Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig. I feel as if I just woke up from the best dream I've ever had, like one of the extremely vivid ones you remember years and years later. I can't even put how amazing this experience was into words, there's absolutely no way to recreate the magical time we had in Athens, Greece. How could I describe how much fun it was talking about life with Mano, or how beautiful the ancient cities and temples and monuments were, or how ridiculously hysterical our group was? It's downright impossible, even though this blog made a valiant effort.

304's wall of happiness. :D

It seems like just yesterday we were all getting to the airport in Jacksonville, putting names to faces for the first time. It's like if you took a group photo of us at the beginning of the trip, it'd be the equivalent of an awkward family photo, while if you took one now, we'd all be doing something ridiculous like dog-piling each other. I honestly couldn't have picked a better group to experience Greece with, a group that was only made complete with awesome professors. Thanks to the Kaplans, we were able to take advantage of everything Greece had to offer, while at the same time growing culturally from each experience. I wouldn't change anything about this trip, every adventure added something new and exciting to our lives. Seriously, even the bad parts weren't that bad! Once we got the hang of living like the locals, dealing with little daily frustrations seemed so trivial compared to all our endeavors.

To be perfectly honest, I felt more culture shock coming back to the U.S. than I did that first week in Greece. The main thing that threw me off over seas was the language barrier and the foreign neighborhood, but even then it wasn't too bad. If I'm being perfectly honest, though, that first tour of our local neighborhood was terrifying. We'd just gotten off a ten hour flight, the street signs and billboards were mostly in Greek, and we had no idea how to navigate the Plataea whatsoever. That culture shock only lasted the first day, though, since we immediately left for Rhodes. After a week of smooth transition, we were able to make our way through the neighborhood without a problem.

Like I said before, though, getting back to the States was surprisingly crazy. We were all so attached to the safety net of language, saying whatever we very well pleased an knowing that no one would understand. After walking off the plane, we were bombarded with fluent English and signs that didn't have strange letters. Interestingly enough, I found myself getting annoyed over-hearing English conversations. I was so used to hearing Greek everywhere that it kind of became the norm. My irritation with the English thing could have also been because I could actually understand what they were saying. No, scratch that, "complaining" would be a better term. At least we were blissfully ignorant of what the Greeks were saying.

It's also going to take some time to get used to the fact that America isn't a cash society. I'd gotten so used to using euros for everything from dinner to souvenirs, only taking my debit card out for the ATM. At times the euro system was actually easier than debit cards, but every now and then I missed the convenience of just sliding your card and entering the pin number. I think I'll definitely be less dependent on my debit card over here, though. It's always a good idea to keep some cash on hand.

That was actually the extent of my culture shock coming back into the States. I may have exaggerated a little earlier...anywho, now that I'm all unpacked and re-adjusted, my first priority is to sleep for a good twenty-four hours. Good thing we're going to the beach in a few days, relaxing just isn't the same without the white sand and rushing water. #firstworldprobz

And so the story ends. It's been real, and I wouldn't change anything for the world, but it's nice to be back home. Now, for the very last time, this is Maddie, signing off!!! <3