I found north.

Okay sorry it took me so long to update this. I haven't been particularly busy, but like I said before I am very good at procrastinating. Things have been very good these last few weeks full of lots of work and fun activities. My friends from Luther college came back into town and I got to do some adventuring with them. I also went to Parliament and the Beach with George last weekend. I am feeling more and more confident in the city. I even got my barrings down and can tell you which way is North. That's right. As long as I can stay close to the metro and it is not to late at night I am perfectly capable of making my way around the city.
I learned of my abilities in a rather shady environment unfortunately. As I said before my friends came back and we ended up going out looking for a place to dance. There were some St. Olaf students that were doing the same so we all ended up going together. Big groups are more fun and definitely more safe when you are wandering. The St. Olaf students had a map and knew the general direction we were to be going so we got on the train together and set out for the dance club. There were two men leading the group with the map. I knew the general area we were in and it was very close to a neighborhood called Omonia I was advised by numerous people that you should not even visit during the day. As we walked straight into this neighborhood I insisted we turn around but they wanted to keep going. As we passed a few men on the sidewalk snorting cocaine I decided that we had gone to far and turned the lug heads around. They then proceeded to drag the group down the darkest side street where we ran into drug dealers pimps and prostitutes. I had tried to not be the one telling everyone what to do but decided that we were going to go back to the neighborhood we came from and find someplace safer to be. I knew from what my teacher had told me before that there were a few clubs in the area. We made our way down some well lit streets and found a Hookah bar and a dance club. To appease the masses. It turned out to be a fantastic night.  I felt like quite the navigator and ever since I have been able to tell you exactly what direction north is.
Last Sunday was an exciting day as well. George took me to parliament where we saw the tomb of the unknown soilder. There were two guards on duty and they came out every half an hour to do their routine. It was very interesting to watch them march around. They were wearing traditional Military uniforms and they walked very deliberately kicking and swinging their arms in perfect synchronization. They would hold out their arms and legs which I am sure had some significance but I am not sure what. A few interesting facts about these gentle men is that historically they were recruited from the mountain villages they don't come strictly from that location anylonger but it is an immense honor to be able to guard the tomb. To be part of this guard batalion you must be 6ft tall at least. Which is not so common among Greek men. After the tomb we took the tram down to the beach. The tram took forever. If you are ever in Athens and feel you need a scenic tour of some of the side streets take it however if you are in any hurry and do not want to spend your entire trip on the train avoid it like the plague. Once we got to the beach I enjoyed my time. It was a beautiful day but very cold. The water was bright and the air smelled clean. The small waves lapped up on the shore we were in a little cove on the coast so there wasn't much in the way of turbulent waters. The sand was fine and very light in color where the waves stopped on the beach there was a great wall of rocks like the sea picks them up and dumps them there.  As I walked on the beach I came across several swimmers. These people had to be crazy it was only about 38 degrees out that day but they were in there getting their exercise.
After we had spent some time at the beach George and I went back home and I spent the rest of the afternoon with the Lutherians climbing Lykavittos Hill. It is a great hill almost right in the middle of Athens. Lykavittos means the path of light. It was believed that this structure was put on the hill by Athena to be a strong hold to guard the Acropolis. On the eve of Easter Sunday a procession of candles is held on the hill for God and for the patron saints of the church on top of the hill. The view from the top of the hill was quite spectacular even in the cloudy rain haze. You could walk to any side of the patio outside the church and see the edges of the city. It was incredible to see the expanse of the city. Spreading out in all directions it disapears into the green mountains on each side and stops at the sea. It was quite the sight. I have attached some of the pictures from my weekends adventures and I am now off to start some new ones. I will try to update sooner.
Love, Kimberly

 

 

 

