Today's alarm rang much earlier than I was prepared for. Out of bed and getting dressed before seven is not a great start, even to the middle of the week. But I did manage to get out the door and to the Visa Extension center again by 8 am. This was one of the more stressful experiences of my life. When I go there, the office was not open (and wouldn't for another 20 minutes) and already 97 people were listed by number on a sign-up sheet. No idea when number 1 got there that morning, nor do I particularly want to think about it. Student ID card in hand, I waited in front of the door to be ushered through. Everyone eventually accepted my circumstances (CYA has a deal where we don't stand in the ridiculous line, because we pay our fees and get our papers through the school) and shooed me through the line. 90 minutes later, I was free with polite permission to remain in the country for the duration of my program - Hip Hip Hooray!
This, however, was only the start of a most exciting morning. After that success, and armed with the knowledge that my financial aid is officially underway, I decided to treat myself to a tiny shopping trip. I went to a bookstore that I already knew of first, with the express purpose of tying to find an ancient text of the Homeric Hymns, which I'd like to have for my ever-growing personal reference collection. I found one, but it was far to bulky (and expensive) so I left without it. I did not leave empty handed though, as I found a small watercolor-ready sketch pad, some lovely felt pens for the cheapest I've seen them anywhere, and a little book you may have heard of called Ο Χαρι Ποτερ και την φιλοσοφικη λιθος. It has a different name in America, where Scholastic decided to use "Sorcerer's Stone" instead of "Philosopher's Stone". I read the first page aloud to myself and understood most of it. This will be considered an "educational investment" as I will probably pick up a fair bit of vocabulary with it, and it will definitely help my pronunciation. :-P
Then, encouraged by my purchases and the large amount of time remaining before my class, I started walking around the section of Athens I was in, which I hadn't really explored yet. About 10 minutes into this walk, I started noticing a lot of jewelry stores and beading stores. Remembering that this was the layout of the area in Chania, Crete before I found the yarn store there, I kept going - at a slightly faster pace than before. Then I found it - the fabrics and crafting shopping district of Athens! Fabric stores with their wares in the window and spilling out the doors, entire shops devoted to trims and tassels, huge stores with nothing but lace ribbons, a two story building that might have encompassed your average Dillard's. And a yarn store. I managed not to buy more yarn today (it was a very close call) but I did pick up a tapestry needle set and a crochet hook of the right size for the yarn I have. The woman working there spoke a little English, too, which was incredibly helpful. I need to ask her how to say certain things concerning sewing and needlework in Greek when I go back. Possibly tomorrow. Or Friday. Or Both.
After lunch, things calmed down quite a bit. Class, homework, more class, more homework, some crochet, dinner and now blogging. There's a small possibility that we could go to Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon there this weekend, but I don't know yet. I went ahead and figured out how to get there, anyway, so it won't be hard whether we do it this weekend or some other time. It's supposed to rain this weekend, so we'll see how everything goes.
We're all so ready for the Friday open market. No one in the apartment has been buying food, and we're really pretty out of things to eat. We haven't ever had to purchase food elsewhere, and never realized exactly how much we were saving by buying all of our food there. One more day. :-P
My 8:30 am class is meeting at the National Archeological Museum tomorrow morning. Since my next class isn't until 12:20, I think I'll spend a little extra time walking around after class and exploring the museum on my own. Might also find the yarn store again as I walk back. It's almost on the way.
Kαληνύχτα!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Visa Extension Woes
Today should have been just as uneventful as yesterday. Beginning with class at 8:30 am and continuing in a basic class-break-class-break fashion for the rest of the day. However, I decided to take that first break to try to turn in the papers for my visa extension (a long and exhaustive process that began with getting my visa application started in April and is not yet complete). I picked up my packet from the CYA office and began the long trek to the visa affairs office.
Firstly, the office is not in the business district, nor is it with the embassies. The center for visa affairs for the entire city of Athens (apparently) is on a tiny street corner in a dirty, cramped area of town. The building appears to be exactly in the state it was in when first constructed, with only the windows in front having been replaced over time (and maybe a few pieces of furniture). I suppose I should be grateful they spoke some English.
The building has three doors. At 10:00 am, each one had a line going up the stairs, out the door and curving down the respective street each door was facing. Since two faced onto the same patch of street (this is a tiny building), you couldn't see 10 ft. down the road for all the bodies pressed into line. After about 15 minutes of trial and error, I finally pushed to the front of the line (as CYA told me I had the right to do) and asked for the people I needed to see. They told me to go downstairs. Downstairs then told me to go upstairs. I told downstairs that this was not what I had been told and might I please see the person my program told me to see? After repeating this three times, they shooed me through to someone who knew my program and got me started. It was the visa process in Tampa all over again. People shouting and hitting tables, people crammed in unending lines and sitting in unchanging waiting rooms while walk-ins did their business and got papers stamped. The woman working with me told me that I would probably need to open a Greek bank account to prove that I had the resources to leave the country if necessary. I assured her that CYA had told me, not only that this was unnecessary, but strongly discouraged within the program. She sent me back, without the extension, to get more forms.
