UMaine Greece Trip 08

Reunion photos and update

2008-10-12T03:35:00.000-07:00

On October 9, 2008, we had our Greece Trip Reunion at the University of Maine in Orono. It was in the North Pod of the Memorial Union, and quite a few students were able to come. Matt Fields had created a slideshow of the trip, after soliciting phoos from everyone. Izzy Wieck (Elizabeth Wieck on FirstClass) was our caterer, and she provided moussaka, dolmades (grape leaves), honey-cheese pie, spinakopita, and baklava. It was great!

UMaine faculty and staff also present included Ray Pelletier, chair of the Dept. of Modern Languages & Classics, Nancy Ogle, one of our fearless leaders, Tina Passman (moi), Kyriacos Markides, from Sociology, Emily Markides from Peace Studies, Dora Kilimis-Zakis, from Nutrition, and Karen Boucias, head of International Programs. Our Dean, Jeff Hecker, has planned to attend, but was delayed by a school function of his daughter's.

We also had student guests: Ryan, from Honors, Jeremy Swist from Honors and Latin/Secondary Education, Megan Aydelott, from Latin and Math, and Jackie Chiarell, from History.

Our wonderful Erja Lipponen came up from Camden.

Check out the Picasa albums linked to this blog for the photos!

I can honestly say that "a good time was had by all." You can also see the album in the "Travels in the Mediterranean" site on Facebook.

Katie's thoughts

2008-06-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2008

After much anticipation and worry about this trip, packing, and repacking over 4 times and still knowing that I am taking too much, I am ready, it is the day, and we are on our way! One long bus ride and we will officially be on the way, in the air, and started on our journey.

So, I though the bus ride from Orono to Portland was long, but I had no idea what nine hours in a plain would fell like. I have only slept for about an hour of it, and there is only about 30 min left by the screen in front of me. This whole trip I have been sitting here thinking and wondering about whether or not I will be able to filly appreciate all that I will see in Greece. Although I am a history major, I know very little about this time period and place in history, and I am worried that some, if not most, of the information that will be given in lectures and other places will go over my head. Hopefully I know more than I think I do, we will see.

Now I will try to sleep and when we land it will be tomorrow.

May 14, 2008

Today has been a good day for napping and taking in my surroundings. I am so tired, and I just can’t wait for bed. When we were all up on the roof for our lecture this afternoon all I could think about was the Acropolis and how beautiful it looked in the distance on top of our hotel. I am so excited to go and see it tomorrow. I was a little disappointed to see the scaffolding all around the Parthenon, I was not expecting that, and it kind of detracts from the feeling for me.

The lecture today seemed more like overview of Greece’s history, and I have to admit that I was too tired to really focus on much of it. I know that is what we are here for, but my brain was on overload, and I don’t think there was much more that I could absorb up there. I went back to my room and took a nap that lasted until dinner.

Dinner, now there is another subject! I think I could live in Greece forever just based upon their food. I loved the Tzatziki (I really love garlic!) and I loved the lamb. When the schedule said that we were going to be going for a family style meal I expected there to be many dishes of food that would be passed around, but instead we were given plates, just as in a restaurant, which I was a little sad about, but all in all I was pleasantly surprised by the food, the people, and the atmosphere. I really enjoyed dinner and it allowed be to see the culture of Greece from the most personal level. I was able to see that normal people would eat in

Greece, which was very valuable to me. In general I was glad to be presented first with this opportunity so that I will be able to know what Greek food is like, and how to order in the future days on this trip.

We didn’t do much else today, after dinner I was so tired. I think I will be going to bed here very shortly. Goodnight!

May 15, 2008

First may I just say that I was a little disappointed in breakfast. I was expecting breakfast foods and juice, and what was served were break, bread, more bread, weird tasting juices, cold cuts, cheese, and flavorless yogurt. Oh well, I guess I can’t be thrilled with every part of Greek cuisine.

Our day started with Dionysia taking us to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. I was shocked to hear from here from her that the Christians had dismantled so much of the history of Greece and used it as building material throughout the city. I can’t imagine where these peaces of stone that once held such a huge peace of significance have ended up. I want to know what peaces of concrete and stone I have walked on, looked at, touched that hold these tiny bits of history and significance and I didn’t know it, I don’t know it, and I probably never will know it. That conversation just impacted me in a way that really, truly, made me think. Where is our history, what we perceived as lost could merely be hidden by generations, time, or foolish destruction. I felt a pain down into my soul when I realized what this piece of information could mean. How could anyone believe that it was okay to simply dismantle and ruin buildings that hold such great significance? I realize that at the time they did not hold the same significance and appeal that they do today to historians, classicists, and others alike, but I cannot imagine ever believing that this type of destruction is okay. But then I though about the destruction of the World Trade Towers, and how someone might look upon that 2500 years from now with the same misunderstanding, loss, and reverence. I suppose it was not meant to be, but I am still saddened by the loss.

Otherwise, the Temple was great. I was mostly enthralled by the archaeological dig taking place behind the Temple. I spent most of the little time we had looking over the embankment at what they were unearthing below. I wish I could have been down there in the dirt with them finding new discoveries and cataloging their place and significance. Piecing together another piece of the puzzle, and wondering what will be next.

Next we went to the acropolis where we saw all the major things that one comes to Athens to see. However, what impressed me the most about that trip was Dionysia’s explanation of how Athena became the patron Goddess of Athens. I really enjoyed thinking about what impact that story, true or not, would have had on the population of Athens at that time in history. Dionysia stated that both Athena and Poseidon wished to be the patrons of the city, and that each offered a gift to the city and its people. Poseidon offered safe passage at sea, and far trade winds, while Athena offered the olive tree. Of course all the men wished of Poseidon’s gift, while all the women saw the choice of Athena’s as the wisest. Well, they put it to a vote, and at that time women were allowed to vote, so as it happens there was one more woman in the city than men at that time and so the vote was for Athena by one. The men of the city were outraged at the women’s choice, and although they could not change the vote, decided women were too incompetent to vote ever again. So women lost the vote. This all really impressed me as we were sitting at the bottom of the hill where the population of Athens voted, where no woman ever sat.

After that we climbed to the top of the Acropolis, which I found not to be as bad a climb as I had anticipated. I was not as impressed with the Parthenon as I though I would be, I think it was because of the scaffolding, but in general it was a good experience. I think I would have been able to learn more if the museum had been opened. I was very upset to learn that I would not be able to see much of the artifacts they had collected from the Acropolis. It was funny to learn from Dionysia that the Greeks though of themselves as such perfectionists that they would purposely place imperfections in their work to show the gods they were humble. Also, I though it interesting that although all the columns in the Parthenon look equal, they are built differently so that they look equal, but are not, and that it looks flat, but is built on an arc, so that it looks perfectly flat. Amazing engineers the ancients!

Finally we went to the Ancient Agora, which I was impressed by and plan to visit again, but Dionysia flew through it so fast that I was unable to process much of the information she gave me. I will have to go back again on an off day. One thing I do remember is the Church of St. George, and that it was an ancient temple, which was only preserved from the destruction of the Christians by itself becoming a Church. I did not climb up to see it, but I know I will later.

This has been such a long day! After the Agora many of us went to see Professor Bregman’s friend at Trinity College’s campus in Athens, but I was so tired and hungry that I opted to go with the group, including Professor Passman, that went to get lunch. After that a bunch of us continued walking around the Acropolis and found cave and spring that were used for worship in Ancient times, which was very interesting and an unexpected find. After that we went to the room and I fell asleep for quite a while. Dinner was not very eventful. Time for bed again.

May 16, 2008

Today was another early start just for a three-hour bus ride to Delphi. On the way Dionysia gave us a great tour of the countryside and explained to us that in ancient times, once a year all those able would make the journey to Delphi to see the oracle, and that for those coming from Athens, as we did, the journey would have taken three days on foot, not just three hours in a bus. On the way we passed Thebes, which I found interesting only from its interpretation in the Disney movie Hercules. As we passed Thebes, and Dionysia was telling us about how it used to be a much larger city, all I could think about what Hercules and how he went to Thebes to become a hero, as the people of Thebes were in constant trouble, peril, and many other situations only a hero could help. I found it funny to be driving through that same city; I hope it had only a fragment of the character described in Hercules. I know I should not be comparing and associating anything with Disney, as they are so often horribly inaccurate, but sometimes I can’t help but draw connections from movies I watched so often as a child.

Finally we arrived in Delphi, and I have to say that this is what I pictured all of Greece to look like. I was disappointed when we arrived in Athens, I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting of such a big city, but I found it in Delphi. I can understand why this was such a sacred place, a place to find answers, and a place believed to hold special powers. I was blown away by the beauty and the presence of this place, even in ruins, I can only begin to imagine what it would have been like fully standing, frescos painted in vibrant reds, blues, and greens, towering up this hillside. What would it have been like packed with people waiting to be answered by the oracle; tents pitched in any spare place, the smell of bodies, and the sound of life all around. What a picture, what a place.

I was taken in by the surroundings in Delphi so much that I got left behind from the group a few times, but one of the stories I did catch from Dionysia was that the oracle was, obviously, not actually possessed with powers, instead they would take different drugs, which would be given to them by the priests who interpreted their ranting, and this would allow them to rant, and seem possessed by the gods, when in reality they were simply doped up. Also, they would be given the presence of supernatural beings by the natural hot springs in Delphi. What would happen is that their place on the Rock of Sibyl was be built upon a hot spring, and steam would collect underneath them, and when extra effect was needed they would release some of the steam from below, and it would seem very powerful to the ancient people. Although I would compare these people to snake oil salesmen, I can still see how this business, for it was a business, was ingeniously put together. Apparently, according to Dionysia, allowing the elite, or anyone with enough money, to pay to get a place closer to the front in line, ran this business. They would not charge everyone to get their answer from the oracle, they would just allow payment to come first and not have to wait in line. I find that an interesting concept. They didn’t put doubt on their business by charging everyone for something, they just simply allowed for people to pay them for privileges. Interesting idea. After we had made it half way Dionysia gave us 15 minutes to get all the way to the top to see the Stadium, and back down, which I did, although half way up I got an asthma attack, which hasn’t happened to me in 5 years, so I was slowed down and only had enough time to snap a few pictures before heading back to the bottom to see the museum.

I really enjoyed the museum, and I think that it was really interesting the information I gleaned from answering Dionysia’s question right. Imagine it, the first women to win the Olympics were women who owned and trained the horses to win the chariot races. And after all that work they could not actually compete in the Olympic games themselves. For all their progressive ways the ancient world was lacking in this one major advancement.

We stopped at the spring, gymnasium, and the Temple of Athena. Of these sights I found it interesting that the spring was not discovered until road construction ran into it. Also, I found the gymnasium very interesting. I have always thought of gymnasiums as being inside, but here there was only a roof to keep rain off on part of the field, the rest of the place was open to the air. I was also very intrigued by the baths at the gymnasium. I have always thought of baths as Roman, as I’m sure many people do, but to hear that this gymnasium had baths was interesting. That they were filled by the spring made sense, but I would have expected that they were heated; I learned from Dionysia that only Roman baths, and baths taken over by the Romans would have been heated. I would have liked to see these Greek baths; how they were filled by the spring, and spilled over down the mountainside as drainage. I would have loved to see everything in Delphi while is was still a thriving oracle.

The ride home was uneventful, and I was sorry to learn that, after taking Dramamine to get through my carsickness, I had once again slept through some of Dionysia’s wonderful commentary of the land we were driving through.

May 17, 2008

Today we were given much of the day to explore for ourselves. Lenna and I decided to visit the Kerameikos and the Agora (again). Firstly, I could have spent all day looking through he Kerameikos, but I was very sore from the climb in Delphi, and very sleep deprived as I had gone out to the clubs with a group of my new friends, and only returned at 5:30am, but I am a trouper, and I was up at 10:30am ready for adventure!

The Kerameikos, or cemetery, was wonderful. All the artifacts found throughout it were wonderful sights, mostly pottery and statues, but all wonderful. According to my self-taught understanding this is a site that has gone through much transformations throughout its history. Directly in the center of the site is a road called the Sacred Way, which was the road, used by the procession of the Eleusinian mysteries to get to Eleusis, where we will visit tomorrow, and I am very excited to hear about it too. Then in the later times of the Classical period the Sacred Way evolved into a cemetery, and the Dipylon road, which related to the Dipylon Gate, became the road of the processions of the funerals of those who died in war. From the Dipylon Gate into the center of the city of Athens was called the Panathenaic Way, and was famous as the grand way into the city of Athens.

The city walls divided the Kerameikos into two parts, and eventually the inner part became a residential area where many potters were known to live, and the outer part became the cemetery. In this way it makes sense that the Sacred Way, with the Sacred Gate, and the Dipylon Gate, became the ways into the cemetery, as it was not approachable any other way from within the city walls. This cemetery gives us a lot of information about who and what were important to the people of Ancient Athens. The funerary monuments depict who and what were important to the dead people. I only wish I were better at interpreting what they mean. I will always remember how impressive they are though.

Next Lenna and I went to the Agora again, as neither of us felt like we were given enough time there earlier. We decided to make the climb up to the Church of St. George, of the most well preserved Temple in all of Athens, or Greece. On the way it was interesting to see how large the city of Athens around the Acropolis was. I loved to read the signs that said things like Civic Offices, Great Drain, and “I Am the Boundary of the Agora.” It gave me a sense of the town and where things would have been located in accordance with other things. The view of the Agora from St. George’s was beautiful! After that we decided to explore our way down. Lenna and I found a few areas behind the Agora and the Temple. We found a crop of burial statues and monuments here like they were simply waiting for us to stumble upon them. I know that someone put them there, and that it was a place the public was allowed to visit, but I found it really fun to be able to search through the woods for these artifacts. It was really intriguing.

After that adventure it was time for Lenna and I to make it back to the Hotel for a Lecture. On the way back I was really interested in what this new Professor from Britain, the US, and Greece was going to say, but when she started talking about Plutinus it went completely over my head, and I have to confess that I began to fall asleep, although I really wish I would have been able to understand her. I am sure that at another time, given the right background, I would really have enjoyed her discussions. All I really remember her saying is that Plutinus was not Greek, but wrote in Greek, and I had always thought that he was a Greek. I was not really sure what he had to do with our time in Greece, and I didn’t find him particularly relevant to myself, or my understanding of the Greek Ancient World.

May 18, 2008

Firstly, today we went to Elusis, which is where I was most interested in seeing since I had visited Kerameikos yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised that we received a lesson from both Professor Bregman and Passman while in Elusis. I found the explanation of the Cults of Mysteries most interesting. I had known before, but never understood the significance of Demeter, but after having listened to Professor Bregman’s explanation of the Cults, and especially Professor Passman’s overview of the myth of Demeter, I can understand these people and their need to worship this Mystery of Demeter. After Demeter neglected her duties of the crops for so long while she searched for her daughter, and became a wet nurse, the people starved, so they begged her to come back to her duties, and when she did they worshiped her for her gift of food. Probably what actually happened was a drought, or a blight, which caused the people to starve. They blamed it on the goddess for they did not know what to do, or what was actually causing the famine. They asked that goddess to give them food and when the crops again began to grow they thanked the goddess they had asked, and created this Mystery Cult to worship her. Like the rest of the sites we have been to so far Elusis had a long history beginning around 2000BC and changing throughout. According the Dionysia, in the 600s BC Elusis was incorporated into the Athenian state and the Eleusinian Mysteries became a festival for the Athenians. The Sanctuary was fortified in the 500s, overtaken by the Persian’s in the 400s, rebuilt, and taken over by the Romans until the decline of the Mysteries in the 4^th Century AD.

Next we went to Corinth, which has now tied on my favorite places in Greece with Delphi. Not only was it a beautiful day with a nice breeze off the water, but also Corinth itself was beautiful. It was enlightening to see a peace of an ancient city and not only how it was laid out, but also how expansive it must have been. It was yet another glimpse into the lives of the ancient Greeks. I was so fascinated by the museum that I got left behind on Dionysia’s tour and did not hear a lot of her explanation.

Finally, we went to Epidaurus, and I have to admit that by this point in the day I have come to my wits end. I am thoroughly saturated by information and completely too tired to think about any more, absorb any more information, or do any more. After looking through the Museum, and the Temple we went to the Stadium, where listening to the wonderful performance made by Professor Ogle revived me. I was amazed at the acoustics this Stadium possessed. I know that Ancient Greek engineers were good, but I had no idea how good. I would like to research how, and why this stadium had, and still has, such wonderful acoustics.

The rest of the day was more travel on busses. I am so bushed from all the driving, medication, and knowledge I have tried to absorb that I could sleep for days! Goodnight!

May 19, 2008

This is going to be one long day. Before we get on the Ferry to go to Crete we are going to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. At the museum Dionysia rushed us through every room to get us to the Santorini room, which I was excited to see, as I am not going to Santorini. Here we were able to see much of the artifacts found in Santorini, and some of the beautifully frescoed walls. But of all the things in the Archaeological Museum that I saw, my favorite by far was the Antikythera Mechanism. I have watched a couple of documentaries on this mechanism before, but for some reason I had forgotten it was in this museum, and then I turned a corner and here it was, and to my surprise Dionysia didn’t even stop to mention this wonderful machine. As you may or may not know the Mediterranean is unpredictable, with storms cropping up all the time without notice. This happened to a crew of sponge divers who decided to dive after the storm had thrown them off course. They did not find sponges, but instead found a shipwreck of artifacts, one of which was the Mechanism. This mechanism is so unique due to its complex nature. There 32 gear wheels within the mechanism that can still be seen with x-ray looks. It is though to be a very intricate astrolabe, which uses the sun and the moon as time markers. Professor Derek de Solla Price created a copy of what he believes to be a working Antikythera Mechanism. I was just so excited to actually see the Mechanism!

I really enjoyed the museum greatly. Every time I turned a corner I saw a statue, or an artifact that I have seen before in books, or heard about in class, but to be there and really see it was an experience of a lifetime. I am so glad I was given this opportunity. I can’t describe to you the feeling I got when I turned the corner and there right in front of me was the famous statue of Zeus. That was such a powerful feeling, like an “I have arrived” feeling. Simply wow. I also enjoyed Dionysia’s explanation of the grave stone relief. It was something I was wondering about from my visit to Kerameikos, and being able to tell who is alive, and who is dead in a relief is a great skill to have learned.

So, we have been on the ferry for about 2 hours now and I am just so excited to be under way. I can’t wait to see Crete, but for now I think I am going to call it an early night, we are going to be up very early. Goodnight.

May 20, 2008

5:30am. That’s all I have to say. We had to get up at 5:30am. I was seasick all night, and I am so tired. I think this is going to be a really short entry tonight. We got to Hersonissou early, got our rooms, were not allowed breakfast, and so I decided to get some sleep, which did not last very long. Then we decided to go down to the beach, where I spent most of my day. We had lecture, which I found rather unhelpful as I was very tired and not in the mood for a lecture. I suppose I was able to glean a little helpful information about what we will be seeing later this week. I went back up to the room and fell asleep until around 8:30pm, so I got some food to go around 10pm, ate in the room, and now its lights out again. Goodnight.

