There isn't a lot of day-to-day updating to be done here in Paros, unless you're interested in every nap I take on the beach or detail I learn in class.
Thursday was our first day of service. The focus of our project is marine litter on Paros; in other words, we pick up trash from beaches. We took the bus to the Aliki (ah-lee-KEE) coast, south of Paroikia where we received news that was both good and bad: he town of Aliki had just cleaned the beach on their own accord. This is good because they are taking the marine litter problem seriously and doing something about it, but at the same time, it meant that there wasn't much beach cleaning for us to do (which is positive and negative in and of itself). The organization of the clean-up project was a bit frustrating, and we definitely need a new system. We have to keep track of the items we pick up for the Ocean Conservancy's database, which requires tallying every cigarette butt, piece of rope and plastic bottle we pick up, and we also have to separate trash from recyclables (plastic, glass and metal). Needless to say, it was quite a balagan...but we de-briefed and will implement changes for the next time.
We had the afternoon off before lecture again in the evening, in which I went to the beach for a few hours.
Friday we travelled North to the city of Naoussa for a Greek dance lesson. The different heights and rhythmic ability of the class made for an adventure, but it was a lot of fun. The steps and motions were relatively straightforward and I'm excited to show off my Greek dancing skills the next chance I get! I don't have much exposure to Greek music, other than the dance performance I went to in Athens, but before these two experiences, I don't think I could label Greek music as Greek. I would more quickly classify certain songs as Indian or Middle Eastern than Greek, but with increased exposure, I'm getting better at just recognizing and defining the music as Greek.
Greek dance lesson
We had the afternoon off and thus my weekend started Friday at around 1:30. Although, lets be honest...I'm currently on a month-long vacation, so the Friday-Sunday are hardly any different from Monday-Thursday. :)
Some people stayed in Naoussa to go to the beach, but I went back to Paroikia with some friends, got burgers and spent the afternoon at the beach near our hotel. We went to this yummy homemade burger place that I walk by everyday and dream/drool about. I had a greek burger--burger, feta, olives, onions and tzatziki...NOM.
Saturday a group of us "hiked" to Krios beach, not too far from here. We walked along the shore of beaches near us, then over a desert-esque hill down to another cove. The walk was nice, with some pretty views of the port of Paroikia and the surrounding mountains. The beach itself was nice, nothing too special, but I enjoyed it. I lounged, read and swam. The water was cold but refreshing and crystal clear so we could see fun fishes!
Walk to Lefkes
I spent the whole day at the beach, then went to dinner in Lefkes with my professors (both in Athens and here--they're married) and some friends before going to an orchestra concert at the marble quarries.
Lefkes is the former capital city of Paros and is located more towards the center of the island, in the mountains. The town is much smaller now, because everyone moved down to the shore. It was very beautiful though to watch the sunset over the mountains and enjoy a delicious meal and fun conversation. Bob and Susan (my teachers) had been to this Taverna before, so we let them place orders for everyone. We got tzatziki, beets, Greek salad with xynomizithra (their local cheese which is creamier than feta and has a sour taste), fried cheese balls, and lamb chops. YUM. They even gave us a special treat of creme caramel and yogurt with cherries for dessert. Everything we had was fresh and grown locally in Lefkes :)
Paros has the best marble in the world and the concert at the quarry was such an incredible experience. For the past month various sculptors have been working at the quarries and their sculptures are now on display. They were so interesting, diverse and spectacular.
The concert wasn't exactly what I had expected. When someone says "string quartet" I don't imagine an orchestra of lyres and a close-to-opera singer. But it was fantastic. The music was so interesting and definitely helped me on my way to recognizing and understanding Greek music. The singer sang a lot of modern Greek love songs, although he did one in Italian and Spanish as well. It was wonderful to see the audience singing along. This is the first time they've ever done anything like this on the island, and I am so happy to have experienced it! We even got to take home some Parian marble!!
The school here had Boggle, so I spent a lot of the weekend playing Boggle with friends :)
Fried cheese balls
Lamb chops, Greek salad with cheese in background
Marble
Marble
Marble
Marble
Marble
Today was a lazy day. I had a lot I intended on doing, but alas...I've just been reading, sitting at cafes with friends, and trying to improve the wireless situation. I caved and am using wired internet from my school. How did it get to be 5:20? We are leaving at 5:45 to take a bus to a nearby village and enjoy a traditional Parian dinner at a family owned and run restaurant there. I am so excited!
Photo of the Day
Not sure how I would've found my way without this...
Lesson of the Days
This is a lesson that has been reiterated throughout my European adventures: Music is a universal language. Saturday was the first time I had seen a conductor and it was neat to see that they conduct the same way conductors do back in the States. This makes sense, but it's not something I normally think about and consider.
The Count
Glasses of wine drinken: 122
Naps taken on the beach: 4
Photos taken: 3885
Tomorrow
Happy Fourth of July!
Beach cleaning in the morning and then...my cousin, Miriam, is coming to visit for the week!!! I can't wait :)
Thanks for this post...... very nice article and nice picture for related to tiles cleaning.
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