With all but one final behind me, I begin the last six days of my time in Greece. I went to church at St. Paul's Anglican Church for the last time today, and it was hard. I have never seen people try to smile but be crying with regards to me, other than my mom. These are people I met 4 months ago. Due to important guests at the service (a couple of bishops for England and the secretary of the Archbishop of Canterbury), nothing happened to say goodbye during the service. Apparently I was also spared this by not saying something about me leaving to one of the women at the church before the service started. Afterwards, I went and started saying goodbye to people. Linda, the woman I was working with on the children's programming, was the first person for me to say goodbye to. It just avalanched from there. When I went to say goodbye to Father Malcolm, he had everybody fellowshiping be quiet as he said goodbye and announced that I was leaving. I turned red and couldn't help grinning to know that apparently I made some sort of a difference here. Amid tears, hugs, double cheek kisses, a person to look up on Facebook, and promises to keep in touch, I said my last goodbyes and left St. Paul's for the last time. That was one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had to do. These people acted as a church home away from home. They took me in and made me part of them. And, now, I am leaving them and likely never coming back. If I ever do come back, few of the people I knew would still be there. It is the most final goodbye that I have had to make in a long time. If this is anything like what it is to leave a church as a pastor, I do not envy those who are already doing it. This, will have to be one of the hardest things I will do in my life: saying goodbye to the church that has brought me into their home. At least in future churches, there is a possibility that I will still see some of the people. That consolation doesn't exist here. Even though I have made friends here at school, it is nothing compared to some of the connections I made at that church. I worshiped with them, prayed with them, taught children with them, and now I am leaving them. I have the mixed emotions of wanting to see all these people and work with these people and wanting to go home. I just hope someday that I can thank them for all they have done for me, but I wish that I had not needed to have this taste of leaving a church so soon.
Tuesday is my last final, in Orthodox Church, followed by a short trip to Meteora. On Thursday night we have the farewell dinner, and I will be singing the Hokey Pokey in Greek with my Modern Greek class. Friday I head to the airport hotel, and Saturday I get on the plane and arrive home. Time is almost up. I have many goodbyes left, and soon I will get to be home. I can understand why people kiss the tarmac, but I think I will skip that one.
See you all soon!!!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Wrapping up
1 week and 6 days left. The semester is wrapping up, and I will be back in less than two weeks. Not much exciting has happened recently, but it has been rather eventful.
Two Wednesdays ago, for my Orthodox Church class, we went to my prof's church for the vespers service for the Feast of St. George. His church is named after St. George, so this was quite a big celebration. One of the bishops of Athens was there and there were, by my count, at least 11 priests. Some of them, some of the time, wore black hats with a trail half-way down their backs. Asking later, we found out that these were the celibate priests. The bishop made an impression on us. He has a white beard and quite a jolly smile. I leaned over to one of my friends, Tom, and said, "He looks like Santa Clause!!". Tom laughed and informed me he was thinking the same thing. He looked like such a nice jolly man who might easily laugh with a ho ho ho. After the service, there was a procession of the icon of St. George around the block, with all of us following. There was a marching band and everything. After the service, when our prof let us ask questions, we met the bishop who came over and his first reaction was "Christ is Risen", which some of us responded to in English and some in Greek. That was fun. We had snacks (they don't have donuts, but little finger foods which were very Greek and very good). We were given a tour of the church, and had the opportunity to look into the altar area and see all the priest's vestments piece by piece put on our prof. I cannot imagine having that many vestments. Some of the pieces are for a reason that they do not know and they keep simply because of tradition. I like the simplicity of our one stole, but their vestments are so beautiful. They have to be crazy hot, though, and his movement is restricted. He has prayers that he says with each piece, and when he was ordained, the bishop said the word "worthy" with each piece and dressed him.
Last week was a busy week with 2 papers and two tests. This week will have 3 tests and one presentation, and next week is my final test. One of my paper's last week was on the comparison of the service of ordination for elders in the Orthodox and United Methodist Churches. We have many of the same elements, just done in different ways. The major difference is that we have traditions from John Wesley and they invoke specific saints.