Weekly Updates

I've decided that to maintain my sanity and ability to keep up with my other work that I will be only updating on a weekly basis. I know it has been more than a week since my last post but I am a pretty good procrastinator so I have put it off until now.
This last week marked the first full week of classes since winter break began and I must say it was a busy one. Thankfully I have been saved by the mercy of my supervising principal who has agreed to pick my cooperating teacher and me up at a closer train station saving me about 40 minutes a day on the train. It is so kind of her to do it and I can now get up at 5:45 or even 6:00 some days to get to the train on time. What is even better about this arrangement is the stop we make at The Bakery. It is of course a bakery in a neighboring suburb that is impossible to get to without a car unfortunatly but the bread there is AMAZING. I have not always been one of those crazy bread people like some in my family but I could eat this delectable bread all day. The bread is sweet, soft and warm. It practically melts on your tongue. Unfortunatly I have been such a gluton that I have not been able to take any pictures of the place but I will remember later this week and post them.  It is like heaven on earth.
Speaking of other purchases it was the kick off of sales this week in Athens. It is something equivalent to their after Christmas sales but most of the stores mark up their prices a bit and then take the 70 % off which is still a pretty good deal. I went shopping on Friday with Gina after we had coffee with some of the other people at the school. We perused the lovely windows of Gucci and Prada but we ended up at a shop called Zara's where I ended up buying a sweater dress and leggings to fit in better with the all the Greek women who wear them very fashionably.
I also did a bit of shopping on Saturday. There was an open air market about a half of a kilometer from my house that George and I went to. There was all sorts of fresh produce to get I spent 5.50 Euros on 1 kilo cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions; 50 cents on 3 bunches of lettuce, and 1 Euro on 3 kilos of oranges. I left the market feeling triumphant with my big purchases. I brought it all home and Ana taught me how to make Greek salad "the Greek way" as she says it. Which is 1 tomato cut in chunks one baby cucumber cut in half and sliced 1 half of a red onion and 4 leaves of lettuce. On top sprinkle oregano and some sea salt, and pour enough olive oil and vinegar  to coat the mixture. It is important to only toss the salad before right before you serve it so the tomatoes don't break down. It is quite delicious and if you don't eat it with a giant plate of french fries like I have several times, probably very healthy.
Ana continues to make all sorts of Greek soups for me. With the weather getting much colder she says it is important to eat lots of beans and soup to keep you healthy. The temperature has been dropping here it was supposed to snow this weekend I guess I didn't make it far enough south to completely avoid the chill of winter.  Still I seem to be fitting in a little better now that I am wearing my coat around town. I think I have the Greek look down frizzy hair and earphones help me to not look so much like an American tourist. I have even had 3 people ask me for directions. I almost laughed out loud the first time someone asked because first of all I don't understand more than a handful of words in Greek, second of all I have no idea which way is up here, thirdly I am not sure I could navigate if I could find up. I have seen more of Dafni and Kiffisia I am looking for a nice tour to do through Athens to get the general idea of where is should be going and what I should be seeing. I will spend more time adventuring after that. It is hard to get out of the city without a car so this is the best option. Anyway I will update you on how this turns out for me in the next few weeks I have a lot of work ahead of me at the school so I will probably postpone leaving the city until after the majority of my work is complete.
I hope you are all staying warm and healthy.
Miss you all.

   Olive table in the market. I am not much of an olive eater but i might have to try a few of these.

This is the Greek salad that I made. It tasted like summer in the middle of winter.

The view from where I wait for the principal.
 Beautiful mountains.






Car parked on the sidewalk outside my apartment. Most Greeks walk in the street anyway.          

Alfie my landlady's cat came for a visit. He is part Turkish and part European. Ana says the Turkish part of him makes him feisty, he will take a swipe at anyone but we are still friends.

