Squirrely Antics

2006-07-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sammy the little lamb and the newest addition to the Adinolfi clan!!!!
He is now 9 days old!!

2006-07-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Feeling Nostalgic and Adventurous:

My cousin Carolyn has come to visit on her way back home to Sydney. She has just been vacationing around Greece, Turkey, London, Ireland (to visit all of our relatives), and now she has come to California to visit the Adinolfi's. It is great to see her (since the last time i saw her i was a mere 14yrs old) and it is great to talk about Greece, New Zealand, and my family with her. I hardly ever get the chance to hear the dish about my cousins. I envy my cousins really. In Europe they get 3-6 week holidays in which they all travel abroad and have exciting adventures every year, if money will allow it. I guess I am itching for another grand adventure!

Last night we had a barbeque at my house and Stephanie and Michelle came over. It was great to see them again and we had some major talking to get done! hehe. Steph told us a little bit about life in Germany. It sounds soo great! I hope i get the chance to visit there one day!

All of this, plus seeing friends graduate and leave to travel (like Marc and Mo) leaves a girl thinking about doing the same when she graduates. Oh well, for now I have my senior year to get through!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

2006-06-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

THIS IS AN INFORMATIONAL MESSAGE:

ARE YOU OR WERE YOU ONCE A STUDENT?
DO/DID YOU LOVE YOUR MAJOR?
DO YOU LOVE TO MAKE A STATEMENT?
OR...DO YOU JUST WANT TO WEAR A DAMN GOOD LOOKING, HIGH QUALITY T-SHIRT

IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO ANY OF THE ABOVE THEN THIS WEBSITE IS FOR YOU!

www.majorfashion.com/zen

COMING SOOOON TO A CLOSET NEAR YOU!!!!
ENJOY!!!

2006-06-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Below I have posted just a few of the many pictures I have taken of my new dog Amber. Enjoy. In the photos with her are my sister, my mom, and my dad, I have not yet been able to maneuver holding her and snapping a shot at the same time! maybe some of me to be posted soon.

2006-06-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

2006-05-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

Study Break:

Today I took a little break from my homework to do a little surfing on the Internet and found something quite incredible for a Queen fan like myself! In a place called Montreux, Switzerland there is a statue of Freddie Mercury that I would some day like to see! It is a beautiful statue of him as you can see from the picture, what a neat tribute!

2006-05-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
So I have not posted to my blog in a long while and I have a moment to breathe for now, so I thought I would write a little update. I usually post when I have just had a big event and I am not really one to post about my feelings and usual goings on. However, today for a special treat I think I will write an update about my silly life.

We are admist week eight right now and as week eights tend to be this one is as burly as ever. I have a lot of big projects coming up including a paper for friday, a paper for next wednesday, two ten page term papers, and three finals, plus an anotated bibliography for my thesis to do. How I ever get through the work I never know. Really it is amazing to me how right before it starts to get bad I always think "there is no way I am going to get through this without an extension!" but for some reason and by some combination of hard work, luck, and fate I always get through it and have never asked for an extension (although I sometimes feel that I do not put out my very best work! :(
I am coming down from a vacation high right now, I spent two weekends ago in Vegas and I went home last weekend. Both trips were a blast and spent in GREAT company. I LOVED the chance to go home last weekend and I really needed it emotionally. I feel that I have not had enough time with my family since leaving for Greece and starting school back up this year. I had a little time with them over Christmas and New Years and that was it. My family is in a wonderful transitional period right now. We have just moved into a new house, which for us is extremely weird since I have lived in the same house since I was four. We are taking on a new life style of ranchers, farmers, fruit keepers, and sheep lovers. And we have a joke that we are going to make a family t-shirt with a picture of our ranch on the front with a BIG avocado and then a picture of our sheep on the back with some funny slogan. hehehehe. I can't believe that I live at Crazy Horse Ranch!
College was really hard on both my parents but especially my dad who I feel has not been completely his lovable, goofy self since sarah and I left home and maybe since his father died. Now though he seems to be coming alive again and it is one of the greatest feelings on earth for my sister and I to see. I think that our new house has a lot to do with it and the fact that my sister and I are graduating soon. All is glorious on the home front and I can't wait to spend time there this summer and when I graduate.
I was inducted into the Anthropology society Lambda Alpha today and it was exciting for me because it was something that I have been looking forward to since I was a freshman. It was a relaxed thing, we all just had lunch with some of our professors and talked about our possible theses and where we see ourselves in the future. It is amazing what great things anthropology majors do! some of my fellow students there were talking about doing such great things this summer and when they graduate and it fills me with hope for my future.
I am excited about my dig this summer at the Santa Barbara Presidio and hopefully in the future I will have the opportunity to go on more digs. I can't believe I signed up for camping for six weeks!! but if I want to be an archaeologist I need to get rough and out in nature!!!
My professors announced who the new chair of the Anthro dept. will be next year and it is Professor Kealhofer. This is an ominous thing! I have never taken a class with Professor Kealhofer but I have had meetings with and she is a nice lady. She is tough though and it will be rough to have her as the chair when I am doing my thesis. I am going to have to take BIG breaths next year. I am sad to see Professor Westermark step down as chair since I admire him so much and respect him so much, but maybe Professor Kealhofer will do good things for the dept.
Okay, well that is what is new in my life!! Have a good wednesday everyone!!

2006-05-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

CHARACTERS: AN EXAMINATION BY CATHERINE ADINOLFI

THE ARCHAEOLOGIST:

The Archaeologist shows up to parties with a little bit of dirt under her nails. She isn’t afraid to
wear a hard hat, and in fact, has one to match each of her work shirts. When she is out to lunch
and asked what she does for a living, she is commonly mistaken for a geologist or a
paleontologist. Her closest friends are a pickaxe and a shovel. And her greatest fears include
cave-ins and spiders. She has never been any where near the Temple of Doom nor does she
carry a whip. She prefers to work in a unit rather then a cubicle. And although she dreams of
discovering something great, it seems the person working next to her always finds it first.

THE CLASSICIST:

The Classicist knows all the hot places to go, if you are fifth century Greek. She loves to be up close and personal with antiquities, even if it means climbing under the foundations of the temple to Apollo. It gives her pleasure to read Ancient Greek and Latin. And she can quote lines from the Iliad off the top of her head. She knows that you shouldn’t use some god’s as guidelines for how to live. She gets all of Aristophanes fart jokes, and never blushes at a stolen flute girl or erect phallus.

2006-04-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Ode to the Bug on my Arm:
A Poem by Marc Wiesner

Little buggie
grabbing so snugly
to my arm as I ride.

Was your voyage intentional,
or was it simply accidental,
that you landed on the hair of my hide?

Shouldn't you fly
along currents of the sky
instead of hitch along through the rain down Bascom?

How different are we?
you with wings and thorax,
myself on steel, pedaling on the street.

I won't balk;
born with legs, I rightly should walk,
on innovative transportation, I'' shouldn't even speak.

2006-04-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hello All! Happy Easter!!!
Well, it is another rainy day in Northern California, I really hope that all the little kids out there are still able to have their easter egg hunts (although I doubt that a little rain could inhibit a kid!). As for me, I get to have my own little easter egg hunt today courtesy of the wonderful Mr. Mike Wiesner!!
It has been a lazy weekend for me. On friday night my roomie Lisa and I made dinner for ourselves, Mike, Marc, and Frank. We played a little game called "Battle of the Sexes" where you break up into a male team and a female team and you ask eachother questions from the cards. The guys ask the girls "guy" questions, and the girls ask the guys "girl" questions. Then we wached the movie "Domino" with Kiera Knightly. It was a great evening at home! Yesterday I got some homework done, watched Food Network for a few hours (I am determined to become a better cook) and then I went to Mike's to help him put up flyers around campus for a new buisness he is starting with Marc. I hope his flyers yield great results, and if not I have full confidence that after a bit of tweaking they will do great the second time! I have a bunch more reading to get done but it is all pretty interesting stuff: Aristophanes Clouds, a chapter on a anthropologist, a chapter for my North American prehistory class, some reading about Greek Myth, and some editing to do to a paper for my Classical comedy class. (OH man that sounds like a lot more when I typed it out then when I thought about it in my head!!) I had better get going on it!
Happy Easter!!!

2006-04-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

NEW PICTURES!!
check my photos three link on the right for new pictures from my spring break in Catalina as well as some pictures of my new house. I have not been able to upload all of my the pictures of my new house due to webshots silly photo limit so they will be coming soon!
patience is a virtue!!!

2006-03-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday March 11, 2006

I had an early start this morning. I left the boys at Manchester around 10:30ish and then came home to study for a quiz which I took promptly at 2:00pm. I haven't been doing well on these quizzes unfortunately but they are optional and only hurt my grade if I choose not to take them at all. So there is no use crying over them. It has been a busy week for me, I had a forensic paper due tuesday, I chose to write mine on the pathologies of the Ancient Egyptians as seen through mummies. I titled it "From the Emblamer's Table to a Lab Near You". Then on friday I had a website due for my tech class and a presentation to give on that website. I was really nervous about this but it turned out really well I think and my professor seemed happy with it. If you want to check it out, the url is http://itrs.scu.edu/ratliff/ciss06/cis12 I did the project with two others and my page is the one there on motivation, enjoy!
I have learned a lot about webcomics through this project and have become horribly addicted to a couple of them. My favorites are a couple of photo comics, Reprographics and A Softer World, you can find links to them on my website if you are interested.
The next few weeks will prove to be very difficult for me, I am on the precipice of week nine and then there are finals and it is all over! I can't wait till I get home for spring break!!!
Have a great saturday!

2006-02-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE JELLY BELLY FLAVOR ?

After turning in my midterm last week (I know more about the Internet now then I ever wanted to) and shaking off the exhaustion that more and more seems to sum up my junior year, I took a trip to the HAPPIEST place on earth. If the picture above has not given you a clue where this is or you are desperatly hanging on to Disney Land as your answer then let me put your mind at ease, I travelled to the Jelly Belly factory!! Not only what seems to be the world's happiest place but also the world's most colorful.
Diane and Mike were the explorers who along with me were brave enough to make this journey, we crossed bridges, traversed marshes, overtook cattle, and made it through the grind that is bay area traffic and almost an hour and a half later battered but hopeful we made it to our destination, a simple building on Jelly Belly Lane.
It was here that we entered a magical world. Greeted by the Jelly Belly vehicle extrodinare and a life size red bean waving to us from his seat on a bench near by we felt exhilartion at having made it to our destination and excitment at the prospect of things to come. I could not help thinking that I was entering Charlie's chocolate factory when I saw the employees of the factory in their Jelly Belly hard hats emerging from the building. It was a strange and yet so joyous a sight.

The inside of the factory was a treat for all the five senses. There were jelly beans hanging from the ceiling, painted on the walls, ready for us to taste in the gift shop, and the smells of the beans being made inside filled the air with the scent of fruit and licorice. We waited in line until it was our time to take a tour and every moment we were finding something new to gaze upon and enjoy. We found Jelly Belly portraits of our Governator, of Martin Luther King, and of Reagan. It was a smorgsaboard of color and fun.

