Attack of the Floridiots

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Floridians, as a rule, are very fluent in the language of sunshine. It just so happens that the Fourth of July presented a perfect opportunity to embrace our Floridiot-isms, kick back, and enjoy the spoils of Sounion.

The Temple of Poseidon rests on a rocky cliff overlooking the Cape of Sounion. While the temple itself stood magnificently on perfectly crafted columns, nothing could quite compare to the vast expanse of ocean laid before our feet. One of the rocks jutting out from the side of the cliff quickly became our designated cat-walk...seriously, there are probably at least fifty pictures of us in various poses standing on that fricken rock...

Whatever the light touches will be yours, Simba...

If I had to pick two favorite things on this trip, they would probably be the views and the FOOD. I still don't really know how we've managed to eat so much without gaining twenty pounds. 

"Fat Girl Victories:

1) Not having to cross your legs because your thunder thighs are capable of covering everything."

~Brianna Sigman

We ate at a very fancy-shmancy restaurant overlooking the sea. Apparently, the food was included in the excursion, so of course we went to town. Like typical Americans, our dishes of choice generally revolved around fried things, cheese, and meat. They were so cute, bringing us a Greek salad. How adorable.

The only thing better than peacefully watching the waves go by is swimming in them. After downing a ridiculous amount of food, we ventured to the water for some good-old beach time. I don't think any of us were prepared for a full out beach resort, complete with umbrellas, cabana boys, and blaring '80s music. 

Going to the beach here is incredibly different from beaching it up in the States. Every beach we've been to has been equipped with standardized beach chairs and umbrellas that cover every inch of free space. Imagine the beaches back home: you probably think of white sand and varying beach camp set-ups, right? Well, over here, the resorts provide all beach equipment necessary as a way to charge for beach use. Our equivalent in America would be the daily charge for driving your car on the beach, or the day-pass for public access. They don't have that kind of system for resorts, so the hotels find some way to charge extra for convenient beach tools. 

The view from my lounge chair.

Still, the water was absolutely beautiful, and we were able to enjoy a lovely afternoon celebrating the Fourth of July on the beach. It's so strange, swimming in fifty-feet-deep water while still being able to see the bottom. I felt completely save venturing out into the lagoon, whereas going chest-deep in our murky water at home always entertains the risk of sharks. There's nothing quite like swimming in a crystal clear sea without a care in the world.

We wrapped up the celebrations with a birthday party for Ellie and Jimmy over at the Kaplans. Can't beat a great dance party complete with cupcakes, sparklers, Transformers party favors, indestructible balloons, and an adorable five-year-old. (Seriously...we tried sticking the balloon between the elevator doors, and it still didn't pop.) Now that the festivities are over, this is Maddie, signing off!

Castle in the Sky

Nafplio, Nauplia, Nauplie, Nauplion, Anaplion, Anaplia, Napoli, Nafplion, Navplion, Nauplia...this place just doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. Point of the matter is, our adventure in the Peloponnese ended with a trip to the first capital of Greece. "Insert name here" remained the center of Greek politics from 1821-1834, when King Constantine made the switch-a-roonie to Athens. Our first destination was the magnificent ruins of Palamidi castle, overlooking the Argolic Gulf. Apparently, there's a 99 step staircase leading down into the actual town, but we wisely opted for the bus option.

You'd think after climbing so many mountains, the views would all start looking the same, right? Wrong. Absolutely, positively wrong. It's like this place is a really good TV show, each episode gets better and better. Every site we've been to is gorgeous and wonderful in it's own way. 

So far, Paladimi castle is probably one of my favorite sites. It was just so peaceful, nothing beats standing on top of the world with the expanse of the Argolic Gulf at your fingertips without a care in the world. Our visit to the castle was only perfected by chicken pitas and gelato down in the city. Pitas are kind of like the Greek cheeseburger...they're our go-to food when we need a big boost of energy in a little time. To be perfectly honest, though, I was ready for a little excitement in the food department. Switching it up to pork pitas every now and then is always so rebellious.

Venturing into town was an experience, though, that's for sure. I swear, the amount of bizarre situations we find ourselves in is getting ridiculous. We were innocently walking out of the pita restaurant when this strange looking character emerged from a little side store. He was about eighteen, and introduced himself as Christos. Now, Christos spoke very broken English, so introducing ourselves was a little difficult. Apparently, my name is now Maria and Brianna has been dubbed Marianna. For some reason, Corey's name seemed to escape him, and he couldn't even say Hannah (the Greek's don't have an equivalent for the "H" sound...when they laugh, it sounds like "pa pa pa"...lol). He didn't seem to have a problem pronouncing Jimmy, Rebecca, or Allison, so they were fast friends. 