May 21, 2008

Today we went to Knossos and the Heraklion Museum. I have to say that Knossos was wonderful and probably my favorite place on Crete, and tied for that for Greece. I really loved George’s interpretation of the sites, and his inclusion that the first excavator, Minos Kalokerinos, was only experimenting with the idea of archaeology, and decided to recreate much of what he found and figured to be correct. These Palaces were placed in two periods, the pre-palatial, or old palace period, and the palatial, or new palace period. Unfortunately in Knossos the second palace was build right on top of the first palace after earthquakes destroyed it. This all took place in the Bronze Age, which I find fascinating in and of itself. I was thrown by the advanced technologies of the Minoans. Their complex water systems, drains, toilets, and even their architecture as it included beams in the walls to help protect it against earthquakes. The fact that the palace was structured around a central courtyard means that they probably used it for ceremonial purposes as well as entertainment. One of the frescoes we saw was of a man doing acrobatics on top of a bull, I wonder if that is the type of entertainment they enjoyed. I was really surprised at the size of this Palace and all the many rooms and functions within the rooms it had. There was the throne room, which looked incredibly dark to me, but I’m not sure if that is how it would have been, and the Queen’s quarters, the King’s quarters, official rooms, rooms for production, which were close to the river, which no longer flows. I was just as impressed with the theatrical area as I was with any other part of the Palace. If nothing else this was evidence that entertainment was important to the Minoans.

Next we went to the Heraklion Museum, which like every other museum we have tried to go to was under construction, so we just went to a small building which was displaying only a small amount of the artifacts from Knossos and Phaistos. What I found to be the most interesting in the whole museum was the disk containing Minoan glyph writing, and the sarcophagus that is so well preserved that it tells the story of the man who had died and his funeral, if that is what to call it. All in all I was a little unimpressed by what was in this small museum, and I was ready to leave long before George had finished his tour.

The rest of the day I was able to go to the beach back in Hersonissou at night, which was a wonderful experience. Now it is again time for bed, it’s another early day tomorrow. Goodnight.

May 22, 2008

Today we went to Grotyna, Phaistos, and Matala, on the south side of the island. I was unimpressed by much of Grotyna, as it was mostly unexcavated, but I did find the writing on the walls to be fascinating, along with the later period Church, which was a good juxtaposition between two worlds. The most fascinating part about Grotyna for me is the tree, the evergreen maple tree that was the center of much myth in ancient times, which we now know why it is the way it is, but I still find it fascinating.

Next we went to Phaistos, which was another palace, and I really enjoyed it. I think that Phaistos is going to be more helpful to archaeologists for the pre-palatial period as one, the palatial palace was built a little off from the old, giving more of an insight to the pre-palatial palace, and two, because the hill upon which it stands is eroding, so eventually it will all fall to the ground revealing more of the pre-palatial palace than has even been seen before.

Now, back to the comment I made about the Bronze Age before, I want to go into how the Bronze Age fascinates me. How could people get the idea to mix medals together that don’t even occur close to each other, and in some cases have to be imported far distances. I really want to know what was going through their minds. The smelting pit that George showed us on Phaistos brought about this discussion. All in all I really enjoyed Phaistos, but not to the same extent I did Knossos.

Finally, as the last place I will visit on Crete, and in Greece, we went to Matala, which was beautiful. Not only is it where caves that served as both a Roman Cemetery and where hippies lived in the 1960s, but the beach was the most beautifully blue Mediterranean water I have ever seen. We all just enjoyed the 2 hours we were afforded here and really kicked back.

I slept the entire way back to Hersonissou as I had taken both Benedryl and Dramamine. The rest of this trip is going to be rather relaxing for me; I am not going to Santorini tomorrow. Goodnight.

May 23, 2008

Today is the day that most people are going to Santorini. It’s sad that I was not able to go, but it’s nice that I have the whole day to shop and go to the beach, which is exactly what I did. Not exactly as educational as what those in Santorini are doing, but very relaxing all in all. There is not much more to say about today, I slept in, slept on the beach, shopped, and went back to the beach. B-E-A-utiful!

May 24, 2008

The only thing on the schedule today is lecture and the farewell dinner, so that leaves most of today free for another beach day, which I will fully take for granted. I finished what little shopping I had to do, packed my bags, and went to the beach today. I went back to the room around 5:30pm and got ready for the lovely farewell dinner. It was a wonderful dinner, but it was remarkably like the dinner we had in Athens as our first dinner. After dinner a large group of us went out to say goodnight to the city, which we did, and I stayed up to see the sunrise on Crete, and get on the bus for the beginning of the ride home.

May 25, 2008

Today we are going home. I’m tired, but really excited.

Throughout this whole trip I have been really interested in the History and the Archaeology, but I have not really thought about what I have learned. I’m not sure what I was supposed to have learned. One thing I do know is that I was impressed in a way that I never could have been in the classroom. I have absorbed all I could to the point of saturation, and I am impressed. Impressed by the cultures, the architecture, what we know, what we don’t. I am impressed and truly thankful for this experience. I wish I had had more time to be able to absorb more information and depictions of this wonderful place and these wonderful people. I am glad to be going home, as anyone is at the end of a journey, but a part of me will never want to leave.

Cameron's experiences

2008-06-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Cameron Wellman

Travels in Ancient Mediterranean

Travel Journal

I would like to begin my journal in retrospect, first of all I would like to say that this trip was amazing, I am sure it will be one of the best journeys of my life, I owe a great deal of this to the professors, who enhanced every location we went to with their knowledge. I would like to explain the approach I took to this journal, I am not an honors student, or classical studies, or history, so my knowledge on most of the topics that I came across on this trip were very limited. However, I approached this trip as a student of Anthropology, which I am. The mythology portion of this trip was very interesting, but I found the ongoing excavations and the modern culture of Greece to be the main topics in my journal entries. Although we experienced each day on our trip together I really hope you enjoy some of my thoughts during our journey.

5-13-08

Well we are off, we have actually been traveling now for almost 10 hours but once we get off this plane we will be out of the US and at our destination of Athens Greece. The trip is going great so far, no travel delays, my anticipation grows as I watch the monitor that shows the distance we cover, inch by inch, it’s like watching the clock on a Friday afternoon, you know it makes time go by minute for minute but you just cannot help it. We have 26 people on our trip; I would have liked it if the group were smaller so that we don’t create a crowd everywhere we go, but oh well. I have not really been introduced to anyone yet but I am looking forward to meeting some interesting people on this trip. Breakfast is being served now on our plane and we should be there shortly, I can’t wait.

5-14-08

We have now arrived and settled in to our hotel, sitting on the rooftop patio writing this I cannot imagine a better classroom. The view is incredible, not only on the roof of the hotel but anywhere that overlooks the buildings of the city has a terrific view. I have already ventured out to explore, and I am very surprised at what I saw. I had a postcard image of Athens in my head and I now realize that Athens is a city like any other, so it naturally has dirty streets, stray animals and graffiti everywhere. Another surprising feature is the amount of ancient ruins that go unnoticed. A person could be walking and come across an unmarked ancient structure and not have a clue what it is. I came across an Ancient Roman cistern that was unmarked and fenced off and only after several minutes of looking for a label did I finally spot a small inscription labeling it. I cannot wait to see more of this diverse and intriguing city.

5-15-08

Today has been a very exciting day; I have experienced the highs and lows of what this country has to offer. The day started out great, we drove around the city for a while sightseeing until we stopped at the Temple of Zeus, this is the first temple that we have come to, and it is unbelievable how massive that it was. Although there are only a handful of pillars still standing out of the original 160, I was still able to picture how grand of a scale the temple had been. While waiting for the bus to take us to the Acropolis the group stood beside a very busy street with cars speeding by. I am very surprised no one got hurt, this is a very different scene then back home. When we arrived at the Acropolis I was sad to see that there were so many other tour groups there, I hate large crowds, it really takes away from the experience for me. Our tour guide, Dionysia, took us first to the Areopagus, to avoid a lot of the crowds. This is a small hill compared to the Acropolis, but it still had a great view overlooking the Ancient Agora. After that we finally make our way to the top of the Acropolis, this was one of my most anticipated moments of the trip. Seeing the Parthenon was amazing, the view from atop the acropolis could see the whole city, no wonder the most sacred monuments were placed up here. As great as all of this was I was distracted by something up there, The Greeks were in the process of rebuilding/ renovating everything up there, so all of the staging and construction equipment made the atmosphere a little less inviting. Also, I am not really a proponent to the reconstruction of ancient sites, I believe that they should be protected and preserved but kept in the condition they were found, in order to respect the people who built them. Passing through the massive Ancient Agora after Acropolis I am surprised again at the scale of everything that was built so long ago. We make our way to the Temple of Hephaitos, one of the best preserved temples in Greece. I really enjoyed this, because it was in great condition considering how long it has been standing. As if the day was not already interesting enough, this is when it got really interesting; the group decided to split up, one small group when to the hotel, another went with Professor Passman to get some lunch, and the last group went with Professor Bregman and Professor Ogle the Trinity Institute in Athens. I chose the later which required a trip by the metro to the destination, I always love to see what a city’s public transportation is like. Arriving at the metro station was like any other place I have ever been. I felt very comfortable and safe boarding the train; I covered my pockets and walked cautiously. I was close to the back of the group, and when I was just about to get on, a fury of people came rushing on the train from behind, and when the rush stopped and the doors closed, I realized that my wallet had been plucked from my front pocket without my knowledge. Looking out the window I saw three well dress men fleeing the scene. I lost almost everything I had, with the exception of my passport. This is by far the lowest travel moment of my life, but also the most exhilarating. To make matters worse, Professor Bregman was also pick pocketed at the same time. My day was very interesting and for the record books, I have no money right now, but I know I will be ok, all of my new friends as well as the professors have offered me all the support I need until I can get money from back home, everything will be alright.

5-16-08

All in all today was a better day, although we did have to wake up early and then ride on a bus for three hours. Our destination was Delphi, which just might be the highlight of my trip. Along with the ancient and sacred significance of the site, the setting was hard to ignore, set high in the mountains, the view from all directions was spectacular. This site was very special to me. It is no wonder why Athenians would travel the 99 miles in three days just to get here. A student came up to me today and mentioned just how ambitious the Ancient people who built this must have been, building way up on a mountain like this, it requires a lot of devotion to the gods. The day could not have been anymore perfect, although there has been another crime committed. A girl had her credit card stolen today, which leads me to make the assumption that there is a petty crime problem in Greece, or maybe we are just easy targets.

5-17-08

Today was a beautiful day, although I slept a lot of it away, finally curing my jetlag. The rest of the day was spent shopping and exploring the wooded area that lay just beyond my window. Several of the students traveled to the top of a hill where we found the Monument of Philapappos, and I would say the best view of Athens yet, easily outdoing the view from the Acropolis. We also noticed that this wooded area was massive, like a large park in the center of Athens. We stopped and listened to the flutes of a Greek dance theater that was practicing their routine, and made our way to the prison where Socrates was kept. Along the way we came across a modern Greek wedding, it was beautiful. Today was extremely rewarding through our aimless wanderings.

5-18-08

Today was another event filled day, with three stops on the menu. The first stop was Eleusis, which was very surprising to me, at first glance it appears to be a very small site, but it is actually very deceiving. I really enjoyed this because the majority of this stop was a lecture, where we sat on the monuments and listened to the professors. It gave me the feeling that I was experiencing the same thing the people who built this did in Ancient times. On our way to Corinth we stopped for lunch along the Corinth canal, an engineering marvel, and one the most impressive modern things I have seen in Greece. Next was our stop in Corinth, which was a large ruin in the midst of a massive mountain top Acropolis, which I wanted nothing more to do then to climb to the top of, I really wish we had the time, I know it would have been worth the effort. Corinth was very fascinating, and I believe everyone was impressed to find that the majority of the excavation was credited to a Maine man. The last stop was to Epidaurus, a large sprawling site with great views. It reminded me a little of Delphi, but just not so high up. This is where the highlight of my day came, when we arrive at the theatre in Epidaurus. I just had to run to the top, just for the experience. As I sat there taking in the views and catching my breath, I received a gift that allowed me to fully enjoy and experience what the Ancient Greek Theatre was like. Professor Ogle began singing, it was beautiful, words could not even describe how much that made my day, and I heard many other students say the same. I would like to take the time here to thank her for that wonderful experience. Thank you.

5-19-08

Right now I am sitting in my cabin sailing to Crete; I am so excited this day just flew by in my anticipation. This morning was spent finally receiving money from back home via Western Union and then buying all the souvenirs I had already picked out but could not afford. After we checked out we went to the Athens Archaeological Museum, which was amazing. I surprised myself at just how many things I recognized, many of the frescos from Santorini, the Mask of Agamemnon, the Lyre player, the statue of Aphrodite, and many of the friezes. I also enjoyed their display of Minoan writing, which I did my paper over and have a lot of interest in. After the museum we traveled straight to the port of Piraeus and boarded our massive ferry to depart for Crete, our voyage will take 8 or 9 hours but I can’t help but wonder just how long it took the Ancient Greeks to make the same voyage.

5-20-08

There is such a difference between mainland Greece and Crete. I really do not feel like I am in the same country or geographical location. Today was a very relaxed day where I unwound myself from the speed and hassle of the city of Athens. After a short nap in my room and then a longer nap on the beach, I went for a swim, did some shopping and saw some local traditional dancing during dinner. I really liked how mellow today was, it allowed me to get perspective on what I need to accomplish from the rest of the trip.

5-21-08

Today has been great, it seems like each day of this trip has been a highlight for me. It is only two o’clock in the afternoon, and already I have seen one of my most anticipated archeological sites, Knossos, as well as the Heraklion Museum, that contained many recognizable items. Knossos was amazing; after I got over the fact that most everything standing was a reconstruction, which I do not agree with, I was astonished at just how large of a site that Knossos was, it really seemed to go on forever. I can see how they know that this is the site of the story of the labyrinth and the Minotaur. I know that the double bladed ax is a common symbol in Minoan culture, but I was very surprised to see all the original cravings out in plain sight unprotected. At the Heraklion Museum I impressed myself with how many objects I recognized, I am more familiar with Minoan culture then Ancient Greek. The highlight of this trip was to actually get to see some Minoan script in Crete, so seeing Linear A and Linear B was amazing, but to actually see the Phaistos disk was unbelievable. I have heard about this a long time ago and for some reason it fascinates me, it was an honor to see it in person.

5-22-08

We are currently driving back to the hotel from our event filled day that was full of surprises for me. Our first stop was at the ancient city of Gortyn, which was very beautiful, it was in a very nice setting surrounded by two thousand year old olive trees. At the start of our tour our tour guide, George, took us across the street into an olive tree grove. There the ground was riddled with pottery shards. This olive grove sat on a two thousand year old Roman ruin that George informed us that everyone knew about but no one cared. I could not believe what I was hearing, so much history and culture laid beneath our feet but no one would take the time to dig it up. In the actual site of Gortyn was a beautiful church that was still partially standing and then the highlight of Gortyn was a wall that contain the first law code of Europe predating the Roman occupation of Crete by 500 years. This was so impressive to see that the social structure was so advanced back then that they had rules for marriage and ownership and crime and everything you could imagine. I was very impressed by this. Lastly we came to a tree that always had leaves even though it was an evergreen, this was the site of Zeus and Demeter encounter where Zeus was in the form of a white bull. From there we headed to the site of the Palace of Phaistos, where the Phaistos Disk was located. This place was beautiful, set on the side of a large hill overlooking the country side. Walking up to it I kept thinking that this was like a mini Macchu Picchu, although much older and smaller. The place was amazing and from the site you could see the highest mountain on Crete that contained a cave where a lot of pottery was found. From Gortyn we traveled to Matala for lunch, swimming and exploring Ancient Roman burial tombs in caves high on cliffs overlooking the sea. This was very surprising, I never expected to see such a beautiful beach in Crete. I just got back from Hawaii three weeks ago and I was stunned by the beauty of this beach. Along with the beauty of the beach the caves and tombs were amazing. None of them were preserved as the result of a 1960s hippy encampment, but were impressive to say in the least.

5-23-08

I am on a cruise ship now sailing back from easily the highlight of my trip; we have just visited one of the most picturesque places of my life, the island of Santorini. It was so beautiful and worth all the time it took to get there. There are a lot of people that are disappointed with the trip with the planning, but I would pay that same price to go back any day. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see any of the archeological sites, but I was happy with what I did see and experience. I ate in a nice local place overlooking the caldera, I tasted a lot of local wine, I visited a large church along with its worshippers, and then I rode a donkey down a massive cliff to return to the boat, which was probably the highlight of the day. I did not want to leave this place, it was incredibly beautiful, and despite the tourists it was very relaxed in an old world where modern worries seemed inexistent.

5-24-08

Today is the last day here and I am really glad we get a chance to reflect. I spent a lot of the day by myself walking on the beach and thinking about this entire trip. This has been a great journey with a lot of ups and downs. I feel I have gained a lot from this trip, not only knowledge about the classical world, but a lot about myself as well. With it being the last day here it is so bittersweet, on one hand I am extremely homesick and cannot wait to return, but on the other I am in paradise and I don’t ever want to leave.

5-25-08

We are on the bus now driving from Portland to Orono, it has been a long day, I am not quite sure how long we have been traveling, but I believe it’s close to 26 hours. This trip was amazing, and I would really like to thank all of the Professors for such a great time and for their support for me during the trip, you all made this a wonderful learning opportunity for me. I think I have gained a new interest, the classics have grown on me because of this trip, and I cannot wait to learn more about them. I have always been acquainted with Greek mythology, but now since I have actually been to the places, I think I can have a better respect for the material. This trip also reinforced my love for archeology which I think that I will pursue for a degree. I am still interested in cultural Anthropology which I also got a big taste of here, so this trip has definitely reinforced my interest but also made it harder for me to narrow down a plan for a career.

At this time I would like to just write in some of the stuff I left out of my entries. I would like to start by listing some of the food that I tried in Greece that I had never before had, I think this was one of the best cultural experiences. Between mainland Greece and Crete I tried at least five meats and fish I have never tried before: swordfish, octopus, goat, ox meat, and rooster. Also I found that an American place that I went to “taste” Greek cuisine before I left, is a horrible substitute for the real thing in Greece. Thank you all once again for the time of my life and I really hope you enjoy some of my thoughts.

Felicia's thoughts

2008-06-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Felicia King

Greece Travel Journal

5/30/2008

4/2

I’ve never really been good at these things- journals or diaries. It’s just never been my thing I guess you could say, but I’ll give it a shot. In class we had a discussion on the book we’ve been reading. One of the aspects that Goldhill discussed in the very beginning was the importance of understanding our pasts so that we can know ourselves today. I feel that it has less to do with knowing the past so that we do not make the same mistakes and more to do with understanding the foundations of civilization. What I mean by this is that when one discovers the past one can understand the evolution of society and how or why society is the way it is today. I feel that learning your past can get you in touch yourself and change your view of the world around you.

For our particular society in the West rediscovering the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome can truly open your eyes to our world today. Looking around one can see the connection between the past and today. One of the examples that come to mind is architecture and even our founding fathers and the formation of our government. In grade school I was never taught that these great men were influenced by the ancients or that George Washington was a lover of classical architecture. It kind of reminds me of the book Lies My Teacher Told Me or something on those lines. However it’s not like I was lied to as much as people left out some quite interesting details. In any case I feel strongly about the learning of our past not only of US history but where our ancestors came from.

