Opa!

Greece Part I - Athens

Being in a foreign country, especially one that uses its own alphabet provides ample opportunity for the apparently innate human process of adjustment to new customs. For our 10 hour flight from the US to Athens I sat plastered between the window of the plane and a ….. shall we call her “big boned” Greek lady only a few years older than myself, I found myself in awe how different her and I were. As I observed her writing in her Louis Vuitton journal (yep, a designer brand journal/notebook, you can only imagine what the rest of her looked like) and stared at her in wonder at the number of pounds of make-up she seemed to be applying every 3 hours with enough vigorous motion to cause our row of seats to shake violently - - I thought about the wonderfully comfortable sweatpants and flip-flops that decorated my own very jet-lagged body and decided that European culture would most likely be a little bit outside of my very Americanized and evidently very casual lifestyle. While the days since our arrival have been far more filled with designer brand knock offs than anything like what I observed on that plane, they’ve definitely required a little adaptation to say the least. My friends (Ally, Elsa, and Tyler) and I have been in Greece for 3 days and are now starting to realize just how much each of us has been forced to adapt what were once the norms that allowed us to comfortably and effortlessly think, communicate, and behave. My favorite adaptation? “Opa,” otherwise known as my adopted replacement for the Minnesotan phrase “uff-da.”

We begin our Greek adventure in Athens, an extremely vibrant, overpopulated metropolis consisting of a seemingly odd mixture of touristy t-shirt stands, nearly all of which have an old Greek man offering “a special price for you,” blended with immense opportunities to experience some of the world’s most famous ancient Greek ruins and culture. Our first day in Athens can be characterized by two words: overly stimulating. We took the Athens “Metro,” their version of a subway from the airport to the Plaka region of central Athens where our first stop, Hostel Zeus, will accommodate us for the first 4 days of our time in Greece. Getting from the airport to the hostel was…a blur. I can only imagine what people’s impressions were as they observed 4 jet lagged and culture shocked American college students each complete with enough luggage to last them for 4 months sweating profusely as we nearly rolled back down each escalator we attempted to clamber onto, dragged our rolling suite cases across the not-so-friendly cobble-stone streets all in desperate attempts to find the correct Greek street name (remember, we’re going straight to our school in Rome after our tour of Greece and thus have to drag everything for living in Italy until Christmas with us through Greece, sounds fun right?!). Anyway, we made it to Hostel Zeus where the 4 of us have been residing in our unairconditioned, dorm-room sized accommodations, complete with what we recently discovered to be the (very lively at 4 a.m. consistently) prostitute/drug dealing district of Athens practically at our doorstep.

***Sidenote #1: for those of you trying to picture Diana + friends accidently wandering through a block filled with prostitutes (some of whom chose to where no pants at all) then ducking into an ally just so that we didn’t have to walk back up the same block onnnly to find that the ally plopped us into the drug dealing district of Athens where a small Greek man approached me and Ally flashing a laser light at us and whispering something about marijuana…you’re right, we stuck out like sore thumbs as we nervously giggled our way back to familiar streets vowing never to turn left again when leaving Hostel Zeus, always turn right, always.

Since our first day in Athens, our coping ability for the distinct methods of chaos that can only define this city has increased dramatically. Problem solving skills and not panicking in the face of potential disaster have proved to be two very useful skills in the last few days. For example, catching onto local knowledge and tactics can be very useful in the case of ATMs consistently lacking any cash. Yes, Greek ATMs are, what we now know as, notoriously known for running out of any and all cash by the weekend and not being refilled until sometime midweek – a fact that comes as a bit of a shock to anyone used to America where cash flows from ATMs like water from a faucet. Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know that with a little persistence and a little advice, I found that ATMs in less touristy areas are more likely to have maintain a stock of cash well into the weekend (something I discovered after only one long day as a penniless Athens tourist).

Obsessive observational skills have also come in handy in our adaptation to Greek culture. We have learned how to correctly and successfully deal with situations by watching the local Greek’s behaviors and mimicking them completely. For example, each time we eat at a restaurant we are 1. Bombarded by men trying to sell designer knock offs, touristy gimmicks, etc. The answer? Avoid eye contact completely or shake your head “no” vigorously, we are also 2. Faced with the issue of how to receive and pay the bill for our meals in less than the common European mealtime of 3 hours. The Answer? We’ve found that most restaurants bring the bill quickly and then disappear when you’re ready to pay, thus you must wave the bill ferociously at the waiter until he nods and slowwwwly moves to actually collect your money.
***Sidenote #2: when in Athens, become a “regular” at a restaurant (a.k.a. go more than once), because nearly all of them are family owned and operated and thus when they recognize you, you’ll get unlimited amounts of free yogurt and honey (most amazing Greek desert, everrr), just FYI for those of you as food-motivated as I am.

Other issues only solved by observing the Greek ways? Crossing the street without being hit by at least 3 mopeds. The answer? Be pushy enough to take less than 5 full minutes to cross, yet cautious enough to not actually have your toes crushed by a moped…confusing, yet something you can only master through observation.

The conclusion of our time in Athens consisted of what I can only call the most extreme tourist day everrrr: a.k.a. experiencing all of Athens greatest treasures in one 6 hour, 15 mile walk on what must have been the hottest (in temperature) day here. The walk began in our journey from the Plaka district of Athens to the Syntagma district, a journey that involved more confusion with any sort of sense of direction than expected. But getting lost isn’t all bad, it’s what brought us to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs building where we watched the noon “changing of the guard” ritual through Syntagma Square. Surrounding the building is the National Garden, a sort of botanical garden walk that we were extremely happy find that the garden was not only free to enter and was shaded from the blazing hot Mediterranean sunshine, but led us directly to the Olympic Stadium, the first (intentional) stop on our tourist day. Following the stadium we stumbled upon Hadrian’s Gate as well as what’s left of the ancient Greek Ministry of Culture on our way to the beginning of the huuuge hill up to the Acropolis and Pantheon. Our hike up that hill was a long one beginning in some very Greek residential neighborhoods (picture the white houses with teeny tiny windy walkways between them) where we followed some hand painted signs that sure enough led us to the Acropolis. The Acropolis was…incredible! I had high expectations as we approached it just based off of it’s reputation and the extreme aspects of the hike up, but it still surpassed whatever expectations I had - - such beautiful ancient ruins and the most amazing view of all of Athens even as far as the sea. So next time you’re all in Athens, the Acropolis should be your first stop - - just bring water, lots and lots and lots of water, in preparation for sweating more than you ever have in your entire life ☺

From here on out our journey takes us through the Greek islands…tonight at 5p.m. we get on a ferry to the island Kythira where we’ll meet some of the family of my friend Ally before heading to Santorini (plans on how to get to Santorini have yet to be set, however swimming or buying a paddle boat built for 4 have been suggested, so I’ll keep you all posted) for our remaining days in Greece! I’ll keep you posted on where this Greek adventure takes us, in the meantime please keep in touch!
Opa! (a.k.a. uff-da, wow, celebrate!) We finally made it to Greece!

Love from the land of Baklava,
Diana