Soon it was our time to take a tour. We were brought upstairs and given our hats which we were to wear at all times during the tour. Inside we were shown how the jelly beans are done in three stages each getting their own flavoring which is what separates Jelly Belly's from all other jelly beans. We saw the beans taking form through color and sugar, being dried, being stamped with the little white label, and being packaged for people to enjoy everywhere. We saw how Jelly Belly art is created and we saw the machines and people who make this whole process possible. To make the tour more enjoyable the Jelly Belly team has a few tricks up its sleeve. They take big beans much like the one that was sitting outside on the bench and put them inside the factory in poses. For instance they have one bean sitting on a machine which is lifting heavy boxes in the packaging area. This bean is dressed like a cowboy with hat and chaps included and as the machine moves up and down putting the boxes of treats in place the bean looks as if he is riding a bull with one hand up in the air. Then this machine reaches down and picks up a sign as a part of its work a sign that reads "Thank you for visiting our factory!" Now how is that for making your visitors feel welcome, Way to go Jelly Belly!! They also had another bean flying through the air in the drying area who was dressed like a super hero.
At the end of the tour we were given free jelly beans and a taste of their new JBz which are chocolate goodies which look like M&M's but with colorful outer coatings like their Jelly Bean counterparts. With our free beans in tote it was time for us to take the gift shop by storm!!
For 2 dollars you can buy 1/4 pound of beans, this is more then enough to give me a serious sugar rush and rot my teeth for the rest of the quarter. Being an avid eater of these gourmet beans I thought that I had nearly tried them all, boy was I wrong.
Some flavors that I had never tried includeded: margarita, jalapeno, buttered toast, cinnamon toast, roasted garlic, strawberry jam, red apple, peanut butter, and the mystery flavor (which I will not reveal). After having sufficiently tantilized my taste buds and having grabbed some beans for my sister I was satisfied.
I recommend the Jelly Belly factory on One Jelly Belly Lane in Fairfield Ca. to anyone who is feeling like some weekend excitment that will leave you giggling all the way home!!

2006-02-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Taken from the book When Corporations Rule the World" By David C. Korten

"No sane person seeks a world divided between billions of excluded people living in absolute deprivation and a tiny elite guarding their wealth and luxury behind fortress walls. No one rejoices at the prospect of life in a world of collapsing social and ecological systems. Yet we continue to place human civilization and even the survival of our species at risk mainly to allow a few million people to accumulate money beyond any conceivable need. We continue to go boldly where no one wants to go."

2006-02-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

Safeway could ruin your relationship!

A few nights ago my partner in crime, Mike and I were watching the history of buffalo wings on food network when we decided that we must go get some chicken! (oh the power of t.v.) so we headed over to Cluck U to grab ourselves something spicy. While Mike went in to order the food I went over to Safeway to buy us some ranch dressing. Having grabbed the Hidden Valley I bolted to the check out counter (you gotta beat the hordes of college kids with their beer) and was waiting in line when the couple in front of me decided that they couldn't leave without getting themselves a bottle of water. So the gal ran to grab one. A few seconds later the guy turns to me and says "How long does it take to get a fucking bottle of water!"
Note: WHAT IS THIS GUY THINKING!!!
The girl returned not long after this having no idea what was going on or even noticing that her boy toy there was even remotely annoyed with her. Then they skipped off into the dusk together. I give that relationship another week!
What a jackass!!

2006-02-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here is an email that a dear professor of mine sent to our class this afternoon:

In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, President Bush
said that we are a "nation addicted to oil." He's right.
Unfortunately, it appears the President is fueling that
addiction, by threatening to veto a bill that would tax the
record profits being reaped by oil companies - profits that come
at the expense of consumers and the environment.

The day before the President's speech, the world's largest oil
company, ExxonMobil, announced that it made $36.13 billion in
2005. That is the largest profit ever recorded in the history of
American capitalism.

Since President Bush is working to keep those profits high, it's
up to citizens to step up and hold ExxonMobil accountable for
the damage they're doing to the environment and your wallet.
Towards this end, the ExxposeExxon.com campaign has created a
short, funny video in Exxon's honor.

Click the link below to check it out, and then take action and
tell ExxonMobil to clean up their act:

http://www.truemajority.org/ExxonToastsThePlanet.html

You heard the man!! watch the video and pass it on!!

2006-01-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

Yasu!!
Christmas break has now come and gone and I am back at SCU for winter quarter. Today is my second day back and things are going well so far (knock on wood). I am taking a couple anthro classes, one classics course on St. Augustine and a tech course for one of my last gen. ed. requirements but it is a sociology class so it should be fun. I am getting used to being back at a true university instead of the little pink two story building that I was previously attending. I miss Greece and the friends that I made there, but it is good to be home. My first day back was exhausting and I walked around scatter brained, dropping things right and left and feeling mostly like a freshman all over again. Today has been better though and I am settling into the college life once again.
If you are reading this and you are a friend from Greece, make sure and say Yasu!!

2005-12-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

I AM GOING HOME!!! check out the last of my photos of Athens on my photos three link!!
Kalispera Athens!!!! I WILL MISS YOU!!!!

2005-12-16T02:47:00.000-08:00

Check out my new pictures on my Photos Three link!!

2005-12-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

I HAVE FINISHED MY LAST FINAL!!!!!!

MY TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR MY LAST DAYS IN ATHENS, GREECE :(
Thursday: Lycavittos Hill, Acropolis, Philoppau Hill all in one day and without any transportation due to the strikes. WOW!! Some point Thursday afternoon I am going to a Rembetiko club for lunch, since I haven't been to one yet and I have already been to a Bazookie club!! Thursday night I have plans to go to the only vegetarian restaurant in Athens called Eden with my roomie Marianne and anyone else who decides to come with us on our adventure there.

Friday: Jewish Museum, last gift shopping, Syntagma for the Christmas village extravaganza, taking pictures of downtown athens and everything else one last time!! have two parties to attend at school. One for evaluations and then the formal goodbye party to say goodbye to the teachers and staff here.

Saturday: My last day in Greece!!!!!!!!!!! I will be packing and running around trying to take pictures of all the last things. Maybe I will go watch the first Narnia movie, I need to eat one last Gyro and some baklava since I have not had that in Greece yet. and then I will be saying goodbyes to everyone here most likley though a big party in one of the apartments.

Sunday: Leaving to the airport at 3:00am, Flight going out at 6:00am. Flying to France and then New York. Leaving New York at 7pm arriving in San Diego at 10:30pm on sunday still!!! man the time change is going to mess me up!!

2005-12-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Here is a poem that my Aegean in Prehistory teacher read to us as a close to our class. It is from a modern Greek writer named Kavalis (that is his last name) and i love it!! If you have read any Homer you will understand this, but if not then Ithaka can be any place you want it to be! Enjoy!

Ithaka
As you set out for Ithaka
hope that the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonias and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon - you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope that the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbours seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind -
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so that you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

2005-11-29T03:11:00.000-08:00

HELLO!!
I have finally finished posting my photos from Olympia and from my wonderful Thanksgiving trip in Ischia. You can find them in my "Photos Three" link on the right. I am working on my post telling all about my GREAT trip, i think it will be up shortly, although there is a lot to say in this one and so I am writing it in sessions. hehe. I will also write titles to all my pictures so don't worry!!
Have a great Tuesday!!
(Mike, I hope you are getting home safely!!)
THANKS DIANE AND VITO FOR A GREAT THANKSGIVING!!

2005-11-29T02:42:00.000-08:00

My Thanksgiving!!
Hello! I have returned to Athens after a GREAT break and am finishing off my last three weeks here and then it is home for me!! I am very very very excited to be going home!!
I had a Wonderful!! thanksgiving break on the island of Ischia with Diane, Mike, Vito and Anna. I will start my tale on tuesday morning.

Tuesday:
1:30am I was up and preparing for my journey
2:45am I left my apartment for Plateia Plasteria where I would catch a taxi to the center of the city, aka: Syntagma. When i made it to the Plateia i saw four cabs lined up waiting for some buisness. When two drivers came out and asked me where i wanted to go, i said the airport, WOOPS. I realized i had said the wrong thing (and had made their mouths water since the ride to the airport is like 50euro) and so i quickly said "no, no, Syntagma" instead. This disappointed them but i was buisness so they took what they could get. I hopped into a cab and he drove me to Syntagma.

At Syntagma i bought a bus ticket for the X95 which would take me the half hour drive to the airport. I reached the airport at a quarter to five for my 7am trip. My ride to Italy was very smooth. I slept most of the hour and forty minute trip with no problem.
When i arrived in Italy it was around 8am, since I lost an hour. In the Rome airport (with the handy dandy directions that Mike made and mailed to me, i found my way around easily) I walked through the terminals to the train station and bought a ticket to the Rome Termini (where i was to board a train to Naples). The train ride to the main Rome station was 31 minutes and a nice ride that allowed me the opportunity to see some of Rome, which looked very green and beautiful.

After arriving at Rome Termini I was a bit confused. I had lots of time until my train left to Naples and so i relaxed and realized that it was okay if i did not find my way to my platform immediatly. I went a lot of wrong ways until i found an info booth where i asked a nice man how to get to my platform. He told me how to walk to the main train station (i guess i was more with the metro lines) and how to look at the screen to find my platform. So i walked to the very end as far as i could go and i hung a right. Then there it was, the trains standing before me, lots of eateries, and kiosks, and the screens where i was to find my platform information. The screens i found out later do not display your information until 10minutes before your train leaves, so after learning this I sat down on my suitcase in front of one of the screens and in front of some trains so that i could train and people watch, and I eat the snack that i had so handily packed myself!! (i had made myself peanut butter sandwhiches on little pita breads, i had lots of them and only finished eating them right before the very end of my journey).

My train arrived early and I boarded it, found my seat and sat down. My luggage was in the way of the isle and so the nice italian man sitting next to me helped me put it in the carraige above. Then i listened to my Ipod mini and stared out the window all the way to Naples. The train was BEAUTIFUL, the prettiest train i have ever been on before. I had a very comfy seat and a table to put stuff on (and mike even got me a window seat so that i could look out the window, how nice of him!). I was a happy camper. The ride to Naples took a little over two hours. At the last stop I got off the train. My luggage, which i thought was light at the time, turned out to be as heavy as bricks (what did i pack?) and when I tried to get off the train, i tripped over my suitcase and fell to the concrete below. Two really nice Italian men picked me and my luggage up and sent me on my way again. hehe. oh the Italians are very nice!

A little bruised but very happy to have made it safe and sound, I arrived in Naples at around 3:00pm (my journey has now lasted from 3:00am to 3:00pm, oh man!). I circled around the train station twice hoping that I was really in Naples and not in the wrong terminal when i looked outside and there were a smiling Diane, Vito and Mike!!!! YEAHHHHH!!!
My luggage now off my hands (Mike took care of that, although i tried to help) I chatted to my wonderful company and we walked to the ferry to Ischia.

The ride over on the ferry was very bumpy and exciting! and we arrived on the island just a little bit after dark. We took a bus from the port to Vito's house (which is Gorgeous) and i dropped my stuff off in Mike and My little apartment.

Wednesday:
On Wednesday I awoke and was out the door by around 8:30. Mike and I caught the bus and took it to two towns of the island, Forio and Ischia Porto. We ended up walking a lot this day and we even discovered a town that no buses went to, I am not sure if we ever found out its name? (you will have to read Mike's blog, maybe he knows?) We found lots of scenic spots for pictures of the ocean and the towns and then we headed back home before noon for lunch at Anna's. This meal is the biggest and most important meal of the day and it is dinner - while the rest of the day is for snacking. hehe. this is something that i heard Vito say to Mike. hehe. Anna is a wonderful cook!! And i was very happy for the home cooked meal, something that i have not had in a long time (i don't count the food i make for myself in my apartment home cooked). At the end of lunch/dinner I tried my first taste of Anna's homemade Limonchello. It was too strong for me although it smelt delicious and fresh!
That night I went to bed early for Thanksgiving!

Thursday, aka: Turkey Day
On thanksgiving Mike and I again left our Italian abode by 8 and headed out for our big day of Adventures (this is an adventures with a capital A) today we went to Saint Angelo and the Castle of Catherine of Aragon. Saint Angelo was a little town right next to the ocean with nice little shops and cafes (we stopped at one and had Italian donuts and a cappucino) and beautiful views. We spent time here just enjoying in the views and taking pictures.

Next we hopped on a bus to the Castle of Catherine of Aragon. The Castle is set apart from the rest of the island on what looks like a little land bridge. Walking up to the castle is intimidating due to its sheer size and its position on the cliffs above you. There are many seagulls that fly around the very top of the castle which adds to the grandness of the sight. When you enter the castle you pay the 10Euro fee (which is well worth it for all the fun that awaits you) and you can choose to take the elevator or walk to the first floor. Mike and I missed the entrance that took you to the elevator and instead found the hallway up. This hallway is very ominous covered by its large stone walls and rounded ceiling and its darkness. You definitly feel like you are entering a castle.