I agree with Goldhill that Classical studies should be brought back. To be honest on more than one occasion when people have asked me what my major was and upon my telling them that it was Classical studies, they think that I’m studying classical music. Although I find it frustrating, I explain to them that it is not classical music but the study of the classical world of Greece and Italy as well as other civilizations of the time. Now I just say that I’m studying ancient history. But Classical studies are so much more than history. It is about literature, language, art, philosophy, and history. So when I say ancient history I know that I am not doing my major justice.

4/18

Reading the section on democracy really made me realize the huge differences in our “democracy” and that of ancient Athens. I especially was interested in the part about the citizen not being active in politics was known as an idiot. Well I suppose that makes most of the US a bunch of idiots. It truly makes me wonder what our country would be like if more people got involved. Would Bush be our president still? Would we still be in the Middle East? Would there be No Child Left Behind? Would music programs at schools still be funded? If any thing I feel that we have done this to ourselves. Especially in education, where many young people can find outlets and inspiration in the performing arts or music and these programs are being closed down. What would the United States be like if we had people who were active and cared about what was going on? What would the United States be like if the government actually encouraged its people to be a part? Now that I’ve made myself pissed off about the United States government yet again I’m just gonna stop writing or I’ll really start thinking about moving to Europe for real this time.

5/13

So here we are on our way to Greece….well almost on our way since I’m writing this at the JFK airport. One of the reasons why I wanted to come to Greece was so that I can make the history that I have read about and been lectured about real. It just seems that history is something that I’ve always been interested in but it never truly feels real. It’s like a whole other universe that I acknowledge but don’t ever really believe in. Like life on Mars it may have been there but since we can’t truly be there to see then it is a kind of believing without seeing. So learning the history of other countries without ever seeing them face to face, would it be considered blind history? All you ever do is read and believe what the authors have to say without ever having gone to that area to see for yourself whether or not the Parthenon is majestic or if there really is a wine dark sea. So yea it is blind history. I am a blind student of history. I just read but can never manage to get there to make myself a seeing student of history. I suppose this is my chance. Thank goodness I brought 3 weeks worth of contact lenses and an extra pair of glasses. I’m ready to see and soak it in. Besides who wants to be a blind historian their entire life? Not me!

5/14

So you think to yourself this is going to be magical, extraordinary, and better yet majestic. Well what happens when you feel slightly disappointed? I ask myself, “Have I set myself up for some kind of magically pieced together acropolis where no bits have been blown to smithereens…….Well yes, yes I did.” Now please realize at this point we have not actually gone to the acropolis, and I can only speculate as to the massive building that lays before my eyes as I sit on the rooftop of our hotel here in Athens. But I have to admit I’m not that impressed. Reading this you may be shocked or dismayed at my blasé attitude and that is ok. But my imagination has lead me across time on a fantastic voyage of ancient Greek buildings that seem to sparkle in the sunlight and remain white as snow, despite my knowing that there were painted but if I do say so myself they look way cooler as plain janes because it allows you to paint them with your mind’s eye but yet again this is my opinion. But anyway I set myself for a Disney version of the true acropolis. How did this happen? Overactive imagination I’m sure. Wanting the perfect romantic ideal of the real world? Even closer to the truth. Oh, if only our world could be full of genuine compliments and people who would tell you if you had something in your teeth instead of letting you go around with spinach just hanging out in your mouth. Bringing myself back to the harsh reality where people let you walk around with that speck of pepper on your left upper canine, I feel as though I must have missed something. Aren’t I supposed to feel excited, completely taken aback by a giant building scattered with metal scaffolding and massive numbers of rude tourists ruining the scenery with their existence…here I would like to point out that yes I am a tourist but one has to admit that they detract from the surrounding beauty of everyplace they go…

So why do I feel this way? I think that the reason I have discovered a lack of enthusiasm for the real situation of the Acropolis and the grossly crowded streets is that fact that my idealistic and romanticized version has been completely blown to bits- kind of like the Parthenon. So I shouldn’t really blame the tourists that are staring up at the Parthenon in wonderment as I sit here on the rooftop greeting reality with a scowl on my face. But just because my fake reality has been destroyed does mean that I am not just a tiny bit curious as to what it would be like standing before the great Parthenon looming ahead.

Tonight my dreams will turn into realistic nightmares of bringing history to the real world- to life in the here and now. Who knew that I would be so disappointed with the present? Well certainly not me. I thought that finally linking the history that I have come to love so much would be a smooth transition and it would make it all that more real. But I think that there is something to say about a reaction such as mine. It may be unique among the people in the group who are discussing how awesome it looks from our view, which I can’t deny but I definitely lack the enthusiasm in my agreement with them. And so to make myself feel better I would like to blame all those who took part in the ruining of the ancient ruins all over the world, those who took the time to break statues, steal marble to make something else that was not as cool in any way, and for those who thought it was a good idea to store explosives in ancient temples….yea about that! I would like to thank you all during these past hundreds of years who have now ruined my opinion of this great architectural structure with multiple acts of stupidity. Does anyone else feel the same? Because I would like to pop a few of these dumb asses for ruining the idealistic views of history in future generations, such as myself. However, I suppose I could let go of these views a little better but reality just isn’t my style in the historical sense. I think that this session of therapy has better acquainted myself with the poo which is reality and that reality is a sitting in front of my face- more than likely rude tourists who will probably touch the marble and ruining the scarred piece of historical architecture called the Parthenon. Bastards.

5/15

So the day began with the Temple of Olympic Zeus…someone remind me to find a priest when I get back home and have him personally explain to me the reason for Christians ruining everything awesome by building churches on top of them. Although this is not the case for this temple, I already know that my loathing of stupid ancient people will make me rant on for hours. Despite the temples lack of over 50 of its original columns I’m willing to let go and let karma. No one ever really gets the sheer size of these structures until they actually get there. In your mind’s eye you think of “how cute it’s the size of my house”, not “whoa, this is bigger than a football field”- which just so happened to be my reaction. However, despite my being awe struck by the size of this beast, was my longing to see it as it had been. How amazing would it have been to walk up to this massive structure back in its heyday? That would have been a sight to see.

Backtracking our way to the Acropolis and reflecting on my thoughts from the night before I talk myself into letting the Acropolis have one more chance to redeem itself in my mind forever. Did I think that it was beautiful? Not so much. Did it make me long for the ancient days just for a moment in time? Yes it did. Again with the massiveness! Even looking at the pictures that I took on my camera today does not give it justice. People look like ants in comparison to the Parthenon. How did these ancient peoples do this? How did the Egyptians, or should I say slaves, create the pyramids? How did the ancient people over there on the island of England create Stonehenge? Because if someone has a definitive answer I will be beyond ecstatic. These are the things that really get my attention. These are the things that make me impressed. It is hard enough even in our own societies to build such impressive buildings, how the hell did they do it? Even if no one ever finds out, it’s ok I’m still impressed.

So it got me. The Parthenon, that is. It got with the awesomeness of its size and presence. Awesome, definitely.

5/17

I waited a day to absorb, as well as catch my breath from the hike, from that which is Delphi. One has to really think back on the plethora of stories that link back to this very place. I remember reading about the importance of the Delphic oracle and wishing that I could be a priestess of Apollo. Which in itself may sound completely corny to other individuals, but to me would be the coolest thing ever. I’m more than sure that if I had an opportunity to go back in time I would be a priestess of some really awe inspiring god- plus for the most part they had it pretty good for women of the time. What was even better about the place was the stone that Dionysia showed us with the three holes for a possible tripod and a hole for the gases or whatever came out of it. At the moment it didn’t even have to be true, ‘cause I was sold before she even got past the tripod business. Even though deep down inside I knew I should be a good scholar and remain somewhat skeptical, I’m more than sure I just didn’t care because I was in love with the idea.

Let’s move on to the absolutely ridiculous view from Delphi. I mean if I was that struck by the amazing view when I turned around to face the mountains I can only imagine what it was like for the people thousands and hundreds of years ago. The mountains, the structures truly make it a surreal place because you can not take it all in at once. I had to keep turning around because it felt like a picture from a movie that I saw once. It just didn’t seem real, even though I was there. Right there! Still I could not believe my eyes. This is the kind of place one needs to go to because it makes you realize that these things are not just in movies or books they exist and you can be a part of it. You and the real world side by side with no idealist views or grand expectations because history mixed with nature is always an impressive sight.

Now this part has really nothing to do with ruins. James and I were discussing what we should say in our journals at one point in the beginning days of the trip. A thought came to mind about how I perceive the people of this ancient city. Take Socrates for instance. This man was indeed a Greek. But when I visualize him in my mind I do not see him with dark brown or black hair, olive skin, and brown eyes. On the contrary I see him with white hair, blue eyes, and fair skinned. This brought me back to the Japanese art history class that I took this semester. My professor said that the Japanese took Chinese art and “Japanized” it- it is the process of “Japanization”. Then it clicked. I was “Causasian-izing” these ancient people. Now I realize he would have already been considered Caucasian so maybe a better word would be “Anglo-cizing”. It’s taking a dark eyed, dark skinned, and dark haired Jesus and making him the fair skinned, blue-eyed man that white people go crazy over. I’m not really sure why I do this to people of regions I know not to have such characteristics. Maybe it is because it’s just easier to imagine people that you have no idea as to how the truly appear in a manner that is easily relatable. This reminds of what someone wrote whom I cannot remember the name at the moment, but he said that if horses had gods then the gods would be in the image of a horse or something along those lines. This was referring to the images of gods being that of humans. In any case I just thought it was an interesting point of view- to imagine all of these dead ancients as fair-skinned and blue eyed even if they weren’t. To be frank I see Socrates as a white haired man, fair-skinned, blue eyes, wearing a robe that covers one shoulder and he uses a long staff like cane. Maybe the images of Charles Heston have messed any future visualization of ancient philosophers, historians, and politicians. I suppose it could be worse for them, Charles Heston was a good Moses.

5/18

After learning of the mystery religions in the Greek and Roman Mythology course that I took with Dr. Bregman, I always wanted to see Eleusis. Every time I think of Eleusis I see a procession of people on their way to be initiated into the mysteries of Demeter and Persephone. When we got there it was easy to visualize this. Sitting in the hall of initiation and looking into the Plutonion, was a very surreal feeling. What makes the whole experience that much more unreal is the fact that the Mysteries are mysteries themselves. No one knows what truly went down here at these ruins. There isn’t much else I can really say about this site. This was one of the places I was really looking forward to and although none of the buildings and temples were standing I could easily see them with my imagination as well as the people that came there.

The theatre at Epidaurus was amazing not to mention huge! The thing that made it that much more special was Nancy’s singing. She has a truly wonderful voice. While she was singing I thought to myself, “Finally! We get to see her specialty!” We had heard from Tina and Jay already and it was awesome to see her bring something to the table as well! The acoustics of the theatre were incredible. When I stood on the center stone and spoke it was out of control! It was seriously like Dolby surround sound. All I have to say is very, very cool!

Corinth was another incredible site. To be honest I never gave Corinth too much thought before. I never thought about what the city may have looked like. It was much bigger than I thought it would be. I thought it was interesting to see where shops would have been and, which was funny, the Roman toilets! It was interesting to hear that they would just go in and chat it up while doing their business. If anything I have to give these people props for being that comfortable. Nowadays people barely go in to the bathroom without hoping that no one is in there with them. This information was important despite its content because it let us in to how they felt about these kinds of situations and what they thought about natural human functions.

5/19-5/20

This is where I admit that I hate ferries with a passion. Also I spent most of the day at the Thalia Hotel sleeping off the sea sickness that I have only had one other time in my life- when I was 7.

5/21

Snake goddess! Ow! See what you may not know is that this is the theme song that I created for the snake goddess quite a while ago when I took an art history class in the fall. So when we came to Knossos I knew that I could definitely apply it to this situation. Once we got up to the ruins it was very, very easy to see why people thought that this was a labyrinth. The whole place is like a giant maze with all these rooms scattered all over the place with no real architectural plan.

One of the random thoughts that came to my mind was whether or not Theseus, Ariadne, Jason, and Medea were real people twisted by time and a lot of story telling. They say myths and legends stem from real people, places, and events. I for one would like to know who the real people were that allowed for these awesome stories of the Minotaur and golden fleeces to reach our ears in contemporary society. They must have been amazing people or at least did one amazing thing to have started such a story. But what of the women? I mean it’s not like they could actually do the same things as men or so we are told. One of the greatest myths of a female that we know is that of Helen being taken to Troy and the thousand ships that were sent to get her and all because she was so beautiful, not to mention someone’s wife. In the end, I know that we will never truly know and will only be able to speculate.

Yes! I saw the Snake Goddess with my own eyes! Fantastic!!! Of course this is referring to our visit to the Heraklion Museum. (PS Did I ever mention that I was very disappointed that we could not go to the Acropolis Museum ‘cause I was!) Even though there were not that many exhibits the ones out were fantastic. It was great to finally get to see some of the images that I was given to me in my art history be there right in front of me. One of the things that I had not seen before was the board game. I mean one never really things of these people from 2000 years ago having a games like that. The only form of entertainment that I thought they had involved religious festivals. If any thing this just makes them seem more like real people and not just really old and very old peoples.

5/22

In my opinion I would say that Phaiestos is very similar to Knossos but maybe a little smaller. Nevertheless it was still a site that one should definitely see. Plus the view of Mount Ida was gorgeous! I always read about Mount Ida but I never thought that it would be that big! The site itself was very cool. Now I’m still slightly skeptical over this, but the so called olive press room, or whatever it was, was an interesting section. I really liked the King and Queen’s room. Even though there wasn’t that much to them I could visualize people living in them. Phaiestos palace has a lot of storage rooms, or what looked like storage rooms. It was a fascinating place and made me wonder even more what these places would have looked like in their heyday.

Gortyn was small, but pretty interesting. The most interesting part of it for me was the wall of laws. Despite the fact that I could not read any of it, which is fine, I was just really overwhelmed by such a massive wall and the laws written on them. So to make it easier on myself I bough a translation of the law codes, which I will be making a part of my summer reading.

Matala! By the way did anyone know that the hippies through the sarcophagi and bodies/bones into the ocean? No, well neither did I until I asked our guide George on the way back to Heraklion. What the hell, hippies? I thought you people would respect people’s burial sites! As we can see I was wrong. Nevertheless the tombs were pretty neat although I felt as though I was disrespecting the people that were once laid to rest here. So I made the visit to the caves extremely short, just long enough to say that I went there. As for the beach- so nice! Not minding the fact that I was almost taken out by the large waves coming our way, like many other victims around me, I had a blast. Then I realized on the ride back that I was swimming in an area where people’s bones where chillin’ somewhere on the bottom of the ocean…..slightly creepy.

Also I can’t recall when I had heard a story of Zeus dying. But it doesn’t really matter because the mountain definitely looked like the profile of someone’s face and that always catches my interest. Now that I have caught wind of such a myth I will be searching for it!

5/24

You don’t know people until you travel with them. I have heard that many a time but after some time here in Greece with 23 students I think it’s safe to say that you know their true character. This is my conclusion that I have come to while sitting on the beach. Many of the people I know I will want to stay friends with and others, well I could live without. It makes me wonder about the ancient notion of the guest-friend. What if the host really did not like the person that came to stay? I’m guessing that they took them in anyway so that they would not offend any gods. But still it must have been frustrating at times.

So after people came back from the Santorini trip, I heard a story that the island is known for their vampires. By the way, very cool. I’m not sure what the fascination is with vampires in my own world, maybe it was my reading Dracula that started it all. Oh! Another interesting story that has been passed on to us by our tour guide a couple of days ago was that Crete was known for its piracy. Cretan version of the Pirates of the Caribbean anyone? Who ever knew that Crete would have an action packed history? I didn’t.

You know I never thought to ask anyone around here or in Athens how they feel about having such a rich history around them. Personally I feel pretty disinterested in US history. When I look at our young country and then look to the histories of say China or Greece for example there just doesn’t seem to be much comparison. I am more interested in where we all came from here in the United States. The only true natives of this country are the Native Americans. The rest are, well, mutts. Take me for example. Not only am I Irish, but somewhere along the way I got a dash of French and pinch of Cherokee. For most people having a mix a nationalities and ethnicities is a norm. True Americans are a people of diverse backgrounds. However I want to know the history of these diverse backgrounds. I want to know about the Chinese and the rice noodle, the Egyptians and their pyramids, or the Sumerians and their writings. It all goes back to the idea that to know the past is to inevitably get to know yourself. Also, it gives a sense that you belong to something much older and greater than you. That is where I want to belong. There is so much out there to discover and learn that I feel that it would be a shame for people to miss out on any of it. The point of this world is to get what you can out of life, but at the same time to realize that past is as important as the present or future. History can take you to places in time that you may have never thought of before. Remembering the first time I read the myth of Psyche and Eros way back when I was in my single digits I was completely taken in. Now, I do realize that not everyone is interested in history, and that is perfectly fine. However, I think that it is about the way in which you are presented to history that will affect the way you perceive for the rest of you life. When people think history they think of how boring it can be. Well sure even I can agree that history can be absolutely dry and blah. On the other hand, I have had teachers and professors who have approached with history with enthusiasm and brought with them a sense of mystery and excitement that sucks you in. Those are the people that make history something worth exploring. Everyone has their specific place in time or topic that they absolutely love and obsess over. For me I have many areas in time that I love and want to learn more of. And when I discuss anything to do with history with my friends I make it exciting. Why? Because that’s they way it should be. It should be the Indiana Jones whip and fedora, Brandon Frasier taking down mummies, Gerard Butler as King Leonidas kind of action packed story of our civilizations. But in all honesty we know that there are things that are not so action packed and completely disheartening. However if we make the effort to learn about all the good, the bad, and the ugly can we become better as a result of it? I like to think so.

Coming to Greece was a major experience in my life. If only for 2 weeks, I got to see a whole new culture and the birth place of democracy. I got to eat a massive amount of feta cheese and baklava. For 2 weeks I got to stumble upon random ruins in the city of Athens, I was able to follow the steps of thousands of people who traveled to Delphi, and I had the chance to lay my eyes upon the original home of the Snake Goddess on Crete. I realized I see the Parthenon as not beautiful but as a breathtaking piece of architectural history. I recognized that I like to make all the ancient people look like me. Finally got my taste of Greek macho-ism and was not impressed at all. I had my fair share of Greek driving and was glad that Maine was not as bad. Discovering the multiple uses of olives and their oil, I was happy that at least one country was progressing somewhat with going green. I was able to become a seeing and knowing student of history. So how can I describe these feelings and experiences that I was able to have while in Greece? Well…I can’t. Finally being able to get the place that I have studied for over 4 years know was simply indescribable. Which seems disappointing to some extent, but how many times can you say fantastic or amazing without feeling that you simply aren’t getting across the awesomeness that you experienced. So all I can truly say is that it was more than memorable and that now I can really connect myself to the ancients. But yet again it is simply indescribable. Indescribable.

