Almost There

Strolling aimlessly through the streets of Florence, Italy, it finally felt like Christmas. Trees were lit and lights were hung. Shops bustled with excited shoppers as Christmas music played. Lastly, it was actually cold outside! I loved every minute of it. Florence was beautiful with all of its "little Italy" charm. We did happen to sleep outside in Milan the night before, which may make anywhere seem quaint… but that is another story.

Today, my friend Erica and I packed in as much of Rome as we could. Started out the morning right with bread. Then we ate pizza followed by gelato. Had some pasta and later a raspberry tart with a glass of wine and called it a day. Okay, okay, we did do more than just eat! We managed to fit the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain,Spanish Steps, and Roman Forum into our busy schedule as well. Tomorrow we will head to the Vatican to see what all the fuss is about before going back to Greece.

As we rode around in the train, bus, and plane I have gotten the chance to reflect a bit on my semester and all my travels. It has been a good three and a half months as I have gotten to see more of the world. Throughout it all I’ve picked up on qualities and characteristics of others and myself – good and bad. It’s given me plenty to ponder and evaluate since leaving the States. Maybe I’ll give you more of a glimpse into that reflection next time. For now, I have 16 minutes left of internet and four days until I come home!

Like Nothing Else

I travelled to Turkey with some friends on an overnight bus ride this past weekend, which took somewhere around ten hours. We had to buy a visa just to get in (which thankfully is far less work than getting a Greek visa… all I had to do this time was pay) but got to see a bit of Muslim culture while there. Mosques are everywhere in Turkey. Five times a day people go to pray and the loud singing/chanting is heard throughout the city.

Turkey not only has a crazy unique name (shared with a beloved Thanksgiving dish), but holds a culture unlike any other. Istanbul, where I was just this past weekend, is split by a body of water and somehow belongs to two continents! So, doing the only reasonable thing I could think of,  I casually boarded a ferry to Asia last Saturday.

In Turkey I experienced something else that I’m not sure I’ll ever find in the U.S. (It is a bit controversial, so please send small children away from the computer).  For a whopping 50 lira (roughly $33.45) I paid to get washed.

Turkish baths are a culture all on their own. I went there and was scrubbed down in an open room – where everyone was naked. Quite the experience, and for the sake of seeing your facial expressions, I’ll let you ask me more about it once I return to the States. But, I think this may fall under the growing category of  “doing something I’ve never done before or EVER imagined myself doing“.

The World’s a Blur

After nearly two weeks of running around Western Europe, you’d think things would be slowing down a bit around here. That is far from the case. Tomorrow, I leave around midnight with four other girls on the night bus to Turkey, and next week I’ll finish out my stay in Europe by visiting Italy. In the meantime, I am surrounded with homework and projects, and I am less than three weeks away from returning to the States!

My past trip was beyond any expectations. I was able to go to Paris and spend a few days perusing the sights, feeling quite sophisticated in the city of romance. The weather was perfect, barely chilly, just enough for a jacket. We stayed in the smallest hotel room I’ve ever seen, with a bathroom and shower down the hall to be shared with 30 other rooms. I saw the Mona Lisa, the Moulin Rouge, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and the inside of a snail.

My visit to Belgium not only provided amazing pictures and memories, but a bit of family background as well. I met with some distant cousins living in Belgium who were wonderful hosts as they showed me around Gent and Brussels. Feeling adventurous on my trip alone, I went to breathtaking Bruges,where I stayed in a hostel and made friends with people from New Zealand, Holland, England, USA, and Kenya. We even went ice skating in the outdoor skating rink in the middle of town square, complete with Christmas decorations.

Thanksgiving morning I met up with Paige and her aunt in the happening city of Dublin, Ireland. We got a three-hour walking tour from a real-live redheaded Irish student as the wind cut through our layers, leaving us no choice but to have some authentic Irish coffee. We found ourselves some tradition music one night in the pub before heading off to London for our final leg of the trip. In London I visited a few famous sites and places in the rain such as: Hillsong, Abbey Road, Big Ben, the London Eye, etc.

All in all, it was an excellent reason to skip a week of classes and get to see places I’ve only known in movies. It had its hiccups, a few missed departures, and unpredictable mishaps, but it was still a great trip. I am very thankful for all I’ve gotten to see, but very excited to return home to see some familiar places and faces.

A Most Gorgeous Place

This past weekend happened to be another weekend of traveling due to a spur of the moment decision to visit the Greek islands. Today it donned on me that of the next 32 days I’ll be in Europe, only 11 of which will be spent in Thessaloniki. I am excited, blessed, curious, and a little scared of all my upcoming travels. But in the meantime, let me tell you a bit about the beautiful island of Amorgos.

Paige and I realized we had a five-day weekend thanks to the observance of Polytechnic Day in Greece (which is essentially the day for students to riot in the streets – hundreds of police officers blocked off the street leading to my apartment, completely decked out in gear and shields. It reminded me of E.T.) Without wanting to miss out on such an opportunity, we booked a ferry ride from Athens to Amorgos without much hesitation or research into where we were going. Someone had recommended it, which was good enough for us.

