I am totally 100% healthy again - or as healthy as I could be I guess. So that is definitely good news. This also meant that my weekend wasn't completely shot even though I did try to take it easy.

First things first though, I just wanted to say that my salmon/potatoes meal on Friday was delicious. It was a bit of an adventure with the Greek oven, but eventually everything cooked through and tasted great. Maybe I don't need those Greek cooking lessons after all....false.

Anyway, on Saturday I pretty much had a lazy day since I was still a little run down from the flu and it was raining anyway. I did go out to buy a rug for my room (especially beneficial for anyone who comes to visit me and might have to sleep on the floor) and then later in the day, I performed one of the most quintessential Greek activities: went to a cafe. My friends and I went somewhere above Kolonaki square where we got coffees and sat and talked for hours. It was a very chic cafe with big, bold red and turquoise designs and jazz music playing. I

 thoroughly enjoyed it needless to say. After that, some friends and I continued on to a taverna for dinner (at this point it was around 11 p.m...also quintessential Greek. I am learning quickly.) before we called it a night.

On Sunday though I did perhaps the most quintessential Athenian thing of all: visited the Acropolis. Although I had been once before, it was just as thrilling and exhilarating as the first time. It was better than chocolate cake and small children speaking Romance languages and Portuguese water dog puppies put together. There are no words in my opinion to explain the magnificence and pure bliss of seeing the Parthenon in person. Pictures cannot do it justice either, although I have tried (I took the one above). I am well aware that I am a Classics nerd, but I think truly anyone could appreciate the experience. I myself plan on rehashing this same experience at least a dozen times before I leave. You may think I'm joking, but I can get in for free with my student I.D., so there is really nothing stopping me.

After we left the Acropolis, we walked back through Monastiraki and got something to eat while we sat in the square. Eventually we walked home to Kolonaki, where I retreated to my bed for the rest of the night...despite my roommates and their enthusiasm for the Steelers playing in the Super Bowl (they're from Pittsburgh after all).

Yesterday was basically a normal day of classes and this morning was as well. But this afternoon Nelly and I went shopping, which is quickly becoming a dangerous endeavor for me. I am jealous of my friend Elinor in the middle-of-nowhere India where she does not have these material temptations. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) there are nation-wide sales in Greece right now, similar to many other European countries. My most exciting purchase of the day was definitely my pair of authentic Greek leather sandals that tie up my leg. Now I'm just waiting for it to get warm enough outside to wear them!

Now I should get to reading for History and Politics of the Middle East (Why does that come up in every post? I must have way too much work in that class.) but I will update as more exciting things start happening.

Filia polla,

Mollie

Just Say Okhi to Greek Germs

So my apologies for not posting in many, many days. But I have a good excuse! I have been sick with the stomach flu since last Saturday. I will spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say, it was miserable. Being sick in a foreign country where you don't speak the language is nothing short of a nightmare. I don't want to sound too self-pitying, so I will stop there. But I did want to tell anyone who's actually reading this and had heard from other sources that I was sickthat I am doing much better and I think it is only a matter of time before I am fully 100% back to normal -  or, you know, not normal, but back to myself at least.

Since I have been confined to my bed for the past week - which is an adventure in itself because it is rock hard and therefore my butt is now actually bruised, permanently I think - I have very little to report. Today was my first day doing anything re

ally besides watching movies and sleeping. But I did go to the produce market outside my apartment. Here are some pictures of it. The colors are just exquisite don't you think? So anyway, I bought a beautiful salmon filet, some potatoes and fresh garlic, and some green bananas (because those are always easy on the stomach). I am going to try cooking them tonight (thanks, J!) and see what turns out. If nothing else, it will taste better than the rice and toast I've been eating for the past week!

After the market, I sat on my balcony in the sun, looked out over the city (and the ocean too I realized today!!) and caught up on work. Bad news is I missed a full week of classes. Good

 news is the work in my classes hasn't gotten too intense yet and by the end of the day, I was caught up in 3 of my classes! My last class has about 1000 pages of reading, but that's okay because it's interesting: History and Politics of the Middle East. Then the rest of the day I just relaxed so my health wouldn't start declining again.  All in all it was a pretty boring, but hellish week and I'm glad it's over. Now I'm ready to start the next 5 months of my life abroad! In fact, thinking about and planning my trips to London, Paris, and Italy were the only things keeping me going while I was sick. I cannot wait to get back out into Athens and the world and tell you all about it! Being sick also made me miss home terribly, so wherever you are, near or far, make sure not to take the comforts of home for granted.

Filia polla,

Mollie

P.S. Also, as an addendum to my last post, please check out my friend Elinor's blog: a-noble-endeavor.blogspot.com. She is traveling in India right now and every single thing I complained about in my last post, I could not be more ashamed of after reading her experiences. It really is eye-opening and I'm not even there to see it myself! I definitely recommend it.