Much Ado About Athens: An Update

It's been two weeks since I arrived in Athens, and I think I am finally adjusted to the laundry-on-the-clothes-line, feta-cheese-with-everything, laid back way of life.

Hanging my laundry on the line like a true Greek :)

I absolutely love my little apartment that I share with four other girls. I have my own room, with a door that opens to a balcony and lets in lots of natural light. The best part? A bakery with amazing breakfast pastries right across the street. And every Friday, the street next to mine is turned into a market; for less than eight euros, I can buy enough fruits and vegetables for a week!

7.50 euros worth of groceries! What a steal!

The Greek people I've met so far have been incredibly friendly, and for the most part they speak English. They love when we try to speak Greek in conversation--even if it is just 'thank you'.

As for Athens itself, I am in awe every day. The view from the top of the hills is breathtaking--no picture can do it justice. And its an archaeological heaven. With our American student IDs, we were able to buy a discounted package deal: the seven top ancient sites for only 15 euro!

If you look closely, you can see Acropolis in the background (kind of above Tashi's head)

Aside from museums and ancient ruins, the weeks have been full of other random activities. Arcadia staff provided two Greek cooking lessons--we made Greek salad, a cheese pie, and a spicy sausage entree. We visited some of the art exhibits from the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, including one theater performance. And we even visited an outdoor movie cinema...

The movie theater itself was really neat--set in the National Gardens at night. It's well-known theater that locals visit a lot; it showcases one movie for an entire week.  Of course, the weekend we decided to visit, the movie of choice was The Queen of Spain. It was entirely in Spanish, with Greek subtitles. And it was a sequel. (Needless to say we didn't totally understand what was going on!) Even so, it was neat to do something that local Greeks do for fun too.

Practicing my Greek lettering :)

And that's it for now! I'm looking forward to exploring more of Athens soon (and hopefully other parts of Greece too!).