Romeo, Romeo, where fore art thou, Romeo...

Even with his spotty English, Christos was just a Chatty Cathy. He asked us all about where we were from and what we were studying. Not gonna lie, it was a little awkward because of the intense language barrier, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. We only saw him and his father in the shop he was managing, so he must've been lonely. I think he just spotted people around his age and jumped at the chance for company. It just differed so much from the behavior we're used to that we were caught off guard. From what I've experienced, Greek shop owners are the only locals that attempt any conversation, and it's typically an advertising pitch. For the most part, we've been either pierced with cold hostility, people watched with curious fascination, or simply just ignored. These occasions in which locals appear genuinely interested are far and few between, and we were kind of taken by surprise.

It was all in good fun, though, and after a very unorthodox conversation, we headed down the streets of "whatever floats your boat" for some good ol' shopping. Unfortunately, we ended up going down the touristy street, with the snow globes and the parthenon magnets and the eight euro sunglasses. All was well, though, as we passed about four gelato places on the way. Yes, people, there is such thing as a Gelateria, and it's a very happy place.

I'll have one of everything, please.

Sometimes, I look back on days like Saturday and wonder how we managed to fit everything in. When you think about it, we hit two famous archaeological sites and had a snack break all before one o'clock in the afternoon. Back home, that's about when I'm getting ready to start the day. Still, though all this adventuring makes me crave a coffee maker like nobody's business, I wouldn't change it for the world. This is Maddie, signing off!

YODO: You Only Die Once

Galavanting through the ruins of ancient Corinth was promptly followed by a trip to the Shaft Graves of Mycenae. It just so happened that walking through the Lion Gate was like walking into Narnia...only with less snow and more dead people. We initially passed two main graves, formally titled Grave Circle A and Grave Circle B, in which excavations have continuously dug up remains of men, women, and children. Archaeological evidence suggests that Grave Circle A was originally reserved for the royal men of the time, since remains of women and children date a little later on. Small artifacts were also discovered in the graves, though it's unknown if these objects suggest any religious significance.

Grave Circle A

Of course, these graves weren't the end of our tour of ancient Mycenae. As per usual, this whole shindig involved climbing yet another mountain to get to the good stuff at the top. I know you lovely people are probably sick of scenery photos by now, but I think I'm an addict.

I think we've climbed so many mountains over here that going back to flat Florida is going to be a piece of cake. UNF campus? 

Bring it on. 

Our destination turned out to be a deep cistern with a slippery staircase leading down to the bottom. We were a little confused when Sir Kaplan gave us a hint to bring a flashlight of some sort, but our questions were answered at the mouth of this cave. It was absolutely pitch black, and one missed step would cause a giant domino effect of falling bodies. 

Not fun to fall down.

Pitch black.

It was really interesting going all the way to the bottom, though. The stairs were very slick and tiny, and there was condensation forming on the cave walls. The cistern was nice and cool, though, and we came to the general consensus that it would've been the perfect place for a rave. Unfortunately we were a little lacking in the glow stick and boom box department.

Our trek through the Peloponnese is to be continued in the city of Nafplio. This is Maddie, signing off!

The First Book of Corinthians

Saturday June 30, 2012


"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preservers. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:1-13

By the way, I totally did not Google best verses from Corinthians.
Knew that off the top of my head.
Yep.

Sappiness aside, visiting the ancient city of Corinth proved to be a great exercise of imagination. Walking through the city required an active sense of the past and the ability to visualize an entire civilization that thrived thousands of years ago. Without such a reverent outlook toward history, all the rocks would admittedly start looking the same. 

Funnily enough, the governor of the city finally realized that
it was unsanitary to have travelers relieving themselves on the
streets, so he saw fit to make public restrooms. These are the
individual toilets themselves, thousands of years later.

This is Ancient Corinth's Main Street.
In order to enter the city, you had to descend
a flight of stairs, so patrons couldn't wheel in
big carts or wagons of merchandise

I imagine a great bustling city fit to burst with activity. Travelers from the countryside rush into the city to get straight to business. Children play ball in the street while their mothers are taking care of the shopping. Men sit on the marble steps playing puzzle games, simply people-watching. Each individual shopkeeper specializes in his or her preferred trade: bakers, butchers, tailors, blacksmiths. Paul casually strolls down the street to the nearest church. Everyone goes about his or her errands as normal, without a care in the world.

This building gave citizens of Ancient
Corinth access to the springs. We were
actually able to hear the running water
deep in the ground.