The reason for so many tests is that in Ancient Greek, he decided that instead of one final we would have three small tests. two are over translation and one is scanning for rhythm. The scanning was easy, and I suppose that the first translation one was fine, but I will be glad when tomorrow's test is over and done. Wednesday my presentation is for Modern Greek and has to be 5 minutes. We are doing a skit, and the hardest part will be memorizing it. It should be a lot of fun, though.
Well, I should get back to studying, and I will send out another update before I head home.
See you all soon!!!!
Two Wednesdays ago, for my Orthodox Church class, we went to my prof's church for the vespers service for the Feast of St. George. His church is named after St. George, so this was quite a big celebration. One of the bishops of Athens was there and there were, by my count, at least 11 priests. Some of them, some of the time, wore black hats with a trail half-way down their backs. Asking later, we found out that these were the celibate priests. The bishop made an impression on us. He has a white beard and quite a jolly smile. I leaned over to one of my friends, Tom, and said, "He looks like Santa Clause!!". Tom laughed and informed me he was thinking the same thing. He looked like such a nice jolly man who might easily laugh with a ho ho ho. After the service, there was a procession of the icon of St. George around the block, with all of us following. There was a marching band and everything. After the service, when our prof let us ask questions, we met the bishop who came over and his first reaction was "Christ is Risen", which some of us responded to in English and some in Greek. That was fun. We had snacks (they don't have donuts, but little finger foods which were very Greek and very good). We were given a tour of the church, and had the opportunity to look into the altar area and see all the priest's vestments piece by piece put on our prof. I cannot imagine having that many vestments. Some of the pieces are for a reason that they do not know and they keep simply because of tradition. I like the simplicity of our one stole, but their vestments are so beautiful. They have to be crazy hot, though, and his movement is restricted. He has prayers that he says with each piece, and when he was ordained, the bishop said the word "worthy" with each piece and dressed him.
Last week was a busy week with 2 papers and two tests. This week will have 3 tests and one presentation, and next week is my final test. One of my paper's last week was on the comparison of the service of ordination for elders in the Orthodox and United Methodist Churches. We have many of the same elements, just done in different ways. The major difference is that we have traditions from John Wesley and they invoke specific saints.
The reason for so many tests is that in Ancient Greek, he decided that instead of one final we would have three small tests. two are over translation and one is scanning for rhythm. The scanning was easy, and I suppose that the first translation one was fine, but I will be glad when tomorrow's test is over and done. Wednesday my presentation is for Modern Greek and has to be 5 minutes. We are doing a skit, and the hardest part will be memorizing it. It should be a lot of fun, though.
Well, I should get back to studying, and I will send out another update before I head home.
See you all soon!!!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Spring Break
Spring break was last week from two fridays ago to yesterday. It was a good time, and now I have less than a month until it is time to come home. 3 weeks and 4 days, by my count.
Mom, Dad, Leanna, Angie, Aunt Sandi, and Grandma Gerry all arrived in Greece on Wednesday, but I did not see them until Friday (Good Friday). Church was at noon, and I met them shortly after. The afternoon was spent at the National Archaeological Museum, where I finally saw some pieces I missed the first time I went. They were apparently overwhelmed by the whole thing, because there is quite a lot in there. We went to Nafplio that night, where we spent the entire week. On Saturday, we got up and went to the market. That was a lot of fun, and we bought ingredients so I could cook a Greek dinner for them. This involved mad scrambling and strange phone calls to discover what mint is called. We also bought 3 kilos of strawberries, half of which were gone by the time we got back to the apartment. That afternoon we went to Epidaurus, which I quite enjoyed. The last time I went, I was not given enough time, and this time I saw things that I ddn't even know was there. Angie stood at the bottom of the theatre, and everybody sitting in the seats got quiet and listened. It was cool to hear the acoustics, and it was cool to hear her sing.
