Submitted by Lily Moon on the 2022 winter session program in Greece sponsored by the Department of English…
My first week of studying abroad in Athens, Greece — although extremely busy — has been really amazing. I did not know much about the city before coming here and I have been very pleasantly surprised with how awesome it is. As someone who has always loved Greek food and is willing to try any new foods, being exposed to new food here in Athens has been really fun! I was really looking forward to trying Moussaka, a traditional Greek dish made with meat, eggplant, potato and cheese that is very similar to lasagna. We tried it at one of our group meals and it was νόστιμο (delicious).
One thing I found very surprising was how welcoming and friendly the people of Athens are to tourists. We took a Greek language class and tried to practice saying please and thank you at restaurants and the servers were really engaging and taught us new words that have been very helpful. Everyone is really interested in us and where we are from.
My favorite thing we have done this week was visit the Acropolis. I love learning about history and architecture and the buildings at the Acropolis such as the Parthenon, were fascinating to learn about. It was interesting to hear that they are working towards slowly replacing the original structure, which is sad, but it was bound to happen eventually. I can’t believe it has lasted as long as it has already!
Although this week has been very tiring and busy, it has been super exciting! I am really looking forward to the rest of my time here in Athens!