I don't usually get so wrapped up in ancient ruins, but for some reason this city really came to life in my mind. It's a strange feeling, treading the sidewalks where people conducted normal, everyday business. Think about it: in the present we're just going about our daily lives, when thousands of years from now, people of the future could be walking through ancient UNF or Gainesville. Trippy.

While being wrapped up in the ruins of history was crazy enough, leaving the site felt like entering a whole new world. Right outside the historic landmark, a very small carnival had been set up, targeting tourists with flashy rides and over-priced sunglasses. Unfortunately, the park was closed when we visited so we weren't able to ride the cool virtual reality thing-a-magig. Bummer.

It's interesting to see such blatant tourism paired with the actual city, though. Looking down one street, it was quite obvious that the vendors were targeting tourists, but there was also a little market with hand-made pottery and authentic goods. The whole area surrounding the archaeological site served as a giant contradiction, with tourism and realism working together as a unit. It's interesting, because our experiences with tourist sites have suggested that the locals generally stay away. When what used to be the center of your town transforms into a melting pot of tourists, you might be a little bitter about it. That point of view didn't seem to be the case here, though. The people of Corinth went about their business anyway, even with an excavation in the center of their city. 

However, such a nonchalant attitude towards tourist traps might be a result of the absolutely beautiful countryside. Our tour guide, Liz, happens to be a good friend of the Kaplans, and she graciously invited all twenty-something of us into her home for cake and fresh-squeezed lemonade. Initially, I thought we'd be a bit cramped in a little tiny apartment-style house. Turns out, Liz and her family are the proud owners of a fairy-tale home.

This would be the view from their back porch.
Absolutely gorgeous.

Liz has two twin boys of about twelve and a girl that looked to be about seven. It was amusing, because one minute the boys would be horsing around like boys do, and next they'd be asking incredibly mature questions like "what are you studying" and "what do you want to do with it". Not only that, they'd ask the question and actually expect a proper answer. It didn't feel like they were looking for small talk, they were actually interested in what we had to say. I suppose in Greek culture, it's more common for children to be a part of adult conversation rather than running off to play. Adults are more inclusive, speaking to children almost like equals. Still, it's a bit strange to see, coming from a culture where the worlds of children and adults are so drastically separated.

Corinth has absolutely lived up to my expectations. Actually, it's almost exactly what I imagined when I pictured Greece before. It felt like walking into a movie, everything was just so picturesque. I can understand why Drs. Kaplan decided to spend a year here, this entire country is absolutely beautiful. Alrighty folks, this is Maddie, signing off!

How Many Americans Does it Take to Navigate Downtown Athens?

Well, you lovely people, the answer to that question would be four.

This morning at about nine o'clock, a good chunk of us ventured to central Athens to do some research on our assigned site reports. It just so happens that this was our first adventure through the big city without the aid of Sir and Lady Kaplan. Mrs. Dr. and Ellie did accompany us to the metro station, but once they reached their stop we were on our own. Like the attentive honors students we are, we decided that splitting up would be a more efficient way of touring the city, so Bri, Corey, Ally-Rey, and I set off towards the Plaka.

I'm pleased to say that we all have our priorities straight, so our first order of business was to find a coffee shop. Thanks to the more relaxed approach Greeks have towards public dining, we were able to sit and enjoy frappe's (and a coke for me) for about an hour.

This concept of sitting and enjoying a single bottle of coke in a Greek restaurant is completely different from what I'm used to. After working in the food business for almost a year, I've become accustomed to the "sit down, eat, and leave" routine. No one want's to be that table that chit-chats for about three hours, nursing one cup of coffee. Here, it's almost like the Greeks expect you to be there for hours on end, just winding down and shooting the breeze. We're pretty much becoming Greek, it's so easy for us to get caught up in a great conversation without a care in the world.

After a much-needed boost of caffeine, we decided to at least get something accomplished. This was when we discovered that we do have the power to navigate ourselves around downtown Athens. Just give us a couple maps, and we're good to go. We may have looked like a group of tourists, but we didn't get lost once, so take THAT, big city.

Anywho, Corey's stop was first on our list, so we immediately sought out the Kapnicarea Monastery. It's this cute little church in the middle of a square in the Plaka. Unfortunately, Bri and I weren't properly dressed to go inside, but the outside was very pretty.


Second on our list was Ally-Rey's National Gardens, a wonderful little nature park in the middle of Athens. It's kind of like an oasis, you don't even notice the city when you're surrounded by a bunch of greenery. We have big plans to take a picnic out there one day and just enjoy the sunshine.

Since we were a bit pressed for time, Ally-Rey and I set off for my site, the Jewish Museum, while Corey and Brianna headed for the Olympian Temple of Zeus. Luckily, the Jewish Museum was wonderfully air-conditioned, giving us a break from the hot sun. 