Sunday was Western Easter, and we went back into Athens to go to church. The church was quite literally packed, and we had a children's program during the sermon. That was a lot of fun. We took the kids out and told them the story of Holy Week and told them that we are going to the tomb to see Jesus' body and put spices there. Most were genuinely surprised to find the tomb (actually a tool shed) with no Jesus in it. Then we had a couple of angels show up. When we brought the kids back into the church, Father Malcolm asked them what they found, and one little girl pipes up and says...there was nothing there!!! That was a lot of fun. That afternoon, we went to the Acropolis. I am ashamed to say that this was my first time up there. It was actually a let down. I guess looking at it for 3 months, I just expected more. There was scaffolding covering half of the Parthenon, and rubble was everywhere. Angie and Leanna did get a kick out of seeing the Muses on one of the other temples, and they started singing a song from Hercules.
Monday, we went to Delphi. It was just as amazing the second time around. I didn't take many pictures this time, because I got most of those the first time. I just walked it and enjoyed it. This was the place where we were given 20 minutes on the site, we spent 2 hours on site last week.
Tuesday we headed to Corinth and Mycenae. Corinth is one place that I had not yet visited, and it was nice. However, after seeing Delphi, it was nothing. It was one place that was flat enough for Grandma to walk and see the whole thing, and it was the last place I will go to follow Paul. Mycenae was fun, just as I remmebered, and the weather was even the same as the first time. Rainy. But we did get a picture with the whole family in front of the Lion's gate. That night we went back to Nafplio a little early, and I cooked dinner. I made soutzoukakia, which is meat balls in a red sauce. We also had tzatziki and fried pitta bread. It turned out pretty well, though I accidently made twice as much as we turned out to need.
Wednesday we took a boat to Hydra and Spetses. The islands were beautiful, and I may have to do something like that again before I leave Greece. On Hydra, we took a donkey ride. It was fun, but it was a five minute ride in a circle around the block for 10 euros. They grabbed 4 of us, put us on donkeys, and led us away, while we tried to tell them that they left Aunt Sandi, Dad and Grandma behind. We did some shopping, and had some adventures on the freezing beach. More than anything, though, it was just gorgeous.
Thursday, we went to Sparta and Mystra. Sparta turned out to just be a city like any other. We knew that nothing was there, but we figured there would still be SOMETHING. We were wrong. Mystras was worth it all, though. It was Byzantine ruins built up a mountain. They were mostly ruins of monasteries, though there was one working monastery still there. It was quite a hike, but worth it. It was breathtaking. I can't even describe it, and pictures just cannot do it justice, but let me tell you...If you EVER go to Greece, take a day for Mystra. I thought it was even better than Delphi. Paintings remained within the churches, and it was just so different from what you normally see in Greece (meaning different from ancient ruins).
Friday we took a leasurly day in Nafplio and did some souvenir shopping. It was Greek Good Friday, so the bells were ringing all day. Three times during the day they rang for over an hour, and then there was the chanting. It just went ON and ON. The cathedral was right outside our apartment, so there was no escaping it. We thought it was bad when the bells went off at 7 every morning, but at least then they stopped after less than a minute. We were to the point that we were going crazy. Mom wanted to go tell them that Christ is Risen, so shutup. It was tempting. That night, they had services, and as part they brought decorated epitaphs for Jesus in a procession to the center of town from every church. We stood there with candles as the procession occurred. Each epitaph had pall bearers. They were highly decorated with flowers, and they all have an icon of Jesus on them. They were escorted by choirs, a marching band, a group of soldiers, and small children. People carried crosses and inscense. It was absolutely beautiful. After the procession was over, we left, because we couldn't see anything anyway. Everybody in the town was gathered in the square. Not long later, we heard the band again, and we went out to our balcony. From there, we watched as one of the epitaphs was brought back to the cathedral, with full ceremony. The marching band came, followed by the soldiers and epitaph. The band marched off, and the soldiers lined up to the epitaph was carried between them. Then they marched off. The bells started ringing again, and then there was chanting. It was 11:30 before any of us got to sleep.
The next morning, at 3:30, we woke and were out of the apartment by 4 to get them to the airport. We got all locked up, and Grandma informed us she left her dentures inside. We had to call the tour guide at 4 in the morning to come let somebody in to get it. They weren't even inside. In hindsight it is funny. They got to the plane and home with no issues, and I rode a bus back to Athens. I was in my apartment by 8:15 and aslep by 8:30. 8 hours later I woke, feeling quite refreshed. Don't worry, I was tired enough that it did not interfere with my normal sleeping schedule at all.
