Nuns on the Edge…of Cliffs :)

We visited the Ioannina Archeological Museum on April 6^th, which contains findings from the region Epirus between the Paleolithic era until after the Roman period. It was kind of more of the same thing from the first museum at Nikopoli, but more specific with the area around where I’m staying. I saw tablets that were inscribed with questions for the Oracle at Dodoni which I already visited! Some of the questions were kind of funny, like “Will she have children if she is partnered with me?” or “Am I the father of her children?”. It was a really cool feeling to actually see the questions that I had read about and then actually seen the place where they were used.

Then on the 8^th we had an all day excursion to the monasteries of Meteroa and the mountain town of Metsovo. Meteroa, which means ‘suspended in the air’ in greek is a significant grouping of Greek Orthodox monasteries built on the tops of standstone rock pillars. Originally hermits lived in the caves in the cliffs and eventually some monks got together and started building the monasteries. No one really knows exactly how they got the building materials and boulders all of the way up the cliffs, which is really mysterious. So all of the buildings are precariously placed on the tops of cliffs, which makes them difficult to get to, but they have an amazing view of the surrounding mountains and of the nearby village of Kalambaka. We visited the largest of the monasteries, Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron, inhabited by monks and also the Holy Monastery of St. Stephan which is run by nuns. All of the girls had to wear skirts over our clothes before entering and then we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside of the church building, which was unfortunate since that was my favorite part. Every single space inside was ornately decorated with biblical and relgious imagery, all of the way up the vaulted ceilings. Detailed paitings of martys and saints ordained the entrance room, which was actually a bit disturbing even though it was beautiful since it depicted their gresome deaths. Intricate pictures of animals and plants detailed every piece of woodwork, from the walls to the chairs. Also there were some relics of saints, so I saw some really old bone, skull and skin fragments, which the Greek Orthodox people would kiss the glass covering them and then cross themselves, which they actually do the opposite way from Catholics.

After climbing back down the 109 steps from the top of the monastery we went to lunch at the foot of the cliffs, which was amazing just like last week’s lunch. They served us multiple courses of appetizers, greek salad, and souvlaki (hunks of meat roasted on a skewer) with potaoes and rice. Once we finished lunch we all went to the cute ski town Mestovo and chilled for the afternoon. It is definitely a tourist stop because the entire town square was filled with buses of people visiting the town. The town reminded we a lot of Ioannina since it was surrounded by mountains, but much, much closer to to town. They are known for their cheeses so Kacey and I bought some, which was delicious even though we weren’t quite sure exactly what kind of cheese it was actually. We just explored the town and shopped before heading back to the university.

School is in full swing now, and I’m actually in class longer than  I would be at UW, but the work load is much easier. I’m learning so much Greek! Just hearing other speak it all of the time and my language class is now better suited to my previous knowledge base. I’ve been taking advantage of the nice outside track they have here even though its about as far across campus as you can get. I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable here and its only been 2 weeks so far! This Friday we’re going to Thessaloniki, which is clear across the country but I’m excited to see more of the country. Γεια σας!

The Entrance to Hades...duh, duh, duuuuh :)

On April 1st we went on an all day excursion and went to several awesome sites. First was the Archeological Museum in Nikopoli, which had a ton of ruin from the Roman period when the city was at its peak. This is where Octavius defeated Antony and Cleopatra, so they called the place 'Victory City' or Nikopolis in Greek. The museum was full of statues of emperors and gods, clay pots, coins, and tablets, but the coolest part was the section of sarcophagi, which was one of the main exports of the area. Walking around the huge sarcophagi was kind of creepy, but treatment and fascination with the dead was really important to the ancient Greeks, which has to do with the next place we went to on the excursion.

