Arrival in Athens!

Monday 10:30 (1:30 a.m. in Fresno) We arrrived in our hotel in Athens last night at about 9:00 pm after a (yes, you knew it was coming) virtual Odyssey lasting nearly two days, four plane flights, and an exciting taxi ride.

First impressions of the city: the Ikea next to the airport, the new tourist motto: "Athens has a new myth: Yours," tiny automobiles showing numerous scars of internecine strife, and what struck me particularly was how mountainous the region is. I had in my mind always pictured Athesn for some reason as rather flat, ewith the Acropolis sticking out like, well, an acropolis. It appears that much of the polis is acro!

It certainly shows why the ancient Greek city states were so isolated and chauvinistic. It's all about geography, sin't it?

We had decided to take a taxi if it was not too expensive. Twenty-five Euros seemed a very reasonable price to pay for three of us. Zipping along the highway as the sun set, I was struck by how very little modern Greek I actually knew. My jet-lagged mind could barely even recall the few phrases I had attempted to drill into it inthe hectic days before we left. The three of us, Marshall, Brad and I, for the most part rode in silence until we reached the city center, when our curiosity and excitement got the best of us.

Culture shock has for the most part been rather mild so far, as the hotel is large and everyone speaks English. One of the most important things for me has always been to try as much as possible to respect the culture of the countries I have traveled to, but sometimes this reticence can keep one from some truly memorable experiences from fear of attracting attention, so as always the Greek idea of "meden agon"--"nothing to excess" is the key. Orientation is tomorrow, where we will learn some valuable information on Greek culture and an overview of the political history of the nation--something about which I know virtually nothing after about 400 BC!!