Pita Cutting

Pita Cutting

The walk to the University was quiet. As I walked to give my first Greek dialogue my speech ran through my head on repeat.  Everyone was thinking about what they had to say in front of the class and not communicating with one another.

            I sat and pretended to listen to my classmates recite their dialogues to the class. All I could think about was what I had to say. It was my turn. I stood up and looked out to see my classmates that had already presented staring at me. The other classmates heads were down studying their dialogues. I began to speak allowing the words to pour out of my mouth. Before I knew it I was done and had successfully passed my first dialogue.  The feeling of relief ran through my body as I walked back toward my seat with a smile on my face.  As I watched the rest of presentations I couldn’t help but feel accomplished.  I know that everyone in the class was feeling the same way. The next two hours and fifty minutes of the class was brain wrecking. I thought about my dialogue and couldn’t even think of what needed to be said. My memory was too foggy with new information to think about the old.

            As I rushed out of class and up the stairs to make it to the Pita Cutting ceremony on time I walked into the auditorium to only see everyone’s eyes turn to me as I entered the room. The representative for the Hellenic American University was mid speech. He paused as the group of us clustered into the corner of the room.  I got the feeling that everyone in the room was judging us. I stood there thinking about how our conversations were going to start. I started to feel butterflies in my stomach as I glanced around the room at all the unfamiliar faces.

            After the speeches were done we watched as the President of the University performed the Pita Cutting. Everyone crowed close around the Pita. The pita was a thick orange flavored cake with heavy chocolate frosting.  Greek families will gather for the cutting of the Vassilopita around New Years. The Pita will be baked with a coin that is a symbol of luck. The person who gets the piece of pita that has the coin inside is supposed to have good luck for the year.

The President spoke softly in Greek under his breath. A staff member translated that he said the first piece goes to the home being the university and the second piece goes to the poor. I felt a sense of joy inside because they dedicated a piece to the poor in hope for good luck to them over the next year. I feel many Greek people do not see the poor as more then beggars on the streets, so for the President to cut a piece of pita for them showed that he was thoughtful to all of his community. After the cutting of those two pieces cake was quickly being distributed.  The cake was tangy and sweet. After about the tenth piece handed out a scratchy yelp came from the back corner. A girl shouted out with happiness because she had the coin in her piece. Everyone was very excited for her. I was jealous because I wanted the coin as I’m sure everyone in the room did. I ate my cake while chatting with other students from the University.  We exchanged names, majors, common interests and numbers by the end of the Pita Cutting. Hopefully the spark between us will carry into great friendships. 

The Ancient Agora

Katie Jackson

2/16

The Ancient Agora

            Today was our day back to reality after an interesting and busy weekend traveling. We all woke up dreary-eyed and exhausted for our Greek language class. Today we learned to count to 1000, how to hold a simple conversation on the phone, and then found out we have an oral presentation tomorrow that includes everything we have learned so far. I have to be able to introduce myself, say where I’m from, where I currently live, and my relationship status.

            After our class, 5 of the six girls decided to walk straight to the Agora, where our next class was, and then get something to eat.  We were told it was under the Acropolis so we walked in that general direction. Once we got to the base of the Acropolis, we asked a Greek lady where it was. She pointed us to a street and told us it was about 5 minutes away. After about 10 minutes of wandering, we figured we were in the wrong place, so we went in and asked another Greek café owner. He pointed us in the opposite direction. So we walked that way until we came across a group of policemen, and then they pointed us to the right of where the older man said. So we decided to follow the directions from the authorities and we walked through a very hilly neighborhood until we finally came to an opening with a few white columns. We walked up to the entrance and the sign read, “Roman Agora”. Our faces dropped in confusing and anger as we all stood there in disbelief. We had gone to the wrong Agora! We called Matt and he tried directing us the right way, but it still took us ten more minutes of wrong turns and asking the locals before we got there. We were only twenty minutes late, but we still made it.

            The Greek Agora was a small village that birthed the ideas of our modern day democracy.  Ioanna first took us to the museum, which was situated in the Stoa of Attalos. This is a building that was restored by the Americans, so the columns were white as pearls and looked as though it were just built. There were small stalls that, when active, acted as small stores. Walking through the museum, there were many artifacts from the village that held a lot of importance. One of them was the Ostraka. This was a brown piece of clay with a persons named inscribed on it. The person’s whose name was inscribed on the clay, was being “ostracized” and banned from the city of Athens for 10 years. This happens when 6000 people of the city vote against that one person because they fear that he/she is trying to hold all the power to themselves and were compromising the democracy.