The first room we stopped at was the museum. This musuem is a torture musuem and a museum for the history of the castle. The first area we decided to explore was the torture wing since after walking up that hallway what else could top off the experience. So we took a look through all of the strange devices and gory pictures of past centuries (which i will not go into detail about but allow you all to use your imaginations) and Mike took some pictures when the guards back was turned. Then we took a look at the history of the castle, at some old costumes and a catapult and pictures of all the old Kings and then we headed out to explore the rest of the Castle.
We headed up further toward the top. We discovered next an open room (with no roof) where a lot of cats (9 that i counted) were hanging out. I think this area used to be a church of some kind because it had the typical architecture with the Aps in the front, etc. We stopped to pet the cats, and I named on that I really liked Moustachio because part of his nose and upper lip was black among the rest of his white fur so that it looked like he had a mustache. He was very cute and I had to tear myself away from him. Away from Moustachio we went into an art gallery where there were photographs of whale tails (not really my cup of tea with the whole being afraid of fish thing - although they are mammals) so we didn't stay here long. We wandered higher and higher up into the castle and saw lots of little garden areas and beautiful views of the ocean. Next we came to the crypt of the nuns (i don't think this is what it was called, i can't remeber the way they put it). So you walk down and enter a room with what looks like a bunch of stone chairs lining the walls. These chairs have wholes in their seats and crosses at their top of their backs, making them really strange chairs. There are two rooms in the crypt with these chairs in them, and a third room that was pitch black that we didn't go into. I was confused about what they were and why it is called the crypt of the nuns until Mike told me what he had learned. So it seems that when the nuns were sick or close to death they would come here and they would sit on these chairs and there they would die and their ashes would fall through the whole in the seat of the chair and to the ground. WOW, interesting!!!! and a little creepy.

After the crypt of the nuns we soon made it to the top of the castle and took lots of pictues of the sea gulls and the water way down below. At this point the weather started taking a turn for the worst. On our way out of the castle I spotted Moustachio again and another cat who I named Bear. Moustachio was not interested in playing with me, but Bean was, although he was much more enchanted with Mike. We took time to pet him and Mike picked him up for some very cute photos (i tried to take him with us) and we walked down with Bear at our side. By the time we made it out of the castle it was raining and Bear had left us for some friends. We had a hard time catching a bus home that day, no drivers seemed to stop and we waiting in the rain for a long time until we finally started walking back. We made it almost back as far as Ischia Porto and we caught a bus home. When we arrived we were late and had held up Diane's wonderful Thanksgiving.

At dinner I eat as much koogle as possible and lots of chicken and stuffing, cranberry sauce, and lemon soda! It was a feast!! YUMMMMMY! That night I slept very well!!

Friday:
On Friday Diane and Vito took us out for an adventure in Vito's car. We drove around the island and saw a wonderful beach where it seems it is the place to be during the summer. I collected shells and lava rocks for my dad and took lots of pictures. Next we went to see the Church of St. Restituda who is a big saint on the island and has a large festival once a year. She is said to have been sent out on a burning boat out to sea but she survived and thus she became a saint. The church was very beautiful and all around We headed home around 12 and we eat yummy thanksgiving leftovers for dinner, then Diane took Mike and I out to Forio for some shopping and to take in Forio after dark. We tried to see Harry Potter but it was dubbed in Italian only! :(

Saturday:
Saturday was my last day on the island. We were not sure that i would be able to leave due to the storms and many jokes were made about me swimming to Naples (which i think would have been reasonable if not for my fear of fish and the fact that Naples is 40 minutes away by boat) hehe. We explored the island again and I got a chance to see everything that i might have missed (although i think i could go back a million more times and not see everything). Saturday evening Diane took Mike and I for a walk along the ocean and to a church that she loves which is on a little cliff hovering above the water. It is decorated beautifully with mosaics outside which are placed between crosses and on the inside with wonderful paintings of saints and such. The wind by this church was very intense to say the least and I was pretty afraid hovering around up there, i felt like i would blow over into the ocean, and then i would have to swim home for sure. hehe.

Sunday:
On sunday Vito made a lot of calls for me to figure out how I would get home. He called the airlines, the coast guard, the ferry company trying to get me home safely. Thanks Vito! and finally we learned that the ferries were running again and so i packed my bags up.
I left Ischia on a ferry at 1:50pm and i didn't get home to athens until 7:00pm the next day!!!! I had planned to relay this whole tale to you but I don't think i am going to. This post is very very very long and all you really need to know about my trip home was that my flight was cancelled and I was put up in the Hilton for the night. If you want to know the details of my very long trip home you will have to ask me! hehe.

Kalispera

2005-11-28T19:12:00.000-08:00

Hello!!
This post is to let anyone concerned know that i have returned to Athens safely and am sitting in my school typing this note as we speak. I will relay my adventures to you in the morning, now it is time for food and lots and lots of sleep (i have only slept four hours)!! and a shower.
see you tomorrow!

2005-11-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

November 21, 2005

Hello all,
Since I don't want to leave anyone hanging, I will start where I left off in my last post. So I resolved my dilemma and went to the march on the 17th. I had planned not to go and was settled into the computer lab at school to check my email when I heard that the lady, Jan who runs our program was on her way to the march and was seeing if anyone wanted to come with her. I jumped at the opportunity and went with her there. She is an American and goes to the march every year. She has never had any problems, she knows where to stand, what to do, how to run if need be and so I figured that if I was going to go there was no better person to go with.
We stood away from the American Embassy, where the march is known to get violent and we also stood in front of a bunch of bushes. This way, Jan said we could make a quick get a way if things got bad.
So we stood and waited in the down pour of rain for the march to walk by us. About a half an hour to an hour later they did. Protesters were young and old and were holding a variety of large signs and flags. Signs which said that they were the communist party or the socialist party, or a workers union, or a student union, or ex-prisoners from the Red Scare. They were all marching against imperialisim, for democracy, against the Iraq war, for justice, etc. They yelled chants which i could not understand since they were in Greek and they were through a blow horn, which in English I can usually not understand.
The march was a great experience and I recommend that everyone goes if you have the chance!! The Greeks are incredible because it was probably maybe fifty or so degrees out that day, they were soaked through with rain (many were not wearing any hood or umbrellas, girls were in high heels or skirts sometimes) and they still marched down the street from the Polytechnic University all the way to the American Embassy (a distance so long that I usually take the bus when I go near one or the other). For that I have great respect for them. It is great that they still march in remembrance of an event which happened in 1973. I wish that we could do the same in the U.S. although i am pretty sure that if we did it would have grave consequences and it would not be as peaceful on the people involved (because of the police in the U.S. ) as it is in Greece.

My trip to Olympia:
I left for Olympia at 9:00am on Friday. Friday we spent the day in the bus. We made pit stops to see the Corinth canal, and the ancient city of Elis which used to control the sanctuary of Olympia back in the day, and we also stopped to explore another castle which I once again was a great conquerer of!! Friday night we went for a walk around the small small town of Olympia and found some dinner not far from our hotel.
Saturday we went to the sanctuary itself. It was POURING rain but we were lead by a crazy classicist who rain or shine will lead us through the sites with so much enthusiasm that it is very contagious. hehe. We saw the training rooms, the dining rooms, the meeting rooms, the temples, the stadiums, and the museum at Olympia. We also saw Phiedia's workshop which was built to an exact replica of the cella (inside room) of the Temple to Zeus so that when Phiedias was working on his ENORMOUS cult statue to Zeus he would know how big to make it to fit in the temple if he just made it to the specifications of his workshop. This statue is famous though none of it remains today (it was broken in to pieces and taken to Constantinople, so history says) and it was one of the seven wonders of the Ancient world.
We walked through a lot of mud (which we sunk into most of the time) and i tried to take as many pictures as I could why trying not to loose my unbrella in the wind at the same time. hehe. It was worth it though!! Olympia is one of my favorite sites thus far!! The weather though it was pretty horrible has made the sanctuary very lush and green, and thus perfect for visiting and taking pictures!! There are also funny photo ops in the Temple to Zeus and around, i have lots of funny photos!!
Sunday was the Nature conservation classes day! This area of the Pelopponesus has is a wet land with four lagoons and a marsh. It also has pine trees called umbrella pines which are in a forest which is one of the three last remaining umbrella pine tree forests in Greece. There are also many birds to see ( the Audobon society loves this place) and new regulations have been set up by the EU to save the wetlands and the forests from destruction from hunters and loggers. I have seen many a beautiful temple in Greece and many a beautiful ocean view, but I have never seen anything like this. We went to the information center of the town (which i am not going to attempt to spell now, it is a complicated Greek word which i can't remember the spelling of) where a forest ranger/guide told us about the wetlands and the ecosystems and then took us around for a tour. We climbed to the top of a mountain from where we had stunning views of the area. I took many pictures here. and then we went down to look at some migratory birds in the ranger's telescope and then we took a walk through the umbrella pine tree forest for an hour which led us to the ocean and the beach where there are beautiful sand dunes!!!! It was like something out of a dream! I hope my pictures do it justice!!

Monday:
Today I am preparing for my trip to Italy. My flight goes out at 7:00am tuesday morning. I land in Rome around 8:00am and my train from Rome to Naples leaves at around noon. I should be in Naples by 2:30. It will be a long day of travelling but i am very excited!!!!!! I can't wait to see what another country has to offer!! And i can't wait to see some friendly faces from home!!

Kalimera!!

2005-11-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

So I have a dilemma!
Now, as a future anthropologist studying in Greece I should take advantage of this great opportunity and go to the protests today. I should find a safe place where I can watch and observe what happens on this day since I may not have the chance again.
BUT....
I have been told varying opinions from Professors here, My Greek teacher (who is Greek) and encourages us to go and just be careful and my Modern Greek Society teacher who is American and says NOT to go. Now, whose advice do I follow?
My Modern Greek Society teacher who has lived in Athens now for five years says that it is NOT a good idea to go to the march, especially this year because with what is going on in France they could be very violent and cars have already been lit on fire in Athens this week already (although this of course is not making it on to the news here - it is funny how they try to cover these things up). She also has said that if we do go we should make sure to stay away from the anarchists who will be there in black hoods, because they will certainly be arrested and we could very well be arrested with them (which is why we have to have our student id's with us if we go) as well as possibly being blown down with fire hoses or hit with tear gas (which apparently happens every year).
With this, should i go to the march as a studying anthropologist who should try and experience cultural events like this that i may never get the opportunity to experience again? hmmm. this is my dilemma.
I will let you know in future what I decided.......
TO BE CONTINUED....

I am leaving for Olympia at 9am tomorrow!

2005-11-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

Helloooo!!
Sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time, but to make up for it this will be a very long entry!
To catch up I will start where i left off last friday!
NOTE: I sadly forgot to bring my camera to Myceanea, so I will try to make this entry a descriptive one!
Friday:
On friday at 6:30pm we left on our two hour bus ride to Nafplio. The bus ride was very nice because we had our usual tour bus (although our driver for the first time was different) although this time it was even better because it was only our class on the trip and so we had the whole tour bus to ourselves and thus had about four seats to ourselves! So i took advantage of this and stretched out, listened to music, and slept for the ride.
When we arrived in Nafplio we went to our hotel, Hotel Nafplia, which was a nice hotel. I was assigned to stay in a triple with two gals here but instead i switched into a room with Linda, Emily, and Betsy. After we were settled we left ten minutes later to eat some dinner. We went to a taverna with live music where we were yelled at by the waitor for ordering mostly just greek salads (this has never happened to us in Athens, and so when the waitor told off our teacher for this, we were upset and embaressed that we had put her in this position.)
After dinner we headed around the town for a little walk back to our hotel. The city of Nafplio is very nice with lots of pedestrian walkways lining little shops, some very nice with expensive jewelery and worry beads inside, and little cafes that line the coast.
At midnight we were back in our hotel and off to sleep!