Sunday was Greek Easter. I went to my church then went out to get lunch. I was determined to have a traditional Easter meal. It consists of whole lamb rosted on a spit. They also have this intestine thing wrapped around some innards on the spit and roasted. I was brave enough for the lamb, but not the supposedly delicious intestines. My second easter in a week went on without a hitch, and after a day of homework, break has ended. All week I acted as tour guide in many places, which was fun. I also acted as translator, which was more fun. I will be glad to go home, but I have a lot of work to do before then.
See you in May!!
Χριστός ανέστη
Αληθώς ανέστη
Christ is risen...He is risen indeed!!
Mom, Dad, Leanna, Angie, Aunt Sandi, and Grandma Gerry all arrived in Greece on Wednesday, but I did not see them until Friday (Good Friday). Church was at noon, and I met them shortly after. The afternoon was spent at the National Archaeological Museum, where I finally saw some pieces I missed the first time I went. They were apparently overwhelmed by the whole thing, because there is quite a lot in there. We went to Nafplio that night, where we spent the entire week. On Saturday, we got up and went to the market. That was a lot of fun, and we bought ingredients so I could cook a Greek dinner for them. This involved mad scrambling and strange phone calls to discover what mint is called. We also bought 3 kilos of strawberries, half of which were gone by the time we got back to the apartment. That afternoon we went to Epidaurus, which I quite enjoyed. The last time I went, I was not given enough time, and this time I saw things that I ddn't even know was there. Angie stood at the bottom of the theatre, and everybody sitting in the seats got quiet and listened. It was cool to hear the acoustics, and it was cool to hear her sing.
Sunday was Western Easter, and we went back into Athens to go to church. The church was quite literally packed, and we had a children's program during the sermon. That was a lot of fun. We took the kids out and told them the story of Holy Week and told them that we are going to the tomb to see Jesus' body and put spices there. Most were genuinely surprised to find the tomb (actually a tool shed) with no Jesus in it. Then we had a couple of angels show up. When we brought the kids back into the church, Father Malcolm asked them what they found, and one little girl pipes up and says...there was nothing there!!! That was a lot of fun. That afternoon, we went to the Acropolis. I am ashamed to say that this was my first time up there. It was actually a let down. I guess looking at it for 3 months, I just expected more. There was scaffolding covering half of the Parthenon, and rubble was everywhere. Angie and Leanna did get a kick out of seeing the Muses on one of the other temples, and they started singing a song from Hercules.
Monday, we went to Delphi. It was just as amazing the second time around. I didn't take many pictures this time, because I got most of those the first time. I just walked it and enjoyed it. This was the place where we were given 20 minutes on the site, we spent 2 hours on site last week.
Tuesday we headed to Corinth and Mycenae. Corinth is one place that I had not yet visited, and it was nice. However, after seeing Delphi, it was nothing. It was one place that was flat enough for Grandma to walk and see the whole thing, and it was the last place I will go to follow Paul. Mycenae was fun, just as I remmebered, and the weather was even the same as the first time. Rainy. But we did get a picture with the whole family in front of the Lion's gate. That night we went back to Nafplio a little early, and I cooked dinner. I made soutzoukakia, which is meat balls in a red sauce. We also had tzatziki and fried pitta bread. It turned out pretty well, though I accidently made twice as much as we turned out to need.
Wednesday we took a boat to Hydra and Spetses. The islands were beautiful, and I may have to do something like that again before I leave Greece. On Hydra, we took a donkey ride. It was fun, but it was a five minute ride in a circle around the block for 10 euros. They grabbed 4 of us, put us on donkeys, and led us away, while we tried to tell them that they left Aunt Sandi, Dad and Grandma behind. We did some shopping, and had some adventures on the freezing beach. More than anything, though, it was just gorgeous.
