blah blah

I'd like to tell you what's new and exciting in my life. They are as follows: I have discovered that a) Zoe's (our bar) has the best gyros on the face of the Earth and b) the bathroom at our storehouse doesn't smell bad, and it has a real toilet seat. My definition of "big news" has changed dramatically, what can I say.

I am entirely settled in here -- it's just what I do now. I am comfy and I like it. But I'm also getting frustrated. I don't feel like I'm learning enough. A lot of the focus of the dig is just getting the work done, and not so much with the teaching. I do a lot of pottery washing and very little learning about pottery. I do a lot of digging and very little learning about digging. I understand and recognize the need to get work done. The permit runs out after next year and then it's done, no more diggy at Mitrou. But we paid to be here. I want to learn. Probably too much, but what can you do?

But Zach (the awesome) is teaching me Homeric Greek. And we have a very cool field trip this weekend. Mycenae, Lerna, Napflio, Epidauros, Corinth, Tyrins. Very exciting.

So that's it for this update. I'll be online this weekend again I'm sure. Miss y'all. Happy fourth!

Melting in the Greek Sun

It's really, really, really hot. Between 120 and 130, I'm not kidding you. And I'm doing 8 hours of manual labor a day. Sometimes shaded, sometimes not. I got very sick yesterday and my body shut down -- I was tripping over everything and I think I was hallucinating just a teeny bit. I'm just not used to this and it's hard to stay motivated and excited about everything when it's so damn hot. It's worth it though -- I know it is. This is just a heat wave and it should drop by at least 10 degrees celcius over the weekend. And it'll go back to being exciting again, and I will love it a ridiculous amount again.

I have two great friends here and we have a great time just hanging out and wandering around the village streets. And our prof is really amazing and he answers all my questions. I dig it (oh snap). And I'm pretty much adjusted to the lifestyle, except for the heat and the early mornings. And that'll come in time, I think. I hope, anyway.

Tragana is very different. It's small and peaceful and nothing much happens there. Everyone is extraordinarily nice and it's ridiculously safe for everyone. Very very few of the people speak English, and there isn't internet access really. No newspapers, no information sourse. I am completely cut off from American culture and news and I don't really mind it too much at all. I was not expecting that. But I could really do with a hamburger and a Star Wars marathon. I really miss the movies and the people and the food, even though we eat pretty well here.

I also have a cell phone now. I'm obviously not going to publish the number here, so either check my facebook or email me if you want it! I'd love to hear from you. Or write me a letter! I have an addy and I would love love love to get mail.

Greece Greece Greece!

Yes, I have neglected you! I haven't been online since last monday, somehow. I think that's the longest internet break for me in several years. Shocking.

I'm in Athens right now, but they gave us very little free time. They cut short the trip and crammed it full of sites and museums -- but it's alright because John cut that short at 4:30 and let us go free. He's really protective of our free time and our sleep and our general happiness. He honestly wants us to have a good time, and not spend the whole time washing shells in the apothiki. We work hard and we need that break, and he is really the only guy standing up for that.

John's like a walking textbook -- I keep asking so many questions that the other kids all roll their eyes every time I start talking. But I guarantee you I've learned three times more than they have already, and John now tells me stuff specifically related to my interests. Most of the other kids are all hung over and I'm actually there to learn, you know? I didn't give away all this time and spend all of my parents' money in order to get wasted and stumble through museums and not learn anything. I'm here to experience a new culture and a new country and to learn as much as I can about the Greek Bronze Age. And so far I'm having a blast. And I've got two great friends here that think the exact same thing. It's working out. Really, really well. I'm glad I'm here and I'm making the most of it.

I miss you guys all terribly! I don't miss anything else, just the people. I can deal with new food and new scenery -- in fact I absolutely love it here. Everything about it. But I really do miss you guys. I can't wait to see you all in a couple months! Anyway, keep in touch and I'll try to hop online soon.

Much love!
Katie (aka, Xena, Warrior Princess of Mitrou)

I love Mitrou!

Basic day: we wake up at 5:15, walk to breakfast by 6:00, and we're all digging asap after that. We dig, and dust, and sweep, find ridiculous amounts of pottery, and in general, boil in the sun. But today I found an iron blade! It was my first bit of excavation and I recognized iron, which is not easy to do at all. And we rarely ever find iron. It's awesome.

So basically, I get myself ridiculously dirty digging and after work is done I leap off of a cliff into the Aegean sea. It's the best way to cool off and any worries that were in my head are gone after the first jump. And the water is the pefect tempurature. Just cold enough to erase 8 hours of digging in the hot hot hot sun, but not so cold that you can't swim in it after you cool down. And tomorrow we start putting up sun shades! I love it. I so happy.