Saturday:
On Saturday we were up for breakfast at 8:00 and out the door by 8:30 for the twenty minute drive to Myceanea. I had been preparing this morning for a presentation that i was to deliver at the sight on the place/megaron, while the rest of my group was preparing their presentations on the walls of the site, the geography, and grave circles A and B. The palace was magnificient. It stands on the top of an acropolis and is surrounded by large walls (which are still probabally 20ft. in height but used to be much taller in their day). The name for these walls was coined by Homer as Cyclopean walls. These Cyclopean walls are made out of large blocks of limestone which are cut into blocks and laid together so that they form something called ashlar masonary. To enter the walls you must walk up a ramp and through a Lion's Gate, which is a wonderfully constructed doorway. To make this doorway the Myceneans took large slabs of stone and stood them at each side for the door frames and cut into them holes for the handle to the door to fit in (this way when the doors were open they would be flush to the door frame), Then they take another slab (called the Lintel) and lay that on top of the two creating a top to the door frame. This is where the complicated thinking comes in! In order to keep these slabs from toppling over the Myceneans cut into the walls above the lintel a triangle. This triangle changes the pressure on the slabs and instead of weight pushing down on them, the weight is pushed out and off of the door itself. I hope that all of this makes sense. hehe. it may be one of those things that you need to see to understand. hehe. Once you do see it though it is magnificient! And this is all just the gateway to the structure!
Once inside the walls you walk past a granary and a guards stand (the Myceneans liked to see who was coming in and out of their palaces) and past Circle A graves. You then reach a propylon which having walked through takes you to a courtyard and to the main megaron of the structure. The megaron is broken into three rooms. The first an entry, the second a vestibule, and the third is the throne room. The throne room is always the third room and is characterized by four columns in each corner, a hearth in the middle, and a spot for the throne at one side. It is here that I gave my presentation, which i thought was good but was hard to give due to the INTENSE wind that threatened to blow me over as I spoke (or at least my sheet of notes that i was reading from! which would have proved to be more tragic had it occured)
Next we explored other parts of the acropolis where there are domestic buildings and bathrooms, one of which is thought to be the very bathroom where the King Agammemnon was killed!! this is of course very unlikley and more likely to be an archaeologist's imagination running away with him! hehe.
Outside of the acropolis is grave circle B as well as the largest and grandest of the tholoi that we visited called the Treasury of Atreus. This tholoi was VERY large. (to make sure everyone follows because I think that my writings can be confusing, hehe, a tholos is a round building that can be used as a meeting room or as a very fancy tomb, which is what it is in this case). To enter the structure you walk down a ramp which moves down into the ground and underneath the hill, this ramp is called a dromos. The dromoi that I have seen before in Crete were much smaller and shorter then the dromos here, this one had walls at least 14ft high! To enter the building you walk through a doorway which is very elaborate in this case flanked with green limestone columns (which are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens- i took a picture of them when i was there for you to see!) this doorway again has the two side slabs and the lintel at the top with the triangle to take away the pressure above that. The room inside to be very descriptive is like a hudge beehive made of stone. hehe. It is here that the deceased would have been either buried in small shafts or just lied on the ground itself and grave good put around them. Can you imagine, such a large beehive for one body to lie in!! WOW!!
And that concluded our trip to Myceanea.
OH wait i forgot something in the middle!! the most important part, or the most exciting at least!! When we were within the walls there is a Mycenean cistern which you can traverse down into and so we did since some of us had flashlights in tow! The entrance to the cistern looks just like a large whole in the wall in which there are steps going down. It looks harmless and yet you do not know what awaits you!! hehe. These steps which look like they will be short (since how deep could a cistern be?) instead go on until you are pretty sure you have reached the center of the earth!! i thought that i was about to hit lava at any moment! finally though you do reach the end which is just a drop down into a little pit. The end itself is not as exciting as the journey to it!! hehe.
So we survived the trip to one of the most famous Mycenean palaces of all time and the home of Agammenon!
That afternoon I went to the grocery store and bought banana cookies (YUM!) and took a walk with my class around the water.

Sunday:
On Sunday we went to the Palaces at Tiryns and Lerna. Tiryns is also on an acropolis and is set up much like Myceanea. There are two parts to it but a lot has been lost on one side. The megaron is much like the one we saw before with the propylon leading to it and its three parts. Lerna is a nice site because it is very small and thus very quiet (we were the only ones there) plus they have some mud brick structures which still survive!!
Sunday afteroon we took the bus back to Nafplio and up to the Venetian Palace from the 15th century that is on an acropolis there. This palace looks like a fortress and we were able to run wild all over it!! I have a hypothesis that since the Greeks really did not like that the Venetians controlling them (and since the Venetians ruined the south walls of the Parthenon) they now as revenge let tourists, like me, run all over the castle with out supervision to whereever they want! i was very very thrilled about this!!
So in the spirit of a great conquerer Sarah, Kara, and I took the castle by storm. We discovered guard towers, secret cisterns, platforms (onto which we raised napkin flags in the name of us!) undiscovered rooms, and more!! it was a very adventurous afternoon!!
Then with the exploring out of our system we headed home for Athens.

Monday:
On monday I spent the day at the National Archaeological Museum here in Athens. I have been to this Museum before but had always forgotten to bring my camera until this day!! (my photos are posted for you to see!) When I arrived at the museum it had not opened yet so i decided i would sit down out front and enjoy the crackers that i had packed in my purse (i anticipated being very hungry when i left and so i packed these very special rye crackers to enjoy!) When I had finished my crackers and patted myself on the back for packing them a couple sat down next to me. I ended up talking to them until the Museum opened up in an hour. They were from Seattle and were in Athens on vacation with a tour group. I was able to help them with some need to know Greek phrases such as please and thank you, how to get around, and where to go. I talked to them about my time here and they were very nice and chatty. hehe.
Then I entered the museum, of course for free with my handy dandy athens student card (which makes me a VIP) and stayed for two hours! it was LOVLEY!

Tuesday:
On tuesday i went back to the National Archaeological Museum for class and saw the beginnings of the happenings at the Polytechnic School where they are getting ready for the Holiday this thursday which i mentioned is in memorial for the students that were killed there in their demonstrations against the Junta. I am going there on thursday to see the processions (although i need to be very careful!) Then I left the museum having completed my assignment early and headed down to Syntagma, Plaka, and Monastiraki for some gift shopping in preparation for my trip to Italy this coming tuesday!!

Wednesday:
Today is just a usual day here in Athens consisting of class, writing a paper, and updating this blog finally!
I will let you know what the parade was like when i go tomorrow and i will try and take pictures of the protesting if i can!

bye!!

2005-11-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

Check out my new photos from the National Archaeological Museum!

2005-11-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

Its been a long week
Today marks the end of a very long week for me here in Athens. My last midterm which I took wednesday is finally done in my Modern Greek class, I have sent out my packages, lettters and postcards to their recipients, I have finished my visa application and am now legal, I have given my presentation and have prepared for my last one tomorrow. All in all it has been a good week. I leave tomorrow for Nafplio at 6:30pm tomorrow, it is going to be another long bus ride for me.
Nafplio should be one of my most exciting field trips yet. Not for Nafplio which was once the capital of Greece way back when before Athens, but because I am travelling to Myceanea. There I will be able to see large tholoi, maginificent grave goods, (a lot of which are now in the National Museum in Athens) and some more always wonderful megarons. You just can't get enough of the Myceneans!
Next week is a BIG week here in Greece due to the anniversay on Nov 17 of the shootings at the Polytechnic University here in Athens. The shootings occured when the students at the University rose up against the Junta who was then in charge. Many students were hurt and killed and because the great land of the United States supported this military regime, Nov 17 is also a day of anti- Americanism. I will be carefully going to see the parade and the protesters at the University and at the Embassy on this day, however I will have to follow a few guidelines when I go so as to be safe. In other words I will not be able to get very close to the action but i will have to stay back at the side lines away from the Embassy, I will have to watch how I dress (this is not a day of baseball caps and college sweaters), and I cannot attend in a large group. Basically I need to blend in, if that is at all possible with my hair color. It should be a great event to see!
Then next weekend I am off to Olympia and then it is off to Italy for Thanksgiving the weekend following that!
My time here is winding down faster then I ever imagined. I only have about four weeks left!!!!
Have a great night!!

2005-11-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

Hello All!!
It is time for me to take a study break from my Greek and write all about my trip to Delphi!!
Friday:
Friday afternoon we left from Athens to Delphi via a three hour bus ride. The scenery on the bus was breathtaking as we left the city and entered into the peloponessos. The landscape was much more rural and very mountainous and green. The leaves were falling all around and there were sheep and goats roaming about the hills. It was very lovely. A long ride though on a bus full of rowdy twenty year olds. hehe.
When we arrived in Delphi we settled into our hotel (which was nothing special just your average hotel, i was staying in a triple with Linda and a gal named Liz) and then we started out over to the Sanctuary of Apollo to see a lower portion of it that included a temple to Athena, and a tholos, then we were going to see the Castalian Spring.
The site was crowded with students which funnily enough were from CYA or College Year in Athens. They are American study abroad students who are living not very far from us in Athens. It was weird when the group of us realized who they were and heard them speaking English. It is always weird come to think of it when I hear English when i am walking around. My hears are so used to not being able to understand a lot of what they hear, that when they do understand they latch on to it! hehe. The only time that this really happens though in Athens is in the big tourist areas like on the Acropolis or in Museums. It made us all happy to find some fellow Americans and we all stared at eachother with big smiles on our faces when we realized who they were. hehe.
The tholos and the Temple to Athena were nice to see, i do not know much about their history with the sanctuary but they were a good introduction to the area and a nice site to visit on our first day in Delphi. On our walk out down the road back to our hotel we passed by the site of the Castalian Spring. The spring flows down from the mountains in between two valleys. You can not go in to see the spring but i took a picture of the area where it is behind the trees. You can however see the bathing area where the Pythia (oracle) of the Temple to Apollo would go and bathe (in Castalian Spring water) before starting in on a long day of work. There is also a fountain that brings the Castalian Spring water to the ground where i filled up my water bottle and drank none other then Castalian Spring water!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amazing! fresh, cold, refreshing, and I am sure cured me of all my ailments at the time (i didn't think of any i had at the time, but had i had some, then it would have cured them with the power of Apollo!)
That afternoon I took a walk around the city of Delphi (which used to be on top of the Sanctuary itself, but which was forced to move by the French when they wanted to excavate the Sanctuary) with Naomi and Shelly (a gal that funnily enough is from Tuscany hills the neighborhood that overlooks mine at home in Canyon Lake, and who can see my house from her house!) we shopped around in the souviener stores and searched for a nice cheap place to eat dinner.
That night I went out to dinner and went to bed early, i was exhausted!!
Saturday:
On Saturday we eat an early breakfast at eight, and were at the sanctuary at by nine. The sanctuary was really nice!! You take the sacred way and it leads you up the south slope of Mt. Parnassus where the sanctuary is. On the way up you start by passing treasuries, my favorites being the Syphian and Athenian treasuries. Then you make your way to the Temple of Apollo. This temple is one of the largest I have seen in Greece thus far. Not much of it survives today except for its foundations and a few reconstructed columns. Inside is where the Pythia would have sat giving her advice to the many many consultants she would see every day. The most exciting part of the sanctuary today is that you can crawl under it!!!!! There is a whole in a rock which you can hop down into and then you can walk hunched over through the foundations of the building. It is very dark and very small under there, as you can imagine. Once you are underneath the building you can not turn around due to the size of the area you are in and because there is a line of people behind you who were also brave enough to climb underneath and who can also not turn around. So if you are claustrophobic i would not go in, because if you panic it will be hard to get out!! It was my biggest adventure yet!!!
This night I went to dinner with Linda and some other friends who I didn't get the chance to go to dinner with the night before and then that night everyone went to a little club in the town including our teachers and we danced the night away!!!! It was a blast!
Sunday:
On Sunday we loaded up into the bus to the monastary of Osios Lucas. At the monastary i was free to explore since i was not in the Byzantine class and thus did not have to do the class activities but could explore on my own. I found lots of spots that were very picturesque so i took lots of photos!!!! The area was very peaceful with the brick buildings, the mountains, the fall trees, and the flowers. The church was lovely and very richly decorated (as Orthodox Churches tend to be) and I was able to explore back rooms, the crypt and even was offered a piece of Turkish Delight to eat from a nice lady outside the side entrance to the church! I saw lots of Monks who were very joyful (i saw some giving hi fives which i thought was funny!) and very busy with their work of giving mass and keeping the area clean. They seemed to be very proud of their monastary. I loved being there and i loved the chance to explore on my own!!!!
This weekend i am off to Nafplio where i will see HUGE Mycenean Tholoi!!!!!!!! YEAH MORE TOMBS TO EXPLORE!!
Wish me luck on my midterm tomorrow! Kalinicta

2005-11-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

Yasu!!
I have returned from Delphi!! I had a great time and have taken so many pictures that I had to create a new account with webshots because I exceeded my photo limit on my original page. So to see pictures from Delphi go to the Photos One link on my blog and click on my Sanctuary Field Trips album and then to see the rest of the photos go back to my blog page and click on the Photos Two link. I hope this is not too confusing for everyone! I will write a longer entry all about my fun trip as soon as i get a chance. I have a Greek midterm tomorrow and so I must go off and study now!!
I send you all my love!