Thursday, we went to Sparta and Mystra. Sparta turned out to just be a city like any other. We knew that nothing was there, but we figured there would still be SOMETHING. We were wrong. Mystras was worth it all, though. It was Byzantine ruins built up a mountain. They were mostly ruins of monasteries, though there was one working monastery still there. It was quite a hike, but worth it. It was breathtaking. I can't even describe it, and pictures just cannot do it justice, but let me tell you...If you EVER go to Greece, take a day for Mystra. I thought it was even better than Delphi. Paintings remained within the churches, and it was just so different from what you normally see in Greece (meaning different from ancient ruins).
Friday we took a leasurly day in Nafplio and did some souvenir shopping. It was Greek Good Friday, so the bells were ringing all day. Three times during the day they rang for over an hour, and then there was the chanting. It just went ON and ON. The cathedral was right outside our apartment, so there was no escaping it. We thought it was bad when the bells went off at 7 every morning, but at least then they stopped after less than a minute. We were to the point that we were going crazy. Mom wanted to go tell them that Christ is Risen, so shutup. It was tempting. That night, they had services, and as part they brought decorated epitaphs for Jesus in a procession to the center of town from every church. We stood there with candles as the procession occurred. Each epitaph had pall bearers. They were highly decorated with flowers, and they all have an icon of Jesus on them. They were escorted by choirs, a marching band, a group of soldiers, and small children. People carried crosses and inscense. It was absolutely beautiful. After the procession was over, we left, because we couldn't see anything anyway. Everybody in the town was gathered in the square. Not long later, we heard the band again, and we went out to our balcony. From there, we watched as one of the epitaphs was brought back to the cathedral, with full ceremony. The marching band came, followed by the soldiers and epitaph. The band marched off, and the soldiers lined up to the epitaph was carried between them. Then they marched off. The bells started ringing again, and then there was chanting. It was 11:30 before any of us got to sleep.
The next morning, at 3:30, we woke and were out of the apartment by 4 to get them to the airport. We got all locked up, and Grandma informed us she left her dentures inside. We had to call the tour guide at 4 in the morning to come let somebody in to get it. They weren't even inside. In hindsight it is funny. They got to the plane and home with no issues, and I rode a bus back to Athens. I was in my apartment by 8:15 and aslep by 8:30. 8 hours later I woke, feeling quite refreshed. Don't worry, I was tired enough that it did not interfere with my normal sleeping schedule at all.
Sunday was Greek Easter. I went to my church then went out to get lunch. I was determined to have a traditional Easter meal. It consists of whole lamb rosted on a spit. They also have this intestine thing wrapped around some innards on the spit and roasted. I was brave enough for the lamb, but not the supposedly delicious intestines. My second easter in a week went on without a hitch, and after a day of homework, break has ended. All week I acted as tour guide in many places, which was fun. I also acted as translator, which was more fun. I will be glad to go home, but I have a lot of work to do before then.
See you in May!!
Χριστός ανέστη
Αληθώς ανέστη
Christ is risen...He is risen indeed!!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Funny story from Modern Greek
So, I am going to tell a story on myself from today. We had a modern Greek test. I got done in about 15-20 minutes and went up to hand the prof my test. She gave me a look that said, you can't be done. I watched her face as she looked through my test nodding with the look that says "ok". At one point she makes the "you fell for it face" and hands it back to me explaining that there was a trap on the test. At one point we were to change everything in a sentence to plural. It said, a big juice of orange, so I changed it to big juices of oranges. She says orange should not be made plural. So I fixed that and handed it to her. She looked at it, and handed it back to me again shaking her head. So, I changed big and juices back to singular. She looked at it and handed it back to me again saying "don't get up until you figure it out". I just stared at it until finally she points out it is accusative. I had been making it nominative. So, the 4th time I turned it in, she nodded and kept it. Such are the perils of turning in my test first, because everybody else had the benefit of my mistake, so they did not make that mistake. By the end, I was bright red and giggling from embarassment, but at least I had the answer correct!! Now I just have to decide if on the next test we take I will wait until somebody else has turned it in first (spare myself the embarassment).
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
I'm back : midterms, Delphi, Olympia, and Thessaloniki
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 :).
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 :).
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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