12.9.08

What Happens When A Small Town Girl Hits The Big City

I have always lived a small town. I was raised in a small town, I decided to go to college in a small town, so you can only imagine what my first thoughts were when I stepped out of the airport and into Athens for the first time…it was actually something along the lines of how the heat consumed my body the minute we stepped outside. And yet, even with that I was still amazed that I actually did it. I thought “ I’m here in Greece, in a city incomparable to everything I have ever been exposed to.” and it was terrifying. What was more amazing than the realization that I just threw myself into a irreversible situation was the fact that from the minute I walked into the barley bearable heat I couldn’t wait to jump into everything at once.

I have been living on Sina street for a little more than a week and it is already starting to feel like home. City life can be pretty overwhelming to someone like me who has never lived in one, let alone another country. The streets are noisy, the cars are fast, and everyone seems to know where they are going except for me. However there are pros to living in here, Everywhere I look there is something that takes my breath away. I am constantly amazed at how many ancient buildings and historic cites I come across but I can’t forget to mention some of the other things I have seen. For example, one day while trying to find my way home my roommate and I stumbled across a demonstration taking place involving hundreds of people waving their country’s flag and yelling out of mega phones to the bystanders on the sidewalks. There was never a time where I wished I could speak fluent Greek than that day.

It is truly amazing to have class in the city we are learning about, especially when they involve taking weekend trips to see ancient temples on local islands like Aegina,(which is what we are doing this weekend). And after all is said and done nothing compares to being able to come home to a glowing monastery perched on top of the highest point in Athens as well as the Acropolis which can be seen from our rooftop before going to bed and starting all over again in the morning.

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