Student Bloggers

I've been here almost three weeks now. I've tried to take a few steps on my own, but for the most part, I travel with my roommates or other students. Initially when I travelled anywhere on my own, my heart would pound and I began sweating bullets, nervous I would get lost or be accosted. The nerves have subsided by this point; I walk to the bakery with ease, I go to jumbo (the Greek Walmart) confidently, I take the bus to Syntagma square with no problems. Though I haven't explored much of the city, the bits that I do frequent I'm beginning to feel at ease within.

Classes have begun! Though there are classroom components, I've had nearly all of them host sessions out in the city. Archaeology we meet at historically significant locations, ethnography we've gone to different parts of the city to observe Greek life in a cafe, history we attempted to meet up at a museum. The on site components truly liven up the experience and allow me to see more of the city, which I was nervous I wouldn't get to see enough of because we are here for a shorter amount of time.

I try to balance my out of class time between homework, and seeing more of the city. One evening, we went to a different part of town in search of Mexican food to celebrate a birthday. We get to the place and although the food wasn't authentic Mexican food, it was delicious none the less.

Speaking more on food: Everything. Tastes. Weird.

I do mean weird in the most positive way, however. Everything I've eaten that isn't restaurant food has tasted a little... off. For a few days, I didn't want to eat anything I got from the grocery store because it tasted so different, but slowly I'm accepting the change. Every country has different resources, naturally what their food tastes like will be different. Maybe it's less processed, maybe it's different ingredients all together. For example, one night my roommate decided to cook a staple meal for herself: chicken over salad. She baked the chicken in the oven, out it over lettuce in a bowl and found a bottle of "Caesar" dressing. The dressing however, tasted like pure mayonnaise. Not quite like Caesar. The yogurt tasted different, though I couldn't quite tell if the texture was different or the flavor.

Our household also tried to make pasta, but when we went to the grocery store, we couldn't find any sort of sauce. Making a second trip back, we discovered small jars of tomato sauce, pesto sauce and packets of cream sauce. Bringing these all back, we started making our take on chicken Alfredo. Over all, the end result was delicious! The sauce wasn't quite Alfredo, but it was closest taste to home we could get. Making the meal was liberating; we could in fact take care of ourselves in a foreign country. I don't have to eat bread for every meal!