Submitted by Kylie Wright on the 2018 winter session program in Athens, Greece sponsored by the Department of Philosophy…
After leaving Sunday afternoon in the United States and arriving in Athens on Monday around 3 o’clock pm, everyone on my program including me was completely confused by the time change and was exhausted from the twenty-four hours of flying, but I was still just happy that somehow my suitcase was under 50 lb. We met our tour guide, Olympia, who was such a kind face to meet as our first person in Greece. She showed us our apartments and gave us a tour of Athens. Despite our lack of enthusiasm, she somehow kept everything upbeat and interesting!
The view from our balcony is incredible to say the least. I was paired with a roommate, whom I did not know before. So far, I think we have spent every second together! I’m loving everyone on my trip and Professor Hanley. Something that shocked me was the toilet system. We have to throw away our toilet paper in the trash instead of throwing it down the toilet, which has taken some getting used to.
Athens is such a huge town and to try to describe it here would not do it justice. That night, we all went to dinner and ate our body weight in food, as most Greeks do for most meals, yet they remain thin (I have no idea how). We ate so much, we barely touched our entrees and took the rest home to eat Tuesday night for dinner!
The next day, we toured another part of Athens and discovered shops, restaurants and the subway. We stopped at a fun place and we all ate gyros, spending about 2.80 USD for a giant Greek burrito.
Today, we visited the Acropolis and the Parthenon, which were breathtaking. The view was insane, but all we kept thinking about was that we were standing on marble that was constructed about 2,500 years ago. The remains were so beautiful and we ate lunch right below it, having an incredible, stomach-filling meal, with an incredible view.
Tomorrow, we are going to the museum for the Parthenon to see what they recovered and saved from the site, in order to not lose any of the original important structures. Luckily, we have the best tour guides here so we are learning so much! Looking forward to more incredible experiences and more awesome food!