I went back after getting the papers and a few other documents (social security card, driver's license, etc.) that she had asked for, but had continued without anyway. Here's where it got really annoying. I came back an hour and 15 minutes before she said I needed to be back. When I got there, I was told that the person I needed to see wasn't back yet. This was fine with me as I had plenty of time before my final class of the day and I had homework with me. I was much less freaked out this time because I figured I must have every document they could possibly want to see and the building was much less crowded than it had been a few hours earlier. There were about 40 people in a downstairs waiting room, but I didn't see anyone being called up for anything, either in person or by intercom, so I chose to wait upstairs where I could see when the person I needed come in immediately. I waited there for 30-45 minutes to no avail. People in the office chatted and made jokes, walk-ins walked in with their papers and walked out with them again, now signed and stamped and sealed. Eventually someone asked what I was doing there. The woman who had been working with me told her my situation.
She said: "We have no more room today. Too many people waiting already. Come back tomorrow, 8 am."
I didn't want to fight anymore, so I left. Over half an hour, not a single person had been called from that waiting room (I assumed they were waiting for something else entirely), and they said they didn't have time to stamp my passport? I've already paid my fees and stood in my line. I have all my papers in order and had already been there once today and had CYA contact the office. I was so angry - I still am furious about how difficult this has all been, really. I've had to pay 150€ more than most people because the Tampa office had not changed over to the new visa that every other consulate had accepted at the beginning of the summer, and now this mess? I have wasted two (soon three) metro tickets and missed two classes for this process. It's absolutely ridiculous. The Mobile DMV didn't give me this much trouble! (Mind, I did not getting my license from them in the end.)
So, I'll be back at that office at 7:50 tomorrow morning, waiting politely for them to open the doors wide enough for me to shove my passport through to be stamped. Afterwords, I think I'll treat myself to a tour of the area to see if I can find crochet hooks and maybe a used bookstore, seeing as they'll have stolen one of my sleep-in mornings from me (first class isn't until after noon.)
In the meantime, sleep, so I can appear eager and cheerful to whoever has to deal with me tomorrow! Hopefully tomorrow's update will contain more success than today's!
Kαληνύχτα!
Firstly, the office is not in the business district, nor is it with the embassies. The center for visa affairs for the entire city of Athens (apparently) is on a tiny street corner in a dirty, cramped area of town. The building appears to be exactly in the state it was in when first constructed, with only the windows in front having been replaced over time (and maybe a few pieces of furniture). I suppose I should be grateful they spoke some English.
The building has three doors. At 10:00 am, each one had a line going up the stairs, out the door and curving down the respective street each door was facing. Since two faced onto the same patch of street (this is a tiny building), you couldn't see 10 ft. down the road for all the bodies pressed into line. After about 15 minutes of trial and error, I finally pushed to the front of the line (as CYA told me I had the right to do) and asked for the people I needed to see. They told me to go downstairs. Downstairs then told me to go upstairs. I told downstairs that this was not what I had been told and might I please see the person my program told me to see? After repeating this three times, they shooed me through to someone who knew my program and got me started. It was the visa process in Tampa all over again. People shouting and hitting tables, people crammed in unending lines and sitting in unchanging waiting rooms while walk-ins did their business and got papers stamped. The woman working with me told me that I would probably need to open a Greek bank account to prove that I had the resources to leave the country if necessary. I assured her that CYA had told me, not only that this was unnecessary, but strongly discouraged within the program. She sent me back, without the extension, to get more forms.
I went back after getting the papers and a few other documents (social security card, driver's license, etc.) that she had asked for, but had continued without anyway. Here's where it got really annoying. I came back an hour and 15 minutes before she said I needed to be back. When I got there, I was told that the person I needed to see wasn't back yet. This was fine with me as I had plenty of time before my final class of the day and I had homework with me. I was much less freaked out this time because I figured I must have every document they could possibly want to see and the building was much less crowded than it had been a few hours earlier. There were about 40 people in a downstairs waiting room, but I didn't see anyone being called up for anything, either in person or by intercom, so I chose to wait upstairs where I could see when the person I needed come in immediately. I waited there for 30-45 minutes to no avail. People in the office chatted and made jokes, walk-ins walked in with their papers and walked out with them again, now signed and stamped and sealed. Eventually someone asked what I was doing there. The woman who had been working with me told her my situation.
She said: "We have no more room today. Too many people waiting already. Come back tomorrow, 8 am."
I didn't want to fight anymore, so I left. Over half an hour, not a single person had been called from that waiting room (I assumed they were waiting for something else entirely), and they said they didn't have time to stamp my passport? I've already paid my fees and stood in my line. I have all my papers in order and had already been there once today and had CYA contact the office. I was so angry - I still am furious about how difficult this has all been, really. I've had to pay 150€ more than most people because the Tampa office had not changed over to the new visa that every other consulate had accepted at the beginning of the summer, and now this mess? I have wasted two (soon three) metro tickets and missed two classes for this process. It's absolutely ridiculous. The Mobile DMV didn't give me this much trouble! (Mind, I did not getting my license from them in the end.)
