And so it begins!

My stay is underway here in Athens! 

I wasn't too fond of the hours and hours it took to get here, but once arriving, I realized how worth it this trip would be. My first flight was alright. I tried to get a couple hours of sleep to get ready for the time change but didn't have much luck. Discovering my taxi pick up from Athens had not been confirmed caused a panic. Luckily, a young guy in front of me let me use his international cell phone to call home. After my first flight from Detroit to Rome, I found two girls in line at customs prior to my next flight to Athens and discovered we were headed to the same place to study. It was nice knowing someone speaking English! 

I was not impressed at all with the Rome Airport. It was very dirty and unorganized. The staff was not very friendly. After entering the gate for my flight, I was directed down a ramp and had to take a bus a long way to meet our plane. It wasn't waiting at the end of a make-shift hallway like most of us are accustomed to! There was no such thing as organization and buses, workers, golf carts, luggage trains, etc. simply drove around as they pleased and would barely move out of each other's way. Needless to say, I was not sure if I was going to make it to Greece in one piece. 

When we arrived, Hilary, Megan and I were super relived our luggage made it. And even more relieved when a guy was waiting holding a sign with our names on it to take us to our hostel in Athens. The first thing you should know about Athens: DRIVING IS CRAZY. Pedestrians do not have the right away and the cars like to ride right on top of each other. Bikes and motorcycles weave in and out of traffic, not blinking an eye. It was pretty scary. Graffiti- EVERYWHERE. It's not so much vandalism here like it is in the U.S. A lot of it is very artistic and they view it that way. Dogs, cats, EVERYWHERE. They literally roam the streets and they just hang out as they please. Lots of people feed them. One cat even wondered into my room at our hostel and jumped on my bed. I was not happy.

Our hostel here in Athens is pretty cute. It's independently owned and we have a nice patio around back to all hang out with a kitchen too. The rooms are small and we share. Community bathrooms and showers are down the hallway too. Luckily, I'm only here until tomorrow morning. Bunk beds just aren't my style.

Yesterday, all of the girls going through my study abroad group arrived and we met. There's 9 of us and when we get to Paros Island to start classes, we'll be accompanied with another 27 (ish) students from other companies and colleges.

We spent most of the day just getting to know Athens. Did a lot of walking around and being "tourist-y." it's definitely not what I expected. It really hasn't sank in yet that I'm in Greece. Athens is so jam packed with people, shops, etc. that it almost feels like any other large U.S. city, aside from the small fact of having the Parthenon and Acropolis overlooking the entire city. Ya know, no big deal.There are so many different types of people here. From Greeks, to other Americans, to Chinese tourists and everything in between. It sometimes sucks walking past all of the shops and restaurants because the owners will attack you offering discounts and deals just to get you to walk inside. I feel bad seeing so many kids and women out haggling for money. They try to sell you just about anything. It's hard to tell who's honest and who's a conartist. We have had many encounters with gypsies too. We ate dinner as a group and just explored. ATHENS IS HOT. I did not expect it to be soooo hot. I thought dry heat would make it bearable, but man, that bad boy is hot.

My sleep schedule is messed up that I can't tell if my body is just so used to being awake, it refuses to sleep, or if I'm going crazy. I was able to get a couple hours in last night but not much. 

Today we went to the Acropolis and the Parthenon! Well, we were on our way as a group and then smart me discovered my camera battery wasn't in my camera so Megan, Hilary and I turned around to go get it. Unfortunately, all of Athens looks exactly the same so it took us a while to find the hostel and then return to the Acropolis. We did our own thing without the group and it was pretty awesome.

The Acropolis is probably the most amazing piece of architecture/history that I've ever experienced. It's crazy to think that they built that thing without the use of man-made tools, vehicles, lifts, NOTHING. It's incredible. 

Other structures exist around the Acropolis that were freakincrazyawesome like this one! ^

Opera Amphitheater

On the way up

Afterwards, Hilary was determined to find a cheeseburger somewhere so we trecked a good 30 mins to find one. Haha. It was gross. I'll stick to my Greek food here, and burgers when I'm back in the states.

Now it's naptime. This jet lag is kicking my butt. Tonight we are having dinner as a group and meeting some of our professors and the director of our program, which I met last night and he seems great.

Tomorrow we have to be up and packed by 7 am to catch the 3 hour boat ride over to Paros Island. We have orientation for our classes too. Athens is worth seeing while I'm here, but I am definitely ready to be on our quaint, beautiful island! I think maybe once I'm there, it'll set in that I AM IN GREECE. Aside from the Parthenon, it really hasn't hit me yet! The island is going to be more of the picture-perfect image we all have in our minds about Greece. I've never been one to like huge cities, and honestly, that's all Athens really feels like. Historic and beautiful in some parts, don't get me wrong, I'm just excited to get on the island tomorrow!

Time change is a pain in my neck. I forget every time. 

P.S. My service obviously doesn't work here, but the Greeks have Wifi literally everywhere here! So if you have an iphone, I can still communicate via iMessage :) 

I have over 500 pictures already so the ones above are just a few! Once I get home, I'll have lots more to share, not just the ones you see in my posts!