Week 1

January 6-15th, 2023

I’ve never experienced anything like the feeling of flying into Greece. The older man sitting next to me probably thought it was insane that this girl sitting in the window seat had her jaw dropped and was wiping her tears just at the site of the coast. In my head, I just kept repeating GRiZ’s Know Time Like The Present lyric, “When you came into this world so did the world come out of you, you exist so everything can.” 

I can’t believe that I exist so that landscapes like the Greek mountains and Mediterranean sea can. I can’t possibly fathom the idea that I was born to experience these things. 

After a two-hour delay on the runway, I slept through most of my flight over the ocean. That was my first time flying over a body of water larger than the Gulf of Mexico and it was a daunting thought! I’m glad I did an overnight trip because I was able to get into Athens during the day and see everything. However, as this was my first drastic change in time zones; time is absolutely not real, only the sun is. 

My first Taxi driver, ____ was such a warm welcome to Greece. He apologized up front for the inhospitable Greeks and gave me his business card for if I needed anything, not just a ride. Driving into Athens, it was interesting to see the terrain was much more dry and similar to Colorado than I’d imagined and that there are so many abandoned shops downtown as a memory of their 2015 financial crisis. 

My first few days in Athens were spent recovering from jetlag and fixing my sleep schedule. The first time I left the hotel upon arrival was to get breakfast, in which I got a cappuccino, a toast, and orange juice across the street. The orange juice was the best, most fresh and unpasteurized I’ve ever had; it’s appalling how there’s orange trees lining the city streets. Overall, so far, the food here has left me feeling satisfied, yet not stuffed and lazy because of the processing. After just a week of eating this food, I could feel my mood improving.

I was in high anticipation while I watched the city go by for a few days out of my hotel room in Athens, and walked around in the cold during the day without a sense of location. I stumbled upon the Acropolis and tried my first pork gyro, which is surprisingly cheap. I quickly realized how courageous it is to travel alone, especially as a female, because you almost feel like a target after hearing pick-pocketing and robbery horror stories. 

My goal walking into this experience was set throughout these first few days. It’s simple; say yes to everything. Within reason, of course. When people invite you somewhere, when people want to connect, there is likely not a valid enough reason to say no. What, fear? I’ve decided I’d rather oblige to fear of missing out than fear of the unknown.

I was the first of the 12 roommates to arrive at my dorm, so I set up my room, chose the bed nearest to the window (which luckily enough is our own porch in my room), and looked forward to meeting the rest of my roommates. My dorm building wound up being students that did a direct exchange to study here, and it’s the furthest from campus; about a 20 minute walk. Turns out, the roommate who shares the room with me, Riley, is also from North Carolina and goes to
The University of Tampa yet we had never met. 

There were six of us who arrived on the first move-in day, so we went out to dinner and for the first time in my life, were able to legally order a bottle of rosé. It’ll be weird to readjust to American drinking culture coming back home. During our welcoming informative sessions, they had to clarify in length to a bunch of underage adults how the drinking culture varies here and is more of a staple in the culture rather than drinking while trying to get drunk. 

Being here I’ve immediately been faced to think about; What is a culture and what is the lack of? Is American culture just the lack of care, or idolizing oneself and productivity too much? It’s been humbling and astounding to see how other cultures perceive the United States, even while attending The American College of Greece. Even the Greek students are unimpressed with American’s culture. 

I went into Athens three times in the first ten days. The first was obviously during my stay for a few nights. The second was with friends and we were able to hit the touristy destinations; a rooftop bar facing the Acropolis, stumbling into the cheapest thrift shop I’ve ever seen, and browsing in Plaka (a must-go touristy neighborhood with overpriced evil-eyes and pashminas). And the third was on my university’s guided tour (where our lovely tour guide Helen wore all red), where we learned how to use the city’s metro, got an authentic Greek dinner with live music, saw the changing of the guards, and visited the Main Olympic Stadium. 

Discovering the city of Athens is an opportunity I never fully fathomed I’d have. Spending this much time in Greece is an absolutely immeasurable experience. I’m so fortunate to have this time to spend here.