Getting Started

Thursday and Friday marked the beginning of my student teaching. I made the hour and a half commute at the crack of dawn to the international school in Kiffisia. It was an easy trip and I am confident that I can maneuver my way thought the train changes walking up to the school is a bit tricky but not incredibly difficult either. Kiffisia is a beautiful neighborhood. It is one of the most expensive districts in the Athens area. The streets are lined with beautiful stores and fancy designers like D&G, Gucci, Prada and Coach. It is a really Americanized part of town as well, there is a Pizza Hut and TGI Fridays, along with a few other recognizable American eateries. The school is all English speaking and the curriculum is American based too. I am participating in a 6th grade classroom. At the international school it is considered to still be in the elementary so my it qualifies for my degree. The classroom was very different than I expected. There is not really any advanced computer technology and we have one computer in our room that runs Window 97. Not so Great. The staff and students make it worth the trip however. Everyone is incredibly friendly and the students are intelligent and well mannered. I am excited to get to know them a little better. It is a very diverse group and there is a lot of potential to work from.
Friday Gina my cooperating teacher and a few of the other girls from the school stopped for a coffee on our way home. It was great to get to know some of the other teachers on a more personal level. I think having these relationships will be a primary key to my success in the schools. They are very smart women and have a lot of teacher advise to give, they have also helped expand my Greek knowledge by letting me in on tips of where the cheapest cloths are and how much to tip your waiter. After a good few hours of American conversation we left for home and I headed back to my apartment. I went down stairs to visit George and Ana and she asked if we could call her son in Berlin with Skype. Of course we got it arranged and we spent 20 or 30 minutes talking. She was very excited to be able to use the computer to communicate with him. I think I will have to continue bringing my computer down with me every once in a while so she can have that satisfaction I know how dificult it can be and I am thankful for all the help she has given me.
Yesterday was Saturday and I met up with a friend of a friend from Luther college. He is here with a group of students on J term. It was great to interact with other college students. They are staying very near the Acropolis. Jason invited me to join him and his friends at their hotel. We sat on the roof of the hotel with the Acropolis in view for most of the night. Some of the students wanted to go dancing so we started walking but when they discovered how long it was going to be to walk to our location they decided to take a detour and spent the remainder of the evening on Areopagos Hill. The hill over looks the city and it was lit up and lovely. Areopagos Hill was used by the Persians and Turks during their attacks on the Acropolis. It also played an important role as the place of the supreme Judicial Court in the Classical period which is how it got its name. A mythological trial that took place when the god Ares was acquitted of murdering the son of Poseidon. Saint Paul also gave a sermon there in 51 A.D. It was a strange place to sit and observe all of the modern technology and culture where there is so much history.
Anyway I think the end of the week was mostly a success. I made some new friends and my jet lag seems to be wearing off. Wednesday night was probably the worst. I felt like I was trapped in an episode of It's Always Sunny. I was awakened by dozens of howling cats outside my window around 1:00 am and thanks to jet lag and the cats that seemed to be in severe agony did not get back to sleep until about 3:00. Thankfully I have caught up on my sleep over the weekend and do not foresee anymore major issues. Here are a few pictures from Saturday night. It is going to be more difficult to update this while classes are in session but I will do my best to remain devoted.
Miss you lots.

Holiday

Today was a lot of fun. It was festival here in Greece the last day of Christmas. For those Christmas lovers out there this stretch is for you. They start Christmas 25 days before and then run 6 days after. I even listened to some Christmas music on the train today. It was nice and made me think of home where my mom plays Christmas music to her hearts content. Anyway, I was going to try to get up early today in preparation for tomorrow needless to say I was running behind all day. We walked down to Ana's mother's house and had festival dinner there. It was pretty good food. We started off with rice soup. It was eggs beat with milk and rice and a bit of lemon. It had a tangy flavor and was a little bizarre for my pallet. After we finished the soup they brought out fried chicken with boiled vegetables and Greek winter salad. It was a kind of coleslaw mix with vinegar, lemon, and pepper and salt instead of white sauce on it. The salad was also a bit tangy I am noticing this trend so far, but it is good just unusual to me.
Ana's family was really pleasant. Her sister Angela was at the house with her 19 year old son George and then there were two other family friends there. They all spoke a little bit of broken English but could understand more of what I was saying. Ana's sister is an Astrologer and spoke about how the universe was balanced and the trade of powers it was interesting to say the least. She writes for a local magazine. I wonder if all Greeks take astrology so seriously? It was funny because she talked about the kinds of relationships I would have with people in the room because of my Astrological sign, which is Gemini if anyone wanted to know. The whole family was asking about what it was like in my town. They could really not understand how small, small-town-Iowa. They really got a kick out of me telling them that it has been in the negative degree temperatures there. They of course kept asking if I was cold here. It was 60 degrees today and we had wind from Africa. It was like early summer in Iowa. I love it!
Anyway on our walk I took some pictures in an Orthodox church we went by and then a few of the family and the streets thought you might like to see some of the outside shots already. Ana didn't want to wait for too long so I will get more later. There is also one of the family. Hope you are all staying warm.

The two on the left are the family friends then there is George Angela's son, George from down stairs, Ana, Angela, and Ana's mother. 