2005-11-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

Yasu!
I am off to Delphi tomorrow at 10:30am!
Our schedule is:
Friday: a three hour bus ride to the city and getting settled in
Saturday: at the sanctuary of Delphi from 9-3pm with class for lectures, presentations and maybe a little hike up into Mt. Parnasus
Sunday: off to a small town where there is a famous monastery (this will be the first monastery i have seen in Greece, EXCITING!) we are going with the Byzantine class that is coming with us.
Have a nice weekend!

2005-10-31T15:17:00.000-08:00

Yasu!!
I just uploaded my pictures from Thessaloniki to my photos page, however there seems to be some problems with the page. I uploaded forty one pictures but it only shows the first one!! I hope that you will be able to see them all, but if not let me know and i will fiddle around with it some more and see what i can do!! Good luck!! Don't forget to read my post about Thessaloniki and my week below!!
Kalispera!

2005-10-30T19:10:00.000-08:00

Hello!!
My sunday!
Saturday I spent the night at Linda's apartment since my roomates were all still away in Thessaloniki. We had dinner at the crepe place that Linda frequents and then we chatted until it was time to hit the sack. This morning we got up and made our way to Philipappou Hill. I have not visited this hill in Athens yet or seen the remains of the Classical school in Athens, or the grave monument of Philipappou at the top. It was a nice hike up to the top of the hill and from it we had an amazing 360 view of Athens from the Acropolis, Lycavittos Hill, the National Gardens, Pangrati, all the way to Pireaus on the other side. It is definitly the best view in the whole city!!! unfortunatly though my camera was still full from my trip to Thessaloniki and so i could not take any pictures, I will go back up though hopefully, so don't worry!
When we had gotten down we stopped at a cafe in Monastiraki for Linda and her roomate Betsy to get some hot chocolate and then we made our way through the windy streets stopping to pick up some gifts for loved ones, and back to Linda's apartment. It was a nice day in our wonderful Athens!!!

2005-10-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

My adventures in Thessaloniki:
Tuesday:
On Tuesday I left Athens on a six hour train ride to Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece next to Athens and during Byzantine times it was second to Constantinople. When Linda and I arrived we said goodbye to our classmates (thirty of them who were going to the city for class field trips) and caught a cab to our hotel. The hotel that we were staying at was researched by yours truely through guide books and online and then booked over the phone. It was a one star hotel in downtown that was suppossed to be very nice, clean and safe. When we arrived at our hotel we found that it was everything the guide books said and more!! I was happy that my research had payed off (thanks mom for all the years of showing me how to book a hotel!) It only cost us $188 (for the two of us) to stay there for five days and four nights, it was a real bargain!!
That night we found our way over to our classmates hotel and had dinner out at a nice taverna.
Wednesday:
On Wednesday Linda and I found ourselves some bougatsa for breakfast (a treat that is famous in Thessaloniki and Crete, but i think is much better in Crete) and discussed our plans to see Mt. Olympus. We decided to run into our classmates hotel to ask the front desk man how he would recommend getting to the town of Dion, which we knew had an archaeological site and was at the base of the Mt. He told us to catch the number 12 bus around the corner and take it to the bus depot of Thessaloniki where we should get tickets to the town of Katerini. So with deep breaths and full bellies we began our adventure.
We took the number 12 to the bus depot and there we bought two one way tickets to Katerini. I have never travelled by bus before at home and so I was taken aback at first by the bus station. There were people waiting, standing and sitting, for their buses to come. The buses lined up under a domed ceiling at different platforms. Our platform was number 7. The bus to Katerini was a 50 minute trip. When we arrived in Katerini we asked a lady at the station how to catch a bus to Dion. She told us to walk to the center of town and look for a McDonalds (she was mocking us for being Americans!! how rude). So Linda and I headed out to look for the elusive McDonalds wether it exsisted or not we were not sure at this point. We walked around Katerini (stopping to buy some bread, a can of beans, and water for our lunch later) for about an hour and a half we ran into two shops to ask for directions to the bus station and everytime we were led around the center of town and their was no McDonalds in sight. Finally just as i said "We will never find the Mc...." there it was in front of us, the big familiar M. Linda and I hopped for joy!!! then we realized that the McDonalds was in a corner and no bus stop stood around it! OH NO!
We circled around the famous fast food restaurant until we found a travel agent office. We decided it would be a good idea to ask for directions one more time to the bus station. Inside we saw a nice lady at the desk. We asked her in Greek where the bus station was. She began to answer us in Greek and then she must have realized that we were not Greek (probably because we looked so confused) so she asked us in Greek if we could speak English. Linda and I started giggling and let out BIG YES'!!!!! we were so happy, this was the first bit of english we had heard all day!! The lady turned out to be British and told us where the bus station was which we promptly found and took the 30 minute ride to Dion.
In Dion, Linda and I took pictures the sign for Mt. Olympus (since it was too cloudy to take a picture of the Mt. although we could see it, or what we thought was it since it was the mountain the sign was pointing at) and then we strolled through the town, lunch and bags in hand to the Archaeological Park of Dion. I had never been to an Archaeological Park before, let alone heard of one, but we were in for an amazing surprise!!!!
The park was exactly as it sounded when we entered (we entered free of course with our handy dandy Athens student cards) a wonderful tree lined park with cobbled walking paths and lakes and rivers dotting the landscape. After stopping to eat our lunch we had bought in Katerini we took off to discover the wonders of the site. We wandered down a leaf covered path into a patch of trees, when we came out of the trees we found that the ruins of a temple stood in front of us. There was a bridge that led us through the ruins which lied on either side of us, they were the ruins of the Temples to Demeter. After snapping a few photographs we decided to take the path to the Temples of Isis. The park was beautiful with its fall leaves falling down from above and its little walk ways and bridges taking you around the sights, Linda and I felt satisfied in our choice to come!
The Temple to Isis was the most breathtaking and thrilling sight I have seen in all of Greece thus far!!!! (and this is a bold statement) It is a couple of different structures some with cult statues some without but the most wonderful part about it is its setting. The site which had bathhouses not too far away was now half way submerged under water. Due to this there were metal bridges that take you above the water and through the temples and columns, and around the cult statues. In so many other sites in Greece you are no longer able to get near the Temples or inside of them in order to keep them safe. But here for the first time it felt like, i was able to get up close to the temple in a whole new perspective because I was not on the ground but up in the air on the bridge. IT WAS VERY EXCITING!!!! (i have lots of pictures). After we tore ourselves away from the Temple of Isis we looked around the temples to Dionysus and Zeus as well as around the Roman baths and the Roman Basillica. We saw beautiful frescos, plumbing systems, statues, columns, and even ancient toilets!!!
Before we left the sight we saw a goat hearder taking his goats and his dog through the Temple to Dionysus on the way to their destination. hehe.
It now being 5pm we decided that we should make our hour and twenty minute journey home. We walked back through town looking for a bus stop, almost got malled by a dog who was guarding some horses at a home on our way and settled down at a bus stop a half an hour later in the next town.
Well after night had fallen we had made our way back to Thessaloniki!!!! we grabbed ourselves some gyros and water for dinner and layed down in our hotel room, watched british tv and fell asleep. WHAT A WONDERFUL ADVENTURE!!
Thursday,
On Thursday Linda and I had plans to go to the city of Vergina where Philip II is buried. However, after our long bus journeys the day before we deicded we would explore Thessaloniki instead. We grabbed ourselves some cheese bougatsa for breakfast and headed down the street to the famous White Tower. White Tower is one of Thessaloniki's most famous landmarks. It is a large tower built by the Ottommans that looks like it should be attached to a medival castle. It was once known as the "bloody tower" because of it's use as a prison and execution place but had it's name changed to the "white tower" when a prisoner ran up to the top and poured white paint down the sids of the tower to claim it for peace. It has forever been known as such. Today it is known for it's picturesque views of the city and this is what brought Linda and I to its doors. Sadly though the tower is being renovated in the top so all we were allowed was to go inside the first 20ft. BOO HOOO!! where we saw a little exhibition of its history. boy were we glad that we did not have to pay for this, thank you Athens student card!!
After seeing the White Tower we headed on over to find the Archaeological and Byzantine Museum. We never found the Archaeological but we did find the Byzantine Museum. It was a grand musuem with wonderful exhibitions that took you through the lifestyles of men and women in Byzantine times as well as their churches, burials, material culture, etc. The cool thing about the museum is that they had inside the rooms full floors from parts of churches or parts of columns or frescos or doorways, and so when you walked into a room of the musuem you thought you had just entered into a church or into a tomb but you were still in the museum. NEAT!!
That night we met up with friends and had dinner again at a taverna. The taverna we went too was great and gave us free apple pie before we left. WOOHOOO.
This night I had a lot of trouble sleeping and was up for most of the night, however, funnily enough American T.V. shows were on to keep me company since my companion was out like a light. hehe.
Friday:
today was OXI DAY!!!!!!!
On friday Linda and I met up with our classmates at their hotel and chatted for a bit while they finished breakfast and brushed their teeth. Then the whole 35 of us made our way over to the parade route with Greek flags in hand. The parade was UNBELIEVABLE! Oxi day is a national holiday in Greece that celebrates the day when the Naxi's left, that is why it is called Oxi (which means "No" in Greek) day. The parade started with school boys and girls of all ages marching in traditional costumes. The girls wore what looked like heavy costumes of beautiful dresses, while the boys wore the traditional shirts with vests, bottoms that look like skirts with tights and of course pom pom shoes. following them came the emergency workers and the police force as well as all the clubs of Thessaloniki. Then came the armed forces with their multitudes of vehicles. They rode bikes, cars, convoys, tanks in all shapes in sizes (some so big that they shook our bodies as they rode past us) all carrying a multitude of weapons (guns, missiles, bombs, and even shovels). After followed the helicopters and jets flying at top speed over our heads!The Oxi day parade put our fire truck throwing candy parades to shame!!! hehehe.
After the parade we followed our classmates to St. Demetrius church which was right by our hotel. St. Demetrius is the patron St. of Thessaloniki and his church is a big deal because it is said to house his bones as well as being built on the sight of the bathhouse he was martyered in. We took a look around the church being guided by our classmates who were giving presentation for their class. They were pointing out the frescos and the history of the church as well as leading us down the stairs underneath the church where the bath house is. SPOOKY!!
After we were through we went for gyros (they are not as good in Thessaloniki because they put ketchup and mustard in them) and a sweet at the bakery. Then Linda and I went back to our hotel room to chat and take a rest and we ended our last night in Thessaloniki with a nice dinner at a taverna and a hot chocolate at a cafe. I had a white chocolate and it was GREAT!!!
Satuday:
Saturday we eat our last bougatsa bought some last postcards and made our way to the train station. We left a very rainy and cold Thessaloniki for the Athens that missed very much!!!
We had lots of fun our trip but were glad to be going back to the city that we love so much!! It had been quite an adventure!!!

