Hey-o. So suddenly all my blogger Internet page is in Greek and I don't know what button does what! So I will be pressing random buttons until it works. So I haven't written much lately because things are actually starting to slow down! A bit.
Someone said today that they're starting to feel like a local and I must say that I agree. It's a really nice feeling to walk around the street and recognize where you are and not have to freak out about the bus system. While eating at a tarverna today for lunch, the waiter said our group looked European. SCORE!
But today was very productive, actually. I woke up early and a group of three of us went to church! My first church in a different country. It was a Presbyterian church (in Greek, of course) but someone met us there and translated for us. I thought it was so interesting and I especially liked the hymns. The Greek language is very phonetic, so it was good to practice my reading skills. And I have no problem singing "Ksi-ni-LA-fo" when it's completely wrong. The old man next to me gave me some weird looks. But it's whatever, I loved it. The lady who translated (Laura, I think) introduced us to many people and it was nice to talk to some local Greeks.
After church got out we went to the Jewish museum of Thessaloniki. It was a pretty small building, but very informative. I didn't know so many Jews were living in Thessaloniki, and how many were killed in the Holocaust. It was terrible, something like 45,000 were transported out of Greece to Poland and 37,000 were immediately gassed at Auschwitz. Very very tragic.
We walked by the Jewish memorial by the water and then went to Pier 1 (everyone automatically added imports to this) to see the photography museum. I don't remember the man's name that the exhibit was dedicated to, but it was very creative and urban, I guess. We stayed in the attached cafe for some time and then decided we were starving. So we left in search of food. We found a taverna where we got free desserts and a round of free nasty syrup-like shots. WOO!
So things have been getting pretty heated up in Greece with the austerity measures decisions and riots and all that good stuff. But I would just like to tell everyone (and by everyone, I mean my mother, who I know is freaking out right now...) that we live far enough away that we will not see any of the action. I went to Aristotle square yesterday, and yes, I did see protesters, but it was nothing big or scary and we were in NO DANGER. I repeat, NO DANGER. Stuff did go down later, but I was nowhere near it, nor would I have been anywhere near it. So mom and dad, pleeeeeeease don't freak out. No one knows where we live and they're not out to get Americans anyway. It is very interesting to see history in the making, though. I've never been part of a country going through such unrest. It almost makes me want to learn politics! Ha, yeah right. So anyway, that's my spiel about the protests here in Greece.
In other news, I got another crepe! This one included the crepe, a HUGE ENORMOUS candy bar of chocolate and strawberry yogurt goodness, and crumbly things maybe like graham crackers. So good. Probably like 4,000 calories. Whatevs. Tomorrow I'm branching out and playing volleyball at my school. This is a pretty big deal for the most un-athletic person that ever lived. But I'll give it my best and just laugh through my awful game-changing mistakes.
So I better go shower and make my lunch for tomorrow and everything.
Goodnight!
Emily
Someone said today that they're starting to feel like a local and I must say that I agree. It's a really nice feeling to walk around the street and recognize where you are and not have to freak out about the bus system. While eating at a tarverna today for lunch, the waiter said our group looked European. SCORE!
But today was very productive, actually. I woke up early and a group of three of us went to church! My first church in a different country. It was a Presbyterian church (in Greek, of course) but someone met us there and translated for us. I thought it was so interesting and I especially liked the hymns. The Greek language is very phonetic, so it was good to practice my reading skills. And I have no problem singing "Ksi-ni-LA-fo" when it's completely wrong. The old man next to me gave me some weird looks. But it's whatever, I loved it. The lady who translated (Laura, I think) introduced us to many people and it was nice to talk to some local Greeks.
After church got out we went to the Jewish museum of Thessaloniki. It was a pretty small building, but very informative. I didn't know so many Jews were living in Thessaloniki, and how many were killed in the Holocaust. It was terrible, something like 45,000 were transported out of Greece to Poland and 37,000 were immediately gassed at Auschwitz. Very very tragic.
We walked by the Jewish memorial by the water and then went to Pier 1 (everyone automatically added imports to this) to see the photography museum. I don't remember the man's name that the exhibit was dedicated to, but it was very creative and urban, I guess. We stayed in the attached cafe for some time and then decided we were starving. So we left in search of food. We found a taverna where we got free desserts and a round of free nasty syrup-like shots. WOO!
So things have been getting pretty heated up in Greece with the austerity measures decisions and riots and all that good stuff. But I would just like to tell everyone (and by everyone, I mean my mother, who I know is freaking out right now...) that we live far enough away that we will not see any of the action. I went to Aristotle square yesterday, and yes, I did see protesters, but it was nothing big or scary and we were in NO DANGER. I repeat, NO DANGER. Stuff did go down later, but I was nowhere near it, nor would I have been anywhere near it. So mom and dad, pleeeeeeease don't freak out. No one knows where we live and they're not out to get Americans anyway. It is very interesting to see history in the making, though. I've never been part of a country going through such unrest. It almost makes me want to learn politics! Ha, yeah right. So anyway, that's my spiel about the protests here in Greece.
In other news, I got another crepe! This one included the crepe, a HUGE ENORMOUS candy bar of chocolate and strawberry yogurt goodness, and crumbly things maybe like graham crackers. So good. Probably like 4,000 calories. Whatevs. Tomorrow I'm branching out and playing volleyball at my school. This is a pretty big deal for the most un-athletic person that ever lived. But I'll give it my best and just laugh through my awful game-changing mistakes.
So I better go shower and make my lunch for tomorrow and everything.
Goodnight!
Emily
Dad and I are both very pleased that you have not been run over by a tank or hauled off to jail. That is very sensible of you!
ReplyDeleteAlthough... what better way to learn about a culture and experience their society than by being put in their jail. EH? You know, just something to think about.
ReplyDelete