So, I'll be back at that office at 7:50 tomorrow morning, waiting politely for them to open the doors wide enough for me to shove my passport through to be stamped. Afterwords, I think I'll treat myself to a tour of the area to see if I can find crochet hooks and maybe a used bookstore, seeing as they'll have stolen one of my sleep-in mornings from me (first class isn't until after noon.)
In the meantime, sleep, so I can appear eager and cheerful to whoever has to deal with me tomorrow! Hopefully tomorrow's update will contain more success than today's!
Kαληνύχτα!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Nothing to Update With
Despite having an extremely typical day and only leaving my apartment for class and a trip to the supermarket, I feel bad not having updated yesterday, so I wanted to post a quick status update.
1. Homework is annoying in any country and in any language.
2. I need to find a crafting store rather desperately, as I finished my last project (large drawstring purse/bag) and all my other yarn require a different width hook.
3. My visa extension forms are ready and will hopefully be turned in tomorrow or Wednesday.
It's just another quiet night in the apartment, which suits me fine as I am still recovering from Crete. Sleep will come easily again tonight (and hopefully so will wakefulness in the morning!)
Kαλησπέρα (Good Evening)!
1. Homework is annoying in any country and in any language.
2. I need to find a crafting store rather desperately, as I finished my last project (large drawstring purse/bag) and all my other yarn require a different width hook.
3. My visa extension forms are ready and will hopefully be turned in tomorrow or Wednesday.
It's just another quiet night in the apartment, which suits me fine as I am still recovering from Crete. Sleep will come easily again tonight (and hopefully so will wakefulness in the morning!)
Kαλησπέρα (Good Evening)!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Crete
So, the past week we've been quite literally all over Crete. I think the easiest way to do this will be on a day-by-day schedule.
Monday
Monday at 7pm we left Athens for Piraeus and Got on board a ferry for Crete. The ferry ride was incredibly long and not terribly pleasant, but it was a tiny part of a much longer, more interesting trip, so it didn't bother anyone much (except those with motion sickness/sea sickness, of whom there were many).
Tuesday
Tuesday morning my group (1 of 4) was told we had to leave extra early to arrive at Knossos. We were upset at the time, but looking back, I'm pretty sure we had the best Knossos experience of any group. It was the first site we saw on Crete, and therefore our first impression of the island (we were off the boat at 7 am and on site by 8). The thing about Knossos is that the original excavator (Arthur Evans in the 19th century) performed large amount of reconstruction on the site, much of which is not necessarily supported by archaeological evidence and/or is influenced by his own ideas of Minoan culture. I found the site incredibly beautiful when we first arrived (though some people thought it was gaudy and touristy).
The entrance to the famous "throne room" which may not have been for royalty at all.
Some reconstructed columns and a fresco copy.
The same columns from the other side in the early morning light.
Some of the biggest pots I've ever seen. That fence is taller than I am.
Some reconstructed columns, pillars and frescoes, along with some early-bird tourists.
More reconstructed frescoes and pots, though to a lesser, more agreeable degree.
These, I think, might be original, though most of the Minoan columns would have been made of wood, not stone, so they would be unusual in that sense.
By 8:15 the tourists started pouring in. Our professor had taken us through the major sites already at that point, so we never had to stand in lines (which were 20 minutes long by 8:30, 45 minutes by 9:00 and not moving at all by 10:00) but it got more and more difficult to see the ruins and reconstructions past the large tour groups, all of whom wanted to take pictures of themselves in varying poses with the fresco copies and larger columns. I can see why people in other groups (who all went later in the day) though it felt more like an amusement park than an archeological site.
We left Knossos at about 11:30 and headed on to drop our things in the hotel in Herakleion and get lunch. Then the group went to the Herakleion museum (which is actually an exhibit of a few really neat artifacts, as the museum's main building has been closed for repairs for going on four years) and then headed down the the harbor to check out a Venetian fortress there for a few minutes. After that, they let us go for the evening.
A fascinating statue outside our hotel in Herakleion. I have no idea of it's origin or story, but it looks so interesting.
A view of the Aegean sea from the Venetian fortress. So lovely!
Wednesday
Wednesday morning started half an hour later than Tuesday morning, which was very welcome to all of us. Unfortunately the later wake-up call was followed by an hour and a half bus ride. That took us to the first of three sites that day, Phaestos. Phaestos is the second largest site we visited (after Knossos) and it was reconstructed in a minimalist style (eg. it was hard to tell what was reconstructed and what wasn't.) This was a great contrast to Knossos, and many people preferred Phaestos. I liked seeing both the way I did, because I don't believe I would have appreciated Phaestos nearly as much as I did without having seen Knossos first.
Phaestos from the entrance to the site. Trying to take photographs of archaeological sites is next to impossible, as it almost always comes out looking like a large pile of rocks. It's not easy to capture that feeling of building foundations surrounding you and ancient life growing beneath your feet.
These marks in the walls were everywhere. Our professor said that they were probably stonemasons' marks, but no one knows for sure. They were quite lovely, in any case.