Last Words:

Now if I recall correctly we were supposed to do a final evaluation at the end of our journal. I felt that giving us time to explore and sleep off the jetlag was great. The amount of activities that were scheduled was balanced because I think that if we did anymore tours I would still be recuperating by sleeping through this entire week. Of course there was still so much more that we could have seen, but we saw the major things on the mainland and I thought that was a good choice. For being in an area for a short period of time seeing the most famous is usual the best technique. On Crete I had kind of hoped to see more of the island that we did not get to see. I feel that all three of our professors to accompany us were wonderful. Everyone had something interesting to show us, and as a lover of learning I appreciated it. For me this trip was less about a relaxing holiday as the Greeks kept referring to it as, and more about connecting to the world that I had read so much about. Thank you all for your patience during the more frustrating parts of the trip as well as the good parts and again thank you for the opportunity.

And like I mentioned before I’ve never really been good at the whole journal thing so I hope that I at least came somewhat close to what you were expecting from our journals. Thanks again!

James Brophy's travel journal

2008-06-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

James Brophy

May 29, 2008

Travels in the Ancient Mediterranean

Journal

I have written a historically-minded travelogue of our trip to the lands of the ancient Greeks and Minoans, concentrating on matters of the history rather than of the vacation. Photos are the guide markers of my journal. They help me to string together the great amount of information we’ve taken in over the few weeks of this trip into a coherent and organized travelogue. The photos are all my own, and are numbered for reference. I will send these photos separately and refer to their numbers within my journal: (1) … (5), etc. (This is a link to the photos James has uploaded to Picasa)

(Travel)

Day Three: The Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, and Ancient Agora

Day Four: Tour of Delphi

Day Six: Tours of Elusis, Corinth and Epidaurus

Day Seven: Archaeological Museum of Athens

Travel to Crete

Day Nine: Tour of Knossos and the Art and Culture of the Minoans at the Heraklion Museum.

Day Ten: Tours of Gortyna, Phaiestos, and Matala

Day Eleven: Tour of Santorini

(Travel)

(1) The Acropolis in all its mighty. The image of its Parthenon has for so long been used as an icon of Greece and of the Ancient World that its easy to forget that it was once actually constructed in the same sense a supermarket or an apartment building is constructed. Workers walked to the top of the acropolis every day for years while the people of the city watched the imposing figure of Athena’s temple rise column by column.

It is a massive this, the Parthenon; rather than being minimized by comparison to the huge acropolis it sits on, it instead makes the acropolis seem small by its unimaginable scale—and we can’t forget the meager level of technology available in the fifth century BC, (or as the Greeks write, PC). Interestingly, the Parthenon really is in equal parts a building and a monument. It has variously over the years been used as a temple to Athena, a treasury of the Delian League, a Church dedicated appropriately to the Virgin Mother, a Mosque (a minaret was even built, now gone), and of course as a munitions store for the Ottomans. It was indeed a building; a large building in fact that could house many people. But the prime function of the incredible Parthenon comes simply from its presence: it exists to be looked upon.

When it was built during the Golden Age of Greece, in the mid 5^th century BC, the Athenians had just a few decades before suffered a major defeat to the great Persian army (480 BC). Following an Athenian victory over the Persians at Eurymedon in 468, the famous sculptor Phidias and the architect Ictinus began work on the temple of the virgin Athena we can still see today. The Parthenon is a symbol of Athenian greatness; its glorious stature and impossible perfection reflect a height of civilization in some ways unparalleled—a reminder from Pericles himself of Athenian superiority that slaps us in the face even today, twenty-five centuries later.

Snuggled to the side of the Acropolis is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. We can see a great lesson of history in this picture (1). The Odeon, though appearing so appropriately antique one might suppose a fifth-century BC Athenian should have left the temple of Athena having given an offering only to walk a short distance through the gates of the city strong hold, down a flight of stairs, and take a seat in row seven to enjoy a tune. Very probably, right around 1260 AD, some middle ages Athenian probably supposed the same thing. Chronology can be very unintuitive. Ruins, it can seem, are ruins.

(2) Here we see within the walls of the Herodeon and it becomes more clear this and the Parthenon are of a different breed of ancient. This music hall was built by Herodes Atticus for his wife after she died as sort of a memorial. This was in 161 AD, seven centuries after the Parthenon’s construction, well into the Roman period of Greece’s history.

It’s difficult to gain perspective on history. The present can be viewed very easily in all its dimensions, but history is rather more like a composition of howevermany thousands of years into a single image. I am reminded of the monks who lived a thousand years ago in Britain who grew up in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall which had been constructed a thousand years before. One such monk explained in a history that he was writing, that chariots had once raced across the top between the battlements—a pretty ridiculous idea indeed.

I’m thinking also of the “Cyclopean Walls” of the Mycenaeans. In between the civilizations of Greeks such as Agamemnon who waged the Trojan War (perhaps 13^th century BC), and Greeks such as Leonidas who had a courageous and doomed last stand (480 BC), there was a Dark Age which lasted three centuries or so. After only a three hundred year lull in civilization, Classical Age Greeks called the ruins of Agamemnon’s Mycenae Cyclopean, supposing them to have been built by mythical giants.

I say again, it’s difficult to gain perspective on history. To the American tourist there is probably no difference between the Cyclopean Walls of Mycenae (they are still there and, I can attest, quite remarkable) and, for example, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Ruins are Ruins.

(3) Here we see the Ancient Agora of Athens from atop the Rock of St. Paul, otherwise known as the Areopagus. The rock itself is quite worthy of mention. For one thing, it is remarkably slippery and remarkably high up—a questionable combination for a popular tourist site. The rock is, evidently, the site where St. Paul spoke unto the Athenians (you can read about it in that book that those well dressed older gentlemen hand out on campus every year). The rock was not always St. Paul’s, though, as its other name suggests it was once sacred to Aries—once more we see multilayers of history.

The Agora is very impressive itself, as is the view of the city of modern Athens which seems to extend back miles. At one end of the Ancient city center we have the reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalos, built 138 BC, and on the other we see the Temple of Hephaestus (otherwise: The Theseion). The Temple of Hephaestus is in great shape, and apparently was used a Christian Church until fairly recent times.

We can learn a great deal about how people thought of themselves from the Gods they keep around. As Professor Passman discussed, the Goddess Athena’s importance shows us the reflective, clever, prudent nature the Athenians assumed. Hephaestus’s worship in the city probably reflects their handiness and the emphasis they place on their fine craftsmanship—the Parthenon has held up to its warranty I’d say.

(4) As we see, the Temple of Olympian Zeus not far from the Acropolis (indeed this picture was taken from the Acropolis) didn’t hold up so well. This temple is actually a bit older than the Parthenon, and in its day was undoubtedly more overwhelming. It would have been absolutely massive, just the tiny corner that remains sort of puts Hephaestus’s temple to shame.

The temple was begun in the sixth century BC, a hundred years before the Parthenon, predating Democracy in Athens. Its very scale would have required the hubris and means of a tyrant to achieve, not to mention quite a bit of time. Time is precisely was its builder ran out of—in 510 BC Hippias the Tyrant was expelled from Athens. The Temple went unfinished for pretty obvious reasons I think for more than six centuries. When Zeus’ temple was finally finished by Hadrian in the second century AD, Greece’s democracy had once more been rather undercut, this time by the Roman Empire. Zeus must not like Athens. Over the years the massive Temple degraded however, its marble given up to the construction of other things as favor for the Greek Gods dwindled under Emperors like Theodosius II in the fourth century AD.

We next toured the Ancient Agora Museum, which was small but good. I found it interesting to note how the academically minded will find their way to some out of the way artifact that really excites them. In learning the history of Greece, we all are working our way toward internalizing the same big picture, but the landmarks are different for each one of us. In the Ancient Agora museum the most interesting piece for me was a Herma (5) located among statues in the stoa of the museum. It seems like just another anonymous piece of carved marble, and it is, but when I saw it the narrative of Greek history became more real. I am thinking, of course, of Alcibiades put on trial in absentia for having defaced hermai around the city. This herma itself was probably made centuries after Alcibiades, but it is a herma nevertheless, representative of the idea of all hermai. Seeing things like this help distinguish Alcibiades, and Socrates, and the Sicilian Campaign in the deepest part of my mind from the mythological. Alcibiades became a real person. A similar epiphany occurred at seeing the Ostrica (6) bearing the name of Themistokles. To see the very scraps of pottery used as voting tokens in exiling the great Athenian general is a pretty cool experience.

(7) Next we come to the famous site of Delphi where the god Apollo spoke to the ancients. This picture shows the remnants of what must have been a terrific temple to Apollo which was probably originally built in about the 5^th century BC (A popular time, it would seem, for building large, pillared temples.) Picture (8) was a pleasant thing to see: Latin, a language actually comprehensible to me. This sign which likely was once visible at the entrance to the great temple of the god Apollo at Delphi explains that the Emperor Domitian rebuilt the temple at his own expense sometime in the first century AD.

Imagine the importance this Oracle had for the ancient Greeks. This was, it seems, ground zero for ancient Greek spirituality. They believed this site to be the spot where the world of man and the world of the Gods intersect, the center of the universe, and to stand there with this knowledge in mind produces a mighty feeling. Treasuries and offerings from all the great city-states and islands of ancient Greece can be spotted about the grounds. Getting in good with the priests of Apollo here was absolutely essential spiritually but also politically. Because of its panhellenic religious import, Delphi would have served as a meeting place of representatives of all the various Greek peoples—no wonder Athens dropped a pretty penny for its treasury there.

Delphi is a wondrous place, a truly special place. For whatever reason, magnetism? Nescio, it exudes spiritual potency, as does the next site we visited: Eleusis.

Two years ago in a course on Mythology Prof. Bregman discussed the Eleusian mysteries and their overwhelming spiritual importance in the Hellenistic World, as well as their history which dates centuries before that. Once a year initiates from all over Greece came to the very spot pictured (9) and sat in the very same place we sat that day. They experienced something so transformative, so powerful, that they were never the same thereafter. The experience gained them admittance into an afterlife—an exclusive heavenly club that predates Christianity by who knows how many centuries. This was taken seriously by the Greeks. The Chorus from Aristophanes the Frogs discusses the mysteries:

“All evil thoughts and profane be still: far hence, far hence from our choirs depart / who knows not well what the Mystics tell, or is not holy and pure of heart. / I charge them once, I charge them twice, charge them thrice, that they draw not nigh / To the sacred dance of the Mystic choir.”

Dr. Bregman explained that in addition to being clean of deed, once must also speak Greek (that is, in the ancient understanding, Be a Greek). The Emperor Nero himself didn’t dare share in the rites of the Mysteries having been warned that the impure were unwelcome. We must assume from this that Nero respected (feared?) the power of the mysteries enough to abstain from taking them despite his autocratic power.

“When he was in Greece, he durst not attend the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries, at the initiation of which, impious and wicked persons are warned by the voice of the herald from approaching the rites.”

(Seutonius Nero XXXIV)

(10) In the museum at Eleusis we saw the remarkable relief of Demeter, Persephone, and Triptolemus—central figures to the religion of the Eleusinian mysteries. Thought the details of the rites themselves are unknown, the experience undergone by the initiates must have paralleled the death and rebirth symbolized by Persephone. Triptolemus, the youth whom Persephone and Demeter raised and taught the art of Agriculture, was also, in the Eleusinian mythology, the first man admitted into the secret.

(11) Here we see the Ploutonion, a cave at Eleusis sacred to Pluto. The logic here is pretty straight forward I think: Eleusis was clearly recognized for whatever reason as being a spiritual site in a way similar to Delphi. Here the world of the Gods can interact with the world of man, and so it is sensible that a cave—literally an entrance into the subterranean—at such a holy place would become sacred to Pluto; Death is an important aspect of the mysteries. On the ground above the Ploutonion is a bell tower bearing the Christian cross. The metaphor can’t be missed: Christianity literally built on top of the remnants of Hellenic worship, a shameful secret in the basement sort of thing also comes to mind.

Image (12) takes us to the site of Ancient Corinth, the Temple of Apollo. This temple to Apollo is very reminiscent of the one at Delphi—ruins are ruins. In this case though they really are quite similar—this temple was probably built around the mid 6^th century, and the age of its columns are quite clear on seeing them. They appear almost organic, like stones which drove themselves naturally out of the ground and formed a temple.

Though a great deal of Corinth was destroyed by the Roman General Mummius in 146 BC, this temple, in its immense gravitas and antiquity, was spared. The rest of the site of Ancient Corinth is very Roma-fied however. How might the Romans have felt on razing a city whose people had built such a monument? The Romans didn’t want to destroy Corinth, I have no doubts about this. For decades the Romans had tried to keep order in Greece without fully dominating it—perhaps they gave the Greeks too much credit? At any rate, Rome found it necessary by 146 to make an example of Corinth, capital of the rambunctious Achaean league. From that year on Rome would be the preeminent force of the Mediterranean world, and Greece would be a subsidiary.

Leaving Corinth, we come to a singular and fascinating place: Epidaurus (13). Much like Delphi and Eleusis, this site held a position of spiritual importance in the ancient world. Sacred to the god Asklepius (14), this was a site of healing and wellness for the Greeks. The god smiled upon this place, and his priests aided and healed through divine guidance all travelers who came there. It even had its own theatre (15) for the pilgrims to enjoy—a theatre which remains in excellent condition and is very likely the best preserved amphitheatre in the world. The quality of its acoustics are unmatched, this much is clear the second you stand at its center and speak onto the crowd of imaginary ancient Greeks. Prof. Ogle’s overwhelming aria rang into the hillside and poured out again, a performance worthy of the venue.

The following day we visited the Archaeological museum of Athens. The museum was truly overwhelming in size, to appreciate all of it would have taken much longer than was possible. Image (16) was eye catching: The handsome Antinoos which was actually larger and more impressive than the Hadrian which was paired with it. It is a bust of such quality that it is one of the representative pieces of the museum, available on mousepads and so fourth. This bust was created sometime after 130 AD, and represents the young man in his divinity (he was deified by Hadrian). The bust gazes downwards in a somewhat tragic manner, perhaps reflecting his tragic drowning in the river Nile.

(17) here we see an example of a 4^th century BC Stele. The Stelai of the museum were among the most interesting things there, and this is a particularly good example. In it, we see the deceased represented as a young athlete conversing with his father (a very common motif). The gaze of the dead is averted from his worldly familiar—this psychological touch common to many Stelai is quite interesting. There is another very tragic stelai I recall (but didn’t photograph unfortunately) of a young woman whose family, including young children, look to her lovingly—she looks solemnly to the ground.

(18) This famous statue of the young slave jockey shows the psychological expressiveness of Greek art from the Hellenistic age onward. I was reminded of the paintings of 16^th century Holland which were the focus of an Honors “read” last year—these paintings were not of Gods and Kings as had been the tradition in Europe, they focused upon sickness, death, depravedness, and all the other things that round out the full range of the human experience. Similarly, Greek art takes on a macabre focus during the angst-ridden years of later Antiquity. It would not occur to an earlier Greek artist to represent a slave boy struggling to win a race, a terrified countenance borne.

I will digress a moment to mention something else on my mind: Someone somewhere at sometime mentioned to me the idea of the duality of viewing ancient art: We can appreciate it for what it looked like when it was created, but why not also appreciate the new meaning it takes on in its ruined state? The interpretation changes completely. (19) shows the current state of the bronze horse—with the glass of its eyes lost, the horse takes on a ghastly appearance. It looks as though its taken the jockey up from the depths of Hell, perhaps through the Ploutonion of Eleusis, who knows.

The next image (20) is of the Site of Knossos on the Island of Crete. This ruin was once a Bronze Age Palace, predating the Acropolis by a thousand years and representing a glorious and mysterious Minoan world. To explore the ruins of this Palace forced me to take on a whole new civilization—as if Greece and Rome wasn’t enough.

The Minoans were remarkably advanced. The scale of the palaces boggles my mind, as does their handle on technology. The experience of standing upon the ruins of this bronze age people will certainly spur further study but in the mean time I am mostly just overwhelmed and without much to say or connect. The religious practices were fascinating: the Labys as Cross, for example, also their worship of the mother goddess.

Image (21) is of the building housing the law code at Gortyn. This law code was written twenty-five hundred years ago, and two thousand years ago the Romans came and made Gortyn an important city in their new Province. The Romans recognized the value of such an ancient code, however, and preserved them for future generations. We see also in this picture a Roman Odeon.

(22) We see here an image of Phaistos. Here depicted is possibly the oldest olive press in the world, perhaps thirty six hundred years old. It is mind boggling—one could literally hop down there and have everything at hand to produce olive oil but the olives themselves (which could be picked some 200 feet away, actually). (23) The defining image of Phaestos, the Phaestos disc containing the only record we have of the most ancient of Minoan scripts.

(24) We see Roman catacombs. After the Romans came to Crete some 1600 years after the Minoan Palaces succumbed to Vulcan’s fury, they needed someplace to put there dead. Some 1968 years after that, roughly, Hippies (Greek: Xippies) needed someplace to take acid and pontificate. (25) We see signs of Hippy inhabitance in a roman crypt.

(26) The Wine dark sea. It was quite remarkable to look out onto the Mediterranean and get lost in its unimaginable vastness and power. How terrifying must it have been to leave the security of land to sail to, for example, the island of Crete with no security that any land would ever be reached? Looking off the side of our boat, nothing could be seen except the infinity of Poseidon’s domain. It is no wonder that the sea was given a holy reverence.

(27) Here we see the view of Santorini’s bay. (28) we see the ancient Minoan frescos which once decorated a palatial residence. One of Greece’s remaining gallants guided us through the art on display at Santorini’s cultural center.

Link to UMaine Picasa site

2008-06-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Some of us are uploading our Greece pictures to this site - these are public albums. Enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/UMaineGreece

Kara's Reflections

2008-06-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Kara Szczepanski

5/30/08

Just How Modern is Modern?

If I had to pick between Greece or Egypt to live in, I would have to go with Egypt. This is not only because I find that Egypt mysteriously quenches my soul, but since I can find many comforts from home easily available at my fingertips. This trivia may seem strange even to the educated traveler who doesn’t expect to find modern Egyptian society still riding camels and living in tents. The reasoning behind this is due to the fact that Greece is still setting itself up for the tourism trade, while the trade is just an old hat to Egypt. Though particular Western comforts may or may not be easily available, it is not politically correct to start labeling a country as advanced or modern based off of how comfortable a tourist feels.

When our class first met to talk about generally living in Greece, I was surprised that someone labeled Egypt as Third World. The context of this label came from comparing the technological advancements in Egypt versus Greece. The reason for my amazement is the fact that I was taught that this term is severely politically incorrect when addressing a culture and assumed the feeling was wide spread through the academic community. Apparently the use of the Three Worlds theory is still up for debate.

Just as my Human Geography teacher had done to me, the best way to show the ineffectiveness of this particular labeling is to relate it to another word that is used in the same manner. A parallel sentiment would surface when one refers to the Ancient Greek population that supported polytheism as pagans. The modern definition of pagan is a bastardization of its former self due to being manipulated out of context for use in Christian propaganda. Just as a historian is mortified to hear the word pagan describe a rich and evolved religion, an anthropologist’s hair stands on end when the labeling use of First, Second, and Third World toward a society occurs.