2005-10-24T04:20:00.000-07:00

Yasu!
Today is a hard day for me!!
An old friend, Jen from high school called my parents the other day and informed them that one of my friends and teammates from school passed away in a car accident. It is hard for me because I would have liked to attend her funeral with the rest of my old teammates but instead I am here. It is not fair that her life had to end before she even had the chance to go to college. She had just graduated this year and I am sure was looking forward to a bright future. She was such a good friend to me in school and a great teammate, she always cheered me on in games although i was not the greatest polo player ever, and this meant a lot to me!! It is no wonder that so many of our teammates joined to be at her funeral, Jen told me that they filled up three pews and scattered all around the chapel.
I will not forget the way she used to wear her hair in little pigtails that stuck up from her head or how she was always singing, I was glad to hear that she performed at her Graduation Ceremony, Jen said she was amazing!! She was a great swimmer and I will not forget her butterflying across the pool!!
It sucks that this happened and it makes me mad!! I hate that I have gotten to experience two years of college, two years of life that she didn't. I just really wish i could have been there to say goodbye to her! but now there is a candle in St. Spryidon Church in Athens burning for her!
For Ashley

2005-10-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hello again,
I just added some more pictures to my Weekends in Athens album!
Check out my blog below!
Kalispera

2005-10-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

Yasu!!
I am leaving for Thessaloniki on Tuesday afternoon and so i will not be updating my blog until i return the following Sunday! but make sure to check out my posting and pictures when i get back i am sure they will be great!!!
We are planning on taking a bus from Thessaloniki to Vergina where we are going to have an opportunity to see the grave tumulus of Philip II :) and Mt. Olympus is only another bus drive away!! I am very exicited if you can't tell!!
I feel that i should talk about Eleusis since i never had the opportunity before!
On friday, my class of about 13 people piled into a tour bus meant for about 50 people (i took five seats for myself- i had a large kingdom and i was proud of it!) and we made the forty minute drive to the city of Eleusis. Eleusis used to be a beautiful picturesque city and then was turned into an industrial center which it remains today. Needless to say it is not that beautiful but the sancutary makes up for it.
The Sanctuary has been used from the 8th c. B.C. to the 4th c. A.D. (wow!!) and on sight you can see evidence of use from Mycenean times, Archaic, Geometric, Classical, Roman, etc. etc. up until today!
I will not go into the history of the Mystery cult but walking around the site you can imagine how it must have been for the initiates. You can picture them walking in through the sacred way piglets and hiera in hand crying as dirty jokes and obsinities are yelled at them, you can see them sitting on the seats in the Telesterion as the Mysteries are revealed. It is no wonder that the sight was used for as long as it was, even today the feeling that you get walking around is very powerful. I hope that my pictures can do it a little bit of justice.
Eleusis is also good for funny photo ops of which we took advantage of!!
Saturday I went out shopping with my roomates Marianne and Naomi. We shopped on Ermou St. had fancy cheese pies for lunch (mine was filled with olives and feta, YUMM!) and then we went to Gelato Mania before heading home! oh Gelato mania how i will miss you when i go home!! I had a scoop of nutella and a scoop of a cream and caramel gelato with broken pieces of cone in it. (i forget the name now). My roomie Marianne and I have decided that we must try all the flavors before we leave!! This is a big job though, but i think we are up to the challenge!! the question is if our metabolism is. hehe.
Well, Thessaloniki here i come!!

2005-10-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Yasu!!
check out my new photos from the sanctuary at Eleusis!!

2005-10-21T04:31:00.000-07:00

Hello!!
I have just returned from sanctuary at Eleusis!! I have loads of funny photos and interesting commentary to add to them! The sanctuary was everything i ever imagined it to be and the Telesterion was much larger then i ever comprehended! I am off now to try and finish up my visa process since I never got around to it yeseterday. The plan for tomorrow is a shopping outing with my roomates (window shopping for me) and then dinner with Professor Greenwalt.

2005-10-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Yasu!!
This has been an unusually crazy week! My tickets to Italy are for the most part are set and I booked my train tickets and hotel stay in Thessaloniki for next week!! I am excited about going to Thessaloniki and finally seeing the North of Greece and getting the chance to take a bus out to see Mt. Olympus!!! (I hope it will not be stormy when i go so that i can see the top of the mountain and the lofty peak of the gods.)
Yesterday I traveled to The Benaki Museum to see a photography exhibit with my Greek class. Here is the sight if you want to check it out http://www.benaki.gr/exhibitions/en/index.asp?id=232
The exhibition was amazing and consisted of mostly black and white photography (ink jet prints) and a few color photos. They addressed many different topics but are thought to all have political undertones because they were taken during the realitively recent civil war here in Greece. I really enjoyed one photograph of three men on a train where the smoke rising from one man's cigarette was caught as it ascended into the air.
In order to get to the Museum I needed to walk to a part of Athens that I had yet not explored, the opportunity to do this would have excited me more if it had not been a section of Athens that i did not have on my map, thus i was expecting to get lost a few hundred times before i made it to my destination. We were told to meet our professor at 11:30 in front of the musuem and so i left at 9:30 to make sure that i would have time to be lost. I stayed up that night writing down directions for myself as best i could since i knew that my map would fail me. I took my directions that day and walked down to Plateia Plasteria where i caught the number 11 trolley. I rode this trolley to Omonia sq (well actually i rode it one stop too far and had to walk the five minute walk back down to Omonia sq.) and then I walked around until i found a street that i recognized from my directions. Lets just say that I got myself lost a few times doing this. Finally i found the street that the Museum was on, Pireous st. I walked down this street for what seemed like forever until i had walked all that the trolley had driven me up previously (only now i was walking a few streets over from where the trolley drove up) when i realized this i started to get nervous that i had passed the museum. So i hopped into a bakery to ask " Καλημερα, που εναι Benaki Museum, παρακαλω;" To which i was answered to keep heading down in the same direction. After walking down this one street for about an hour trying frantically not to get run over by the speeding vespas as the sidewalk seized to exsist, I looked up and read the sign Benaki Museum above me. To this i yellped in joy and took a seat down on a stump and doodled until my class arrived!! I had made it to my destination all on my intuition and a little help from a nice lady in a bakery and I was a half an hour early! OH I LOVE ATHENS!!
Today i have to get a visa document notarized because i will be illegal in this country very soon and and tonight I have my favorite class Aegean in Prehistory!! YEAH!
On a very funny note, this morning i was sent an email asking me to meet a lady at her table in Benson Center (a building in my school) in order for her to talk to me about studying abroad with Arcaida University. hehe. I wrote her back a note that said "I am sorry but I am already studying abroad with Arcaida this semester". hehe. They really do keep good track of their students don't they!
After my trip to Thessaloniki i will have only six weeks left in my whirlwind adventure. I will be travelling to a new place every weekend in November, on the schedule is: Olympia, Delphi, Nafplio (Argolid), and Italy!!! then I have finals in December in the first week and i leave the second! :( YEAH! Christmas with my family and back to SCU!
I hope you all have a good week and expect pictures soon from Eleusis where i am going tomorrow!!!!!!!!! OH YEAH SANCTUARY OF DEMETER HERE I COME!!

2005-10-17T01:07:00.000-07:00

Weekend Adventures:

Friday:
Spent most of the day friday studying for my midterm and chatting with my roomies. On friday night we were invited to go for Ethiopian food! So we went home and changed, chatted to our roomate who just got out of the hospital about her eating woes and then hopped on the number 11 trolley to the last stop. The Ethiopian restaurant was nice with long couches lining two of the walls and tables filling up the rest of the restaurant. I was excited about this dinner since the last time I had Ethiopian it was really good! We ordered a bunch of different items, some vegetarian and some not. One of the gals with us was even fed by the waiter. hehe. To end the night we hopped back on the number 11 and rode it down to Omonia where we walked to the famous but hard to find Gelato Mania where they have piles upon piles of gelato to choose from. I had a bowl of Bounty and Strawberry Cheesecake. Yumm (this yum deserves two m's)!! The the roomies and I headed home!

Saturday and Sunday:
On saturday I ventured out for a couple phone cards but spent the rest of the chilly day inside my warm apartment doing homework and watching movies with my roomates. We watched Casablanca (thanks Mike!) and a couple of episodes of Gilmore Girls (our roomate bonding experience). On Sunday I went to scool to use the Internet I showed Naomi my school and she showed me pictures of hers, we were debating which school is better. hehe. actually we were just looking at how pretty our schools were. Her school is gorgeous, if you have time check it out: Middlebury. It is a gorgeous liberal arts school in Vermont. I finished off my homework on Sunday and then I finally met my roomate Chelsea's boyfriend who came in on friday and is staying with us for a week. He seems nice and they seem very in love.

Have a great week everyone!

2005-10-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

καλημερα,

I have just posted new pictures to my photo page!! check them out and don't forget to read my new post below!

2005-10-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

καλησπερα,
τι κανεις; εμαι πολυ καλα!
It has been a busy past two weeks since my last blog entry. I have had a number of presentations, papers, and a test in this span and so I have not been able to post recently, I am sorry (σιγνωμη!) for this! I hope you all are well! I have new photos to post and will do so very soon. They are from my adventures in Athens this past weekend! I went to Keramikos and the Agora with my class this last week but was not able to see eveything i wanted, so my roomate Marianne and I headed back there last Saturday. Keramikos is the oldest cemetary in Athens and holds the graves of many a great Greek and Roman. Also running through Keramikos is the famous Sacred Way which was the road that the ancient Greeks took during the great Panatheniac Festival. This road no longer can make it all the way up to the Acropolis because of the limits of the areas for tourists (fences and such block the way) but you can see some of the old Roman paving still which is really neat!
Also in the Keramikos is the Sacred Gate, the Dipylon Gate, and the remains of the Pompeion (which i just gave a presentation on, so ask me anything about it and i will tell you!) all of these things are very exciting to a classics fanatic like myself! and i have pictures if they strike your fancy!!
My Greek is coming along, which is very exciting for me!! I still can not believe that I know a whole new alphabet and that now when i look at it it doesn't look like an unreadable text. Horray! I was thinking a lot today about the culture shock i may feel when I come back to the U.S. I have become accustomed to my way of life here now and I don't even think about needing to speak Greek on the street anymore, it just comes out, so i wonder if when i first get home i will have to remember to speak english or not? i will find out in about two months. hehe.
My situation in my apartment has been just lovely. I get along with my roomates really well and we all have shared interests and like to hang out together and i couldn't be happier! Yeah, for good roomates!! My roomate Marianne wants to be a classical archaeologist too (doing bronze age stuff) and so we talk a lot about anthro and have class together and she teaches me how to cook, which is nice of her! My roomate Naomi and I get along like a house on fire! she is Swiss (although she basically grew up in Singapore having lived there for twelve years of her life) but goes to school at Middlebury in Vermont. She speaks Swiss-German, German, French, English, knows Latin and is now learning Modern Greek! Neat! She is a crazy/silly one and so this is why we get on so well! hehe. My roomate Kelly who is now sick in the hospital with Salmonella is a sweet gal although we do not talk too much, and my roomate Chelsea from Tennessee is also very sweet and we like to have long talks about our boys back home.
I am sad to say that my time here in Greece is winding down. We are starting to have our midterms here and people are signing up for their winter classes back home. I will be sad to go but happy to head back home for Christmas and back to good ol' Santa Clara for winter quarter!
Enough of that talk though because I still have around two months. hehe.
Well i had better get cracking on my reading for tomorrow. It is for my Aegean in Prehistory class (my favorite class with my favorite teacher) and it is about Crete in the 3rd millennium B.C. Yeah!!! I love learning about the palaces of Crete!! our class is soo close (from travelling together) and so brillant now after having gone there with my teacher. She has taught us so well now that when we look at a black and white map of the palace on the projector we can tell you which Palace it is and all about it! Yeah!!
καλησπερα!!