Some paint still left on the walls from Minoan times (the red lattice detail on the wall). You can still see the etched designs in several other places, but this was the best example of paint that I found. Very interesting!
After Phaestos, we went to another, again very different site called Kommos. This site was not, techinically speaking, open to the public, but our professor knows the excavator and got us access. The site was closed in the 70's and never excavated further, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why. It's a beautiful, varied site with buildings dating from the Bronze Age all the way through the Roman era (about 3000 - 200 bce*) and it's just a stunning location on a cliff facing out to sea.
Those little wood bridges can fit three people across easily. It's quite a large site. It was nice not to have to avoid tour groups and to really take in a site that was still basically as the archaeologists found it. I think this one may have been my favorite.
After an hour or so there, we stopped for lunch and swimming/shopping in Matala and then headed on to site #3 of the day, Goryton.
Goryton was much smaller, but more condensed with interesting things. It was also very empty, though we did run into two dedicated tour groups in our stay.
A byzantine church (mostly reconstructed) at Goryton.
An ancient law code for Goryton, written in very difficult to read Ancient Greek (even difficult by ancient standards, given the general lack of punctuation, obscure dialect and the fact that half of the lines are written completely backwards - including the individual letters - so the ancients didn't lose their place going to the next line. Helpful, guys.) This is one piece of Greek I hope I never have to translate.
We got back to the hotel very late. So ended Wednesday.
Thursday
Thursday brought three more sites, none of which I remember very clearly as I had neither time nor energy to take many photographs (and those I took just look like piles of unidentifiable rock). One was definitely a cemetery - and that was relatively interesting - and one was probably domestic and had several wine presses, but the third I simply don't recall at all. This might later be problematic for my paper, but I'm hoping the notes I took (and am in the process of deciphering) will help. After lunch in Archanes (the hub of all three sites) we went to the Arkadi Monastery, and this I do recall. It was a monastery that housed Cretan rebels against the Turks in the 1860s and was blown to smithereens in a siege that supposedly involved 900 rebels and 15,000 Turks. Those numbers seem exorbitant given the general size of the surrounding area, but I don't have any more knowledge of the situation than what the professor gave us. The monastery was reconstructed and has since been abandoned as a house of God, but remains a museum and memorial to those who died freeing Crete from Turkish rule.
Quite lovely from the front. This is only the inner sanctum. It was surrounded by fortress-type walls that held gardens, monks quarters, wine presses, areas for food preparation and armories. There was also byzantine art (where photos were not allowed) and a small gift shop.
We weren't told until we arrived that modest dress was encouraged. I was wearing a camisole, shawl and knee-length skirt, so I was fine. SE in her athletic shorts wasn't so lucky. They ran out of the "skirts" before everyone in shorts got some, but they let us all in anyway. I think it was more the willingness to dress modestly that mattered. Besides, we'd just hiked three archeological sites, and were there for educational purposes. They seemed happy with that.
We then went to the new hotel, got dinner (I had a crepe, but SE and the others went out with groups) and promptly fell asleep.
Friday
Friday we were scheduled to hike down the Samaria Gorge to a beach down in that direction, but the forecast (correctly) predicted rain, so the hike had been canceled the night before. Personally, I was glad to have the day off and explore Chaniah where they left us with shopping, a harbor and many fabulous restaurants. G, M, and K all went hiking along a different, less dangerous trail (it did rain on them there, too, but they enjoyed themselves), but SS, SK and I stayed in town and relaxed. SS and I hit almost every shop in the tourist district happily looking at museum replicas and brand name knock-offs for the vast majority of the day. We started to go on a city tour with another CYA group, but the first stop involved them telling us that a major Minoan palace had been found beneath our feet. As we were standing at a busy intersection, it didn't look terribly impressive. SS took a picture of the sidewalk and we bailed.
The light house at the harbor in Chaniah.
The best thing to come out of Friday for me were my discoveries of a crafting store where I picked up 6 skeins of Greek yarn (which is currently in the form of half a purse) and a fabric store where I successfully purchased a little fabric using gestures and the little Greek I know since the two women who worked there did not speak a word of English. It will line the crochet bag once finished. :-) We had tons of time to kill, so SS and I spent most of the day walking the shops, sitting by the harbor and sitting in the park eating a pomegranate and discussing mythology/religion. This seemed to me the perfect way to end such and exhausting and extensive trip, though I know many people would have preferred the Gorge.
We got on the ferry back at 11 pm and arrived in Athens at 6:30 this morning, which is much earlier than anyone who was forced to sleep on a boat with four other people in a room the size of your average closet should have to get up. At least they gave us breakfast on the way there. The same courtesy did not apply on the return trip. The apartment has since reunited, napped and purchased groceries. It is now Saturday at 2:30 pm and I could call it a day at any time. I should attempt a little homework at some point, however and it seems a pity to mess with my sleep schedule more than necessary. There may be another nap later, though.
