Delicious Food

so, here is my roommates and I’s food blog,

http://ashleyandmlekrazykouzina.wordpress.com/

 

you should check it out and see what wonderful krazy kreations we come up with!

You Must be a Greek by the way You Dance !

So, this weekend was pretty much super fantastic! Over the past month I have
made friends with some amazing people and have created an AWESOME friend
group. Even though this weekend 3 were away in Istanbul, the other main 6 of us
stayed here in Athens to rest, shop and party. Thursday evening was lovely, where
I just relxed and finished the fifth season of Dexter (not the best, but I HAD
TO get through it to get to season 6). On Fridays we don’t have class so I got to
sleep in late. It was absolutly B-E-A-UUUTIFUL OUT. One of the best days in
Athens yet. I got up to do all of my laundry at the school and went to meet some
of the girls at the farmers market near my apartment. After going there and
having the most freshest fruits, vegetables and fish available to me, I have
become spoiled with AMAZING FOOD. When it comes time for me to go back to
America and have horrible processed food, I might just throw up with disgussed.
At the farmers market I got lettuce, dill, green onions, blood oranges,
strawberries, green beans, spinace, eggs, and a bunch of other food for about 12
Euros, and many were a kilo of each (which is a lot of food). I got to practice the
little Greek I knew at the market, and the people there were so nice and helpful
to us. Sometimes, we even go free food. Maybe because we were smiling with our
teeth, but that’s OK. (Smiling with teeth means your really like a person and are
flirting with them – which maybe is why the men gave us more food). After, I went
to work on my research project for my Anthro capstone. That night, us girls
decided that we were going to make crepes because we had the most amazing one
with Nutella and bananas on Rhodes, so we wanted to re-create them. While
making the crepes, we didn’t really know what we were doing and the
instructions were in Greek, but one of the girls managed to make some amazing
crepes. We all got together and made savory crepes, drank some wine, and had
delicious Nutella and fruit.

The next day, the three of us girls went shopping on Ermou in
Synagma/Monistiraki area. There were some amazing clothes that I will buy. We
also had American food for the first time in about a month. We went and had
McDonalds burgers, fries, and milkshakes. SOOOO GOOD. Later that night we
also went to Simply Burger and had FREAKING AMAZING BURGERS AND FRIES.
SOOOOOO DELICIOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!! Later, we watched How to Train Your Dragon.
We were going to go to Gazi and party out at the bars, but on our way there, we
stopped at a local bar for cheap drinks so we didn’t have to pay 7-9 Euro a drink
(about 10-12 American dollars). We sat and met the owner and his partner. We
sat and talked to them for about an hour, asking them questions and just chilling
with them and listening and singing along to classic rock songs . After, we decided
that we were not going to Gazi and were just going to spend the night there.
After a couple of drinks and a few free shots, no one was in the tiny bar so we
began to dance. Later some Greek people came in and the owners put on some
Greek danceing music. While there we all began to dance and the Greek women
and men were so impressed by my dancing skills, they wanted to dance with me.
So, I danced with one of the women and her boyfrind came over after and said I
danced really well and said “you must be Greek!” I felt so FREAKING AMAZING,
but I told him I was American. We also got to watch one of the men and one of
the women perform the Zimbetiko dance and we threw flower petals, napkins,
and clapped to the beat while they performed. Around 4, the owners said they
were going to close up and they played us their favorite song.

Last night was soooooo much fun, I know we will be going there again and again to
drink and dance.

Next week, will be a busy one with conservation class, marble class, doing reseach
and drinking at bars with professors. Next Thursday, I will be going to a marble
statue show and firedancing show, and I will tell y’all how that goes and how my
research had gone.

Till Next Time, MLE

CARNIVAL!

I know it has been about a month since I have written in my blog. It’s not
so much that I have been super busy, which I have been, it’s that I have
been lazy. Yes, just lazy. A LOT LOT LOT of things (both good and bad)
have happend to me since I last wrote here.

Lets start from the third week and work our way forward shall we.