It was an absolutely beautiful museum, with artifacts that date to before World War I. We had some trouble finding the beginning of the self-tour (elevator issues...long story), but once we figured it out it was pretty self explanatory. There were just so many interesting artifacts on display, and I really enjoyed reading about ancient Jewish customs. I've always found Jewish history fascinating, for some reason, so browsing through such an interesting museum was a great experience.

After a great day in the Plaka, we settled down for some gyros in this little restaurant. You remember the whole "Greek dining is such a relaxing experience" thing? Well, it's not so great when you're trying to get to class on time. We weren't exactly scarfing down our chicken pitas, but in the end our time to get home was cut a little short. We ended up second guessing our decisions on the metro, but it wasn't all that crazy. Eventually, we succeeded in boarding the right subway followed by the right bus home, so all was well. Hopefully our day will end with happy hour at the gelato place. A scoop of ice cream for 85 cents? Uh, yeah!

Alright, folks, this is Maddie, signing off!

Would You Rather: Sweet or Savory?

Kefi can be very loosely defined as the spirit of joy, passion, enthusiasm, high spirits, and all around happiness. It's not something that can be neatly compartmentalized into more acceptable categories of emotion, nor can the limitations of words truly capture its perfect essence. It has to be felt, not learned. During a memorable morning stumbling through the steps involved in traditional Greek dance, I think we all grasped the hang of it. 

Now, it's been widely publicized that I'm a terrible dancer. Two left feet plus general clumsiness does not equal graceful ballerina. Nevertheless, I absolutely love just moving to the beat of the music, and that's what kefi is all about. Our dance workshop instructor even managed to teach us some steps to make it look like we know what we're doing. After a while, though, I have to admit my feet just did whatever they very well pleased, and that was that. Even though we ended up racing to class all sweaty and gross, it was nice to embrace kefi as any good Greek citizen should.

Our happy feet finally found rest at the wonderful crepe place in the Plataea. Unfortunately, while preparing for such a long-overdue trip, we found ourselves in a right dilemma. The menu (which was kind of like a puzzle, you had to correlate the Greek one to the English one via numbers) advertised delicious savory crepes on one side and delicious sweet crepes on the other. You see the problem, here? We couldn't decide if we wanted to make dinner in the dorms and go for dessert, or just go for dinner. So the logical thing to do was to go for both dinner AND dessert. Unfortunately my savory crepe pushed the limit by itself, but I did sample some pretty fantastic sweet crepes.

Omelet, ham, tomato, Gouda cheese, green peppers, and oregano...yum.

We ended the night with a short walk around the neighborhood, followed by some good family time. It was decided that going straight to our computers whenever we get back to the dorms is never very healthy, so we've decided to have roommate family time (plus Ally-Rey and Chase). A great round of would you rather had us all talking up a storm, before inevitably retreating to our respective blogging caves. 

Well, that's that. Now for some homework/reading/finding anything to do besides homework/reading. This is Maddie, signing off!

Between Two Lung-Cancers

So, I'm pretty sure by the end of this trip I'm going to become a second hand smoker, just by sitting in the cafe down the street. It so happened that a group of us decided to venture to said coffee shop after classes for a much needed caffeine boost; unfortunately, we forgot that in Greece there's no such thing as a "no fumar" section. Just sitting and watching the interactions of the locals was fascinating, even though it was like being surrounded by chimneys. Contrary to popular belief, being outside did not deter the cloud of smoke emitting from every other table.

Another interesting tid-bit is that people were speaking English all around us. I know it sounds pathetic, but whenever we hear English we get all excited inside. I managed to overhear a bit of one conversation, and it sounded like a bunch of American students were staying here for an entire fall semester. It's ridiculous to imagine living in such an amazing place for four to five months! We didn't manage to catch where they were from, but it's always strange running into other Americans here. After being secluded to our dorm for the past week or so, we've become accustomed to only seeing the dorm residents. It's a bit of a reality check to realize that this is the American College in Greece, so there are bound to be other students here on their own.

Anyway, catching up on Dinner with Persephone was promptly followed by a birthday dinner for Charlie. Charlie, Nicki, Jimmy, Mary, Katieanne, and I all set out for this little Irish restaurant/pub a couple blocks over. Best...french fries...ever. For some reason, I just have a thing for french fries smothered in cheese. They're so great, especially when given to us by Sir Biceps. (Nicki wouldn't let us get a picture with him...apparently she wants to go back again and didn't want to be weird, or something ridiculous like that. Party pooper.) Still, I'd say it was a pretty great day, with cultural immersion and all that. Alrighty, folks, this is Maddie, signing off!