In other news my modern Greek is coming along pretty well, though I don't pretend to be able to hold more than basic necessary conversation yet. I try to speak Greek first to everyone I meet, though this usually backfires as they then think me more capable than I am and have to repeat most of what they say in English later. I do try, though, and I always enjoy trying to communicate with people who don't speak much or any English as it really forces me to think and use what I know as best I can. I hope the learning continues at this pace all semester.
Also, for my mother - a sign for her sign collection, found outside a taverna in Chania:
I found that funny. :-)
Kαλημέρα!
Monday
Monday at 7pm we left Athens for Piraeus and Got on board a ferry for Crete. The ferry ride was incredibly long and not terribly pleasant, but it was a tiny part of a much longer, more interesting trip, so it didn't bother anyone much (except those with motion sickness/sea sickness, of whom there were many).
Tuesday
Tuesday morning my group (1 of 4) was told we had to leave extra early to arrive at Knossos. We were upset at the time, but looking back, I'm pretty sure we had the best Knossos experience of any group. It was the first site we saw on Crete, and therefore our first impression of the island (we were off the boat at 7 am and on site by 8). The thing about Knossos is that the original excavator (Arthur Evans in the 19th century) performed large amount of reconstruction on the site, much of which is not necessarily supported by archaeological evidence and/or is influenced by his own ideas of Minoan culture. I found the site incredibly beautiful when we first arrived (though some people thought it was gaudy and touristy).
By 8:15 the tourists started pouring in. Our professor had taken us through the major sites already at that point, so we never had to stand in lines (which were 20 minutes long by 8:30, 45 minutes by 9:00 and not moving at all by 10:00) but it got more and more difficult to see the ruins and reconstructions past the large tour groups, all of whom wanted to take pictures of themselves in varying poses with the fresco copies and larger columns. I can see why people in other groups (who all went later in the day) though it felt more like an amusement park than an archeological site.
We left Knossos at about 11:30 and headed on to drop our things in the hotel in Herakleion and get lunch. Then the group went to the Herakleion museum (which is actually an exhibit of a few really neat artifacts, as the museum's main building has been closed for repairs for going on four years) and then headed down the the harbor to check out a Venetian fortress there for a few minutes. After that, they let us go for the evening.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning started half an hour later than Tuesday morning, which was very welcome to all of us. Unfortunately the later wake-up call was followed by an hour and a half bus ride. That took us to the first of three sites that day, Phaestos. Phaestos is the second largest site we visited (after Knossos) and it was reconstructed in a minimalist style (eg. it was hard to tell what was reconstructed and what wasn't.) This was a great contrast to Knossos, and many people preferred Phaestos. I liked seeing both the way I did, because I don't believe I would have appreciated Phaestos nearly as much as I did without having seen Knossos first.
After Phaestos, we went to another, again very different site called Kommos. This site was not, techinically speaking, open to the public, but our professor knows the excavator and got us access. The site was closed in the 70's and never excavated further, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why. It's a beautiful, varied site with buildings dating from the Bronze Age all the way through the Roman era (about 3000 - 200 bce*) and it's just a stunning location on a cliff facing out to sea.
After an hour or so there, we stopped for lunch and swimming/shopping in Matala and then headed on to site #3 of the day, Goryton.
Goryton was much smaller, but more condensed with interesting things. It was also very empty, though we did run into two dedicated tour groups in our stay.
We got back to the hotel very late. So ended Wednesday.
Thursday
Thursday brought three more sites, none of which I remember very clearly as I had neither time nor energy to take many photographs (and those I took just look like piles of unidentifiable rock). One was definitely a cemetery - and that was relatively interesting - and one was probably domestic and had several wine presses, but the third I simply don't recall at all. This might later be problematic for my paper, but I'm hoping the notes I took (and am in the process of deciphering) will help. After lunch in Archanes (the hub of all three sites) we went to the Arkadi Monastery, and this I do recall. It was a monastery that housed Cretan rebels against the Turks in the 1860s and was blown to smithereens in a siege that supposedly involved 900 rebels and 15,000 Turks. Those numbers seem exorbitant given the general size of the surrounding area, but I don't have any more knowledge of the situation than what the professor gave us. The monastery was reconstructed and has since been abandoned as a house of God, but remains a museum and memorial to those who died freeing Crete from Turkish rule.
We weren't told until we arrived that modest dress was encouraged. I was wearing a camisole, shawl and knee-length skirt, so I was fine. SE in her athletic shorts wasn't so lucky. They ran out of the "skirts" before everyone in shorts got some, but they let us all in anyway. I think it was more the willingness to dress modestly that mattered. Besides, we'd just hiked three archeological sites, and were there for educational purposes. They seemed happy with that.
We then went to the new hotel, got dinner (I had a crepe, but SE and the others went out with groups) and promptly fell asleep.
Friday
Friday we were scheduled to hike down the Samaria Gorge to a beach down in that direction, but the forecast (correctly) predicted rain, so the hike had been canceled the night before. Personally, I was glad to have the day off and explore Chaniah where they left us with shopping, a harbor and many fabulous restaurants. G, M, and K all went hiking along a different, less dangerous trail (it did rain on them there, too, but they enjoyed themselves), but SS, SK and I stayed in town and relaxed. SS and I hit almost every shop in the tourist district happily looking at museum replicas and brand name knock-offs for the vast majority of the day. We started to go on a city tour with another CYA group, but the first stop involved them telling us that a major Minoan palace had been found beneath our feet. As we were standing at a busy intersection, it didn't look terribly impressive. SS took a picture of the sidewalk and we bailed.