The ferry took a whopping eight hours, in addition to the six and a half hour bus beforehand. By the time we made it there, we were pretty tired. But even though it was dark outside, I could tell it was totally worth the trip down. There they were, the white houses with blue shutters scattered up the hill.

Thessaloniki, where we currently reside, is not like this at all. In some regards, it could just be another big city anywhere. Some of the architecture is different, the language, and obviously the weather, but it does not say, “Greece” quite like the islands do. In Amorgos we finally got a taste of what that was like.

Everything was slow, and then to top it off, it’s winter so most things were closed. We found two nice places to stay on ports on either sides of the island. We hiked a few miles up to the town in between and explored countless white alleyways. It was beautiful.

We did have a few mishaps with prices though. Our ferry tickets were student tickets and apparently we didn’t qualify though and had to pay more. We also ordered a crepe in one of the open cafes without asking the price and definitely over payed. The taxi from side to side cost a ridiculous 23 euros, which we decided to take only once.

This left plenty of room to improvise as we ended up hiking whenever we could, cooking noodles at night, splitting meals, and hitchhiking. All in all, it was gorgeous and relaxing. This next trip will be entirely different. As soon as my laundry dries, I’ll pack it up again for a week and a half through Western Europe, including Paris, Brussels, Gent, Bruges, Stockholm, Dublin, and London!

Can’t take it away

I must say that I am well behind schedule on my blogging and for that, I am terribly sorry. Travelling keeps me busy and hardly leaves time other than for sleep. I promise to give a more a detailed update soon, but in the meantime I will share something quite essential which I have recently learned.

As I spend time and money travelling and seeing all sorts of new places I realize that I am incredibly blessed. I may not be able to afford the same luxuries as others in the group. I might not come home with an entirely new European wardrobe. Over the course of my time here I have lost an umbrella, my debit card, and at times, my patience. But I do have my dignity, and for that I am incredibly grateful.

Your Traveling Tourist

Today I passed some tourists and chuckled to myself. With their backpacks, guidebooks, and cameras I felt like a local compared to them. It’s when I open my mouth to try to buy something at the market that the real locals chuckle. I did end up walking away with what I wanted (cheese, chicken, prunes, pears, pomegranate, and some weird looking yellow thing), but it was not easy.

This past weekend I embraced the tourist in me and went to the small town of Kalambaka with my friend Paige. The more we break out of our comfort zone and take the buses hours outside of Thessaloniki, the more quickly we become acclimated to our surroundings. We easily found our hotel, bought our return bus tickets, and eventually started hiking.

We made it up some giant rock formations as we neared several monasteries and nunneries in the area called Meteora. It looks as if they were just plopped on top of the rocks. They were built there for the monks and nuns who were fleeing for safety. Now they are open to the public.

The first day we hiked up to the Agias Traida (Holy Trinity) and got as far as the door to find it was closed. Major bummer, but it was from up there that we spotted another girl hiking along in a bright yellow hat. She met us as we came down and ended up joining us as we headed off to the nunnery nearby. In order to get in, Paige, Caoimhe (pronounced Keefa), and I had to pay two euros and don the skirts provided. Inside, it was intricately decorated with beautiful detailed paintings along all of the walls of saints and what I assume are biblical stories (though very few looked familiar). Nuns still live there today in fact and came in and out of the rooms we were visiting.

We walked back down to the town to enjoy a nice meal of gyros and baklava before turning in for the night. Our hotel balcony looked out to the rocks and the mountains, which was lit up at night. It was incredible to open the door and see such gorgeous rock formations. The three of us started the next morning early and went up to the top once more to go inside the Great Meteora!

After finding that monasteries and nunneries were all essentially the same on the inside, we opted to only hike to them instead of going inside them. Due to the wind and our growling stomachs, we headed back to town for another meal and got to hear all about Caoimhe and her travels. Originally from Australia, she was on fall break from teaching music in a primary school in London. She seemed to know everything about all of our upcoming destinations. It was great to meet her and hear of the places we just had to visit.

Our four-hour bus ride took us to Thessaloniki just in time for a toga party in our building with the rest of the American study abroad students missing out on Halloween. That counts as Greek culture right? We fit right in now.

Srbija in Five Minutes

Yesterday I returned on the train with my backpack, a new scarf, and all sorts of new stories to tell. Serbia was far from what I expected, but absolutely beautiful. I had no idea what I was getting myself into though.

Belgrade had huge gaping holes in some of the downtown buildings from when we bombed them ten years ago. They also had a lot of French architecture and beautiful parks. We ate pastries for about every meal, and I think I gained ten pounds.

