Sorry I haven't written in awhile. It has been an overly hectic couple of weeks. First we had midterms week (good and bad came of that), then we had a school trip, then we had a long break for Greek Independence Day when I went on my own trip and wrote a paper.
The school trip was to Olympia and Delphi, and a few small sites. We started out by going to some small ruins of a temple dedicated to something to do with the after life. This was when I discovered how miserable my weekend was going to be. My professor was terrible. She took us in, talked for a few minutes, then said, take five minutes and come back to the bus. Next we went to a monastery. She wasn't so bad there. It was cool to go into a church when there was nobody there and poke around a bit. I could see parts of the church that are normally closed on Sunday to all except the priest and other people in robes. Then we went to lower Delphi. She took us to the temple to Athena in lower Delphi, talked for about 10 minutes, and said "ok, let's go". We were given no time to take pictures or poke around. We got to our hotel 2 1/2 hours early because we did not spend the scheduled time at the sites. Luckily, the hotel was within walking distance of lower Delphi, so a few of us headed back and poked around.
The second day we got to the hotel only 2 hours early. We looked at the Delphi site and museum that day. She led us through about half the site (yelling at us for taking pictures while she was talking because we "would have time at the end"). Then, she gave us 20 minutes. It took us 15 just to get from where she said that to the top of the site. We then ran back down the hill and managed to get to the meeting point after 35 minutes. I was not happy. Once we left the site, we could not re-enter without paying. She took us over to the museum and led us through, then gave us an hour to look through a tiny museum, when we had seen everything in there. During her tour of the museum, she gave us wrong information (I counted twice, but there might have been more). On the site she gave us wrong information at least once that somebody caught. By this time nobody on the bus is happy. She read from a guidebook half the time and gave wrong info half the rest of the time.
The third day we visited Olympia. We saw the site and museum in the morning and were given the rest of the day to ourselves in Olympia. There is nothing to do in Olympia. Finally, the 4th day we got on a bus and headed back to Athens. We stopped at a museum for water power. We spent 15 minutes there. None of us could understand why we stopped there. It was the kind of place we do not enjoy because we are educated enough to already know everything we were told there. It is the kind of place they would take you in elementary school for a field trip, but it is not cool anymore when you have seen that kind of thing or read about that kind of thing for so long. Finally, we returned to Athens and we were free of this professor.
Then last week we had only a 2 day school week because Wednesday was Greek Independence Day. There was a military parade through the city. I went to see it. When they say military parade, they MEAN military parade. They basically paraded in front of us jeeps, tanks, helicopters, boats, guns, and the various branches marching. The only music was a band at the very end playing what I assume was the Greek National Anthem. The only colors were green, blue and white. I got bored, but the people around me were going wild with excitement.
That afternoon I hopped on a 6 hour train ride to Thessaloniki (in my pursuit of following Paul to as many places as possible). It was nice, but it was not exactly a thrilling place. There were some ruins and some museums, but everything closed at three. I went into one museum, in a tower built by the Turks. It was a whole history of Thessaloniki. Everything written was in Greek, but they gave me a listening device which basically read it all to me. That was pretty cool. I now know a lot about Thessaloniki history. And the top of the tower had an amazing view. And it was nice, because I did not have to pay to get in anywhere. The sites were free and the museums were free to students. In many ways, it was very like Athens. The food was a little more expensive (where I was), but it mostly had the feel of Athens.
Funny story, I was on the train on the way back to Athens studying my modern Greek terms. I was reviewing colors and there was one word I could not figure out at all. So I leaned across to the lady across from me and said in Greek Excuse me, what is green? Apparently she did not speak English, because she could not figure out how to answer me. She looked at me like I had lost my mind then started looking around confused. Finally somebody leaned forward and said "green". So think about that... how would you respond if somebody came up to you (who obviously speaks little English) and asks, "what is green?"
So, now I am back in school for a full week, for the first time since midterms. We have two full weeks then Spring break. I have gotten busy fast. I don't know where I will be spending time this weekend, but you can bet I will be making the most of my remaining time in Greece.
By the way, Greek coffee is difficult to make, but quite good once you get a hang of it. I doubt I make it very well, but I don't really know the difference :).
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Turkey Part 3 and Religions in Greece: From the old to the new to the strange
First I need to finish off my Turkey experiences for you. I think all I have left to tell you about is the Whirling Dervishes. I went and saw Whirling Dervishes. In short they are Muslim mystic monks, Sufis, who spin around in very tight controlled circles for a religious ceremony. In very broad terms, it is an act of union with God. It was pretty cool to see a ceremony that I have only read about or seen still pictures of. First the msicians played for about 20 minutes then the 4 dervishes came out. They were in black coats that they took off to reveal a completely white outfit with a black hat. As they spun, the skirts (yes men in skirts) rippled around them. I was sitting in the front, so bending down I could see their feet moving around and around in a prescribed pattern in one place. They never got dizzy and stumbled or lost their footing. Absolutely amazing to see. I recommend anybody go see a show, even if all you can see is a small one like the one I saw.