            Another interesting piece of the museum was the Kieroteria. This is a big, white grainy piece of stone with 2-inch slots in rows and columns that sat outside the courts. In each slots, those eligible for the jury service inserted bronze identity pieces. Then, two bronze balls, white and black, were release by a crank, and depending on which color emerged, the citizens were allowed into the court. This was used to identify who would be the jury of the court randomly.

            After we walked through the museum, we walked around the ancient city. Ioanna stopped us on the gravel road and told us to look up and down and really take everything in. The reason for this is because the roads have not been restored and we were walking the same streets the ancient Romans did. She also told us not to pick anything up from the ground because the small red shards in the gravel were broken pottery and it was illegal to take. The view from in side of the Temple of Hephaistos was amazing. Looking up to the right, I could see the Acropolis. To the left, I could see over the town of Athens, and hear all the loud sounds of the city. I took a second to just take it all in and think of what it would be like to be standing in that very place, overlooking the Argo in 500 B.C. as the Athenians did. There would be no big building structures, or the loud metro passing by, only fields beyond the quarters of the town, and a peaceful village to look over. It was very sobering knowing that people were walking these very streets over 3000 years ago.

            Ioanna released the class 15 minutes before the museum closed and we all went to a late lunch and shopped around the small markets. I got back to the apartment and finished up some blogging, memorized my Greek presentation, and went to bed early to feel refreshed for our next day in 

999 Stairs and An Ancient Village

999 Stairs and An Ancient Village

February 16, 2013

            Step after step I could feel my calves burning as we climbed our way up to The Fortress of Palamidi. This ancient castle is located on the top of a mountain 999 steps up in the town of Nafplion. Nafplion is a beautiful town located right on the water. The moment we entered the town in our van, my eyes instantly fell in love. Palm trees lined the sidewalks that ran parallel to the bright blue ocean. The streets full of a variety of shops and restaurants. This town that I instantly loved I grew fonder of each step up I took toward The Fortress of Palamidi. With each step I took I noticed something new about the town. The higher I got up the mountain the more bright blue ocean and mountains in the distance I could see. When we finally reached the top we could see the entire town. The white buildings with orange roofs looked beautiful as the sun reflected off the bright blue water and on to the buildings. The castle itself took my breath away. Seeing the stone structure amazed me. It blows my mind that people were able to construct such extravagant buildings of stone back in the seventeen hundreds. This castle was taken over by the Ottomans before its completion between the years of 1711 and 1715.

            Within the castle there were areas for food storage, water reservoirs, barracks, a church, etc. We found ourselves ducking through small entry ways to explore deeper into the castle. We walked through Kolokotrones’ Prison. In order to do this we had to duck into a small entry way and climb over tiny rocks through little hallways that led to a 10x10 room with a rocky dirt floor. If I had been kept as a prisoner here I would have died from claustrophobia. With just three of us in the prison at a time, we all felt the eeriness of being in such a small place with no sunlight or fresh air.

            We wandered around the castle for a couple hours and then made our way back down the 999 steps to get ready to travel to Ioanna’s village. We checked out of our hotel around one o’clock and packed our suitcases into the van and piled in like sardines. We drove up and over mountains being tossed back and forth in our seats with every turn Professor Roth took. We passed sheep grazing in fields and snow covered mountains along our journey to the village of Karyes.

            Ioanna’s good friend Thomas welcomed us into the village with open arms. He brought us into his stone basement that he has turned into a wine cellar. Giant barrels of homemade organic wine filled the cellar. One wall was full of wines Thomas has made and wines he has been given as well as a nut collection with nuts from around the world. We gathered around the tables in the middle of the room sipping organic red wine and trying a variety of foods native to the village. These foods included aged parmesan cheese, olives, fresh bread, honey and chestnuts. I feasted on the olives. They were so fresh and salty. We sat around Thomas’ wine cellar laughing and telling stories and having Ioanna translate so Thomas could be part of our conversations.

