Tuesday, May 23

We have just finished a full day of orientation here at City University and have our first access to free Internet! Yea! Yesterday we hiked over to the campus here at Syntagma Square where Athina (yas, that's her name) answered lots of questions for us. Then to an Internet cafe not far from the hotel to post the first entry in the blog. It was not that bad, 1.50 Euros from a half-hour, but it's a lot nicer to sit here in the relative quiet (no thumping techno-rock) and compose in peace. A couple of us went to a cafe and sat outside for hours, drinking cappucino freddo (yes, I know it's Italian, but that is what the menu said!, reading, chatting, and people-watching. The cafe was in a pedestrian area on Satovriandou Street just off of 3 of September Street--so what happened on that date to warrant the name?--and a lovely breeze was blowing. We could have spent all day there, and no one would have minded. The Greeks definitely have a different idea of time, and we have been warned to take opening and closing times as merely suggestions.

We will be taking breakfast and dinner at our hotel, the Athens Acropol right off Omonia Square. Dinner last night was a group event with almost all of the students here--Melissa and Jonathon arrived late last night. (We were kind of worried about Melissa and David, as we thought they would show up a day earlier!) The big heroes of the evening were Brad and Brian, who made the trip down to the airport to make sure that the last travelers made it safely to the hotel, and that Melissa was indeed on the flight. While they were trekking there, we professors were relaxing in an outdoor cafe sipping a very pleasant ouzo and discussing how to make the students' lives more miserable. Well, no, but isn't that what you think we do?? They did not make it back until about 1:30 in the morning, and several of us did not get to sleep before 2. I waited up to make sure that everyone arrived safely, as Marshall had to do much of the late-night work the previous night.

The students are all very adventurous and have already started roaming the city. A couple have already made the trek up to the Acropolis. I hope they will post their own exploits here as well--I noticed several sunburned faces at dinner.

We've all been piling up some serious sleep deficit, so I found it hard to stay awake towards the end of the last part of the orientation, although it was a fascinating look at modern Greek politics by the very articulate Dr. Karaougounis Athanasios.

The previous lecture was thought-provoking, to say the least. The charming Dr. Michael Barbas provided us with several intriguing theories about the origins of the Greeks and their language--including the possibility that the Greeks originated in Finland and that Greek was derived from German!! Well, there was a lot more to the talk, but it was definitely OTT!

I caught my first glimpse of the Parthenon at night (2 am) from the roof of our hotel. It was lit up; simply magnificent. I can't wait to see it up close--we have a free afternoon tomorrow, so that might be on the agenda. Although I still have grades to post...

I will load some pictures onto my thumbnail drive and post them tomorrow, but for now, I think I will head on back to the hotel, take a siesta. Dinner is at eight! Almost my bedtime back home, but here the streets do not come alive until at least 7, and things really start rolling at about 9.