I came back to Greece with no mishaps. I was interested to see that people still dress up for plane flights in Europe. You could not tell the business travelers from the pleasure travelers. I even had the lady sitting beside me wish me a good flight. It was an experience that you don't get much, because people who are vacationing tend to dress very casually and comfortably on planes. I felt like I had been thrown back a few years to a time in planes that I have read about.
This Friday we had a school trip to Brauron and Sounion. I had Prof. Diamant, who I have heard many good things about. He is late 50s if he is a day, and wiry. Apparently he also chain smokes. Upon arrival at Brauron, he led us up a mountain forging a trail through high grass, flowers, bushes, and trees to a high point up a steep cliff where we sat on a rock as he gave us the introductory lecture for the sight. He wanted us to be able to see the topography of the region so we would understand how each ancient event took place. At Brauron is a Temple of Artemis, and many stories surround it. Brauron is situated in a valley, so we sat on this mountain and looked down into that valley to where wars were fought, drama took place, and people lived so many centuries ago. After sliding down the mountain (in some places quite literally sitting and sliding because it was steep) we went over to the temple. Of course we were compelled to do the Bear Dance upon our arrival. At least a modern silly version of it. In ancient times young prepubescent girls would dress like bears and dance in the temple of Artemis. We decided to emulate them.
Then we went to Sounion where we saw the Temple of Poseidon situated on a cliff. It is one of the few temples with no ceremony attached to it. Most likely, people would give statues there to get Poseidon to calm the waves, which are pretty strong as you round the cliff. We can see carved all over the temple names of people from a few hundred years ago who felt the need to leave their mark on the ancient temple. Unfortunately, because of a guard and a rope, we were only able to walk around the temple and not up into it.
This morning I attended a Greek Orthodox service for a paper I am writing for my Orthodox Church class. It was two hours of chanted and sung ancient greek with intermittent modern Greek spoken (the sermon I think) and a few processions. I walked into the church and my first reaction was for my jaw to drop. In some ways it is structured like any church I am used to. It is a square-ish room with pillars along both sides and seeting between the pillars and on the sides. There is an aisle down the middle, and a balcony (but I don't think anybody was up there). The altar was at the front, but it was behind a wall that spanned the entire front of the sanctuary. There was a door way about the width of the altar through which you could see the altar beyond the wall. Unless you were sitting in the middle, though, you would never see anything happening at the altar. The main shocking thing was the colors. Everything was gold. Absolutely everything. The altar cloth, the vestments of the priests, and the walls. Bright gold. There were icons and pictures everywhere all along the walls. Even on the domed and arched ceiling were paintings. I am used to the most ornate part of the church being stained glass windows and flowers at the front, not the walls. It was all I could do to not drop my jaw just looking around. There were low chandeleirs which lit the people well, but left the ceiling in mostly darkness, so the paintings up there were hard to see. For the entire service the cantor, choir, or priests were chanting and singing. Most of the "action" took place at the altar, behind the wall. It was hard to see, but there was a lot of crossing themselves and bowing. At one point I saw them shake a pillow. I have no clue what that was about. The people did a lot of standing and crossing themselves then sitting. Occaisionally the people would join in the singing, but not often.
At the end they had communion. It was not orderly at all. At one point in the chanting everybody just stands up suddenly and masses forward. There was no line but a crowd of people, almost like a mob, around the priests. They were given the wine with a spoon, and then I saw them come back with handfuls of bread. They had multiple huge cut up chunks of bread that they were munching on as they walked back. Most people just walked in right before communion and walked out right after. The service was over within a few minutes of communion.
At this point I ran to the Anglican church I have been attending. I got there halfway through the sermon. Church went as normal, and then after walking out and shaking hands with the priest I went over to the coffee--what would a church service be without a coffee time? I was then talked to by a couple of girls who looked to be in their mid-twenties. This is where the religion in Greece I referred to truly became strange. They started out sounding ok, but it turned weird pretty fast. They talked about God's love and how his love is in everybody's hearts. Then they moved to how no church or religion can give you answers about God. Then they moved to the only way to know anything about God is from within your own heart. God is only within you and only your "experiences" matter. Then they tell me that they go to churches and synagogues to tell people about this second coming of Jesus and this "religion of God" as they called it. Then they asked me if I wanted to convert. I told them I was just fine thank you. Basically they wanted everybody to throw out their beliefs and just base everything on experience. What kind of people go some another religion's place of worship and try to convert them? Do I go to a mosque and say "you are close but you aren't quite there. I know you just finished your Friday prayers but I am going to try to get you to convert here and now to another religion." Somehow I don't think that works very well and is very disrespectful. So I was a bit annoyed.