            Even though we had sat around sampling wine and a variety of foods we still managed to find room for dinner. We were fortunate enough to be able to try one of the villages taverns where I had mouthwatering pork and potatoes. This meat was so tender and so fresh that even though I was stuffed to the point that I thought my pants might unbutton I kept eating. We all enjoyed the food so much at my end of the table that the plates with the food on them were cleared about twenty minutes after it was brought out. This was definitely our best meal since being in Greece. This was not the end of our eating for the day. We left the restaurant, piled back into the van and headed for a neighboring village where we sat in a café sipping wine and trying local dishes. More cheeses and breads were served as well as sun dried tomato and sausage omlets. As one a.m. rolled around I was so full my body was going into a food coma.

The café owner was nice enough to open her market where we were able to buy fresh teas and cheeses. We all wandered through the little shop sampling chocolates and nuts while others bought cheeses and honey to bring back to Athens with us. 

A Mycenaean Adventure

Lily McGartland

February 15, 2013

A Mycenaean Adventure

            After such amazing sights at Epidavros yesterday, it was hard to imagine what could possibly top the greatest “sound system” in the world, but the ancient city of Mycenae did.

            We had a leisurely breakfast of fresh veggies and fruits and traditional Greek pastries. Then we set out on our adventure to find the ruins. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find only one tour bus, this must have been because it was drizzling and absolutely freezing cold. Aside from the horrible weather, there was so much to do and see. Ioanna showed us all around the ancient ruins. She began at the entrance to the fortified citadel where the massive Lion Gate proudly sits atop the immense Cyclopean walls. Both the boulders and the Lion Gate are so large that one of the explanations of their placement is the myth that Cyclops, giant mythical beasts with one eye, created the walls and the Lion Gate. The Lion Gate in itself is a reason to come to Mycenae; the ancient statue is so magnificent, yet delicate in its structure and form. The heads of the lions are missing, said to have been made of bronze or gold, most likely stolen to make ammunition.

            Ioanna led us around to the other ruins; she spoke about the different burial grounds and houses for important people of the time. The largest “house” was the palace for the King and Queen; it was much more grand and about four times the size of the rest of the homes. It had columns that were in the entrance, already showing their royalty before you entered the actual palace.

            The ancient Mycenaeans had devised a system so that when under siege they could still have fresh water. They built a path leading underground, about 18 meters, and using basic “plumbing” they routed water to an underground cistern. They built the passageway to the cistern using the corbelled arch, which is a type of arch that uses pressure to support each stone.

            Next Ioanna showed us the most impressive ruin of the city of Mycenae, the Treasury of Atreus. The Treasury was the largest dome for one thousand years, until the Pantheon in Rome. The Treasury of Atreus is a tholos tomb, meaning beehive tomb; it is extremely wide and comes to a narrow point at the top. The entrance to the Treasury is another corbelled archway, with the ruins of two framing columns and a support triangle. This triangle bears weight and relieves the strain of the dome. After we had a good look around and had become too cold to take in any more information from Ioanna, we made our way back to Nafplio, the town we are staying in.

            When we arrived back to our hotel, the King Othon, Ioanna took us on a walk along the coast of the town. We walked up to some castle ruins and then we walked on a path that ran parallel to the sea. The sky was still overcast, but the water was a clear bright blue. All the flowers and plants were in bloom and their colors were so beautiful and vibrant.

            After the walk, we became Europeans and took a mid-day siesta (nap). Then we walked to a traditional taverna for out dinner. At the restaurant we ate delicious Greek food, the highlights being spanakopita (spinach pie) and fried calamari (squid). After our filling dinner, we over-ate, as usual, we went back to the hotel and prepared for the next day. We are going to go to Ioanna’s village, Karyes, where the famous Caryatids (ancient Greek female columns) are from. 