The best thing to come out of Friday for me were my discoveries of a crafting store where I picked up 6 skeins of Greek yarn (which is currently in the form of half a purse) and a fabric store where I successfully purchased a little fabric using gestures and the little Greek I know since the two women who worked there did not speak a word of English. It will line the crochet bag once finished. :-) We had tons of time to kill, so SS and I spent most of the day walking the shops, sitting by the harbor and sitting in the park eating a pomegranate and discussing mythology/religion. This seemed to me the perfect way to end such and exhausting and extensive trip, though I know many people would have preferred the Gorge.
We got on the ferry back at 11 pm and arrived in Athens at 6:30 this morning, which is much earlier than anyone who was forced to sleep on a boat with four other people in a room the size of your average closet should have to get up. At least they gave us breakfast on the way there. The same courtesy did not apply on the return trip. The apartment has since reunited, napped and purchased groceries. It is now Saturday at 2:30 pm and I could call it a day at any time. I should attempt a little homework at some point, however and it seems a pity to mess with my sleep schedule more than necessary. There may be another nap later, though.
In other news my modern Greek is coming along pretty well, though I don't pretend to be able to hold more than basic necessary conversation yet. I try to speak Greek first to everyone I meet, though this usually backfires as they then think me more capable than I am and have to repeat most of what they say in English later. I do try, though, and I always enjoy trying to communicate with people who don't speak much or any English as it really forces me to think and use what I know as best I can. I hope the learning continues at this pace all semester.
Also, for my mother - a sign for her sign collection, found outside a taverna in Chania:
Kαλημέρα!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Few Artsy Photos
Today involved a little shopping in the tourist district, a little sketching in the museum and another attempt at catching the sunset on the Acropolis. I got to the top in time today, only to find that they shoo people off the site before the sun gets a chance to set. It makes sense that they don't want people trying to navigate their way down the mountain in the dark, I guess, but still. For those of us who do know what we're doing, the way is certainly well lit enough by the flood lights they use to light all the sites at night that no one would hurt themselves any more seriously than they would in the daylight. *Sigh and /rant*
Anyway, about those artsy photos:
I will never get tired of taking pictures of monuments. Ever. Especially on the Acropolis. :-)
Crete tomorrow, so no updates until Saturday, but expect tons of pictures and a very very long update then!
Kαληνύχτα!
Anyway, about those artsy photos:
I will never get tired of taking pictures of monuments. Ever. Especially on the Acropolis. :-)
Crete tomorrow, so no updates until Saturday, but expect tons of pictures and a very very long update then!
Kαληνύχτα!
Sketches and Other Art
Not too much to report. I was very very lazy last night (hence the lack of update) and had a very quiet day yesterday which mostly involved restocking on food items.
Our one adventure yesterday was SS and I trying to find an art supply store in our area of Athens, with very little luck. We've both been so inspired by our museum trips and sculpture/archaeology courses that we wanted to try our hands at a little clay working and carving ourselves. Unfortunately, after an unsuccessful query at the student center and much work trying to find a store using online resources, we made the 30 minute walk to where we believed a store to exist, only to find that we were mistaken. We were able to get a little Crayola modeling clay and some watercolors in a small school supply store, but it wasn't the same. We've since located a running store (and its hours, which don't include Sundays) that's about 45 minutes in the opposite direction. It seems to be the closest arts and crafts store to our apartment. We'll be visiting it the day after we get back from Crete.
The only other update is the sketches from my trip(s) to the Acropolis Museum, which are at the end of this post. I'm debating going back this afternoon to sketch some more, and will probably follow up on that impulse. :-)
Our one adventure yesterday was SS and I trying to find an art supply store in our area of Athens, with very little luck. We've both been so inspired by our museum trips and sculpture/archaeology courses that we wanted to try our hands at a little clay working and carving ourselves. Unfortunately, after an unsuccessful query at the student center and much work trying to find a store using online resources, we made the 30 minute walk to where we believed a store to exist, only to find that we were mistaken. We were able to get a little Crayola modeling clay and some watercolors in a small school supply store, but it wasn't the same. We've since located a running store (and its hours, which don't include Sundays) that's about 45 minutes in the opposite direction. It seems to be the closest arts and crafts store to our apartment. We'll be visiting it the day after we get back from Crete.
The only other update is the sketches from my trip(s) to the Acropolis Museum, which are at the end of this post. I'm debating going back this afternoon to sketch some more, and will probably follow up on that impulse. :-)
Hebe and Hera from the North West corner of the Parthenon's outer frieze
(Note: all drawings are done from fragments, and are therefore fragmentary unless done from a reproduction or self-augmented. Both situations will be noted if they occur.)
Athena dismounting from her chariot from the North East corner of the outer frieze.
