Shabbat Shalom!

Today

I went for a lovely run this morning in the National Gardens. It was my first run in over a month so all things considered, it wasn't half bad. The Gardens are absolutely beautiful though. Everything was just waking up and I had fun timing my strides to avoid various sprinklers and barking dogs.

Exam went well.

I took an adventure to the Post Office to mail some extra stuff home. And by adventure I mean worst cab ride of my life. The driver didn't know where the post office was, didn't understand the street name I was telling him, sat on the side of the road for 5 minutes with the meter running trying to figure out what I was saying and where to go and took 2 wrong turns while ignoring my directions before lifting up the Pokemon (Gotta Catch 'Em All!) hat on his dashboard to reveal a GPS. He then spoke the address to GPS lady, then went straight when she said turn right, made a U-turn and 10 minutes later we made it to the post office (which is only 850 m from my house...850 m!!!!!). The only reason I took a cab was because the box was awkwardly large and it was brutally hot. Oh, and he charged me full price. Thanks.

Package sending was surprisingly quick and easy.

I met up with the rest of my program at a Taverna nearby where we had a farewell (free!) lunch. Well, nothing on a school program is free because I'm paying tuition buuut...it felt free. Regardless, it was delicious. It was the traditional Taverna experience: lots of appetizers and small plates (mezedes), similar to tapas. They included bread, tzatziki, Greek salad, keftedes (Greek meatballs) and fried zucchini. Keftedes are delicious; they are not just meatballs, but balls of goodness with garlic, parsley, dill and who knows what other deliciousness. Of course we had wine throughout and after the mezedes they brought out a giant plate of meat and french fries. Dessert was watermelon. Om nom. :)

I waddled home and finished packing because I have to move apartments for the weekend before I leave for Paros on Monday morning so they can turn over my apartment for new students coming in. Quite frustrating and inconvenient but oh well. I putzed around the apartment for awhile, chatting and running various errands with the roommates.

After taking my suitcase to my new apartment (where some other students are already staying), I walked to the synagogue for services, followed by dinner at Chabad. This was my first time going on Friday night in Athens and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The service was nice, and the Shabbat table was much more crowded than either of the lunches I've been to. There was a couple from Buenos Aires on their honeymoon, 2 University of Washington (Seattle) students who just finished Birthright and are now travelling in Greece, a Molecular and Cellular Biology graduate from Harvard who is starting Emory Med School in the fall, loves Classics and is currently traveling for 7 weeks in France, Italy and Greece, a man from Panama who was here for a conference of sorts, an Israeli here for another conference/seminar, a Greek man currently studying music on Crete and an Athenian man. What an assortment! I talked to most of the guests and it was really interesting and exciting to hear all their stories and interests. Throughout dinner we took turns going around the table and telling a bit about ourselves which I enjoyed. In the middle of dinner we started hearing lots of noise, cheering and honking from outside and someone looked out on the balcony, then motioned for the rest of us to follow: on the street below there were thousands of bikers taking over the entire street and stretching for miles. The Rebetson explained that this is a demonstration that the bikers of Athens do every Friday night in different neighborhoods around the city as a way to increase awareness about biking and fight for more bike lanes and bikers in the city. SO GREAT!

Afterwards we all walked back towards Syntagma because many people were staying near there. I walked with the Athenian and asked him many questions about growing up Jewish in Greece and his thoughts about the immigration problem and other problems in Greece. I love talking to Greeks. I am understanding more and more each day the situation here and what people think about it all. I hope to interact with more Greeks on the island and I anticipate that they will have a different perspective.

Photo of the Day

The only photo taken today.

See that meatball in the bottom left corner that seems to be hollow? It's filled with melted, oozing cheese. Nomlicious.

Om nom assortment of meat.

Lesson of the Day

The National Gardens are great AND SAFE. I've spent the whole time here being afraid to go in them because of Cretan flashers and other sketchy garden dwellers, but really I don't know why I was so scared. I constantly feel safe in Athens and I can honestly say that I feel the safest in the Gardens.

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 107

Meals eaten at Chabad: 3

Maximum number of languages being spoken at a meal: 5

Photos taken: 3305

Tomorrow

Moving the rest of my stuff to the new apartment in the morning, then going to services and Chabad again...I just love it!

Otherwise just enjoying my last two days in Athens. Given my newfound love of the Gardens, I'll probably be spending some time there.

Shoutout

To Andrew Sapperstein for informing me that some photos from "Exam Review" weren't showing up. They should all be fixed now. Please let me know if there are ever any problems with my posts! :)