My life is a postcard

Friday

We had lecture in the morning for one hour, followed by a 30-minute introduction and overview of the island of Santorini (also called Thira): Santorini is the southernmost island of the Cyclades and sits on top of an underwater volcano. This volcano has periodically erupted for thousands of years and built up the surface of the island from its limestone base. It is composed of basalt (dark stone), pumic (glass foam that has solidified), ash and various colored rocks. The island is somewhat like a donut with some gaps (bites?) in it. The middle of the circle is called the caldera and was formed as successive explosions of the volcano caused the land to sink into the sea. From the caldera, the island rises up in a series of steep cliffs of volcanic material. The outside rim of the donut slopes gently and has great beaches with various colored sand (black, white, and red) depending on the volcanic material located there.

There are two islets, Neo and Palaia Kameni, in the middle of the caldera which have formed in the past 2000 years as the volcano continues to bubble.
Our ferry left from Paroikia, stopped in Naxos and docked in Santorini around 4:00. We then took a bus up a very windy road through the volcanic rock and to our hotel in the town of Fira. We were about 3 blocks from the Caldera rim and tourist central. At times, I felt like I was back in Plaka due to the plethora of souvenir and t-shirt shops, but I managed not to get too overwhelmed.

Fira

After wandering around and taking postcard photos we went as a class to dinner at sunset. We had the lowest terrace of the restaurant to ourselves and had a great view. Dinner was alright—not the best meal I’ve ever had, but with the view and the sunset, you couldn’t really go wrong. In terms of food, Santorini is famous for their small, sweet tomatoes and fava beans. I shared fried zucchini, fava dip and a Santorini salad (cucumber, tomatoes, olives, caper leaves and bread) with Susan (my professor). The wine was watered down but I still managed to drink 3 glasses.

Sunset

Mary and me: 21!

Dinner

After dinner I wandered the town with a few friends, bought myself a cool necklace with a volcanic rock bead and then started putting a dent on my 21st birthday. One of my favorite stops was the “Rock Bar” which played Beastie Boys (I fought for my right to party) and Alien Ant Farm’s cover of “Smooth Criminal,” in addition to other rage-worthy tunes.
Back in the States, my 21st birthday would have consisted of excitedly flashing my driver’s license to bouncers at midnight, getting free drinks and repeated drunken singing of the birthday song. In Greece, a country with no drinking age, turning 21 is a bit anticlimactic, and just like any other birthday or day of the week for that matter. Nevertheless, I managed to happily hail in my birthday and get my fair share of free shots.
At bars on Friday night, people’s response to “It’s her birthday!!” consisted of “It’s your birthday?,” a handshake and “congratulations.” Some bartenders gave me free shots while others just looked at me like I was crazy; a few women even glared at me and said “of course not.”
All in all, it was an interesting experience. My birthday exposed me to a big cultural difference between the United States and Greece, as well as most European countries in general. The presence of a drinking age in the States both encourages unhealthy drinking habits and creates a milestone in the lives of young adults; the lack of one in Greece makes both drinking and age more casual. While birthdays are still a reason to celebrate, the starkly different drinking cultures of the two countries is interesting and definitely caused me to reflect on how the drinking age, or lack there of, impacts both societies.

Photo of the Day

Friday was the first time I wore make-up since senior prom.

Birthday shot!

The Count
Glasses of wine drinken: 133

Moments I've realized my life is a dream: 23098403294890

Ferries taken: 2

Greek islands traveled to: 3

Photos taken: 4163