Dione (Aphrodite's mother in some myths. There is also some debate whether this figure is Artemis) and Aphrodite from the East pediment of the Parthenon.
Artemis (maybe?), also from the East Pediment.
Hermes, Dionysus and Demeter from the North inner frieze.
Ares (twice, as the first was not very good), Iris (or Hebe), Hera and Zeus from the North inner frieze.
Athena and Hephaestos from the North inner frieze
Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis from the North inner frieze. Not augmented so much as simplified due to increasing numbers of tour groups standing curiously in my field of vision.
Athena and Poseidon from the West pediment, and facial details, all from miniature reproduction.
A much better, later attempt of the same subject as above.
Contrast Athena and Poseidon (and Zeus's arm) from the East pediment, from miniature reproduction.
The standing girls (properly called Caryatids) from the Erectheon.
Torso of statue of Athena (stands about 3 ft tall).
Aphrodite chasing a Giant from the East outer frieze of the Parthenon (self-augmented).
Head of Dionysus from the East pediment and body of Apollo from the East outer frieze of the Parthenon.
Ares and Athena defeating two giants (center) from the East outer frieze (self-augmented).
Dionysus, Persephone and Demeter from the East pediment, from miniature reproduction. I'm going to try to sketch the whole of the east pediment reconstruction by the semester's end. :-)
Sculpture attempt! You can tell I haven't taken ceramics in a very very long time and I have no tools excepting my swiss army knife (which is called the 'craftsman' though I'm not sure this is what Victorinox intended. :-P)
And the back. The designs and colors are based on those I saw in surviving on the Kore statues in the museum. They're really quite lovely. :-) I'll get better (or at least more Minoan/Cycladic with time. Heh heh)
Kαλημέρα! (Which is good day, instead of good night. :-) )
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Museums, Sites and Dancing
Such a fantastic day today!
I woke up early intending to go get tickets to the Dora Stratou first thing in the morning, but the Student Affairs person wasn't in her office right when the building opened (surprise, surprise), so I went to the Acropolis Museums instead. It was just breathtaking! It's not the actual marbles from the Parthenon, of course (those are in London) but the building is built to the scale of the Parthenon, so they have the casts and reproductions in the exact places that they would be on the building. However, pictures are NOT allowed in the museum (even without flash) so I sketched instead. :-) I haven't sketched in forever, but I really enjoyed sitting the museum for hours while the international tours crowded around me and the piece I was sketching, several of them paying more attention to my pencil than to their tour guides. I also got to help out a few people who were struggling with their mythology, which made me very happy. I'll get the sketches up soon, but having neither scanner nor camera with battery, it will have to wait until tomorrow.
One thing I can't capture on paper with pencil, beyond scale and beauty, however, is the color and detail left on some of the sculpture. I had never been able to picture the marble statues and reliefs painted brightly and embellished with gold leaf until today when I saw the remnants. It's incredibly beautiful and shockingly fitting to the pieces. One Kore (maiden figure) still had red hair and some dye left in her eyes, as well as blue spirals on the hem of her gown. It was my favorite of the many many Korai (plural form) by far! Some other pieces, remnants, especially two decorative snakes had similar designs on them and it made them intensely beautiful and much more realistic, despite their not looking real and the design being completely unnatural. I've never been so moved by art. So yeah, sketches up tomorrow (and I may go back -again- to make some more).
Outside the museum I saw my first Greek riot (from a very safe distance.) I've made lots of jokes about the Greeks being very organized about their rioting, but I realized exactly how true that is until today. A tiny riot formed on the steps leading down to the museum and people raised signs and chanted for a few minutes until someone blew a whistle. They retreated a few steps and started up again, and the whistle followed. This continued all the way back up the stairs and a little way into the street until the group, with no apparent communication, decided they'd made their point and lowered their signs and walked away quietly chatting with each other. No wonder they send out such calm e-mails. Everyone here knows exactly what to do in these situations and it's like it would be poor table manners to go against the standard.
Around 1:30, I made my way back to the Academic center for lunch and the Dora Stratou Tickets, after which I walked back to the Ancient Agora. I spent two hours just getting lost in the area (and found a museum while doing so). I somehow managed to get behind a roped off area, but I never jumped any ropes or crossed any lines, so I'm not entirely sure how it happened. No one seemed the least bit upset, so it didn't matter, really. Just a few pictures:
P.S. K has discovered our apartment's "band name": Tiny Riot. Our first two hit singles will be "Don't Put Him in a Peplos" and "The Curator F***ed That Up". :-)
I woke up early intending to go get tickets to the Dora Stratou first thing in the morning, but the Student Affairs person wasn't in her office right when the building opened (surprise, surprise), so I went to the Acropolis Museums instead. It was just breathtaking! It's not the actual marbles from the Parthenon, of course (those are in London) but the building is built to the scale of the Parthenon, so they have the casts and reproductions in the exact places that they would be on the building. However, pictures are NOT allowed in the museum (even without flash) so I sketched instead. :-) I haven't sketched in forever, but I really enjoyed sitting the museum for hours while the international tours crowded around me and the piece I was sketching, several of them paying more attention to my pencil than to their tour guides. I also got to help out a few people who were struggling with their mythology, which made me very happy. I'll get the sketches up soon, but having neither scanner nor camera with battery, it will have to wait until tomorrow.