The third week of school I went to classes and hung out. That week it
was my roommates 21st birthday so I went out to celebrate with her
that weekend. The first night we went out to a couple of bars, had huka
and stayed out till about 6am. The next night about 15 of us including the
birthday girl decided on going on the Athens Bar Crawl. This event takes
you to three bars in the Monasiraki, Psiri and Plaka area and you end at a
club in Syntagma. We went to a bar in the Manasiraki area first. It had
about 4 levels, each one different. One has chess, another dance music,
one a lounge area. The next bar was in Psiri and it was a live music bar. On
our way to the third bar I got electricuted. That was an interesting
experience. It was raining out and as we crossed the street my legs
spazzed a little bit. I walked a little more and then my legs spazzed again.
I though they were alseep because they had that tingling feeling as if my
legs were alseep, and I had been sitting on them for a while. I shook them
out and then went to go and lean against something. At that moment they
shook again, I reached out for something to hold on to, and lucky me, it
was a metal pole. This caused the charge to be grounded and I fell to the
sidewalk seizuring. As I lay on the ground, my fingers were tingling so I
thew off my rings. Our tour guide ran over to see if I was OK. I told him
that I was electocuted but I was OK. He helped me up and the group
walked to the next bar. There I got a free beer and sat on a bag of ice
becuase I re-broke my tailbone when I feel. The last place we went to
was a club in Syntagma where we danced the night away. Yes, I did stay
out till about 4 after I got electrocuted and re-broke my tailbone.

The next week we had only 1 day of class and then we went off to the
Peloponnese. On the trip we started off going to the Corinth Canal, then
we went to Ismea and Nemea and ended up at Napflio the first capital of
Greece. We went to the temples of Zeus and Posidon and got to walk on
the temple of Posidon. The town of Napflio was very cute and had the
best gelato outside of Italy. That night we went to a taverna and then
went to bed. The next day our group went to Mycene where we were able
to go down inside the bedrock to the underground spring. We then went
to the Argive Herion and ate lunch up there. That night was also stayed
in Napflio and had a nice pizza dinner. I then went to get a new green
nose ring and sleep.

The next day we went to ancient Sparta (where there was nothing there
but an ancient Perian agora and an Roman theatre). Our first stop was
the santuary of Artemis which was fenced off. We were there for hours
walking around in the rain and cold and only had twenty minutes to visit
Mistra right on the hillside. It was absolutly beautiful old city and
monistary. Right after we went to Kalamata (famous for their olives) and
had a delicious dinner at a taverna. I had SWORDFISH!!! It was soooo
amazing. After we went to a cute little bar and then back to bed. The
hotel was a beautiful five start hotel. The next day we went to Messene
on the hillsides. It was absoulutly beautiful and had the sanutuary of
Artemis. There, I gave a lock of my blue hair in offering. We then headed
to Olympia. That morning, there was the robbery of the Olympic museum
at Olympia as we were out that day. When we got there at night, a group
of us walked around the deserted town and went into a small Greek
Orthodox church. There we meet the priest and his wife and son. They
were extremely nice. What I found interesting about the people here in
Greece is that when you tell them you are from America they then ask
where your forefathers are from. They don’t think you are American,
they want to know what your ethnicity is. So, I have to say Ireland and
Sweden. The next day we stayed at Olympia and walked around the
museum and site which was beautiful.

The next week we started our full school schedule. It was also the last
week of Carnival. Carnival lasts for three weeks and it leads up to Greek
Easter which is a couple of days after other Easters. During this time
there are street parties, parties at clubs and bar and people dress up like
it is halloween. When we were at Sparta we saw school children dancing
the Marachrena and dressed up with decorations everywhere. For this
last Carnival weekend a group of us headed to the Dodhekanisos island of
Rhodes off the coast of Turkey.

Rhodes was so beautiful. After we took our hour plane ride we caught a
taxi to Old Town where we were staying in a hostel. When we were
dropped off by the taxi, we were standing in front of an old castle
fortress. We were unsure why we were at an site and he told us this was
Old Town. Our friends who had come a night before greeted us and told
us that we were staying IN THE FORTRESS WITH A MOTE AND
TOWERS because our hostel, tavernas, bars, clubs, shops and houses
were inside the fortress!!!!