Now it is time to study for midterms. Tomorrow is Myth and Religion and Tuesday is Orthodox Church. See ya'll.
I came back to Greece with no mishaps. I was interested to see that people still dress up for plane flights in Europe. You could not tell the business travelers from the pleasure travelers. I even had the lady sitting beside me wish me a good flight. It was an experience that you don't get much, because people who are vacationing tend to dress very casually and comfortably on planes. I felt like I had been thrown back a few years to a time in planes that I have read about.
This Friday we had a school trip to Brauron and Sounion. I had Prof. Diamant, who I have heard many good things about. He is late 50s if he is a day, and wiry. Apparently he also chain smokes. Upon arrival at Brauron, he led us up a mountain forging a trail through high grass, flowers, bushes, and trees to a high point up a steep cliff where we sat on a rock as he gave us the introductory lecture for the sight. He wanted us to be able to see the topography of the region so we would understand how each ancient event took place. At Brauron is a Temple of Artemis, and many stories surround it. Brauron is situated in a valley, so we sat on this mountain and looked down into that valley to where wars were fought, drama took place, and people lived so many centuries ago. After sliding down the mountain (in some places quite literally sitting and sliding because it was steep) we went over to the temple. Of course we were compelled to do the Bear Dance upon our arrival. At least a modern silly version of it. In ancient times young prepubescent girls would dress like bears and dance in the temple of Artemis. We decided to emulate them.
Then we went to Sounion where we saw the Temple of Poseidon situated on a cliff. It is one of the few temples with no ceremony attached to it. Most likely, people would give statues there to get Poseidon to calm the waves, which are pretty strong as you round the cliff. We can see carved all over the temple names of people from a few hundred years ago who felt the need to leave their mark on the ancient temple. Unfortunately, because of a guard and a rope, we were only able to walk around the temple and not up into it.
This morning I attended a Greek Orthodox service for a paper I am writing for my Orthodox Church class. It was two hours of chanted and sung ancient greek with intermittent modern Greek spoken (the sermon I think) and a few processions. I walked into the church and my first reaction was for my jaw to drop. In some ways it is structured like any church I am used to. It is a square-ish room with pillars along both sides and seeting between the pillars and on the sides. There is an aisle down the middle, and a balcony (but I don't think anybody was up there). The altar was at the front, but it was behind a wall that spanned the entire front of the sanctuary. There was a door way about the width of the altar through which you could see the altar beyond the wall. Unless you were sitting in the middle, though, you would never see anything happening at the altar. The main shocking thing was the colors. Everything was gold. Absolutely everything. The altar cloth, the vestments of the priests, and the walls. Bright gold. There were icons and pictures everywhere all along the walls. Even on the domed and arched ceiling were paintings. I am used to the most ornate part of the church being stained glass windows and flowers at the front, not the walls. It was all I could do to not drop my jaw just looking around. There were low chandeleirs which lit the people well, but left the ceiling in mostly darkness, so the paintings up there were hard to see. For the entire service the cantor, choir, or priests were chanting and singing. Most of the "action" took place at the altar, behind the wall. It was hard to see, but there was a lot of crossing themselves and bowing. At one point I saw them shake a pillow. I have no clue what that was about. The people did a lot of standing and crossing themselves then sitting. Occaisionally the people would join in the singing, but not often.
At the end they had communion. It was not orderly at all. At one point in the chanting everybody just stands up suddenly and masses forward. There was no line but a crowd of people, almost like a mob, around the priests. They were given the wine with a spoon, and then I saw them come back with handfuls of bread. They had multiple huge cut up chunks of bread that they were munching on as they walked back. Most people just walked in right before communion and walked out right after. The service was over within a few minutes of communion.
At this point I ran to the Anglican church I have been attending. I got there halfway through the sermon. Church went as normal, and then after walking out and shaking hands with the priest I went over to the coffee--what would a church service be without a coffee time? I was then talked to by a couple of girls who looked to be in their mid-twenties. This is where the religion in Greece I referred to truly became strange. They started out sounding ok, but it turned weird pretty fast. They talked about God's love and how his love is in everybody's hearts. Then they moved to how no church or religion can give you answers about God. Then they moved to the only way to know anything about God is from within your own heart. God is only within you and only your "experiences" matter. Then they tell me that they go to churches and synagogues to tell people about this second coming of Jesus and this "religion of God" as they called it. Then they asked me if I wanted to convert. I told them I was just fine thank you. Basically they wanted everybody to throw out their beliefs and just base everything on experience. What kind of people go some another religion's place of worship and try to convert them? Do I go to a mosque and say "you are close but you aren't quite there. I know you just finished your Friday prayers but I am going to try to get you to convert here and now to another religion." Somehow I don't think that works very well and is very disrespectful. So I was a bit annoyed.