55 Rows to the Top and I Can Still Hear a Coin Drop

55 Rows to the Top and I Can Still Hear a Coin Drop

Lauren Miller

2-14-2013

            To begin our day, there were a few technical difficulties with renting the car and van, so we did not get as early as start as we would have liked. It was raining and cold for the second day in a row, so everyone was bundled up in their warmest clothing. We each carried one backpack to the car, while each girl also brought a purse with her schoolbooks in it. In our 7-passenger van and 5-person car, we all headed out of the city of Athens. We were now in the chaotic, fast-paced traffic that we usually watched from the sidewalks while walking to our destinations. On these streets it is a necessity to be aggressive behind the wheel. About an hour into our drive we stopped to for a bite to eat. We had juicy, perfectly seasoned souvalkis at a small rest stop. After lunch, we went to look at a canal that was carved in ancient times to allow passing boats to travel through. This canal is called the Isthmos Canal Corinth. The waters were a deep blue and looked refreshing, although the temperature outside was only in the 50s! As we continued our drive through the mountains, we were able to look over the railings and see the brown and red roofed houses through the grey fog that was covering them. On the side of the roads we passed what looked like miniature churches. Each one is about three feet tall with beautiful carvings of crosses, flowers, and other symbols that were probably meaningful to the family members.. These monuments are for family members who have been killed in car accidents- similar to the crosses that we place on the side of our roads. Also along the road, there were thousands of olive trees. The olive trees reminded me of old people, the way their trunks looked wrinkly and the branches hung low to the ground. Ioanna informed us that in December, the season of olives, the harvesters lay nets below all the trees and use a rake to rustle the olives out of the trees. In between the trees, coming down the mountain, I could see both black and white sheep roaming; each one looked like it needed a bath.

            When we arrived at the Epidavros Theatre site, Ioanna explained the history of the theatre. The theatre was dedicated to Asklepios, the God of Healing. In the shape of a half moon, the theatre seats about 17,000 people in 55 rows. When we were walking into the theatre, Ioanna told us to make our way to the top of the stands. The class spread out in different sections and Ioanna began to test the sounds that we had all heard such interesting stories about. The first test was to drop a coin; I was standing at the top of the stands and it was as if I had dropped the coin myself. The second test was to rip a piece of paper. From the top it sounded like my teacher was ripping a piece of paper at her desk in the front of the room. The way the sound was traveling was mind baffling to me. When Ioanna was talking to us from center stage, she would talk in her normal, southern accented voice; she did not raise it at all. I felt as though she was sitting beside me and we were having a conversation. Right before we left, Ioanna said there was one more test and she wanted us to hear. She sang a hymn; it came from an old Greek song about a man who kissed a woman and fell in love with her. Because of this, the community cut off his arm and he confessed that he would have his other arm cut off for one more kiss. What a perfect love story for Valentine’s Day, right?!?! The seating in the theatre was made out of limestone, which is what reflects the sounds and allows it to echo. The limestone also absorbs the sounds of anything else occurring in the stands so that the center stage is always the loudest. To this day, experts, specialists, and engineers have not figured out how the ancient Greeks were able to create such an extraordinary acoustical space. Each summer, the theatre holds a weekend of concerts for actors and actresses to come reenact ancient plays that were once performed on the stage.

            Afterwards, in the museum, we saw beautifully sculptured designs that were on various buildings located around the site. One sculpture we viewed was a piece from a ceiling that had different types of flowers; each pedal was engraved very specifically. They were very elegant. In the museum we saw some of the first medical instruments that we used for healing of wounds and limbs, other sicknesses that would come about among the people, and they were also the instruments that set the standards for today.  These instruments looked fragile as if they would break and crumble into pieces if I were to pick on of them up. They were also very, very tiny.

            In addition to the theatre, Epidavros also has ruins of a restaurant, a hotel, an athletic site, and a hospital. At the restaurant, it was believed that when a customer sat down to have dinner, God would be present at the table as well while they were eating dinner. At the athletic site – which is still being excavated! - there were competitions held including the Olympic games. The only event that would take place here was male races. All runners would always run naked.

            When we returned to Nafplios, we had dinner at a tavern; the walls were covered with front pages of old Playbills featuring famous plays, actors and actresses that had performed at the Epidavros. Ioanna ordered multiple different Greek appetizers for us all to share. We drank wine, tasted many new, interesting flavors of food such as a spicy cheese dip, eggplant salad, zucchini cheese balls, and many more! We enthusiastically talked with each other for almost three hours about the Epidavros, the castle climbing we would be doing in the next couple of days, and the couples around us celebrating Valentine’s Day. After dinner, we left to get gelato at a famous gelateria named “Antica Gelateria di Roma” and called it a night!