Even though it was not tourist season and hardly anything was open and
people were confused why we were there this early in the season, it was
amazing and we had so much fun. The first day we got there we walked
around the Old and New Towns of Rhodes. In one of the squares there
were parrots which we got to hold. We played around in one of the
fortess areas and walked around New Town. We went to the beach which
had small rocks instead of sand and we went to a small aquarium to look
at the sea creatures that would be found around the island. The next day
we took a two hour bus ride to the town of Lindos which has a fantastic
Akropolis and beautiful beaches. When we got there we decided that we
were going to swim no matter how cold it was (and it was freezing) after
about 30 minutes we laied out to get warm (which didn’t work because it
was cold and windy.) By that time it was the afternoon and we were
starving. We walked around the town for about an hour, but NOTHING
WAS OPEN. Finally, I found the cutest couple and asked for their help.
They walked around with us and asked the rest of the locals for any
restaurants open. However, they were all closed so we sat on a dock,
drank some beers, and ate what little snacks from the super market we
could find. After, we caught the bus ride back to Rhodes Town and ate
at a nice taverna there. It was owned by a Greek man who had moved to
America, married an American women, had a child with her and after four
years moved back to Greece and opened a taverna. Now, his son is the
waiter and his wife is the chef. The rest of the night, we decided to go to
the bars and danced the night away for the end of Carnival. The next day
we were so tired so we just walked around New Town, and went to the
archaeological sites. We saw the arcropolis, the Temple of Apollo, the
Temple of Apollo, Sanctuary of Artemis, and the theatre and stadium.
That night we were so tired from walking around all day that we crashed.
The next day was our last and we stayed in a taverna for 5 hours, eating
delicious food and keeping out of the rain. After we hoped on our flight
back to Athens. That lovely four day weekend there was sun everyday
and the weather was mostly warm. However, arriving in Athens it was 5
degrees celcious, rainings, and windy. – So long wonderful weather.

So, it’s Thursday night, having having somewhat of an eventful week. I
didn’t have my pottery conservation class but I did have my marble
carving class. In my marble carving class I am making a mermaid with a
bow and arrow and snakes in her hair (a mermaid/Artemis/Medusa
figure). Tuesday we had a spaghetti dinner with my delicious sauce and I
got the teacher and his assitant to have interviews with me for my
capstone data collection. I also fell on my ass and hurt my tailbone again,
but I’m OK.

So, I am excited to relax and do all of my chores for this weekend.

Sorry for my lateness but, have a wonderful Lent!
-MLe

 

 

Total Bad-Asses!! or You Never Think That Some Bad Will Happen To You

So, In the post before I said that I was beaten and robbed this past week here in Athens.

Wednesday night at 7:30 my friend and I were walking to a dinner party when we were jumped from behind, attacked, beaten and robbed. The attacked lasted around 5 minutes. Our body, space, and sense of safety were violated that night. After the attack we gathered our things and ran to the two women, we saw walking. Thankfully, they were two CYA students who helped us to call the school to send someone to get us. The staff member they sent to us asked us if we wanted to file a police report. We said yes so we went to the local station to file our report.

The police and detectives were horrified at our attack and immediately send most of their men and women to scavenge the crime scene. This kind of violent attach hardly ever happens in Athens who pride themselves in having a very safe city. Since the girl I was with saw one of the men when they were both attacking me, they set up a time for us to go and look at pictures at past criminals.

The next night (Thursday) I got a call from the staff member who got us that the police had obtained three men who they think may have attacked us. When we went to the station, the men they showed us were not them. Saturday, we went to the Athenian criminal research institute to look at photos. None of the men in the photos where them either.

Right now, I am fine with what happened to me, I am still going to my classes and hanging out with my friends. The girl and I who were attacked now look like total bad-asses with our scratched up faces and black eyes. I am just hoping they catch these men so it does not happen to anyone else.

And So It Begins…

Just finished up my second week here at CYA, and boy, it was interesting.

This week we started our classes, I began my marble carving class, and went to Gazi for the first time.  I was also beaten and robbed, but I’ll talk about that later.

On Monday I had my 8:30 am class about the ancient archaeology of Athens. In this class we are only in the classroom for 5 classes – the rest will be onsite at the Acropolis and National Archaeology Museum. Because I am a visual, audio, and kinetic learner, being at the museums and close to the object will greatly help in my learning of the material. (Much better than looking at power-points in Texas) I also had my anthropology/ethnography class in which we discuss gender and sexuality in modern Athens. I think this is going to be my favorite class this semester. We get to go out and do participant observations, interviews, and create our own theories about what we discuss, learn, and the research we do. Along with this class I will be conducting my own research on Greek artists influenced by ancient Greek art and architecture.