Now it is time to study for midterms. Tomorrow is Myth and Religion and Tuesday is Orthodox Church. See ya'll.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Turkey: the Good the Bad and the Creepy part 2
As a disclaimer, if you do not want to be lost I suggest you have read part one of the Turkey entry.
The decision to wear a headscarf worked well at night. I didn't really try it during the next day because I only had the morning before I left to return to Greece. Because I became good at ignoring people, I had very little trouble. Don't worry. I was never in any danger. I did not go anywhere alone with the men who tried to pick me up, and they never physically tried to get my attention. I received a lot of propositions, but because I turned all of them down and ignored many of them I was never in harms way.
Now, more of the good. In Istanbul I saw many amazing sights. First I went to the Topkapi Palace, where all the sultans lived. The walls were literally covered in mosaics, and it was splendor that you don't really ever see anywhere else. The jewels, which were thrones, scepters, headpieces, jewelry, swords, armor, and even a cradle made of precious materials and covered in huge diamonds and rubies and emeralds etc put the crown jewels in London to shame. It was absolutely amazing and gorgeous. I saw the harem, where concubines and wives lived, as well as where the Sultans lived. There was a section of the palace devoted to artifacts. Among them were some unlikely and others more likely. For instance, there were clippings of Muhammad's beard (believable) and Moses' staff (not so believable). David's sceptre and John the Baptist's arm were also among the artifacts. Swords of Muhammad's followers and companions also were presented. As I said, these artifacts varied in how believable they actually are.
After the Palace I headed over to the Blue Mosque and saw that huge mosque. They have 3 places for readers and of course areas for men then for women to pray. Lunch was followed by the Agia Sofia, which was gorgeous and huge. There were Byzantine mosaics upstairs that were just amazing, some of them were even fairly complete still. There was a lot left from when the Muslims used it as a mosque (more recently than it being used as a church). After finishing there, I went to the Grand Bazaar, which was a lot of fun and a flurry of activity. I heard after I returned that for a kiss on the cheek I could have gotten much lower prices. Don't think I would have taken advantage of that, but it is interesting to hear. The next day I went in a cistern which was huge and cavernous. It was beautiful and peaceful down there, and in the back were huge carvings of Medusa.
Well, I have to run to class, but I will finish this all up next chance I get.
See ya!
The decision to wear a headscarf worked well at night. I didn't really try it during the next day because I only had the morning before I left to return to Greece. Because I became good at ignoring people, I had very little trouble. Don't worry. I was never in any danger. I did not go anywhere alone with the men who tried to pick me up, and they never physically tried to get my attention. I received a lot of propositions, but because I turned all of them down and ignored many of them I was never in harms way.
Now, more of the good. In Istanbul I saw many amazing sights. First I went to the Topkapi Palace, where all the sultans lived. The walls were literally covered in mosaics, and it was splendor that you don't really ever see anywhere else. The jewels, which were thrones, scepters, headpieces, jewelry, swords, armor, and even a cradle made of precious materials and covered in huge diamonds and rubies and emeralds etc put the crown jewels in London to shame. It was absolutely amazing and gorgeous. I saw the harem, where concubines and wives lived, as well as where the Sultans lived. There was a section of the palace devoted to artifacts. Among them were some unlikely and others more likely. For instance, there were clippings of Muhammad's beard (believable) and Moses' staff (not so believable). David's sceptre and John the Baptist's arm were also among the artifacts. Swords of Muhammad's followers and companions also were presented. As I said, these artifacts varied in how believable they actually are.
After the Palace I headed over to the Blue Mosque and saw that huge mosque. They have 3 places for readers and of course areas for men then for women to pray. Lunch was followed by the Agia Sofia, which was gorgeous and huge. There were Byzantine mosaics upstairs that were just amazing, some of them were even fairly complete still. There was a lot left from when the Muslims used it as a mosque (more recently than it being used as a church). After finishing there, I went to the Grand Bazaar, which was a lot of fun and a flurry of activity. I heard after I returned that for a kiss on the cheek I could have gotten much lower prices. Don't think I would have taken advantage of that, but it is interesting to hear. The next day I went in a cistern which was huge and cavernous. It was beautiful and peaceful down there, and in the back were huge carvings of Medusa.
Well, I have to run to class, but I will finish this all up next chance I get.
See ya!
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