Lookin Out My Window

Today was a nice warm day I would say, highs in the 50's for you lovely Iowans stuck in the tundra. I walked to the cafeteria which is an open place to sit and drink coffee near the train station. I am not exactly sure what it is in Greek but I will ask later. I met my cooperating teacher there. She is really pleasant and I am excited to work with her. I was worried about making it to the school on the first day. Luckily she lives near by and said she would meet me the first day so we could take the train together. We are meeting at 6:20 at the train station on Thursday morning to make it to school by 8:30! eshh! She said the train takes at least an hour and there is a 25 minute walk from the station to the school. Uphill of course.
I got my train pass today. George was very excited about this he kept showing me all the places I could go and what mode of transportation I would need. He really emphasized using the trolley for the beach. Which sounds like a fun place to go. I am thinking I might wander down to Athens Center this weekend and save the beach for warmer weather. Tomorrow is a holiday so Ana invited me to her mother's house for a festival dinner. I am excited to experience some real Greek food. I have been eating lots of fried food and some Romanian food that George lets me try. It has all been good though so I can not complain.
Anyway that is all for today! I will leave you with some pictures. Today I decided that I could at least take pictures of things when Ana was not around so I began this morning with my apartment and the nice orange trees and flowers out my window.

 These come from out side various windows in the house. The orange trees are all along the streets but they are not edible they use this kind of orange in cake instead.

Pretty standard stuff, kitchen, living room and bedroom are all included. Oh and of course my drum kit. I had to pack that.

Miss you! Kimberly

First Impressions

So here I am! Wow, what a trek. Every part of my trip has been what I would say interesting. I tried my hardest to sleep on the plain ride over but evidently being in the seat next to the extra heavy guy is not the only problem. I sat next to a man from Morocco evidently this gentleman broke his colonel bottle over his head before he got on the plane. The smell was so overpowering it burned my nostrils the entire plane ride. It did get better because a very large German man sat in front of me and tipped his chair back his body weight mad it lay almost directly on my lap the flight attendant was very nice and would have him lean it up so I wasn't completely squished. I changed over in Frankfurt and then slept the entire flight to Greece I was conscious only briefly when the served me the in flight meal. I had a half a biscuit and fell asleep only to find that they had taken my food right out from under me with out me noticing at all. The airport was easy to navigate and I was soon on my way to the bus stop where I was to be picked up at. I had no idea where I was going once the bus came to a stop and an elderly Greek man with a cell phone took the paper with the number I was supposed to call, right out of my hand called, rambled some Greek at me waiving his hands in a motion I understood to be stay here and disappeared around the corner. What a do gooder.
Ana and George showed up after about five minutes. I will post pictures of them later. I haven't taken any yet because Ana won't let me take bad pictures. We hauled my bags several blocks, which made me regret all over again that I packed so much. Once inside Ana showed me many quirks about the apartment what I should and should not do how to run the water heater and other things and then she left. I unpacked and cried a little I am not ashamed to say I was over tired and hungry and in a very strange place. After I collected myself I went down to talk to Ana and George. Ana took me to get a sandwich, that I can only spell phonetically as Slovike. It is pork loin on a rotisserie that is seasoned and then cut off wrapped with fries tomatoes and sometimes lettuce in a pita with garlicky white yogurt on top. I don't know if this sounds as good as it is but trust me: DELICIOUS!
To add to my list of adventures, Ana and I went up to the top of the street which is quite a steep distance to look out over the city at a park that is near by and we saw the Parthenon, again Ana would not let me take a picture because there were clouds and the light was not good. So again will have to rain check that one to post later. Today was the third day I have been here. I went to get a cell phone which anyone can have the number and call in it is just very expensive for me to call out so I will probably not do much of that. We also went to the super market. I ended up with the most Bizarre assortment of foods. Nothing really matches together except for the tomato concentrate paste than Ana insisted I buy and spaghetti noodles. This choice seemed pretty rational. We will see what we come up with for supper the next few days. 
Ana and George are great people and are helping me out imensly takeing me where I need to go and making sure I have what I need. Ana often helps me navigate and I am sure I will never go hungry with George around. He always refills my plate when it is just about empty. I have picked up eating slow so he doesn't notice when I finish. Even more problematic is the fact that they drink wine casually for most of the afternoon. There is usually something to eat along with it but if you know me at all, you know that I am a light weight when it comes to consuming any beverage of that nature. I am sure I will build a tolerance over my stay. I drink the wine slow but they don't serve other beverages with supper Ana tells me 2 or 3 glasses is good for the circulation and all Greeks drink wine. We will see... Anyway it is fairly late now and I wanted to get the first few days down to update you! Hope your health is good drink some wine for circulation. Many kissess
Kimberly