On Tuesday, I had an ancient Greek sculpture class and Latin 4. In sculpture we will also be traveling to the museums to look at the sculptures. I then had Latin 4. This is going to be my hardest and most scariest class here. The intermediate and advanced Latin classes had to be fused together so I’m with super smart Latin students (as opposed to just OK smart me). We have decided to translate the Trojan Women for the class.

That night, me and a couple of friends decided to take the marble carving class offered after school with a local artists. I am hoping that this will  be my ‘in’ for researching the ancient inspired artists. For my art, the artists told us to pick a symbol that represents us. So, obviously I will be carving a mermaid, Medusa, Artemis figure into my marble. During the first class, I started to carve into the marble. It is very hard because we only use hand carving tools instead of electric ones. After class, we sat down and had wine and snacks with the rest of the class. There are about 9 CYA students and 4 Greek students. What interested me is that the Greek students were 5o year old males and the only women were the 7 women from CYA. I am hoping to look into this when researching the artists.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we had classes. On Friday night, I wanted to go out with my friends, we we decided to go too Gazi, the bar and club area of the city. When were got there, there was about 30 CYA students running around the area. When were got out of the metro station, the music from all the bars/clubs were pulsating through the air. There were tons of neon lights, fire, and people running around. The first bar we went to was SOHO. They played American music and had flashing lights. The entire bar was crowed with people talking and watching everyone. The group of CYA students decided that we wanted to dance near the DJ where I got a great view to people watch. After staying there for a while we went to a different bar that was a little more sketchy. A couple of us decided to get a taxi back home. During that night we didn’t realize what time is was (just to let y’all know, Greek people go out late and stay out till the wee hours of the morning) and we got back at 5 am and I fell asleep at 6 (but I had to get up at 7:45 for some business to attend to).

Yesterday (Saturday) after I left at 8 am to go the  the Athenian criminal studies place and left around 11 and fell asleep for the rest of the day.  That night 14 of us went out to a tarverna for dinner (the same one I had gone to for my CYA staff/professor/student dinner). We had the most delicious food and sat around and talked for hours. After a couple of us went back to a friends apartment where we smoked some huka on the balcony and talked till 1 am.

So, this was my second week here in Athens Greece, can’t wait to see what the rest hold!

my friend pretending to shoot an arrow so I could get the arm positioning right for my mermaid

Best Background

1 Down

So here I am, sitting on my bed on a gloomy Sunday afternoon at 3 pm, eating bread from the bakery next door and meats from a past tavern dinner, reminiscing about my Athenian adventures that I have had here in the first week.

On, the first day (Monday) the rest of the students arrived at CYA. I was running around all day getting my room ready, and meeting my new flat mates and fellow students. As previously stated in the blog before, I had a very busy first afternoon-night running around and settling into Athens. The second day was no exception, got up at 10 and ran around until midnight.

On my third day (Tuesday and the start of Orientation) we had to be at the school by 9 for breakfast    [  so early]  and introductions and our first class of the week Survival Modern Greek. Two of my roommates and a few of my fellow acquaintances were in the class with me and we learned the Greek alphabet, pronunciation and a couple of words. We then had lunch and it was SOOOOO GOOOOOD! I can’t wait to be eating like this every day. Later, we had more lectures and introductions and then had neighborhood walk with a professor. CYA is right next to the Panathiaiko stadium (first stadium of the modern day Olympics). She took us back the the track and to a hidden spot on the hill where you can look out over Athens – from the Acropolis, to Lykavittos Hill, and out to the sea. It was beautiful. That night we had a few words from the presidents and two dancers can to teach us some Greek dances. It was fun to watch the students dance. After that, a group of 9 of us headed out to find a taverna for dinner. We found a nice small one and ordered wine, souvlaki, and salads. I had an interesting conversation with the girls. We talked about art, archaeology, religion (all academic stuff) then down to trash TV like Jersey Shore. It was a fantastic conversation and I got some more views on questions and thoughts I had.

(Wednesday) The next day we had more Survival Modern Greek and then my friends and I walked to the AB grocery store. Since, we had time off before we were heading out to the Taverna Dinner, Rachel and Jenna; two girls I meet, decided that we were going to visit the Acropolis. I walked them to the Acropolis metro station and we gazed in wonder at its magnificence. Since it was drizzling, we decided to visit the New Acropolis Museum instead. Inside it was beautiful! So many of the statues I was taught about in Greek History and Art History where there. I just wanted to touch them all! It was SOOOOO AMAZING! Some of the archaeologists had set up a laser treatment for the Caryatids, getting rid of the mold and mildew and other pollutants on the statues. They were beautiful. Each was sculpted with different braided hairstyles. It was breathtaking. We then walked out to the second floor coffee shop and balcony and looked out at the Acropolis. The rain had stopped and the sun was setting by the acropolis. Added to the beauty of it all were two rainbows arched over the neighborhood.