2005-10-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

MY ADVENTURE IN CRETE
Thursday: 10pm Piraeus, Athens
Our boat left for Iraklion, Crete. The name of our boat - Festos' Palace - (feel free to ohh and awww at this title!) The boat was a super fast ferry (to use the technical name) and was once intended to be used as a cruise ship and thus was furnished as one on the inside. Soo, to the joy of my classmates and myself we were led through the gang way of the boat up into the vessel, up a group of escalators and into a lobby. This lobby looked like a hotel lobby with a mirrored ceiling, mosaic walls, shiny floor, counter top bowls full of mints, and a fleet of bus boys ready to lead us to our rooms. Talk about fancy huh? well it doesn't stop there!! We were lead to our rooms (four of us to a room, eleven of us in all - which meant that my dear buddy linda was paired up to sleep with my teacher in her cabin) and found inside two pairs of bunk beds, a bathroom with a shower, a radio, mints, and shoe shining mits (too bad we were all wearing flip flops). After we had explored our rooms and jumped on our bunks we headed around the boat to explore. We discovered that Festos Palace is decked out with a movie theatre, pool (which was closed while we were there), gift stores, and lots of cafes.
After our exploring we found our Professor Dimitria, who we think is AWESOME!! and we talked to her about our Greek and some of our adventures in Athens and back at home and then we went to bed!

Friday - first day in Crete - Konossos
Today we awoke to our Palace docking at 6am, we departed and walked to our hotel. Our hotel was called Hotel Greco and it was a nice hotel although it was no Festos Palace! Dimitria took us to breakfast at a cafe near by where we had a traditional Cretan breakfast consisting of a pastry called Bougatsa (which is a fancy teriopita or cheese pie that they either cover in honey and nuts or encrust with sugar) with some coffee or tea. Yum!! After our delicious breakfast we hopped on the bus to Konossos!!! (make sure you take a peak at my pictures) and stayed there for about three hours taking in the wonder that is this famous site!!!
Then we returned to Iraklion and went to the archaeological museum there to look at some of the finds that they have from the Minoans and Myceneans from different sites in Crete. But what really takes the cake and what will make some of you jealous is that in the museum i saw none other then Linear A tablets!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!! and on top of this (as if anything can top this) is that we saw the Phaistos Disc, which is a disk of clay which has written on it a still unknown form of writing. WOOOO!!!! as i was standing there, i admit to trying to decipher it myself, hehe.
Dimitria gave us wonderful lectures in the museum as well as at Konossos!!!! I think my favorite thing about being in Greece is studying things as you stand right in front of them!!! nothing in the world comes close to this!!!
Friday night Dimitria took us to dinner and ordered us traditional Cretan food. We had mussels and shrimp and all of the other things we have come to love in Athens, like tzaziki!
Then we went and had some gelato together and strolled back to our hotel

Saturday - Phaistos, Ayia Triada
On saturday we traveled to the south of Crete by bus and took in the sites of Phaistos and Ayia Triada.
Phaisots is another site on which archaeologists have found evidence of another great Palace from Minoan and Mycenean times. These palaces were set up around Crete, two large ones at Konossos and Phaistos and two smaller ones at Ayia Triada and Arhanes. They were set up in order to take in goods and distribute them around Crete to all the small villages. Dimitria took us around Phiastos and lectured as we quickly snapped photos (check out my photos :) she is a tricky one to keep up to. hehe.
In Ayia Triada we again were led by Dimitria in lecture as we now were getting the hang of recognizing typical Minoan and Mycenean Palacial features. That is the central courtyard we would point out or that is an example of a perinwall (sp?) wall partition. hehe. I think that Dimitria was proud of us!
We spent the rest of the day at a beach in a city in the very south of Crete. It poured down rain on us as well as thunder and so we didn't really go swimming but i did have a good cup of tomato soup and took pictures of the storm.

Sunday - Arhanes and homeward
On sunday we once again woke up early and by 9 were on our way by bus to Arhanes. (for this trip Dimitria told us not to wear sandals) The bus dropped us off in a little town and Dimitria lead us down a small street to a hill/mountain that started rising up into the sky. we made our way up the hill past sheep and sheep dogs keeping the peace and little houses where sheep herders lived. When we reached the end of the path on the mountain we started heading off into the bushes and trees, making our own path. We were all getting scratches on our legs and mud on our shoes, but none of us cared because we were having so much fun!(Dimitria at this point was getting worried that the guard keeper on the phone was not exactly honest when he told her which way to go the back entrance of the site and that instead we were going to get lost on the mountain). We kept climbing (I walked fast because i wanted to be in the front so that i felt like a trail blazer) and soon we started reaching a higher and higher elevation. Not very long after the brush cleared from around us as we pushed the bushes and trees back, we were left with a birds eye view of the little towns around the site of Arhanes (this part of Crete is very fertile and so the people here live richly because their crops of mostly grapes, do very well). Dimitria was getting more and more worried at this point and soon i heard her on the phone to the guard in Greek yelling, hehe. But soon we arrived at our destination, the WONDERFUL site of Arhanes.
Arhanes was by far the coolest site that we traveled to because although it does have a little palace it also was the site of a cemetary. Here you are able to see little shaft tombs, which are the earliest and from the Minoans and then you are able to see some early Tholos tombs (which are characterized by a little lined walkway which brings you into a stone lined circle where inside the sarcophagus was placed and the doorway covered up with dirt.) which were from the Minoans also and reused many times (so that many individuals were found in one tomb, this way they maintained their sense of community even with death) and some later Mycenean tholos (which are built the same only larger and they were built for only one person), one of which was collossal!!
This collossal Tholos was large enough so that when you entered the walkway and began your walk toward the tomb you had the sensation of walking downward into the earth. The tomb itself still had its stone roof intact. Inside was a large round room. In this room was buried a man (thought to be the King), inside of a very fancifully decorated sarcophagus (which we had seen in the museum on our first day). Through a small hole cut in the rock was another room of the Tholos, just big enough for another sarcophagus, in which was buried a woman (thought to be the Queen). I have to say that being inside of this Tholos felt like being inside of the burial chamber of a great Pyramid, and the sensation of crawling into the Queen's burial room (having been a very small room, quiet, and very dark so that you can't see your own hand) was very scary and completely exhilarating. If i have ever wanted to be an archaeologist before then i wanted to be one even more at this moment!!!!! (i took pictues soo check them out) I wish that you could have all had this experience with me!!!!
This was our last trip in Crete and so with that we eat a big gyro for lunch did some homework and once again boarded Festos' Palace for our long ride back to Athens.

I hope you enjoyed this post and didn't mind the length!!!!
Kalispera!!!!

2005-09-26T08:51:00.001-07:00

Yasu!!
I have added a photo link to my page to make it easier!! It is on the right hand side under Links. Don't forget to read my new post below!!
Kalispera

2005-09-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Yasu!!
I have returned from my weekend excursion to the island of Mykonos and Delos!!
I have also discovered that posting my pictures to webshots is faster then downloading them here so now my photos will be at http://community.webshots.com/user/cnadinolfi I hope you enjoy them. I have uploaded my most recent photos from my recent island getaways!!
I hope that this post finds everyone in good health and good spirits! Today marks my third week of classes here in Athens and my fourth week here in Greece!!! My classes are going well and my Greek is progressing faster then I realized!! Today we learned a bunch of first conjugation verbs for the first time (which is very different from every other language class I have ever taken where you learn this within the first week or so).
I only have a few days here in Athens before my class trip to Crete this Thursday.
My trip to Mykonos and Delos was very exciting, the highlight of my trip being Delos. Mykonos is considered the Cosmopolitan center of Greece because there is more dining, shops, etc. here then anywhere else as well as more tourists per square inch than any where else. Mykonos was a very beautiful island but it was too touristy for me. In Athens and on Kea I had to use my Greek when i travelled, but on Mykonos no one spoke Greek to me because they just assumed I did not know (like most tourists don't) how and so they just spoke English to me. However, they did get excited when we ordered in Greek or greeted them in Greek and this is always exciting for us!!
The island of Delos which is uninhabited now but has been in the past since the days of the Myceneans all the way to the Romans, was definitely worth the trip!! The boat over was a short ride on a little ferry which drops you off at the port. From there everything in front of you is an antiquity. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!! I could not stop snapping photographs. The site is not well marked but with a bit of hiking around and some classical knowledge under our belts, we managed to find some things. I do have a word of caution to those who do not have any classical knowledge: read up on Delos before going there because things are not labeled as well as they could be and the site is very scattered so it can be confusing.
The museum of Delos had one of the best collections of any museum I have seen here in Greece thus far (and maybe in my life) but with excavations pulling up material culture from neolithic times to Roman times how can the collection be anything but gobsmacking!!
The most amazing thing about Delos is that not only was it the site of villages but it was also the site of many temples to many different Gods and is the shining example of how the Greeks were excepting of many different foreign Gods as well as their own. For example, Delos houses temples to Apollo and Dionysos but it also houses temples to Isis who was an Egyptian Goddess worshiped in Roman times and prominant in a famous Mystery Cult.
Our lodging in Mykonos was a little hut/tent with canvas walls and roof but with a cement floor and two beds for three of us. The best part of it was it was only eight euro a night!!! a total bargain because it comes included with free breakfast and complete beach access.
The beach in Mykonos was the biggest shock of the weekend. Coming there we did not know that it was a bathing suit optional beach, however when we got there we saw much more then we bargained for. Enough said about that, I will let your imaginations run away with you!!!!
All in all it was an exciting weekend!!
Love Catherine

2005-09-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yasu!!! #4

Kalinicta,
I hope this post finds you all in good health. I am now finishing my first two weeks of classes here and they are going very well. My teachers are all very interesting and well learned and the readings have been light and fascinating. I am taking lots of field trips for class which is the exciting part. I am going to Mykonos this weekend hopefully (for fun, not for class) but next weekend we are taking a hudge class trip to Crete, which i can not wait for!!!!! I will keep you all informed. Well i hope to hear from everyone soon!
lots of love,
Kalinicta.

2005-09-18T03:52:00.000-07:00

OHHHHH AHHHHHH

Here they are!!! From left to right (just in case you do not know the antiquities pictured before you) The Erechtheion, the famous Caryatids, and the Parthenon. Don't worry that there is only three pictures because i will be travelling up the Acropolis many times in the future and will take more pictures of the metopes, doric and ionic columns and friezes and such!!! I must say though that all of the pictures I have seen of these in the past did not do them justice, they are more amazing in person then i could have ever imagined!!! I hope you enjoy them

2005-09-18T03:07:00.000-07:00

GREECE

This is a picture of the view from Lycavittos Hill, Athens. In this picture if you look in the grassy patch (also known as the National Gardens) in the middle to the left in the trees is the Olympic Stadium (which held the archery at the very first Olympic games) and then to the far right in the trees is the Acropolis. My neighborhood, Pagrati is behind the Olympic Stadium, so in the far left of the picture.

These are pictures from the Island of Kea (Tzia) From the top left to the bottom right: The port in Krissia, Kea our first look at the island from the boat, The main city built into the hills, the remains of the bronze age settlement Agia Irini, and Me with the renowned Lion of Kea!!!

2005-09-18T02:21:00.000-07:00

Finally in a flash of brillance I noticed that there is a USB port on the computer here at the center, so here are some photos from the week before I left for Athens!!
these pics are of mom, dad, sarah
Mike
and me!!