The meaning of First, Second, and Third World derived during the end of World War II and the start of the Cold war. The intent of labeling countries First and Second World was mostly in part to describe the difference between a capitalistic and a communist society. The term “Third World” was coined by Alfred Suavy during his 1952 article in L'Observateur describing the countries that fit neither the First or Second World categories. Sauvy’s description of a Third World country is that a country is underdeveloped or is in the process of developing. Sauvy drew connections to a French concept of Third estate in which they are “exploited by others” and “wants to be something.” The only problem is, how can one label a society as developing if no one knows the final end product?

One must realize that all three terms are propaganda in order to state that the Western standard of life is what all cultures are developing towards, taking little consideration for the culture living in those countries. There are also negative connotations that attach themselves to these labels, especially in the Western world. In the sense of a Classicist, using a term such as Second or Third World is like Herodotus using a term like barbarian. Both labels take cultural traits very little into concern and fit a wide range of ethnicities into one simple group. The term cannot prepare you for travel because it can only sum up the fact that the current culture there is different from your own and lacks any really information in what you should expect.

Of course, when we arrived to the “First World” country of Greece, we found it was not entirely what we expected. The problems in Greece were the same as Egypt, if not more so. Sure Athens boasted of cleanliness, but in retrospect the cultural development seemed stagnant compared to Cairo’s. I was surprised to find that there was only one mall in Athens, while Cairo boasts of not only an eight-story tower, but dozens of mini-malls scattered throughout the city. If I had to put my money on who was more capitalistic, I’d put it on Egypt even if the Egyptian pound is worthless in comparison to the Euro. Of course, as my boyfriend pointed out, the whole country of Greece is probably more capitalistic than Egypt because it has fewer pockets of non-capitalist elements of society.

As for technological advancement, it could probably be solved by a flip of a coin. Both Egypt and Greece have easily navigable subway systems (with a map), easy accessible cell phone plans, and boast of refrigeration for ice cream stands at every corner. I could probably put forth the argument that Egypt and Greece are more technologically savvy than the United States by the fact their cell phone service can reach far into the Aegean Sea or Sahara Desert, an ATM is never out of reach, and they are more Eco-Friendly by using Smart Cars. The state of Maine from the United States could probably be considered Third World in comparison by the fact our cell phones are always out of service, ATM’s are relatively new things in most towns, and most of us drive gas-guzzling trucks. Of course, most of Americans would argue that Maine is on the hinterlands of technological advancement in an area larger than Europe itself, but there in lies the problem. Can one really sum up a culture based on technological luxuries used in a particular area? Not really. In the end, every culture has its technological and economically weaknesses, but one must also focus on all the strengths it boasts in context to the cultural needs and the environment it has grown in.

Can I conclude though that Egypt is more modern in comparison to Greece or visa versa? Is one really more advanced? Not really. This is only because Egypt and Greece have completely different cultural needs it adapts to fulfill. For example, one could reason that Athens lacks Internet cafes is probably due to the fact that most Greek probably have personal computers, while Egyptians prefer the community setting of and internet café in part littering them everywhere. On the flip side, Egypt has been a major tourist destination since the 1800’s as part of the British Empire, so they have learned to adapt to tourists better to support their own livelihood. Greece on the other hand, hadn’t really experienced a facelift since the Turkish Empire, who cared little about the occupying population and more about keeping the territory secure. Our tour guide Dionysia even lamented on the bus one day that the Greek citizens of the country went through a lot of mixed feelings toward the money and hard work spent in order to prepare for the expected tourism of the Olympic games.

When push comes to shove, you can’t label a country based off your own ideals. If you do, you will surely miss out on all the benefits the culture has to offer because you will be come stuck on what they don’t. The important thing to realize is that we need to learn and experience one another in order to have a cultural relationship. If one starts labeling a culture prematurely then a psychological barrier scan to form even before you step foot to adventure on a cultural terrain. Instead, it is best to prepare yourself for the unforeseen circumstances through diligent research and then leave the rest to fate. It is part of getting over that cultural anxiety of the new that helps you immerse yourself better. One should attempt to be a traveler and not a tourist by forgetting about the labels and stigmas of your own “advanced civilization” in order to open your eyes to the behaviors and choices of another.

Tourist Verses Traveler

One of the most annoying things in the world to me is a tourist. I don’t know if it is because I live in Maine and I’ve had to deal with tourists all my life (*coughMassholescough*) or the fact that they always seem to get into your photographic shot. Either way, I find the majority of them rude, obnoxious, and their presence just plain unnecessary. Of course, it is easy to forget when you are standing in front of the Pyramids being hassled by camel drivers or at the Parthenon being heckled by postcard saleswomen that you are viewed as a tourist just as much as everyone else. So how did I come to grips with my dualism? Frankly I didn’t. Instead, after traveling and living in so many places, I have come up with my own standards of what it means to be a tourist and what it means to be a traveler.

First off a tourist doesn’t come to experience anything and travels only to record their personal legacy through external sources. They subjugate themselves to their own particular locale culture and have little respect for the culture they should be experiencing. If they do try to express any sense of modesty, they do so in a mocking manner. A few good words that would be best used for a citation would be “quaint” or the “cunnin” in colloquial Maine English. They take a million photos of things they don’t know what they are, take a million photos with themselves in front of the things the tour guides tell them what they are, and take little interest in doing any mental work for themselves. In conclusion, they are inactively along for the ride and their minds are permanently on vacation.

Why do I find this annoying? Well for the most part, they usually get in the way of those who are actively trying to connect with the site. I must confess, I do take 1001 photos at a site, but that is after looking at a number of previously taken photographs and archaeological records in order to know what type of shot, angle, and expression I want. For me, it isn’t just recording my presence at a site, but communicating how I personally connected with my surroundings. I have never seen more people who could look you in the eye as you are trying to get a photograph and walk square into your shot so they could take a million photos posing like Hercules. I can see one or a hundred if you take turns, but if you realize and recognize someone is trying to take a shot without you in it, you wait your turn and then move in for your photo. I feel bad for the other serious photographers who lugged around a tripod and found that a number of tourists lacked peripheral vision or ignored their goodwill to move about a foot over in order to share the experience of the site with someone else. It took me only two days to finally give up with our trip to Delphi, and I’m still just an amateur.

As good as I have become dodging most tourists who wander into my lens in Egypt, I must say that the breed of tourist in Greece were much more disheartening. Not only did the majority nip at their tour guide’s heels, but most had little respect for anyone outside their group let alone for the site itself. At the site of Knossos I witnessed the members of the same tour group numerously cross into the roped off area to pose sitting on the bullhorns. Several times the guard had to blow her whistle, only to turn back around from her post to see them clambering all over the stone statue again. I have only witnessed this once in Egypt in the temple dedicated by Akhenaten at Karnak when a Swedish tour guide scrapped the paint away with her finger nails when talking about the site and then cleaned the paint from her fingers. Both these scenes make the hair on the back of my neck stand, but I wasn’t alone as other’s mouths dropped in shock as well.

In both cases, as well as with using a camera flash in museums, it comes down to self-monitoring when a man with a gun isn’t present to deter touristy behavior as in Egypt. Plainly though, tourists just lack respect for the ancient culture and modern culture when they pull stunts like these. Why? Archaeological and personal ethics really come into play. Oils from hands and hair can ruin cultural remains no matter how permanent they may seem, flash from cameras disintegrate paint, and stealing any small artifacts disrupts the context of any site. In conclusion, tourists not only lack interest in respecting the ancient culture, but also preserving the remains for generations to come. They only care about their own selfish pursuits and lack any care about those who are around them or will come after them. In reality, they are thieves, stealing the experience from others in order to bottle it only for themselves.

These are also the types of people who locals usually hate as well. We had discussed very little in class before going to Greece about the “Ugly American” persona that lingers with any American traveler. Though some in the group may have felt our midnight revelries in Athens may have been in bad taste, they were probably more Modern Greek like behavior then what most tourists would exhibit. The “Ugly American” isn’t the loud and obnoxious drunkard (due to the fact all cultures exhibit those traits when they are intoxicated) as most expect, but instead the ethnocentric and intolerant tourist that pays little respect to the fact they are guests in a host’s country and displays a nationalistic conceit over others. This means, in order for one not to be an Ugly American, one must not only follow the country’s rules, but try to abide as best as possible the local culture’s customs without infringing upon one’s own morals.

The one thing Americans and other nationalities don’t realize is how easily recognizable their behavior is when they travel in groups. From my own experience, foreign cultures are more apt to act obnoxiously when they travel in groups of more than eight or nine people. When the group is smaller, they tend to feel more like outsiders trying to fit in and are more culturally cautious of their surroundings. When the group is larger, they feel more comfortable displaying their cultural habits and take less time to think of the effects of their actions on their current surroundings. Of course when they travel in larger numbers, they become more susceptible to being taken advantage by the locals because they feel a false sense of security.

I noticed when traveling in Egypt and talking to a number of the local vendors who would try to guess people’s nationality from the way the looked, walked, and talked. Other than the fact that most couldn’t guess my nationality from the majority of my mannerisms and strange look, most found that it was the way I walked that gave me away. Americans tend to carry themselves differently then other cultures. When I asked what it was about the walk, most replied, “I don’t know, it just seems filled with arrogance.” It is these small discrepancies that mark us as “the foreigners.” Of course Mainers have the same type of intuitiveness when bumping up against someone from Massachusetts during the summer tourist seasons and visa versa.

So as we have spent a majority of the time describing the characteristics of the ugly American and tourist, we should talk about what the true goal should be. So throw out your Indiana Jones hat and your invincible shield of nationality in order to take on the persona of the traveler. The traveler is one that tries to experience the modern culture with the deepest respect, asks questions, and understands there are consequences to being a guest. A traveler is willing to try new things and shake engrained cultural habits for whatever time they are spending in another culture.

In a way, a traveler is not only acting as a small ambassador of the country, but is trying in actuality to set up a relationship with a country. This relationship could come from opening conversations with street vendors to sitting down and truly trying to experience the environment around them through meditation. A traveler is willing to take small risks and leaps of faith in order to encounter something new, while at the same time pay attention to their own red flags. Travelers are also uninterested in recording their travels due to the fact that they understand that they will be living proof of their journey and will only spare the time to record what they need to communicate their experience. No matter the length of time, the culture will somehow change the traveler because they were willing to open up and allow themselves to be changed. It is in this way the traveler will fare much better than the tourist and will intrinsically be enriched by their willingness to establish a personal intercultural relationship with the country they visited.

Active or Passive Experience?

As I stated in my article of “Traveler Verses Tourist,” there is a fine line between their characteristics. One of these characteristics falls within the realm of how one may desire to experience the culture and the environment. While I grouped the tourist in with the willing to subjugate themselves to tour guides earlier, I must confess that one should not feel shameful if they are more comfortable in the company of a guide. Those travelers who allow themselves to enjoy tours usually are trading in their freedom of time management in order to allow for a more stress free experience. On the other hand though, it is nice to exercise your mind and relax your wallet by trying to research your own excursions into the unknown. It is this article I will address the pro’s and con’s of each experience in order to delineate the difference.

One of the hardest parts of my trip to Greece and Crete was allowing a tour guide take the lead around the archaeological site. Why was this concept so hard for me to grasp? Pretty much because I experienced the exact opposite in Egypt with Columbia University and longed for the same treatment. The pro’s of self-guidance or semi-guidance was the fact that we learned about the site before we entered the walls and only a small amount of time was spent pointing particular amenities. This gave us free time to experience the site how we wished to and to venture to the areas where our lectures covered. Each individual could take the time to experience the particular aspects of the site they were interested in and record their encounter how they chose. If questions arose about a particular subject, our guide could be easily found at our meeting point for explanation.

The only problems that can arise from self-guidance is if you or your guide lacks the particular knowledge in the area you are going to visit and thereby schedules an impossible day of travel. As I had been praying for self-guidance the entire trip for Greece, the trip to Santorini proved to be on the exact extreme of what I wanted. Our tour guide lacked experience in living in Santorini and judged our time inefficiently. She allotted us too much time at the site of Akrotiri (which had virtually nothing to see) and neglected to emphasize the obstacle of time constraints in visiting the city of Thira due the design of the city. The trip itself resonated a very unhappy tone with the majority of students in the group due to the high price paid for a stressful and unappealing experience.

On the flip side, self-guidance is virtually useless when you are lost and unable to navigate yourself to your destination. This happened our first day in Greece when looking for the Trinity Research Institute. Due to the lack of a sufficient map and inexperience of finding our directional bearings in Athens, our afternoon was spent running back and forth from street corner to street corner. This also happened to a smaller group trying to navigate their way to our mainland Greece tour guide Dionysia’s house. Eventually, after being lost for hours, they had to call her and taxis were sent in order from them to successfully find the tram station out of the city. When one lacks the proper tools, self-guidance and time management becomes almost impossible.

Of course these headaches can be completely diverted if one takes an extreme measure to properly plan out their day. As in Egypt and Greece, I found that I could navigate my way easily through Athens and Iraklion with little trouble. Of course this is due to spending hours bent over a map the night before plotting my course, memorizing street names, and visualizing monumental markers. Even by doing so, I still had to ask for directions and was not able to accomplish everything I needed to do because of time constraints. A great deal of stress in both the planning and enacting aspects of my journey was almost unavoidable. It is hard to stay on time without a guide who knows the shortcuts and can easily manage your time efficiently.

A guide is usually well received by those who don’t necessarily wish to deal with the extra stress in their day. Traveling in a new culture is hard even for an expert and sometimes many just have to give the reins over to someone else. Depending on the tour guide, you can learn a lot about the general history of the modern and ancient culture of a country. Usually tour guides keep things simple by delving into the bigger picture and giving finer details at various stops along the way. They also can point out some of the interesting parts of sites and museums that necessarily one would overlook. I can say that our tour guide George in Crete was absolutely amazing when it came to rare archaeological tidbits and cultural references. The fact that he could pick out an anchor from a haphazardly placed rock at the site of Knossos shows his expertise in his field. It was due to his enthusiasm and archaeological knowledge that I found I could put faith in following his lead.

Of course, one must be wary of everything a tour guide says. As the typical case in Egypt, I noticed that in Greece too, one must not always trust in the fact that a tour guide is certified to give you correct knowledge. As I am not one to be shy to share my feelings about tour guides, I usually warn others of the “Wikipedia” guides. These guides are the ones that seem as if they are lecturing for hours on something they read out of a source from twenty years ago or just watched a program on the History channel. They help perpetuate the common misconceptions of history by giving tourists what they think they want to hear. It becomes a dangerous game then to put your faith into a guide even if they hold a badge around their neck. It is important to remember that the badge not only represents their efficiency to talk for a length of time about Greece, but to herd large groups of people about by keeping them occupied. Sometimes guides are better trained in smoke and mirrors then in the actual subject they are suppose to be talking about. Just as a scholar has to be wary of their sources, one must be wary of their tour guide.

Another con about tour guides is when one is a bit too long winded. Though Dionysia is an intelligent woman, I found my attention span of listening to her was equal of about five minutes. Once we past the five-minute mark, I wanted to move around and view that particular area from a new vantage point. Of course instead of doing that, we were herded past our particular topic of interest to a new one, sometimes never to return. This situation in turn didn’t allow me to be as active with the site and instead forced my attention to remain on the guide. As I had explained earlier, I try to experience the site in many different forms in order to record not only through a lens, but also my personal connection to the site. I found myself constantly at odds trying to manage to listen to repetitive information, fight to get a good context photo among those loitering in my group, and distracted from really being able to enjoy the magnificence of the site itself with a constant chattering drawing me away. George in Crete had expressed his concern as one point to me that he may be talking too much for the classes liking at the site of Gortyn. I could only reply that everyone’s interests are different and it is hard to keep the attention span of twenty-six people occupied.

Another con of a tour guide is a pro listed above. They keep you on a schedule, but it becomes a problem if they keep you on their schedule and do not allow you enough time take pleasure in various aspects of the site. It seemed odd that so much time was spent talking about one topic, while we were rushed past some of the major monuments of the site in order to move on. For a tour guide, they have seen these things a million times, so it is understandable to pardon their lack of awe for the ruins before them. Of course, to those of us who have never been in their presence before, we need time to allow our senses to fully incorporate all the information that we can receive in order to fully process the experience. Sometimes a tour guide can forget that most of us need that time of silence in order to evoke the wonder the sites deserves.

In the end, it really comes down to the personal expectations one hopes to gain from visiting sites. It is up to the individual to choose how comfortable they feel in making a decision to spend the money on a guide or their time planning out their trip. The most important things to take into consideration is: how much money one is willing sacrifice in order to relieve stress and how much stress one is willing to take on in order to get the experience they wish for. Some enjoy the constant chattering of a guide, while others prefer to quietly indulge their senses. In the long run, one must find a way to communicate their desires not only to their guides but also to themselves in order to ensure an intrinsically pleasant experience.

“Seksi” Times

America, in comparison with most European cultures, is considered a rather prudish nation due to our puritan roots. Of course, even though we still display a more conservative attitude toward our behaviors and our sexuality, there is an hidden presence of late night debauchery and pornographic lust marketed to titillate even the most traditional mind (if you don’t disregard the late at night infomercials for Girls Gone Wild). A problem then occurs when people try to make assumptions about the local culture of modern Greece. How do they deal with their sexual past and the tourists who come attracted by the lure from the freedom of sexual inhibitions and modern Christian constraints? This article addresses the observed dualist nature of modern Greece and their attitude toward the body, sex, and revelries.

The American attitude toward ancient sexual Greek behavior differs between the more conventional and the liberal. The conventional would like to believe the founders of democracy and philosophical queries were men of rational thinking, free of their bodily desires, and exemplar saint-like moral figures. Of course most liberals are quick to point out the perversion of ancient Greek sexuality and their inhibitions toward devouring wine and flesh. Both concepts end up being wrong because both view points stem from a modern culture either trying to nail down morals or trying to burst free from them.

Our concept of the ancient Greeks comes the lust, desire, and disgust of our own psychological state of being which inhibits our understanding of the culture. In a sense we have to shed ourselves to understand the cultural significance of sexuality and late night drinking parties in order to understand what it meant to the ancient Greek. So now that our mind is in as non-biased-as-we-can-get-Anthropological view, how can we describe the ancient Greek’s viewpoint of sexuality in the most simplistic terms possible? We must look solely at the cultural record left behind without trying to dwell too much into the aesthetics.

We can deduce that every Greek city-state viewed human sexuality differently and gender played an important role. Women in Athens found their realm of influence strictly resonant in managing the household or serving as a priestess. A priestess could either stay in the state of a virginity for Athena, or act as a legal prostitute for Aphrodite. Some of the most prominent female minds acted as prostitutes in the Greek world and could wield a number of influences. Athenian men on the other hand took a more active role in Greek society in comparison to women because they held citizenship and associated their duties outside of the household realm. This allowed them to not only more choices in the politics and economics of the city, but also allowed themselves more power to govern their own bodies. Of course in Sparta both women and men played active roles in society due a completely different set of cultural values, therefore leading to completely different conclusions in regards to gender and sexuality.