The people are cool, the food is great, the scenery is beautiful, and the work is interesting. I can't believe I get to be here and dig things and be involved with a site. It's such an amazing opportunity and I'm learning so much and experiencing entirely new things. I'm lovin' it!

Updating is difficult because internet access is sporadic and taken up by responding to emails people send. We'll see how that goes.

Last Full Day in Athens (until July)

Today actually ended up being pretty cool, after a bad start. I hit all of the sites/museums I wanted to except for the epigraphy museum, and really, I can catch it one of the other times I'll be here this summer. Not a huge deal.

I saw the Museum of the City of Athens (superawesome), the National Historical Museum (waste of time), the Greek Folk Art Museum (so-so), and the National Art Gallery (very peaceful, very happy, very out of the way). After that I went to the Agora and Hadrian's Library, which are both amazing. I spent a lot of time in the Agora taking pictures and wandering around and thinking about nothing in particular. And then I accidentally stepped on a fragment of what I think was a terra cotta drain... it was just sitting there... gotta love it.

I really love it here. I walked around Plaka and Monastiraki for a few hours after dinner and soaked up the city and I just... don't want to leave. I'm sure MAP will be amazing, but I still don't want to give up Athens. I just have to keep telling myself that I'll be back. And that there will still be souvlaki in Tragana. Getting on that bus tomorrow is going to suck, though. But I am looking forward to meeting everyone! People my age that are as excited as I am about Greek Archaeology? Crazy.

A bunch of the sites and museums are closed on account of a strike... It's really common, but it's my last day and I had a bunch of things on my list to see, so this is pretty obnoxious. I'm not really sure what to do, but I'll probably try some of the smaller museums and see if they're open at all. Otherwise, I can only get coffee and hang out in the bookstore again. I'm sick of shopping by now.

I went to the Byzantine Museum, the Numismatics Museum, and the Benaki Museum today. Denise (my prof) took me to the Numismatics Museum, and I finally got to hear her speak Greek. Hah.

I also went and spent about an hour sitting in the Roman Agora and thinking. Dr. Frey says you can learn a lot by just looking at a wall. I think he's right. Mostly though, I just liked being there. I think I might go to the main agora tomorrow with a book (Cavafy's, probably). I can't imagine a better afternoon, honestly. Let's hope the guards don't mind me sitting in the middle of the site, hmm?

I really don't want to leave on monday. I love Athens, both ancient and modern. It's completely different to me than it was last year -- I didn't have my eyes open then, and I wasn't truly willing/able to experience it. Plus I was with a group, and you can't get to know a city until you walk it by yourself all day.

I'm starting to think that I really want to do College Year in Athens if it's at all possible. I can't imagine anything better than living here for a semester or two. I'd probably have to drop a major, which... probably needs to happen anyway.

my feet hurt!

I wandered around Polytechnic (the university) and I went to the archaeological museum for awhile this afternoon. I saw statues I've read about all year long... and that's when it really hit me that I'm actually here. I went back up to the second floor, where all of the pottery is, but my camera ran out of batteries so I'll have to go back. Oh no. But yeah, that exhibit is what made me want to take archaeology and greek history last year, so it means a lot now to see it again and to actually know what some of it is. And I saw the (supposed) burial mask of Agamemnon. And there was a golden wreath that said it had just been repatriated from the Getty Museum. Very cool.

After dinner I saw some South American folk singers right by the Roman Agora. I don't understand it, but it's quite an interesting combo.

I also just walked by a petshop selling baby squirrels. There were like 30 in one little bird cage... so sad... and yet also so tempting... Yes yes, have a conscience, etc... but they're fluffy!

First Day

First of all, I am the queen of jet lag avoidance. Second of all, Athens is amazing.

I got up at 6:30 and had breakfast, got organized, etc. Got to the Acropolis 15 minutes before it opened (at 8:00). Spent an hour and a half there, took a ridiculous amount of pictures, looked up at the Parthenon for a ridiculously long time, etc. Then I went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and did the exact same thing. I then walked all over the place trying to find the cemetary to see the grave/monument for Schliemann... It was worth it. It's like a miniature temple, or something. Kind of like Athena Nike, but that's Ionic and this was Doric. Very interesting frieze, too -- three of the sides look ancient, and the fourth side depicts 19th century builders and restorers. I'm glad I saw it.