2005-09-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

Yasu!!! Post #3

I hope you all had a great weekend!!
This posting will be all about my weekend adventures in KEA (Tzia)

Friday at 6:45 am the Arcadia crew piled into the hold of a tour bus and mostly slept through the 30 minute ride to the port to catch our ferry to the island of Kea. At the port we boarded our large red ferry called the "Gourdo Lines" and found ourselves a nice spot to sit for the hour and fifteen minute ride to the island.
I found a nice spot on a circular couch inside the boat with a group of new friends. We talked, eat crackers, and played a couple of friendly games of gin and gin rummy until I was soo sea sick that i had to escape to the top of the boat for some fresh air. The view from the top of the boat was incredible. All you could see from all sides was the very blue and big Agean, no islands were in site yet. Soon with the wind and the salt water dusting my face i feel asleep. When i awoke i found all of my classmates widly flashing pictures all around me. Our boat had finally come into sight of the island of Kea.
The island was just as anyone imagines a Greek island to look. It was large, rocky, and very mountainous with loads of little white washed buildings dotting the landscape. These buildings had blue doors and blue shutters and every so often one could see a blue dome of a Greek Orthodox church not very far away. There were windmills on the edges of cliffs with their large straw (what i think was straw) roofs and everything looked like a postcard picture. I had to stop myself from going over board with my camera.
When we pulled into the port into the town of Krissia at around 11:00am we were greeted by many cafes and bakeries, gift stores and beaches. Our hotel was a short walk down a little gravel pathway. It was a nice room with three beds, a table and chairs, a fridge, a tv, and a telephone (which i soon discovered was broken). To top the room off we had a balcony. (it seems you can't go anywhere in Greece without having a balcony attached to your bedroom!
Since I had the whole day ahead of me, I decided to go exploring with Linda and a new friend from D.C. Sydney. We were staying in a cove so we decided to walk around the cove and see as much as we can. Our walk turned into a three hour hike around the cove. We discovered many little beaches, we climbed down the cliffs into the ocean below, we chatted with local fishermen, we found abandoned houses, discovered sheep and mules wandering around, and our biggest find was coming upon the archaeological site of the Agia Irini. Agia Irini was a bronze age settlement on the island of Kea and the remains here consist of a temple and a house where many activities took place such as weaving and tool making. We were able find out much more about this city when we visited Kea's archaeological museum on our second day in the island.
On our second day to the island we took a taxi up to one of Kea's main cities which is found in the hills. The drive was a windy one but it was worth the trip. We came to the city with a mission to find the Lion of Kea. Myths of Kea say that the island was inhabited with nymphs which were stealing away all the men from the women of the island. So the lion of Kea scared them away to help the women of the island. Then when the lion was done he took rest on a hillside where he is said to be resting to this day. When we discovered the lion (he lied a short walk away from the city down a dirt path and into the hills) he was just as he was discribed. A large lion carved into the rock (in truth the lion was carved in the 6th century B.C. and is the oldest carving on the island). He is said to have a Mona Lisa smile on his face, which is also very true, he almost looks as if he is laughing at you.
From here we went to see the archaeological museum and stopped at a cafe to have some tomato salad (which i can't seem to have enough of here) and a drink of water at a local cafe. We spent the rest of our day at the beach and went to a cafe for some Frappes that night. The island of Kea is a great place to go and see as well as a nice place for tourists and Athenians alike to go to lounge in the sun for the weekend. (in truth not many tourists go to Kea, it is really just a weekend getaway for Athenians, but since we are students in Athens now, we can go here too.)
Yesterday we took the boat home and I had my first go with drying my laundry on the line outside my balcony (like a real european) and today we start our first day of classes.
My class schedule is as follows: Monday and Wednesday: Beginning Modern Greek- 11:00-12:30 and Modern Greek Society- 7:00-8:30pm Tuesday and Thursday: Ancient Greek Sanctuaries- 9:00-10:30 and Agean in Prehistory- 6:00-7:30pm
I hope you all have a great week!!!
Kalispera!!!

2005-09-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

Yasu!!! Post #2

Hello Everyone!
Today is my fifth day in Athens and I am getting ready to leave for the island of KEA (Tzia) tomorrow morning, YIPPIE! where we have been told there will be lots of beach fun and octopus awaiting us!
I have done a lot since i last posted so here it goes:
In Greek class we have been learning vocabulary that will help us with everyday life and the activities on the schedule for orientation. So, on Tuesday we went to the open air market. Athenians go to the market reguarly, meaning weekly to buy the fruits and vegetables that they need for their families for the week. It is easy to find the market, all you have to do is follow the little ladies pushing the empty carts (they will be everywhere). When we arrived at the market we were greeted with the sweet smells of fresh fruits and vegetables and we had our change purses ready!! It was exciting for me to buy my groceries using all the greek i had learned thus far and i was happy to make the sellers smile when they tried to understand my accent. Before coming here we were told that the Greeks would appreciate you if you tried to speak their language, and i am happy to say that this is very true. I have been greeted with big smiles when i speak in Greek and i have also been greeted with frowns when i speak English. The market was a fun experience and also a very tasty one (i came home with a big bushel of apples and peaches, YUM!
Yesterday for our morning assigment we were asked to find our way to the beach. This called for us to take the Tram. The beach was beautiful and my first swim in the Agean was great!! The ocean seems to go on forever here (something that seems to never change as you change locations in the world) and in the distance you can see the little white buildings jetting up from the land all over. The water was very salty and so it was easy to float but a little hard to swim because of the current and the salt that will inevitably end up in your eyes, nose, and mouth. A group of us stayed at the beach from 11am until 3pm when it was time to head back to school for Greek class at 5:30. We had a wonderful day swimming, lounging, playing soccer, taking pictures, and talking.
I have finally gotten the chance to decorate my room here and have put up some of my greek lessons to learn and pictures of my loved ones, now my room and Athens feels a little more like home!
Linda and I have been experiencing the glory that is the gyro! There is a shop right across the street from my school that is thought to be one of the best places to eat a gyro in Athens, and i have to say that i believe them! There they make them with everything (sliced pork, taziki, onion, french fries, tomato) and they are delicious! I also had my first taste of Greek Gelato today. YUM!
A few nights ago a few of girls and guys from my school went to a outdoor movie at the Zappeion. Outdoor movies run during the summer and they are great fun! We saw Bewitched in English with Greek subtitles (giving me the chance to practice my reading skills). It was nice to get away from the cold theatres and instead watch a movie under the stars. The Zappeion is a big building that looks almost like a cross between a large mansion and a state building. The theatre is around the back and consists of a big screen with loads of directors chairs and tables in front. There is a few cafes behind it to order food and drinks and the National Gardens surrounds it. It was a very peaceful setting.
Yesterday on another scavenger hunt we were sent on, i was able to see more Greek Antiquities (if you say ruins here they get mad). I saw the ancient Agora, Hadrian's Library, Thissia, and a Cemetary (i am not sure whether this was from Ancient Greek or Roman times). I have still not gotten used to seeing these Antiquities juxtaposed with the modern buildings and i don't think i ever will. One of the most amazing things about Athens is that the people here do not even blink when they see them, but you see quickly that they have an immense sense of pride that this is their history.
I leave for KEA at 6:45 tomorrow morning and do not think i will have internet access on the island or phone, so i will not be in contact again until sunday night or monday morning. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Kalispera!!

2005-09-05T04:41:00.000-07:00

Yasu!
I HAVE ARRIVED!!!!
The internet has been fixed at the center and so i am now able to post my first entry from Athens! Where to start....
The flight here has been my largest challenge to date, three days on planes with eight hours of lost time in between! Yikes! Getting to my apartment building however made the journey well worth it. My apartment is in Pagrati a very nice neighborhood in Athens not far from any of the famous sights (aka: the Acropolis, the Olympic Stadium to Zeus) or from the Center where i will be going to school for the next three or so months. My apartment is gigantic and compared to Graham where i have been living for my last two years of school, it is a palace! We have three bedrooms, two of which are doubles and one of which is a single, we have an enormous kitchen, two bathrooms (one with a shower and toilet and the other with a toilet and washing machine), a common room or living room where we have put our desks and our using as a study room and on top of all of this we each have our own balconies attached to our bedrooms overlooking athens and all of our neighbors (who we see very often because they like to have a cup of coffee on their balconies)
Yesterday for our first challenge we were told to find and climb to the top of Lycabettus Hill from where we would have a birds eye view of all of Athens. They were not kidding from this hill (which is really a mountain by my standards) we could see from the Ocean to the Olympic temple of Zeus, The Acropolis, The Olympic Stadium, The National Gardens all the way to my apartment building (or what i thought was my apartment building, from this height anything could look like my apartment building. hehe) I have never seen anything as beautiful as this sight. (i will send pictures later of the view, so don't be disappointed).
Today the 5th of september I went on an assigned scavenger hunt around Pagrati in order to help us to get to know the neighborhood better. We were assigned to find post office boxes, bookstores, supermarkets, Everest (which is a sandwhich shop and a very common chain restaurant around Greece), Armani (a popular coffee shop) and an electronics store. I was thankful for this assignment because it helped me to learn a couple more streets in my neighbohood and what i could find on them.
Athens is by far the most amazing and amazingly complex cities i have ever been to. Finding your way around the city is difficult (so i always have to have a map in tote) because the streets are very maze like and hard to navigate what with the motorcycles jetting by and the broken pavements (i have tripped more times then i can count here, and it is only my second day). However, once you begin to learn some of the streets and you feel confident to begin to speak the little bit of Greek you know the feeling that comes over you is unbelievable. Yesterday for example i was lost as soon as i walked out of my apartment building door (thank goodness i ran into one of my classmates) but today i made it to my school and back again without having to consult my handy map and was offered a piece of sesame bread in a bakery with a smile when i told the lady that worked there Efarestou (rough spelling into english but it means thank you). So things are coming along here and i am beginning to feel at home.
I have yet to sign up for my classes yet but i am sure that we will be doing this soon, right now we are still all caught up in the maze that is orientation. I am taking intense Greek language classes for two hours every day until next monday when orientation is over and they are helping a lot so far. There are a few students here who have stayed on for the semester after being here for summer also and so they are a valuable resource if you want to go venture out at night and not get lost. My first night here i went out with a bunch of girls to explore the Plaka. There was a gelato place here that they wanted to go to and so we made the 20 minute walk over and took the metro to get there. We never found the gelato place but the Plaka was exciting and filled with young Athenians and tourists watching street shows, eating dinner, having a cigarette, drinking some ozo (i am not sure how to spell this in english), and just taking a stroll around the square. On our way over there i was able to have my first look at the Acropolis lite up at night, it was one of the most amazing sights of my life, to see the Acropolis jetting out of the trees and modern bulildings was like being transported to the past. I also saw the ruins of a Roman bath that was excavated when the new metro was built as well as the Olympic temple of Zeus, which is also a blast from the past.
This weekend we are all going to Tzia a greek island not far away by ferry. We are staying in a nice hotel there on the beach, so i have heard. This will be my first chance to see other parts of Greece and so i am very excited!!
i will try and post pictures soon for all of you to see. I hope everyone is well and i look forward to hearing from you all!
Kalispera!!

2005-08-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

The hour is winding down and as of today I have only a little over a week left in the states. GULP!! Although the nerves are building up tremendously inside of me, so is the excitement. I have received my visa in the mail, received my apartment number, and have contacted all my roomates. All that is left to do now is pack. tell me this, how is one suppossed to pack for three months while only taking the bare minimum? I guess with their wits about them. *deep breaths*

2005-08-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

This blog is an attempt for me to stay in touch with my loved ones while I am away!! Soon it will be filled with funny anecdotes and breathtaking photographs of far away lands! Enjoy!

2005-08-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Ramblings....
I have just returned from the General Counsulate in Los Angeles, who have informed me that i do not have all the correct paperwork to turn in my Visa application. grrrrr.

Okay, so i just came back from the post office and it looks like my application may go through now. stay posted.