Next up was the Nekromanteion, the supposed location of the Gates of the Underworld. Luckily it was a sunny, beautiful day in paradise over here, or else this excursion would have been super creepy. The Greeks believed that at this entrance to Hades one could communicate with the dead. So people would travel to the temple, get drugged by the priests as to be in a state to communicate with the spirits and then hopefully talk with their dead loved ones. Kind of crazy, right? However the purpose of the conversation was usually not to catch up with the dead person, but rather to try and discern a prophet from them as it was believed that the dead could tell the future. The temple above the actual underground entrance area has been worn down over the years, just fragments of walls with no ceilings remaining. Entering the actual underground temple wasn’t all that exciting, since it was just a set of metal stairs leading into the ground, but the room was pretty cool. I felt like Indiana Jones was going to storm in and find some secret passage way or something. It was pretty dark down there, but the flash on my camera obviously takes that away from the image.

After that we headed to Preveza to have lunch, which was amazing! The lunches on the Friday excursions are prepaid for as part of the program and so far they have been delicious. I look forward to them all week long :) We ate at a restaurant on the edge of this cliff on the sea and we were the only people there too. The view reminded me of Hawaii so much. We had fresh bread, an appetizer plate, Greek salad, and juicy hunk of chicken with potatoes. They really like their potatoes over here, since it’s pretty much served with any dish. You even get french fries in gyros, which I love! After that we just spent the afternoon in the beautiful beach town Parga. I put my feet in the Ionian Sea, which was kind of cold, but definitely warmer than the Puget Sound would be right now J We just wondered along the beach and through the town, which was pretty empty, but that was during siesta. Pretty much everything shuts down here from 2-5pm for people to rest! We did find one souvenir shop that was open and I had a good long conversation with the owner entirely in Greek, which was exciting and fun. During the couple hour bus ride back to the university most people just fall asleep, but I’ve been trying to stay awake on the rides to see as much of this beautiful country as I can.

The Magic Tree at Dodoni

Classes have officially started! The courses are beginning greek language, greek culture and dance as well as Greek regional tensions with Albania. The program also includes two excursions every week where we travel into town or to another area of the country to see museums, ruins, and other attractions. The first one was yesterday and we went to the Oracle of Dodona and the Temple of Zeus. That oracle was the second most prominent in the country, second only to the Oracle at Delphi, which most people have at least heard of, even if they don't know what it is :)

An oracle is a person or a place that people in ancient Greece would consult if they needed guidance from the gods. People would give their questions to priests at Dodoni and they would interpret the sounds made from the oak tree leaves as the answer from Zeus. If you've heard of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, their boat contained a branch of the oak tree of Dodona which gave the ship prophetic powers. Its unbelievable to actually be visiting the places that I've read about in myths and histories. The ruins around the theatre and temple were beautiful. Its amazing what Greeks were able to accomplish so long ago. This region is surrounded by mountains and the views are constantly breath-taking. The weather has been shifting between beautiful sunshine (as you can see in the photos) and overcast with showers, which alright since I'm used to that at home :) But I've already got to experience some greek sun which is exciting!
  

So far I like the classes, but we haven't really recieved any homework yet so that might be a part of it :) I'm getting more accustomed to the campus and life here, but the cafeteria is not very good at all, but I'll just have to get used to that. Other than that things have been going great. I love my roommate Kacey, our awesome dorm room, and so far the other people in the program seem to be pretty cool. Tomorrow we are visiting the Nekromanteion, which is a temple of Hades in Nikopolis, so I'll post more after that trip. Until then, Γεια σου!

Touchdown Athens!

Well I finally made it! Left Seattle Saturday morning and arrived in Athens, spent the night at the Neo Olympos Hostel with Kacey. On the flight from Newark to Athens I sat by a really nice greek college student from Athens and I'm going to try and meet up with her when I go back so she can show me around. After arriving in Athens, We explored the city a little bit in search of food and caught up on sleep. Then got up early this morning to take a charter bus with the rest of the group from Athens to Ioaninna. The 6 hour bus ride was absolutely beautiful! We went across the Peloponesse and back up to mainland Greece. The views included snowy mountain tops, villages right on the bright blue ocean and lucsious green rolling hills.



I'm leaving for Greece!

I'm getting ready to leave for Greece this Saturday! I'll be studying abroad this spring quarter with a program at UW and wont be back in the States until July 1st. My group of about 20 students will be staying at Ioannina University in northern central Greece. I can't believe that I leave in less than a week! This week I'll be packing, saying goodbye to friends and family, shopping, and packing some more. Greece, here I come!