That night I had decided to go on the tavern dinner and meet more students and staff. For four hours I sat and talked with the librarian, front desk woman and a student. They talked about fun things to do in Athens, their lives, and asked us questions. And, we had the most amazing food. 10 appetizers consisting of salads, cheeses, breads, vegetables, a meat platter of chicken, pork, sausage, and meat balls, and 4 desserts along with wines and a cleansing cinnamon flavored shot.

Thursday, we had our Survival Modern Greek class and then walked to the U.S. Embassy in Athens. After, a group of us walked to Kolonaki and back. That night, Felicia took us to a gyro shop and we had delicious gyros.

Friday was our last day of Survival Modern Greek and the day of our scavenger hunt. We were placed into a group of 9 students and we walked all over the city of Athens for 3 hours. We did not even finish 1/3 of the tasks because we were so tired. That night a group of us went to the ‘”pirate bar” in Pagrati, a 2 minute walk from our apartment. It was decked out in a sea and pirate related ornamentations and they played rock music. We got in a 2.

Saturday morning, a group of us went out to Syntagma and Exharia. Ally, Lindsay and I wanted to go to the outdoor market in Exharia to buy and look around. When we got there, we were strolling along with all the people staring at us (and my blue hair). All of a sudden, this older man comes up to us and grabed my hand and places a giant lemon in it. (It was so big I thought it was a grapefruit at first). He told me that I was beautiful and loved my blue hair and kissed my hand. Ally then walked up and he handed her a lemon. He told us he sold lemons and oranges and then gave us one each. He asked where we were from and we told him America. He enjoyed talking to us and told us to come back to his shop.

Later that night, my flat mates and I decided to go to Psiri and hit up the bars there. We had a huge group of us (9) and they were already crowded when we got there. We decided it was best to split up, so Mary, Ashley and I hit us this little bar. Inside it had an island theme, disco ball and tree branch chandelier (something out of Urban Outfitters/Free People store). We sat at the nonexistent bar and chatted for three hours. During that time, some 40-year-old man started talking to us and asking us why we were in Athens. We told him we were all anthropologists studying in Athens for 4 months and he asked us a couple more questions. When we were leaving, he ran out after us and gave us his number and his card. We told him we would call before he left for Haiti to do some United Nations work. We then met up with the rest of the group at a bar they were at. They had pumping dance music and a lively atmosphere. We then walked back through the National Gardens to our apartments.

So, today, is Sunday, and I start class tomorrow at 8:30 am with my roommates. I am excited and nervous about starting my academic time here; however, I think I will have fun learning about topics I feel passionate about.

Till next time, MLe

Now PICTURES!

The Acropolis view from the New Acropolis Museum

The rainbow

another view from the balcony of the museum

the view of the Acropolis from the stadium

the stadium

The Beautiful View

So, I know everybody has been wondering what my apartment looks like in Athens.

Well, I live in the Pagrati neighborhood of Athens. The school is about a 5-10 minute walk, depending if there is tons of traffic on the main street behind the school. I live on the first floor of the apartment building, which is considered the second floor in the states. Our apartment is very small, and my flatmates and I are the only CYA students in the building. However, across the street a group of CYA boys live in the apartments over there.

Upon entering our abode, you have the very tiny common room and shutters to Felicia’s room. You turn left and go down the hall to the rest of our apartment. On the right is my room and on the left is our bathroom and coat closet. We have a real classy bathroom with a bidet. Further on the right is Mary and Ashley’s room and at the end of the hall is our kitchen.

I have my very own room, which I must say is the best room in the flat. I have my very own balcony with furniture, a huge closet and plenty of space for activities!

Here are the pictures below of my wonderful room, balcony view, and our classy bathroom and bidet!

Be Brave & Go!

This is what the man who almost hit me on his motorcycle said to me about jaywalking in Athens. And, yes. I took his advice. But not just on jaywalking, but about trying new things, and going on adventures here in Greece. I think this will be my motto for this new semester and new year. 

Thanks, man on motorcycle. You have taught me a valuable lesson!