Η ελληνική περιπέτειά μου

OK, so I haven't posted in a very long time. But I have been very busy with school lately. Suddenly, all my professors decided to give midterms when it was way past the actual middle of the semester. This on top of papers, projects and other things that suddenly piled onto my desk. But anyway, I will attempt to recap my past... three weeks is it?

After bungee jumping, I volunteered at the Hilton here in Athens for the Democrats Abroad who were throwing an election party a.k.a. victory party, but that was only after Obama won. It was incredibly disorganize as many Greek events are. Most of the people there were Greek-Americans so they could speak perfect English, which threw me off a bit. Anyway, one of the coordinators came up to me and told me to sell T-Shirts with Obama's logo on them. He then handed me a bag of four shirts and basically left me on my own. I had to fight and argue with so many people till I could get the rest of the shirts. Nobody wanted to take any responsibility and would have much rather sat, ate and drank. Anyway, I eventually got the shirts, set up shop on a random table, and sold all the shirts within an hour. A lady decided to sell her stuff next to me and after a short conversation I found out she was also from Chicago. However, she hated it and had lived in Spata (not Sparta. It is close to Athens) for almost 30 years.

Anyway, it was a fun, however exhausting, party. I met some very cool (and important) people but it did not provide me with the networking I had hoped for. I was a small-time volunteer pushed to the back. Ugh. Whatever. All of the volunteers from my school left around 2AM because we could not stay awake any longer.

After the Hilton, the biggest thing that happened was my trip to Barcelona. I was planning on going with a friend here from school, however she got incredibly sick and had to drop out. I refused to not go since I had already paid for everything. I sucked up my fears of going somewhere alone and got on the plane. Good thing too cause I had the time of my life! When I got there, I managed to find my way into town and straight to my hostel. I am just that good! But that night I decided to stay in and socialized with people at the hostel. It was a very nice one. It had satellite cable, movies and free internet. The people were pretty cool too. A few Americans, Aussies, Brits, Brazilians and an Argentinean. We sat talking for a few hours while watching "You've Got Mail," in Spanish. Very few of us knew Spanish, but it looks like a horrible movie.

The next two days I did everything. I went to most of the sights I could and walked from the morning until sunset. I had a terrible cramp in my shin for a full week after this. Barcelona is very beautiful. Full of gothic buildings, small, winding streets and massive churches. And Gaudi, a famous architect, made his signature mark in Barcelona. His designs are almost are strange and almost crazy! But it was very cool nonetheless to see. The metro in Barcelona is so amazing as well. Ten times better than Athens simply because Athens' metro has three lines. Better than Chicago too since it's newer and more efficient. I tried tapas for the first time, but got incredibly ripped off. Of course I have to choose the most expensive tapas bar in one of the most expensive cities in Europe! Eating was slightly lonely, but I sucked it up. I went to McDonalds a lot since I wanted to save money and not look stupid eating alone. Spanish McDonalds is absolutely amazing. It tasted so fresh and meaty! I fell in love with it. My favorite expierence of Barcelona was the evening of my second night. I sat on top of the steps to the gigantic Mueseum of Art, overlooking the entire city while a man played a guitar. It was so relaxing and beautiful. I really love Barcelona! My pictures are not yet loaded onto Flickr, but they are on Facebook, if you have one.

Nothing important happened for a week after that. School, school and more school. But the next weekend I went to a bazoukia with some friends. They had met some guys who knew someone and got us in for relatively cheap. 25 euros per person is not bad. A bazoukia is a night-long party where they play traditional Greek music and most everyone dances. We were some of the youngest people there. However, we did not go to a traditional. At first, it was kind of like a circus with rock music. Dancers, acrobatics, side-shows, all to popular American music. We were beginning to worry after an hour until the main show began. That night, a famous singer was there named Antonio Remos. He sang forever, but was pretty good. I'm not a fan of Greek music, but he was decent. Then, after a long, long time, the real bazoukia began. Everyone rushed to the stage (including me) and we danced like only Greeks know how to. The night wore on and before we knew it, it was 4AM. Even though we were the youngest, we were also some of the first to leave. Greeks are truly out of their minds!
bazoukia

Skip forward past my midterm exams which weren't really midterms, to November 17th. Remember that day I told you about in previous posts? Well, it had finally come and we all prepared to go. Really, it wasn't that exciting. It was poring rain, but regardless the march was incredibly large. There were so many people, ranging from young to old, and many many communists. I think the United States is one of the few countries without a Communist Party. Anyway, nothing exciting happened. No tear gas or Molotov cocktails. Many people came expecting trouble. They brought large sticks and their motorcycle helmets, marching arm-in-arm, and there was a huge police presence, but it still no fighting. My professors said it may have to do with the rain and Obama's win in the elections. Obama had a huge impact here in Europe. Many people on the radio and newspapers keep talking about whether or not Europe can overcome its racism and elect an ethnic minority to office. Many look the Obama as inspiration for their future and I was told more than once that I should be proud to be American today. It was pretty inspiring to see people look up to the United States for once. However, I think they are going to be very disappointed. They see Obama as a demi-god, an expectation that very few people can live up to. They think he is going to end both wars by the end of the year and many other strange things. We will see.

Anyway, those were the highlights of my past few weeks. I feel that I am finally at peace with my surroundings in Athens. I love this city so much, and with more time, it could become my home. I don't want to leave, but I really miss the holidays, snow and home. Everyday, Greek starts to make more sense to me and I grasp another small concept or phrase. It sucks that I only have four more weeks left, because given more time I could speak pretty fluently. But oh well. UIC won't give me credit for my Greek class here anyway.

So, I promise to blog much more often. I have been too lazy.