One thing I can't capture on paper with pencil, beyond scale and beauty, however, is the color and detail left on some of the sculpture. I had never been able to picture the marble statues and reliefs painted brightly and embellished with gold leaf until today when I saw the remnants. It's incredibly beautiful and shockingly fitting to the pieces. One Kore (maiden figure) still had red hair and some dye left in her eyes, as well as blue spirals on the hem of her gown. It was my favorite of the many many Korai (plural form) by far! Some other pieces, remnants, especially two decorative snakes had similar designs on them and it made them intensely beautiful and much more realistic, despite their not looking real and the design being completely unnatural. I've never been so moved by art. So yeah, sketches up tomorrow (and I may go back -again- to make some more).
Outside the museum I saw my first Greek riot (from a very safe distance.) I've made lots of jokes about the Greeks being very organized about their rioting, but I realized exactly how true that is until today. A tiny riot formed on the steps leading down to the museum and people raised signs and chanted for a few minutes until someone blew a whistle. They retreated a few steps and started up again, and the whistle followed. This continued all the way back up the stairs and a little way into the street until the group, with no apparent communication, decided they'd made their point and lowered their signs and walked away quietly chatting with each other. No wonder they send out such calm e-mails. Everyone here knows exactly what to do in these situations and it's like it would be poor table manners to go against the standard.
Around 1:30, I made my way back to the Academic center for lunch and the Dora Stratou Tickets, after which I walked back to the Ancient Agora. I spent two hours just getting lost in the area (and found a museum while doing so). I somehow managed to get behind a roped off area, but I never jumped any ropes or crossed any lines, so I'm not entirely sure how it happened. No one seemed the least bit upset, so it didn't matter, really. Just a few pictures:
Aquaduct!
Outside of the Agora Museum. It's a reconstructed Roman Stoa, so looks pretty good. :-)
The little stone marker outside this building says "Nymphaion", which is of course incorrect given it's current state. The only thing remaining of the Nymphaion is the foundations. The rest is a Byzantine chapel called "Church of the Holy Apostles".
The Agora is really cool, but doesn't photograph well because it always looks like a bare field with rocks in photos. So most of my pictures are column details and cool brickwork.
Example 2.
And again. :-)
This was cool - it's a marble stand for a brass tripod, altogether about 8.5 feet tall. It was the first prize in a theater competition. What on earth would a playwright do with that?
With the above picture we're going to play a fun little game called "Guess the God/Goddess". Go on, take a gander. Even just guess if it's male or female. Play the jeopardy theme song if you like. Ready?
The answer is Apollo. Apollo, who is the youthful god that was every young ancient Greek man's idol. Why do they think this is Apollo? Those feminine feet are wearing feminine shoes under the hem of that dress! This is a strong male god, guys! Don't put him in a peplos! *confused and upset on behalf of the god*
Anyhow, that concluding that rant, I decided to go back to the Acropolis museum and sketch some more. I had also planned to go up to the Acropolis itself for sunset, but it closed earlier than I expected. I'm going to try again tomorrow (or maybe later depending on their October hours), because the marble turns such a lovely orange in the deep sunlight. It's incredibly beautiful. Also, I really like taking pictures up there. In case you haven't noticed. :-)
I saw this young boy on my way back from the Acropolis. He was quite good, especially for his age. It's great to see kids enjoying music, but not so much when it's their source of income at such a young age. I contributed a little to his pile of coins.
I went back to the apartment for a little dinner, then walked right back out with K and SE to go see the Traditional Greek Dancing show at the Dora Stratou (FINALLY!) It was absolutely incredible. I really want the dance lessons to start now, and I'm willing to seek them out if for some reason they don't work out through CYA. I think K would do that with me and we've almost convinced SE (though she won't admit it) to join us. I can't do the dancing proper justice, so I'll just have to show you a clip.
Incredible, yes? They performed songs and dances, all live, for about an hour and a half. They named all of the dances, and mentioned the location of origin for several, but I couldn't write them down, so I don't really know which is which. The people in the row behind us knew the words to several songs and it made me want to learn Greek folk songs. Perhaps something to ask during Modern Greek on Monday? Our teacher might be willing to dive into that. After all, "Happy Birthday" has very specific uses and quickly gets awkward when sung out of context.
After all that, and being given a flower by a Greek stranger (who wanted to know why I walked so quickly), I'm back at the apartment and should have been in bed hours ago. I'm going to try going to the art supply store tomorrow. I'm constantly inspired to create here, and I really want to try my hand at some sculpture now. Hopefully they'll have clay. You'll be able to tell which are mine without my captioning them, I'm pretty sure. :-P
Kαληνύχτα!
P.S. K has discovered our apartment's "band name": Tiny Riot. Our first two hit singles will be "Don't Put Him in a Peplos" and "The Curator F***ed That Up". :-)
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