We know that some Greeks enjoyed an inhibited sexual culture due their cultural remains. Museums in Athens are littered with displays of natural sexual narrations mixed in with scenes of spying on the naked form and various rape montages painted on various pottery. Various large wine goblets with these depictions were commissioned for special use during Symposiums or other gallant drinking events. As statues became more of a private function, the draping of nude-like or nude female figures became more prominent. The ancient Greek culture fully embraced sexuality as a natural state and a common desire of the body. When we gaze upon the same artwork today we are personally shackled with the same Victorian outlook as in the early 20^thcentury, the feelings resounding in our bellies is something much different than what the ancient Greeks were feeling. It is important to note though, that while Western American culture experiences some differences than the modern Greek culture toward sexuality and drinking, we also share some of the same ideals due to our common cultural past stemming out of the Christian reform. America still lacks the distinction between a nude form and a naked form due our own uncertainty of how we view our own bodies, gender, and sexuality.

I believed that many of the travelers on this trip experienced a kind of shock when experiencing the dualism of modern Greece. On the one hand, while you could find pornographic playing cards at every grocery store counter and find a number of “perverse” replica merchandise, most American parents would rather die than having to explain to their children what it is that they are looking at. On the other, most modern Greeks act rather conservatively by European standards. Young women are still wearing semi-casual dresses while members of our group were yelled at by a local Greek elders for their shameful act of exposing too much of their chest. In reality, their dresses were no more low-cut then most of the European clubbing outfits that littered the local stores. So how do the modern Greeks explain this dualism?

First of all, I believe it’s because of their cultural past that accepts dualism in particular contexts. For example, a female can go topless at a beach because it is a natural state of being, but in the presence of a church one must cover their selves at the beach in order to show piety to God. The Modern Greek understands that sexuality and flesh is a natural state, therefore allowing reference to it so one can feel comfortable enough to control it. In a sense, a dualistic nature of sexuality allows you have freedom of your own feelings, while also allowing you to be able to use your anxieties to control your freedoms. It explains how young women by day are dressed conservatively, but by night can wear more sexual clubbing outfits to fit into an entirely different cultural context.

Communal drinking in Greece is still as much a modern activity as an ancient one. Alcohol is virtually sold everywhere and bars litter not only tourist areas, but also the Greek neighborhoods. After running into a Greek about my own age named George, we had a discussion about the nightlife in Greece as he was attempting to lure me out to an art gallery opening. As I did everything in my power to avoid the invitation, I was able to collect information of the young male Greek attitude toward the nightlife. As George had said, “Every night is party in Athens till 4 or 5 am, we just never rest.” This attitude was shared by those living on Crete as we experienced living in the city of Hersonissos which is known for its clubbing venue.

An important experience to note is the clubs on Hersonissos is that they are rather calm in comparison to American dance clubs. American dance clubs are usually a place where one forgets who they are and completely takes on separate sexual persona with the help of alcohol or some kind of mind-altering substance. Greek or Egyptian nightclubs usually are different; you show up with a group of people, you enjoy their company, and the majority of the time you leave with that same group of people. Dancing and drinking still occurs, but you never forget who you are because you are with people who know who you are and care how you are getting home. The group never splits up and clubbing becomes more about enjoying the time with the people you are with, than the strangers who are around you.

Of course, as I had mentioned in “How Modern is Modern,” it is important not to subjugate the entire Greek culture to the same viewpoint. As with Americans, different age cohorts and localities are of course going to express their sexuality differently. The important thing to realize is the fact that most respect each other’s views and allow each other to coexist. A complete opposite attitude can be found in Egypt, where the closest sexual images you see of the Ancient Egyptians is in the relief scenery on various temples of the God tickling the Goddess’ feet in order to impregnate her. Does that mean the Ancient Egyptians were not a sexual culture? Of course not, the majority of sexual artifacts are locked in a storehouse underneath the Cairo museum waiting to be published. It is because of the modern culture’s anxiety that they are actually willing to eradicate a part of their past in order to preserve their modern image as a chaste culture.

So though the modern Greeks may be less sexually liberal than their European neighbors or their ancient ancestors, they do share in the common ideal of accepting their dualistic nature and the culture they have roots in. In the end, modern Greeks are able to accept what Americans could consider hedonism as a natural state of being in order to control their appetites and anxieties. As some Americans are disappointed to find a more conservative Greece, they must open their eyes to see what they can learn from a culture that doesn’t try to forget who they are and instead accepts the natural aspects of themselves.

Coming Of The High

Entering back into your own culture is just as hard and entering a new one. Luckily our trip to Greece was only about two weeks long, so the culture shock should be minimal. All in all the trip had some high and low points as most trips will have, but I would extremely recommend to anyone traveling to Greece, Crete, and perhaps even Santorini.

Looking back at the experience, I can officially say this trip was much like the others I’ve experienced when traveling to Ireland or Egypt. There are things I wish I brought, things I wish I didn’t, things I wish I bought, and dinners I wish I didn’t splurge on, butterflies that were missing in my stomach, and butterflies that suddenly appeared. It seems no matter how much you travel, there is so many little things you always forget to do along the way.

What I do have to say is new out of this experience, which I never really got to experience with either Ireland or Egypt, was the connections I felt from making a number of great friends on this trip. I’m not saying that I didn’t make amazing lifelong friends on my past trips, but this is the first time I actually got to share the experience with people that I knew and were returning home to the same state I was. I think that is the hardest part of dealing with culture shock coming into and out of a country. When you do it alone, the culture shock seems that much harder to deal with, but with a friend it makes it that much easier.

If I have learned anything from this experience, it has been the value of traveling with those similar to you. Even though on the one hand you are more apt to stay within your own cultural safety zone, on the other it is nice to discuss and share your memories with those just as interested in your subject as you are. I’ll treasure the memories, the philosophical conversations, the late night adventures, the daytime quarrels, the mindless banter, and games of catchphrase at the back of the bus.

As an only child, I made sure to take extra care in not over exposing myself to the group. In a way, I wish I hadn’t remained fearful of over saturation and instead shared a few more experiences with other people. Of course I am also proud that I was able to separate from the group and organize my own excursions in which I could gather the information I wished to gather.

It seems that two weeks just wasn’t enough time to experience all that Greece had to offer. Of course, one must also face the reality that there just isn’t enough time in a day to cover everything one wishes to cover and do everything one wishes to do. Though it has only been a short period of time since I departed from the group in Portland, the good and bad memories of the trip have already started to be immortalized within my psyche.

I can successfully say though, that the adrenaline pumping through my veins from the trip have finally ceased allowing me to catch up on my sleep.

Musings about UMaine at Korinthos

2008-06-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about the possibility of having a UMaine Center for the Study of Late Antiquity, or something like that at Corinth. I have been tracking down the "Maine connection" - a woman whose name is Ada Small Moore, and was apparently a great collector and patron of the arts. She is the woman who dedicated the "Hall of Statues" in Corinth to her father, Edward Alonzo Small, of Rumford. I've located some information about her in genealogical data and such. I must say I am intrigued by this woman, apart from her connection to Corinth. I think she is my next small research project!

Gertrude Bell, Lady Stanhope, and now Ada Small Moore. I'll keep you posted!

Tina

Bill's blog

2008-06-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

William S. Schappert

Travels in the Mediterranean

Tina Passman

Spring 2008

JOURNAL ENTRIES IN GREECE

SPRING SEMESTER TRAVEL STUDY

MAY 13_th

Today was certainly an early rise for both Elyse and me. Running on only a few hours of sleep and waking at approximately 5:00 am, Elyse and I had officially begun our journey, although I feel that neither of us fully anticipated the fulfilling excitement Greece had in store for us.

Upon our arrival at Portland international airport we had only a short time before boarding on what was one of the more frightening plane flights I have ever been on! E.T.A. was roughly 55 minutes, but when we approached JFK Airport, the precarious decent towards the landing strip certainly seemed like it took a lifetime. Having traveled as extensively as I have, one would figure that flying would become something like second nature due to my having been able to endure long arduous trans-Atlantic flights to faraway lands. However, this most definitely was not the case in this particular circumstance.

Finally we landed!!

After checking our bags and passing successfully through security we had several hours before the Olympic flight to Greece. This was a good time for me to try and get to know a few of my fellow travelers, have a few drinks, and clear my mind of any pre-flight jitters. (A few prayers proved to help).

After 10 hours or so, and what was a very successful flight, the Greece Trip “27” had finally touched down in Athens Greece. What was to be in store for us?

May 14_th

Surprisingly the customs process in Greece was quite relaxed and easily executed. We were met by a local representative who helped us find our way to the bus which brought us to our hotel. We checked in quickly, and then well all rushed to the rooftop only to discover exactly why our abode was dubbed the “Acropolis View Hotel”. It was one of the more beautiful places I have ever been. However, despite the fact that the rooms were cramped, and the pillows/beds were hard and unforgiving, the view from the 5_th floor certainly took precedence in all of our minds and set us at ease.

Elyse, Felicia, and I all agreed that it was time for a well needed nap. Fortunately for me Elyse had already made friends with our roomy- Felicia. I myself had the pleasure of meeting her in my Ancient Philosophy class the previous semester, so I was reassured that any potential problems would undoubtedly remain nonexistent. Both Elyse and I had concurred at this point in our stay that she would make the trip enjoyable for, not only us, but the entire “27”. I hope she feels the same.

4:00 pm came rather quickly. Our class meeting on the rooftop was insightful/inspiring due to the lecture’s educative nature. I was particularly interested in the notion of how The Goddess Athena- Athens’ patron Goddess, was a Goddess that resembled reason, rationality, and power of the mind, while the patron Goddess of Corinth was Aphrodite who represented passion, emotion, and sentiment. As I was processing these relationships I began to think primarily of how these two concepts: reason and passion, played into the creation of columns with respect to Greek Architecture. As I observed the Parthenon from the rooftop I paid close attention to the type of columns used to support the structure itself, Doric. I began to hypothesize to myself that the Doric column was chosen because it is a style that depicts everything that Athens wanted to be remembered as: A society of Reason. The Doric columns pure cut shape is mathematically precise, geometrically sound, and very symmetrical. It is a style that coincides analogously with the ideals of Athens/Athena, mainly those of rationality and reason alone. Certainly this is why this style was chosen for the most important place/site in Athens.

Corinthian columns, on the other hand, certainly embrace the ideals of the Corinthian city state and those of Aphrodite. Its design initiates an inner emotional feel, and it is one that subsequently resembles the notions of passion, emotion, and sentiment, all of which internally comprise the Goddess Aphrodite and the unique city state itself.

MAY 15_th

The anticipation for today’s Athens adventure was most definitely tangible. I was astounded of the sheer mass of the Parthenon itself, but also the size of the actual city. We were shown by Dionysia several places (apart from atop the Acropolis) where we can see the outstretched plain of the modern city. Pictures in these spots were great. As I was informed, the ideal capacity of this now extremely large city (now a population of over 4 million) is approximately 400,000. I witnessed from the Acropolis how the houses sprawl from every corner, up the sloping mountain range creating a viewable periphery that surely will continue to grow in this post-industrial/urbanized age.

The Agora was fascinating. I remember reading works of Plato/Aristotle/Socrates where the ancient Agora was only mentioned briefly. I wish I could have seen it during its days of operation, and while it was at full capacity. I talked briefly with Professor Bregman about neo-Platonism, which ultimately lead me to want to research the subject on my own time, as the Philosophy department doesn’t offer it. At this point hunger struck, and we were now on our own for the day.

Today also brought some unfortunate events. Two of our travelers were robbed, and I was completely distressed. Surprisingly, Cameron was calm and collected, but he was getting rather tired of telling the story over and over again. Luckily both he and Professor Bregman cancelled their credit cards. I had heard that four minutes after the mishap, there was an account access attempt. This was astonishing, and luckily nothing more was stolen.

MAY 16_th

I thought that I would dread the 3 hour drive to Delphi but it was one of the more amazing driving expeditions I have ever been on. Exiting the city was interesting because we were able to view the city in full operating force. Much like a chaotic New York City, Athens was faster paced that I had expected. During this drive, what had really caught my attention was the mountainous landscape as we grew closer to the spiritual settings surrounding Delphi. Although my fear of heights conquered me from time to time while we wound around the treacherous mountain passage, I did not allow myself to be fully consumed by this limiting human fear. I told myself to accept my surroundings with comfort and ease in order to negate the possibility of our bus tipping over the edge! (This was quite the task as I was constantly being comforted with religious monuments positioned on the sides of the road, which indicated someone had survived a perilous accident in that very location. Frightening!

Delphi was spiritually illuminating. Although the hikes were hard and long, I was constantly taken up by where I was situated at every moment during this day trip. Dionysia had much to say here, and I was extremely impressed with the amount of information she had given at this particular site, specifically the knowledge she had on the Oracle and how the process of prophesizing actually took place. The museum trip, although brief, also offered a lot of insight as to the purpose and the “going-ons” of this mystical site.

We had a lot to discuss on the trip back to Athens, which allowed time to go by very quickly for me. I think we were all effected in a positive and influential way after experiencing Delphi (an expansion of consciousness so-to-speak), and perhaps a little tired as well after the hike to the sports stadium.

May 17_th

Today was rather a relaxing day after yesterday’s extensive journey. This was well needed especially considering the fact that I was still fighting off jet-lag! However, I was able to make it out of the hotel for some tasty Gyros and a quick trip to the botanical gardens. Unfortunately I missed the Philosophy discussion, but I was filled in as to what was discussed by a few of those who attended. It seems they are really into Plato here in Greece, strange, I would figure it would be Aristotle, or maybe even Socrates?

Athens impresses me with what once comprised a great city state, and with what now still remains. What great human genius and ingenuity. They certainly were beyond their time in more ways than one.

May 18_th

I really enjoyed today’s discussion at Eleusis. The true mysticism behind the great mysteries of Eleusis was intriguing to say the least. However, I began to ask myself, why was nothing ever written about the initiations or the mysteries themselves for the sake of history? Wouldn’t someone have written something after the “theogenic practices” had run its course, and after punishment for such “divulging of information” had been eradicated? It is a shame not to know exactly what had happened at that very location, although professor Bregman seemed to have a good idea. Lost with time and forgotten I suppose.

Lunch at the stop in Corinth was much anticipated. We were able to view the canal which was awe inspiring, although again, my fear of heights would not allow me to meander onto the bridge. Pictures did me just fine.

Epidaurus was also a place of extreme intrigue. Everything there seemed not to matter after we were graced with the vocals of Professor Ogle. Sitting at the highest point of the theater, overlooking the lush vegetation directly insight, I was not prepared for what was to come. Her vocals made the experience there really come to life, and surely touched us all in a unique way.

May 19_th

I am glad we don’t have to eat the Acropolis View Hotel “breakfast” anymore. I don’t think any of us were keen on what they had to offer, although the cuisine (Gyros for me) in the Plaka most certainly made up for it. We were given a few hours this morning to do some looking around, and hopefully find that perfect gift. Prices were high, but I had cased the Plaka several days in advance so I knew what was a bargain or a rip-off when I attempted to make my initial purchases.

Next we made our way to the Athens Archaeological Museum, which was filled with a plethora of statues, jewelry, burial pots, and archaeological finds that are unfathomable.

As we came closer to our departure time from the museum and our embarking time on the Minoan Lines to Crete, excitement and extreme anticipation was running through my body. As we drew closer to the Pireaus, we were drawn in by the sheer mass of the docked cruise liners. We must have had the largest one in Port. After the Museum, everyone was pretty much wiped-out, but as soon as the view of our ship hit us in the face, we awoke from our fatigue as if we were children awaking on Christmas morning.

As soon as we cast off, I gave off a little yell generated from my pent up anticipation, and my curiosity to finally see Crete. Poor Amanda got sick because she is extremely susceptible to motion sickness, but we all helped out in making here feel more comfortable amongst the rough waters.

May 20_th

Finally we arrived in Heraklion after quite a journey at sea. I had never traveled on a cruise liner before, and for me, it was a piece of cake. This morning I heard a few complaints about the size of the rooms, or the noise the actual ship generates, but for some reason I am extremely comfortable at sea. I had also reached the conclusion that after our flight back to the US, I will only travel on boats, as there is no reason for me to be filled with anxiety before, and during flights.

The drive from Heraklion to Hersonissou was short, and upon our arrival I immediately checked in the hotel and headed to the beach with Elyse. We picked up some spinach pie on the way, only to find the cheapest prices as of yet. The water was cold, and both Elyse and I were exhausted, so we headed back to the Thalia Hotel where we smooched our beds together and got some well needed shut-eye.

Later that day we attended the very enlightening discussion hosted by Professor Passman and Professor Bregamn. After this a group of us headed to go grab a bite at a restaurant located at the waterfront right near our hotel. Very convenient. For some reason I felt more at ease her in Crete than I did in Athens. Being a country boy at heart, although I am from a large city, I find myself more attracted to places that are slow-paced and easily maneuverable. Elyse and I had decided at this point that our next European adventure will be a return back to this very location. What a pleasure it is to be here.

May 21_st

Today I experienced what I thought I had left behind in Athens: An alleged continental “breakfast” comprised of similar meats and cheeses that one would assume would be served at a lunch buffet. Understandably, I am in a foreign country, but I feel in some respect these hotels are trying to cut financial corners in providing what they themselves normally wouldn’t eat. I suppose I am a little frustrated. Not a worry, I am told Crete is notorious for its Gyros, so the hunt begins.

We had also met our tour guide today, this cool looking but extremely informative Cretan (not in a pejorative sense) had a little swagger to his presence and I think we were all drawn in by this. Not to say Dionysia didn’t have her admirable qualities (like telling kids to be quiet, or saying god knows what to neighboring, loud and pesky tour guides) she just didn’t captivate my attention as well as George had. He was authoritative but relaxed at the same time. His observations of Knossos were sound and beneficial in helping us try to comprehend the fact that we were observing the ruins and resting places of one of the first European civilizations, whose technology and innovative techniques laid the groundwork for how life is lived some 3000 years later. (Could have been 6000, but I am not quite sure).

May 22

Today was probably one of my more favorite days as of yet. We experienced the beaches, great scenery, and of course great food. I was particularly impressed with Matala. Although Phaiestos itself was appealing (the view amazing), I found a lot of repetitiveness from what we saw in Knossos even though they were different civilizations altogether.

The beach at Matala was splendid, and created in me a feeling of tranquility. This is something that I don’t feel very often because I am usually stressed about school or family matters, but at this point I was able to reflect and be with people that I am growing very fond of and feel comfortable around. No one on this trip is superficial, they show you who they really are. Too many people, nowadays, are caught up in presenting themselves as something that they are not, and this is especially true where I come from. Friendships are already forming, and I hope I don’t lose touch with these people.

May 23

Today is the Big Day for Elyse and me. We have been anticipating this trip for months. Although we had to get up fairly early, everything we had to endure was worth what we had seen in Santorini. I enjoyed the cruise, although again, Amanda unfortunately got sick. Elyse and Amanda have been good friends for quite some time, so she did not hesitate to lend her a hand.

While entering the Caldera I could not stop taking photographs! I was completely taken in by everything my surrounding visual environment had to offer me, until Elyse spotted the bus path that we had to take to get to the village. This time I told myself not to be afraid, but I had to sit at the front of the bus so I wouldn’t have an episode. Even though the hair pin turns the driver was taking while talking on his cell-phone drive me mad, I comported myself as if I were in an OK state. Finally we made it to the top where we got out and walk around for a while. Photos were superb at this point of our trip.

