27 May: The Study Part is Less Fun than the Abroad Part

The all night bus/plane ride killed any hope that the week in England would prevent jet lag in Athens, so all the events of my first day and a half here are veiled by a haze of sleep deprivation. A slight consolation is that most everyone else was even more disoriented, and our round of introductions the first night revealed some hilarious travel stories. Justin had booked his flight using frequent flier miles and ended up with a 23 hour journey that took him to four different countries before Athens, and Katy scammed first class meals and gift bags off of a flight attendant her fellow travelers referred to as “the creepy old man.” As far as my flight goes, Taylor and I ended up sitting in the midst of twelve British dentists on their way to a bachelor (stag) party on the Grecian islands. I adored hearing them talk about how they had kidnapped the groom at 1 that morning and drove him to the airport with whatever he could grab. My seat mate told me they had even created a fake schedule of patients for their friend, which he thought was the best part of the ploy and made me think maybe I don’t understand dentist humor.

There’s a lot to adjust to in Greece, but by far the most difficult aspect is having three hours of class every morning. After our orientation meeting on Thursday night I went with some other kids to Monastiraki Square, where I ate the most amazing gyro while watching the sun set over the Acropolis. This surreal evening was brought to a halt when I realized I had pages and pages of reading to do for class the next morning, and in what I’m guessing will be a theme for this trip I had to drag myself away from Athens to go back to my room and read about it. 

Tonight all 47 students, 3 professors, 1 tour manager and 1 eleven year old (the daughter of two of our professors) visited a taverna and had a five course Greek dinner while watching musicians, singers and dancers. The event lasted over three hours, and I’m not exactly sure how to describe it. There was lots of food, lots of wine, lots of tourists and lots of group participation. When, at around the two hour mark, the 6’4” Mark was dancing on stage with two Asian women who couldn’t have been taller than 5 feet each I wasn’t sure whether we were having an amazing cross-cultural experience or had fallen into the biggest tourist trap in Athens. Regardless of its authenticity, the dinner was very fun and a good way to facilitate the group bonding that seems like it will be essential for such a long trip.