I sat at a cafe after that and drank my first frappe -- it's coffee and milk and sugar whipped up and iced. I'm already hooked. I just started walking after that and eventually ran into the National Gardens. Let me tell you, it smells *really* good in there (except by the animals). I thought I'd cut through to the Benaki museum and the Museum of Cycladic Art, but instead I walked around lost for about half an hour. Not that I care -- I was lost in a garden. Plus there were turtles. How bad can that be? After that, I went to the Cycladic museum... I read all of these articles in Greek Archaeology about how these figurines might be fake, and I definitely have my doubts about some of them after seeing them up close. I was amused, anyway. And they have the best bookshop in the basement -- I bought a book of Cavafy's poems there, with the Greek and English versions of both put right next to each other. I really can't tell you how much I love this book. I also hit up another bookstore to buy Harry Potter in Greek, and I've since been wandering around Plaka. I don't really know what to do now. I'll probably just wander around again until I bump into something ancient. It's only 3:30 here, and the sun doesn't set until about 9:00.

Did I mention I'm having the time of my life?? If you couldn't tell. :-D

Athens!

I'm in Athens! My plane was about two hours delayed and the metro took a lot longer than I expected, but I'm here! I don't know what I'm going to do in the next couple of days, but there are a lot of cool museums around here to visit. They are probably my highest priority, aside from just experiencing the city.

But right now I think I need some dinner, and some sleep. This city is kind of overwhelming after 20 hours of nonstop travel.

Ya!

PS I can see the Acropolis from my hotel room. Hellz yah.

God of War

Brian let me play God of War on his PS2, so I basically spent the night smashing red figure pottery and marble statues... Probably not the best thing to do before heading over to field school. It's like how you don't play racing games right before you hit the highway, because you start thinking about ramming cars off the road or crashing into barricades at 110 mph.

I feel much more confident about this trip, though. I now know how to decapitate gorgons and stab minotaurs in the mouth, which could definitely come in handy. I mean, you never know.

Brief Overview

My trip begins wtih three days and four nights in Athens. After cramming in as many museums as I possibly can, I hop on a bus and head north to Tragana for nine weeks of excavation. I'm joining 15 other kids in a field school there, and we'll be learning all about excavating and cataloging and archaeology in general. In addition to that, we will be travelling around to some very cool sites and museums across the country. I have already been to some of them, but I went without any knowledge or understanding of Greece or the ancient world. Since then, I have taken Greek History, Roman History, Intro to Archaeology, Lab Methods in Archaeology, and Greek Art and Archaeology. I took Greek History on a whim, but as you can see, it didn't quite work out how I thought it would (I am clearly no longer an English major). So yeah, I think I will get a bit more out of this trip than the last one. Oh, and I don't have bronchitis this time around. (Bronchitis + Asthma + Athenian smog? I couldn't get enough air in my lungs to speak more than two syllables at a time. Eugh.)

The other great thing? Seeing these sites again gives me the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in my footage! Hopefully I'll get some more movies online after I get back to the States. See my Delphi vid below!

Hello Goodbye

I have less than a week now before I leave for the airport! I couldn't be more excited about the trip, but it's really starting to hit me that I'm not going to see a lot of my friends or family at all this summer. After being at college a whole year, giving up seeing those people is not easy. I haven't seen some of my high school friends since graduation or Thanksgiving, and I might not have the opportunity to see them again for quite some time. Summers are also when I spend time with my grandmother (who is amazing) and I'm going to miss that this summer. Not to mention that I am going to be away from my parents and brothers (and dog) for a very long time.

So. I am going to make this trip count.

Two Weeks and Couting!

I'm leaving in two weeks exactly, and I actually feel semi-prepared and on schedule! Last time I went to Greece I packed half the night before and half the morning of, but I don't think that's going to cut it for a ten week trip. I've done a lot of research and read a lot of travel writing to wise up and learn from others' mistakes, and www.ricksteves.com has been an unbelievable tool. If any of you are planning on hopping off to Europe any time soon, go to his site first. It's a treasure chest of free information on Europe and travel in general. A lot of it is taken right out of his travel books word for word, so save yourself the money and check the site first!

I have also been trying to teach myself Modern Greek, but I've gotten lazy and stopped memorizing words and phrases. Hopefully I'll convince myself to pick that back up again before I leave. What's been most helpful believe it or not is the music -- it's a great way to familiarize yourself with the sounds of a new language and to start learning about a new culture.

Also, REI has a lot of clothes that are SPF 30 or 50+. Since I am completly unable to keep up with sunscreen, their sunshirts are how I'm going to survive the Mediterranean sun this summer. Check it out if you're planning on being outdoors a lot this year. You may think tans are pretty, but skin cancer is definitely not.