Petrovac Na Mlavi is where I spent the majority of my time in Serbia, which is a quaint small town of about 10,000 people. It was there that I was treated with such hospitality, far beyond words, by people in the community and by one family in particular. I could not say “thank you” enough to two girls – Kacha and Marija as they introduced us to the culture and welcomed us into their home.

We met with the mayor one morning and high school students another. Everyone seemed to want to know about the Americans and show that they weren’t like what we may have seen on the news. I’m not exactly sure how they were represented on the news ten years ago, but they certainly were well represented this past week.

I greatly enjoyed my time in Serbia, but was also happy to return “home” to Greece, where I have my own bed (I shared with two other girls), a heater that works (ours didn’t and we woke up in the middle of the night to sparks flying and a room full of smoke), and the freedom to set my own schedule (as opposed to someone else’s agenda). All in all, it was a good way to spend fall break.

Interesting people you’ve never met

Tomorrow I am getting on a 17-hour train to Belgrade, Serbia. From there I will see some sights, perhaps make a guest appearance at Parliament, and then get on a bus for a few hours to a much smaller town called Petrovac na Mlavi.

Why? Well, this next week is fall break, so I am going to a country I never had even heard of before coming here. It will certainly be interesting. I am going with my friends plus some others, totaling to 10 study abroad students. Our leader? Igor. To help us get acclimated to the culture, this Serbian native (who also happens to live in our building) has prepared a 12-page booklet with phrases, tourist sites, and important information/instructions. While this seems nice, it is also a bit overwhelming. A few of us are a little worried he’ll try to take charge more than needed.

Regardless, it will be an experience that very few people will ever have, and for that I am excited. I am sure we will all stay safe, but feel free to pray for our travels as every new country has a certain element of unknown. Other than this 12-page packet and a Wikipedia search, Serbia is essentially full of unknowns to me. I’ll let you know how it goes next week!

Bible Times

On Saturday I was able to visit  one of the deciding factors for studying abroad in Greece. I, Samantha, walked on the road that Paul traveled on time and time again as he helped spread the gospel and encouraged churches. My friend Paige and I took the bus about three hours from Thessaloniki to the city of Philippi, located in between Kavala and Drama. This was the place where the book of Philippians was written. This is where Paul first met Lydia, the first Greek convert. This is where Paul was in prison. This is where early Christians met.

We first made a stop in Kavala and walked around the city which a port city about the same size as Des Moines. It wasn’t until I was there that I realized I missed being in a city that size. Thessaloniki is much larger, while it is not Shanghai, it doesn’t have that nice community feel to it. Kavala was like a little taste of home, only it happened to have a castle. We enjoyed the scenery and got a little fruit at the open market, which again reminded me a lot of the Des Moines Farmers’ Market.

After almost missing the three buses we had to take to get there and then not knowing exactly when to get off, we finally arrived. As students studying in a European school, we went in free – bright-eyed and full of excitement. As soon as we walked around the corner to see the giant theatre we were jumping and yelling, pointing in every direction .

It was like walking in a Bible museum, except for we could touch the stones, climb the walls, and of course, didn’t have to whisper. There is no real way to describe how neat it was. All I can say now is, we were there.

More photos at www.flickr.com/growingabroad

More photos at www.flickr.com/growingabroad

More photos at www.flickr.com/growingabroad

The Exciting Lives we Lead

For those of you wondering – I am thoroughy enjoying my time here in Greece. Not only is it warmer (!) and absolutely beautiful, but I know I am growing. As I force myself to fit into awkward social situations or challenge myself to go beyond what I originally thought I was capable of achieving, I can feel my understanding and personal depth stretching. I get the same satisfaction from this as I do from sore muscles the day after a long hike. Each day I learn something new or push myself a little farther, whether it has to do with Greece and its culture or by reading the Word or playing the ukulele in my room.

In that same breath, I am learning quite quickly that being adventurous comes at a cost. As you might have guessed, I mean more than merely financial costs, although that is true too. I miss being with people at home. I miss shopping at the grocery store and knowing what to buy. I miss the independence that owning a car provides. I miss going to an actual church service. But, I know that this adventure is a temporary thing and am comforted by that fact.

I talked to my English professor today when I went in to talk about our upcoming paper. She spoke so highly of my writing, which I found to be very flattering, and then she asked me how I was doing being here in Greece. Overall, I have found this to be a very positive experience and told her of my upcoming plans to travel to Serbia next week. Then I returned the question.

My teacher has lived in Greece for 16 years now. Previously she had lived in Ohio, but her husband was Greek and had apparently wanted to return so she and their two sons came with him. She said it had been hard to adjust and is a continual adjustment. Although she only talked for a few minutes, it was evident there was deep sorrow as she spoke about it. She had never realized just how much of a sacrifice she was making when she left. Her whole family is in the States, but now she feels as if she doesn’t have a real “home” there or here. She said both of her sons grew up without finding their place in Greece. She hopes they move somewhere that is a better fit, but then knows she will miss them and be without them. Now she’s stuck, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she had some serious regret about being adventurous in the first place.