Again we got back on the bus and headed to the village nestled at the highest elevation on all of Santorini. Here we were able to break off from the group, because this portion of the trip turned into a sort of scatter-shot operation, but I don’t think this affected any of our impressions of where we were located at this specific time and place. The view from where we ate lunch was one of the most glamorous, awe inspiring, picturesque settings I have ever laid my eyes upon. Too bad we were only here for such a short period.

The decent down the mountain side was hilarious. I watched a small group of our “27” hop on a few donkey for a swift trip down towards our boat back to Crete. Others opted to take the cable car down, while Elyse and I walked the whole ~670 steps (of course along with others). My legs were shaking at the end and it was time to get back on the boat. Santorini is certainly filled with wonderment.

May 24_th

It is depressing knowing most of us will be leaving each other behind upon our arrival back in Orono. This is all I could really think and feel during the whole day while Elyse and I jetted around various beaches, and even more so during our farewell dinner.

Professor Bregman executed the farewell speech with perfection and class. The food was great and the company even better. I will be terribly sad once leaving this place although I normally don’t let my emotions run. Tomorrow we have the great journey back across the Atlantic leaving behind tremendous places, but taking with us fulfilling memories and unforgettable experiences. I wish safe travels to all.

Julianne's Memoir

2008-05-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

Travels to the Mediterranean

Memoirs of Julianne Zaharis

Sitting on the rooftop in Athens

Well, we finally made it! By the graces of the Olympic gods I was able to sleep on the plane ride, but this time change is merciless. I’m sitting on the roof top of our hotel in Athens and looking at one of the most marvelous creations of mankind. It makes me stop to think about the potential of mankind and the strife’s we can make for perfection and beauty. I can barely keep my eyes off it to look down at the paper. Right now I’m envious of those tiny creatures I see walking up and down the acropolis, exploring what I’ve read so much about and seen so many times in art history books. But then a wave of both calm and excitement wash over me as I know I will soon be one of those insect like creatures marveling at the Parthenon and standing atop the acropolis hill. I do see from here the Parthenon is under construction, which I must admit is mildly disappointing, but I fully understand why this must take place, I’m just being selfish and a little bratty from the jet lag. In all this glory it almost seems as though I’ve forgotten my learning about the acropolis, there are so many facts just rushing through my head. I really just need to take a moment and soak it all in (and maybe a nap).

Still on the rooftop in Athens I caught the glimpse of the most wonderful smell of the native food. How I can’t wait for our dinner tonight! I was brought up on many Greek dishes, but am anxious to see just how Americanized its all been-being handed down from the generation from the old country directly to my Jewish mother, of whom I’m sure added her own elements into the recipes.

Family reflection

When I was on the plane with bucket seats snuggled with my pillow and complimentary blanket I couldn’t help but think of my grandparents. They both emigrated from Greece. My grandfather came to America as a rather young adult from the hills of northern Greece via boat. I once rode a boat (and twice after this trip!)- The CAT Ferry to Nova Scotia. I didn’t think I was going to survive the whole 3 hours on the water. Both my father and I were dog sick and could not wait to get off that boat. It is just short of amazing that my grandfather rode all the way from Athens to New York City in the base of the boat. When I was younger he would talk about the first time he saw the Statue of Liberty. He went through Ellis Island where our last name was cut from its original form of Zaharapuolis to simply, Zaharis-kind of thankful for that I must secretly admit. He and my grandmother had a traditional arranged marriage. She remained in Greece until the early 1940’s until the Nazi’s invaded. For compensation she was traded in terms of holy matrimony.

It always made me a little sad that my family fell from tradition so quickly. My father was not only not subjected to an arranged marriage, but he found my mother, a blond hair blue eyed Jewish American princess. My sister and I were never taught to speak Greek and many of the traditions eventually fell to the waste side based on their flower child mentality. On the plane ride the flight attendant would speak to me in Greek, I’m convincing myself it’s because I look so Greek I must be blending in already-yeah blending with my pink hair!

Greek Restaurant

We went out to our traditional restaurant tonight and it was fabulous! I was surprised to see a rather healthy size of a dish I was very familiar with-French fries, of course that didn’t stop me from eating. I was really excited to try a traditional Greek salad and could barely contain myself from looking like an obese American. But I was a little shocked, no lettuce? Oh well, when in Greece, right? Everything seemed to taste a little better than at home, the tomatoes and cucumbers were probably the freshest I’ve ever had. All in all I was really impressed with the meal. I took a break to go smoking outside, I know it’s kosher in Europe to smoke indoors but I didn’t want to be blowing my smoke in the faces of those accustomed to clean air. I was invited by an older gentleman who spoke very broken English to come and sit with him, which I gladly accepted. He asked me where I was from and when I said the United States the only thing he had to say was “Ack, Bush!” I didn’t know what to say I was so utterly embarrassed that that was the impression he had of my country. He offered me a glass of whine which I politely declined because I knew I had to get back to the group. Then he asks me if I’m married, to which I respond “no I’m not” and he responds firmly “Why?!?” I wasn’t sure exactly what to say, so I blamed the boys in our country by saying “there are no good American boys to marry”. He says “you marry good Greek boy!” and then he continues to say “and you come work here …. 5 nights a week, money is good!” I somehow weaseled my way out of this conversation and excused myself to go back and join the group.

Exploring the Acropolis

Well at this point I can nearly say my life is complete- I have walked through the hills of the Acropolis. Today we met Dionysia, our rather spirited and strong willed tour guide, to put it simply I feel safe with her by my side. When we were on the bus driving to our first sight she pointed out something hilarious to us. We passed a herd of people surrounding one lone policeman arguing. According to Dionysia this was a weekly event and all too common. I found this hilarious. The city where I’m from in Florida our cops would have been in numerous numbers with guns drawn.

We arrived first at The Temple of Zeus. My attention was first drawn to the column that had fallen. I was really impressed with the grace and artistic value still present in this artifact that was essentially destroyed. The remaining portions of the temple stood before me so huge and in perfect form. I was really excited to see the remnants on the side because I came up close and personal to a true Corinthian column. I was disappointed to hear the museum was not yet open, there are so many artifacts I’m dying to see, one in particular being the statue of Athena who resided in the Parthenon. I had known the temples were at one point colored, but I didn’t realize the colors were directed from the earth. And hearing Dionysia tell us the temples were at one point adorned with glass beads-what a sight to see!!! But it’s still hard to imagine having engrained pictures of the Acropolis as we know it for so long. I was kind of scared of walking because the marble was so slick and my shoes were just sliding like ice skates. When we climbed to the hill at the base of the Acropolis I was sliding around and became nervous for the rest of the journey. But what was disappointing was to see the hill littered with broken glass and cigarette butts adorning the ancient ricks were St. Paul once stood. The theatre was positively amazing. I had never really heard too much about Hadrian’s contributions and I found it fascinating that a Roman would create something so memorable and beautiful during his reign, but I’m sure there may have been some sort of vanity involved. In addition I was also impressed when Dionysia told us that Pericles contributed to the reconstruction with money from his own pocket. I was most excited the see the Erechtheion, that’s my favorite on the Acropolis and I’m just a little partial. I like this temple because of its disorder and the vanity of being so close to perfection that they purposely created this as an imperfection-speaks loudly for mankind I think. I was so excited to see the maidens on the porch, they were so perfect and so beautiful, but not at the same time. I was super excited to see the museum inside the Agora. I would have liked to have spent a little more time exploring the statues outside. I know they’re only copies, but seeing the contraposto pose on a statue that towers me in size is just mind blowing. But then again my feet were starting to feel the wears of the day, so maybe it was best to conserve my energy. I was really enamored looking at the ostracism case and then I got to see the kylix’s in person-how exciting was that?!?

Exploring Delphi

We made it all the way to Delphi today. The view was utterly breathtaking, but the driving part was a little scary. Dionysia told us the boxes on the side of the roads were used to commemorate both the dead and those who survived-and there were a lot of them. She told us there were many fatal car accidents in Greece. And while I’ve been praising the Smart Car, it kind of makes me reconsider my opinion on our big obnoxious American cars. On the bus ride we passed Thebes. Home to my favorite tragic hero Oedipus. It was wonderful to hear Dionysia relay the story as we passed through the hills. It was an absolute amazing site to see and electricity just ran through my body looking at the hills and thinking of Sophocles. We reached our destination in one piece and there it was what I had been waiting to see-the Temple of Apollo which once housed the Oracle. I do have to have to admit that I was disappointed for less that half of a millisecond only because I would have liked to have seen some sort of remnants of the Oracle, just a little something commemorating such a sacred site. I really enjoyed seeing the site that looked like it was nothing more than caved in rocks and learning that it was basically a shopping center. I also liked Dionysia’s description of how the locals shopped, all by word of mouth. The remains of the public bath were also interesting to me. When I think of public baths my first thoughts go to the Romans, and this site made me realize the Greeks were doing things long before the Romans, which was pretty amazing. But probably the most memorable and by far my favorite part of the journey was actually seeing the forked road where Oedipus met and killed his father, sealing his destiny.

Eleusis, Corinth, and Epiadaurus

Eleusis absolutely blew my mind. I though seeing where the Oracle of Delphi once stood was amazing, but Eleusis more or less blew that out of the water. I have taken a history of Greece class so I was familiar with the tale, or actual myth of Demeter and Persephone. But hearing this while sitting on the very steps the Mysteries once sat just took my breath away. I was enamored with the site that supposedly led to Hades, I had to just stand there and take it all in, and it was so surreal. The whole experience was surreal. I’m not sure if it’s the mystery of the unknown or if it’s what I do know that had such a profound effect on me. The added touch of walking through wheat in Demeter’s home really almost sent chills up my spine. When we were sitting for our lecture bells would chime every 15 minutes and I couldn’t help but glance up at the church and marvel at its Byzantine beauty, but then think this is a very odd location for a church, in fact a little too close to ground zero. Then I’m reminded that Eleusis was pummeled by mysterious men in black robes. This did not sit well with me. I’m very well versed in religion, but I’ve always pictured monks to be peacefully enveloped by the spirit and love of their religion. It makes me think there is a thin line between love and hate, between peace and chaos. It was their love of their religion that influenced such chaos and violence to Eleusis.

Corinth made me a little sad for a couple of reasons. First and foremost the town seemed to be overrun by the influence of the church. Being an art history major I do have to admit that I was admiring the churches for their Byzantine glory, but at the same time resented them for almost suppressing the wonderful history of their city-state. Seeing church after church made me wonder if they’re almost denying or suppressing their own history. I would like to have known a locals perspective just to see their personal take on the history of their city. My next thoughts are kind of conflicting only because I can see both sides of the spectrum. When we were looking at these wonderful sites Dionysia told us underneath the hills and mountains lay the history of more ruins. My first instinctive impulse was to say “dig now!”, but then as I look at the surrounding areas I see churches and peaceful countryside houses of locals adorning these hills. Now is it fair to rob people of their homes and churches to see the ruins of Corinth? I really have no valid answer to that question. Wouldn’t archeologists and historians running in with their equipment ready to tear down the local village look a little like the mad men of Eleusis? The locals also have their own history and attachment to their town, is it fair or even ethical to push them out to see what lies underneath?

The theater at Epidaurus was extremely sentimental to me because I am positively obsessed with Sophocles. I would have died to have seen the actual performance being put on as they do in the summertime, but being able to sit on the stone steps and use my imagination was also a little too satisfying for my own good. But then something else happened to enhance my experience. Professor Ogle belted out the most beautiful and wonderful piece of opera. I’ve only actually experienced live opera once from the nose bleed section of a theatre in Florida. My feet had forsaken me so I had an optimum view from the front of this beautiful woman singing like an angel.

After this while the group was gathering I found a prime opportunity to corner Dionysia and get a little bit of my family history. I asked her if she was familiar with the town of Karpenisi. She told me it was a small town in the same direction as Delphi. I told her about my grandfather riding to Athens on a horse prior to his departure to America and she cracked me up when she told me he must have been a rich man to have a horse. We also laughed at the fact that every male in my family is named James or George, because as she says “everyone in Greece is named George”, which is true in my family and I even discovered that we tell them apart using the method of last name or nickname.

Dinner with Dionysia

Dionysia was gracious enough to invite us all over for dinner at her apartment. Trying to find and get on the Tram was an experience all in itself. Thanks to James and Felicia we actually made it there in one piece and I was happy to have had the experience of riding in a taxi in Athens, and I must note that it was crazier than any ride in a taxi through New York City and Hawaii combined. Her apartment was breathtaking-definitely put my shack to shame. I so admire her and have pride in her. She is a tough woman by American standards, and being familiar with the traditions of what a Greek woman is expected to be, she blows my mind and makes me smile at the same time. I’m so glad to have had the pleasure of meeting her. She made an unbelievable spread which included pasticcio. Now, I cannot get enough pasticcio because both my grandmother and mother made it, but because when my sister was little she couldn’t pronounce pasticcio, instead we call it patiza. I told Dionysia her pasticcio was better than my grandmother’s recipe and she was spinning in her grave for me saying that. She had never heard that expression before and laughed. James asked her an interesting question; he asked her how she learned to speak English. To which she says, “Do you want the real answer???? I wanted to see if Scarlet ended up with Brett Butler.”

Athens Archeological Museum

When we went to the Archeological Museum in Athens I was literally skipping like a little kid in a candy store. The second I laid my eyes on the statue of Zeus I nearly passed out. I had seen him in slides in my art history classes but that was nothing compared to actually standing in front of him. I don’t even know if I can express the excitement I felt when I walked in the room and saw the Death mask of Agamemnon. I’ve seen so many pictures of this figure, but to see it in person was practically an indescribable experience. Being in the sheer presence of Schliemann collection was a most memorable experience. I swear I felt his excitement as he excavated all these artifacts. Seeing all the different statues of the Korus and Kore’s were amazing. I was under the false impression there was only one state of Korus and one of Kore surviving, why? Because I saw one slide of each in my studies. I was shocked to see how many have survived and happy to see the multiples. I took a special liking to the Kore holding the pomegrate seed. I felt she had a special significance because of our trip to Eleusis. I loved seeing the Archaic smile on the statues, I can’t really give a valid explanation why, but just seeing it was so memorable. I absolutely fell in love with the statue of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros while listening to Dionysia describes the event taking place. I was not familiar with this statue and couldn’t get over her cool demeanor and coy attitude as she holds up her sandal prepared to beat away Pan’s strong hold.

Exploring Knossos

At the Palace of Knossos I had to keep telling myself, “this is 4,000 years old!” It’s almost unbelievable as I type this now. I was of course familiar with the myth of Dedalos and his son with the wax wings, but had no idea he was the architect of Knossos. After exploring the grounds I can see why he felt the only way he could escape was with wax wings! I had so much fun wandering through the labyrinth of the castle and pictured myself being part of my own personal Greek myth of trying to find my way out. I was really enamored when we walked by the archeologists at work, I didn’t want to stare, trying to mind my manners about being rude, but it was so neat to see this in person, I felt like I should have been on National Geographic or something. I’m glad restoration was done to the castle to show us how the palace appears in tact. My favorite spot was standing where the bull leaping contests took place. I had seen slides of the bull leaping in my art history class, but the story I told differed from the one George relayed to us. I was told the women would hold the bull while the men would summer salt over it. But the story George told seem to match a little better with the image of holding the horns and then flipping over. I was excited to get to stand where these events may have actually taken place.

The Heraklion Museum was absolutely mind blowing. Now I thought I was excited at the museums in Athens, this museum took on a whole new dimension. These artifacts were 4,000 years old-still having to remind myself! I had to stand and admire the figure that captured the first motion known in art history, this is an image I had never seen before and will never forget. I was excited to see the actual original of the Bull Leaping fresco. After having stood where the events took place I felt almost like a little kid tingling with excitement.

Exploring Gortyna and Matala

Gortyna was a place I had never heard of, was completely unfamiliar with, but positively blown away by. First and foremost we were stepping all over ancient pottery that was just lying on the ground. Oh the guilt I felt each time I heard a crunch under my shoes and imagining the treasures that must be under there. On our way out we saw a broken piece of a Byzantine art; George determined it must have been part of a plate of some sort. How I just wanted to snatch that up and put it in my bag …. No no no, can’t do that! The Basilica of St. Titus was also amazing, this was the closest I had come to an actual Byzantine church and was super excited to see the art that was hidden inside. It was also a little crazy to see this one tree that remains green throughout the year, kind of strange and I can understand why a myth was put to it.

Matala was the best! The beach was so amazing. Being from Florida and having practically lived on the beach for many many years, I didn’t think I would be all too impressed, but how wrong was I?!? The water was amazingly blue and chaotic-Poseidon was at work in the seas that day. After having been drug under water twice I felt it safest to evacuate. Then we ventured up to the caves. Have to admit it was neat, but a little creepy. I could almost image the bodies lying in their tombs. Later on the bus George told us the bodies were thrown in the water when the hippies came. I found this kind of ironic that flower children would have such little respect for the dead and simply thrown the remains of those once living into the sea to be lost forever.

Kara's Tzatziki receipe

2008-05-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

So I know the majority of you are probably up to your ears in Greek food and have already started to ingest as much American food as you can now, but for those of you missing Greece, this could be a comfort.

I actually just make Tzatziki from the recipe I got from the Back to Nature store. It came out amazing even though I had to substitute lime juice for a lemon due to my boyfriend's lack of citrus products in his fridge (lime for the Coronas). Anyway here is the recipe:

1 Cup Strained Yoghurt (Fage is a good brand you can buy, or you can buy plain yoghurt and strain it yourself in paper coffee strainers)

1 Cucumber cut in small thin pieces (I suggest the smaller cucumber at the store and not the industrial family size)

1 tablespoon of olive oil

4-5 drops lemon juice

Mixed spices of Garlic, Dill Weed, and Salt. For an extra kick you can add Black Pepper and/or Paprika. The amount is to your liking.

Mix all of them together.

Yeah...simple huh? I thought there was some magic potion to making this. So I would just get my fill in Egypt and that Turkish/Greek restaurant in Freeport. Apparently, I could have been making it the entire time.

So anyway, there it is. Once you come down off of the American food high and start missing Greece, you now can bring Greece to your belly.

:)

() () - Kara
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"For was I not to visit a high school which would lead me into the midst of the ancient world and the enchantment of Africa for which as a school boy I had been an enthusiast? If all the same, I had and still have no other aspirations than to be and remain a modest schoolmaster, a desire founded essentially on the joy and satisfaction that calling gives me, the satisfaction is double because as a young man I had the advantage of these valuable experiences." - J.C. Edwards Falls from Excavations of Abu Mina

Maisie's Blog

2008-05-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

Travels Through Hellas

Being the Travel Journal of Margaret Libby, of her thoughts and impressions of Greece

Prologue

This part, I’m writing before we leave, because there’s no guarantee that I’ll be in any state to write an introduction on the plane. I thought I would address for a few moments why I want to go to Greece and what I am expecting from this trip—in other words, why am I here? The simplest answer to that is that someone in an Honors 111 preceptorial made a joke about visiting the Acropolis that grew, but that’s not even half the real answer.

I discovered Greek mythology when I got tired of reading Snow White and Cinderella, around third grade. Obviously, I didn’t read the more risqué myths at that age, but I learned about many of the more famous ones. I’ve been interested ever since, on and off. In sixth grade, Mrs. Beedy taught us about Greek culture, and I was interested all over again. It happened once again in European history in high school, and finally when I went into Honors. The interest in mythology is far greater than the interest in the birthplace of democracy, but the culture as a whole is intriguing. When I was given the chance to see the places that I’ve been reading about and seeing pictures of for years, of course I jumped at it.

What do I expect from this trip? I’m trying very hard to expect nothing at all, because I’m pretty sure that any illusions or expectations that I have are going to dissolve at some point during all the tours. I expect the kind of experience that changes lives, I expect to have fun, and beyond that, I’m going to take things as they come.

Added note, while typing the journal: I am writing down and expanding on almost everything that I wrote down in the paper journal that I had, so some of the observations may be strange, for which I apologize in advance.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

For some reason, travel always means getting up at ridiculous hours of the morning. No matter where I’m going, it always works out like that, and this trip is no different. That means, of course, that I was at less than my best when I arrived in Orono this morning. Excitement was over and done with a few days ago, replaced by outright panic, but this morning, I found it difficult to feel much of anything at all (besides cranky), which is actually a good thing. I slept on the bus ride and survived the first security check (despite a few nerve-wracking minutes while the security officer stared at my passport photo because it’s very green), waited around and got on a plane.

I was ready to turn around and go right back after that plane flight, because it was full of rattles and bumps, but instead I went through security again, had an exorbitantly priced lunch, and waited around for the plane to Greece. When we got on it, I was pleased to find that the plane was relatively empty. I had a window seat, and until the last minute, I thought I would have the two seats to myself so that I could spread out to sleep. At the last minute, though, James sat down (wonderful as he is, I can’t say that I was absolutely pleased to see him, but it did turn out to be fun). And then … we sat. It was a long and dull plane ride, punctuated by meals that were surprisingly good, even if they did smell like hospitals. I watched Atonement (which is not at all a happy film) and tried to sleep. That was not at all helped by the other college group from Pace University, who acted exactly like every stereotype of Americans that is out there, getting drunk and being loud and making life difficult for everybody. I am still proud that I didn’t kill them.

For most of the day, I had been in something of a fog, but when Beth woke me up to announce that we were flying over France, the whole experience really hit me. It hit me all over again when I looked at the progress map and discovered that we were closer to Baghdad than to Maine. Considering the farthest I’d ever been before that was Denver, I was in something of a shock when the distance had been put in those terms. For the first time, I didn’t just think “oh, we’re going to Greece,” I actually understood what that meant, and then I had trouble getting back to sleep in my excitement.

This addition to the entry was written in the hotel: My first sights of Greece were more than I could have hoped. I’d reminded myself numerous times that the entire country was not covered in ruins, but I wasn’t at all disappointed, because I was too busy thinking of how much my father would love seeing all of those agricultural fields and enjoying the mountains. That was most of my thoughts on our way from the airport to our hotel as well (interrupted by a few grouchy minutes of “the itinerary said we would be whisked to the hotel, but this is definitely more of a shlep”). My first sights of Athens were wonderful as well, because the city is so much more beautiful than most American cities. There are very few tall buildings, so you can see the beautiful views, and on the whole, you can definitely tell that you’re in a different place. I can’t wait to see what it brings.

The First Day

1:30 pm

Beth and Kerry are napping, but I can’t sleep. Who needs shut-eye when I’m staring dead at the Acropolis from my balcony? I might never come inside, but at least while I’m out here I can write down the little things I’ve noticed so far.

The Greeks seem friendly. Or at least, they don’t mock me when I say “Kalimera” and “efkaristo” (I really must learn the alphabet, phonetic spelling just won’t do it). They speak very quickly, and I don’t think that’s just me not understanding. There are ridiculous amounts of motorcycles and mopeds, but very few bicycles (though that makes sense, they would probably be crunched in traffic). One of the wonderful things is that there are plants everywhere: palm trees, flowers, trees, and one place in the city, I even saw grape trellises! Athens is enough to make anyone rethink their definition of what a city is. It’s not clearly laid out in grids, but that’s comfortable for me, though some people probably object to the illogic of it. It just feels like my little tiny town gone out of control. For instance, the noise that I thought must be some sort of emergency announcement is actually a man selling plants from the bed of a truck. I’m tempted to buy some, just because you’d never find something like that in the US. In fact, I could probably call down from this balcony and no one would even look at me strangely, because the balconies seem to be part of life here. The man across the way from me waved at me when I first came out, and I was completely delighted. Who would do that in NYC? Some men at the end of the street came out to clean the outdoor walls, and the scraping sound is actually pleasant to listen to. The sounds are different, especially because there are birds here, not just pigeons but real songbirds. I don’t know the names of them, but it’s nice to know that they’re here.

The balcony is my favorite thing about this room, not just because of the view (though that is amazing. I’m looking at the Acropolis right now. Maybe if I repeat that enough times it will hit me how completely strange and wonderful that is), but because the balconies and rooftops are really a part of life here. This is the first time I’ve spent much time on one, and I am resisting the urge to declaim Shakespeare (“Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou …” I am tempted, just to see if the man in the red truck down the street would be able to continue the scene).

Finally, the long day of travel is hitting me, but before I go in for my nap, I would like to write down two things that I don’t want to forget: the Mercedes taxis and Kerry having to chase her luggage down the hill earlier (which was funny enough that it got a slow-mo replay once we made it to the hotel room). Transcription note: In the paper journal, there’s a really beautiful stick-figure picture of Kerry chasing her luggage at this point, but I haven’t got a scanner to show it to you.

10 pm

I ended up taking two different naps earlier, which was nice, as I was rested for dinner after that. Dinner was amazing. I’d never had lamb before (even though, or really because, my family raises sheep), and while that wasn’t the most pleasant thing I’ve ever eaten, it wasn’t horrible. I really liked that spread that they had for the bread, as well (transcription note: tzaziki, of course), and the baklava was of course delicious. I said “thank you” in Greek, and the owner was over the moon. That actually became something of a theme—I said it to a shop owner later on, and he gave me free candy, which I’d never had happen to me. It’s like I said before, everyone is just really nice here, if some of the shopkeepers seem a bit pushy to me. I got two sets of worry beads, which I’ve been wanting since my aunt told me about them in April.

Now, at the end of the day, I’m on the rooftop sipping my first drink (ever, not just legal, not that you wanted to know that. For the record, it’s rather disgusting, which is probably because I hate soda and it’s a rum and Coke) and socializing with other people on the trip. I’m enjoying getting to know them a bit more, that’s for certain.

Here’s a few observations that have little to do with anything, they’re just things that I want to remember: I keep wanting to speak French, and other people I’ve been talking to have mentioned wanting to revert to whatever foreign language they learned in high school. It seems to be a courtesy thing, where we feel guilty that our culture isn’t at all bilingual. The Acropolis is gorgeous at night, and while all of my pictures are blurry I still get to look at it right now, at least. The buskers here are amazing: for instance, the Peruvians gave me quite a start when I saw them, just because a pair of men dressed like stereotypical Native Americans was not at all what I expected to see, and there are other musicians (a pair of men with guitars and a man with something that looked a bit like a hammer dulcimer) as well. It gives me something of a soundtrack to the city, no matter how strange a soundtrack, and I really enjoy it.

The Acropolis and Other Important Monuments

We all know what we saw today: the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Acropolis and all connected to that, and the Agora, not to mention smaller sights in between. Beyond that, I honestly cannot think of a thing to say. This day was the inspiration for the whole trip, and I have finally seen the buildings that I have been seeing pictures of for years. They weren’t at all what I’d expected, though. For one thing, the Acropolis was far more slippery than I’d realized. But in all seriousness, the biggest difference is that I had expected them to seem cold, austere, and unapproachable. They weren’t, of course, that was just my neoclassical sensibilities. They were just as warm and lively as the rest of Greece, which of course makes sense.

Seeing things like that always makes me want to touch them, which is driving me crazy at the moment. It’s always been an important way for me to learn, though I do understand why I can’t indulge in it. It’s just a little bit sad. I especially wanted to go stand next to the caryatids, see the height comparison, because those particular structures have interested me since I knew about them, but I had to content myself with taking a whole lot of pictures.

The sense of history is amazing here. You walk around the Plaka, and suddenly there’s a “Sanctuary of Pan” or a “Roman Cistern.” None of the Greeks blink an eye at that, but I always have to stop and look. I’d like to think that isn’t a tourist thing, no more than wanting to see the Acropolis is. It’s pure curiosity, and I do it in the States as well.

Wandering around the Plaka in a small group can be fun and education, and I did it for a while with Beth, Felicia and Julianne after our late lunch (or, in other words, the Institution visit that wasn’t). The shopkeepers are so nice, even if it’s because they want you to buy things. When you’re nice back, they tend to drop prices, especially if you try to speak Greek. There’s more casual touch than there is in the US, which I also like, as it makes the whole city feel like one big community.

Before I wind this day down, I want to comment on the subway theft. It’s definitely horrible, but I’m really surprised it hadn’t happened to us before. I’m glad that they were able to cancel various cards in time, but still … the whole thing is just an awful mess. And it completely ruined my romantic illusions about gypsies, which I suppose is a good thing, as now I’ll be wary.

Well, it’s the end of the day, and I’m eating strawberries on the roof (and feeling very elegant, I must say), so I am going to devote my attention to conversation.

Delphi

A quick note on the way to Delphi: I love that a motorcycle is a family vehicle here. I just saw a man drop his wife off at work, kiss her goodbye, and go off about his own day. I don’t know why, but I think that’s completely amazing. More later.

11 pm, the rooftop

It’s the little things that jolt me the most. The fact that the mountains are covered in shrubbery and not pine trees. The differently shaped people on the bathroom and pedestrian signs. The beehives on the side of the road. Even the comma instead of the period in prices takes me aback at times. It’s a constant reminder that we’re far away from Maine.

Delphi was even more amazing than Athens, in some ways, perhaps because I had less expectations of it. The air is clearer, there’s more greenery, and the ruins … I wanted so badly for the gases to be rising still. Call me foolish, but I keep expecting to discover something, and for Delphi to become active again? That would be beyond amazing. Even though everything is in ruins, it gives the impression of being ready to start bustling again any second.

Some things awe me to the point where I can’t begin to verbalize my impressions, and I know that sounds like a copout. There’s just a point where words become superfluous, although music begins to give an impression.

When Dionysia talked about the ancient music they found, I got really excited (Dionysia is my hero, by the way. I want to be just like her when I grow up). I wish there had been a place to listen to the music. She said it sounds “contemporary,” which makes me extremely curious. I expected that very distinct sound that Greek music has, but if it doesn’t sound like that, then the possibilities are endless.

This is definitely going to be one of the highlights of my trip.

Freedom, or “Even Greeks Get the Blues”

I spent today with Beth, Kerry, Felicia and Julie, for the most part. The first thing we did this morning was go to the Ancient Cemetery, because it looked so lovely when we passed it on our way to the Temple of Zeus the other day. I always enjoy cemeteries, and that was no exception. Being here, as a writer, is giving me all sorts of ideas for short stories, and this was one place that was full of inspiration. Some of the grave steles were really lovely, and walking through the cemetery itself was very calming.

After that, we went to the Roman Forum and the Tower of the Winds (which is just as interesting as everyone says it is), where for some reason they seemed to be setting up for a concert. I really would have liked to watch the concert, but instead we just stayed and took pictures for a little less than half an hour before having quite an adventure trying to find our way back to a familiar part of the Plaka. It was lunchtime, and we wanted to go to the place with the really cheap gyros. It’s funny how the maitre d’s try to get customers in with various ploys, something they would never stoop to in the cities I’ve been to, and I really enjoy it. We finally stopped at a place that offered us 10% off, and then wandered back to the hotel to listen to Iota (if that’s how you spell her name, nobody ever mentioned)’s talk, which was very interesting. I might have to try to read some Platinas now, just because I like the concept of being beautiful when you look upon beautiful things.

A little more Plaka-wandering brought on an interesting moment: for some reason, there was a duo playing blues, which was incongruous and wonderful all at the same time. There was a saxophone and a bass, and they were doing some pretty fancy improv. That definitely felt like the States, and I would have stopped to listen, but was instead dragged away.

The evening was spent with Greta, Sarah, Kelly and Matt, which was a nice change of pace. First, we found an internet café (which was an adventure in and of itself), and then had a real adventure trying to find the restaurant where Apollo works. We did find him (and what a strange man. The Greeks are friendly, as I’ve said, but he was friendly in somewhat awkward ways at times), and had a fun dinner. We didn’t end up leaving until nearly 12:30, however, which means that I am writing this entry on the balcony at 2 am, as my poor roommates are sleeping. I should get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow, and dinner at Dionysia’s!

Eleusis, Corinth, Epidaurus, and Dinner with Dionysia

Say the word “mysteries” and I am hooked. Eleusis was no exception. Surprisingly, I actually had heard many of the smaller nuances of the Demeter and Persephone story, but it was nice being reminded of them right there. I wished that the lighting had fit the mysterious mood better, but I suppose I have no control over the sun (to go on something of a tangent: the sun here is strange, or more to the point, people’s reactions to it are. Some people put on sunscreen every half-hour like clockwork and still sunburn or get those worrying rashes, while I put it on once a day and don’t even turn pink, even though I sunburn something fierce in Maine. I’m sure I’ll have more opportunity to discuss that). Looking at a bunch of stones doesn’t necessarily do it for me, but the stories associated with them certainly do! The museum was lovely too, especially that truly massive caryatid (I have a bit of a caryatid obsession, and the Classics ladies are thinking that might be a fun Halloween costume. Tangents again!). I thought it was especially wonderful that there was wheat growing all over the place, since it was sacred to Demeter.

And then it was in the bus again, to the Corinth canal, which was almost eye-wateringly blue and frighteningly far down. It was at this stop that I ate the best spaghetti I have ever had in my life—at a fast-food restaurant, of all places. This restaurant also had the honor of having the least sketchy bathroom that I have found in all of Greece (Transcription note: It remained the least sketchy bathroom that I found in Greece, and less sketchy than many in the US as well).

Lunch had and pictures taken, the group loaded into the bus once again, bound for Ancient Corinth. I found that particular archaeological site to be somewhat less inspiring than some others, for reasons I still do not understand. I like the story about the fountain, and the columns with the statues of Phrygian slaves, but for the most part, I was too tired to properly appreciate Corinth. It was a beautiful place, and I got some beautiful pictures, but it didn’t light me on fire like Delphi, or even Eleusis.

Following Corinth, there was a long bus ride, which, oddly enough, might have been some of the best sight-seeing we did all day, because I got my first proper gaze at the Mediterranean (well, the Aegean. But either way, it was almost as blue as the canal), as well as seeing breathtaking sights in the mountains. One of the saddest things I’ve seen might be the huge patches of forest that were blackened by the recent forest fires. This long road brought us to Epidaurus, which was wonderful (I liked the stories Dionysia told us about how they managed to heal people, especially the pregnancy one). We made a bit of fun in the museum, because several of the statues had snakes wrapped around them, and there were some Britney Spears references, but it was still beautiful statuary (although, after today, I’m not sure that I ever want to take a picture of a headless statue again. They all start to look the same after a while). The archaeological site was fun as well, but what was really lovely was the theater. The acoustics, as Professor Ogle proved, are absolutely phenomenal. I was all the way up at the top when she started to sing, and could hear as if she were right next to me (and I really wanted to join in, but it was rather intimidating. That will have to wait for later in the trip, I suppose). It was definitely a long and somewhat slippery way up as well, but definitely worth it, if only for the view and the pictures that I got.

And then it was back to the bus, where Dionysia gave us a lecture on the modern history of Greece. I’m afraid that I slept from a few centuries before Byron until World War Two, but what I heard was really interesting (I’m equal opportunity: history ancient and recent interests me just the same amount). Then, when we got to Athens, she got off and some of us got ready to go to dinner at her house.

Ah, dinner with Dionysia. That sounds like a television cooking show, but it turned out to be more of an adventure film. Hours later, I have figured out the problem: we were going off the wrong metro station when using our directions, so of course we got lost, and all of us got stressed. I won’t write about that part, nobody was exactly shown in a flattering light at that point. But, suffice it to say, eventually we made it, met Dionysia’s wonderful dogs, and ate a really delicious dinner, then made it back without too much more mishap. And once again, it’s around 2 am and I need to get some rest.

Leaving Athens: Written on the Boat

Well, today was a bit bittersweet, because Athens is beautiful. We slept in a bit, then checked out of our room and left to wander the Plaka one last time. We visited several shops that we’d been to before, and had one last lunch at the cheap gyro place (which I will have to return to someday, as they serve the best veggie burgers I have ever tasted), then worked our way back to the Acropolis View.

The museum … I was exhausted and ready to go take a nap, so I didn’t get too many impressions of it. Some of the statues were beautiful, though, and it was really nice to see bronze and other kinds of artifacts, not just the stone that we had seen before, as well as some statues that I’d heard of for years and never seen. The smaller things were good as well, again because we’ve mostly been exposed to the “big” things thus far on the trip (completely understandably, of course). However, I was very glad to get back onto the bus and head for Piraeus.

I love boats, but this is not a boat. This is a palace. I keep having uncomfortable Titanic flashbacks, but it’s still wonderful, and I’m pretty sure that there is more floor space in our room on the boat than there was in the Acropolis View Hotel. We explored the boat, and found everything from a movie theater to a baby grand piano (well, more of a preemie grand, it was really tiny). There were mirrors everywhere, which gave me a lot of starts. The view from the top deck was really lovely as well, and I liked seeing us leave port. Beth, Kerry and I, occasionally joined by Felicia and a few others, had fun wandering the ship all evening (although all of us were a little bit freaked out by the people who were camping out in the various hallways), at least until a slightly creepy gentleman started following us around, at which point we found some of the boys, stayed with them until he walked away, and then retreated to our cabins, where we are now, as he was enough of a creeper to keep us from wanting to explore much more.

It’s early, but we’re all tired, and there isn’t much more to say, so I guess that’s it for today. I’m too tired to miss Athens much, and I’m looking forward to being by the seaside.

Island in the Sun

I love Crete. I didn’t sleep well, since it was really hot in the cabin on the boat, but it’s perfect outside. When we got to the hotel, I was expecting another tiny room, but I was pleasantly surprised, as it’s at least double the size of the one in Athens, with a nice balcony and really comfortable beds. The bathroom is, of course, sketchy, but again, less tiny than the other one. On the whole, I could see myself really enjoying the stay in the room.

Once we were settled in, we explored the street a bit. There’s a market right next door, where I bought some nectarines and really delicious bread, and we have found the Greek equivalent of the Dollar Store, although it is far more expensive, since it’s the Euro-fifty store. I bought some beach shoes, since I’d forgotten to bring any before … which of course meant that we had to go to the beach. We got changed and headed down, and on the way we made our first “friend” in Crete.

There’s a lovely little restaurant next to the beach closest to our hotel, and the maitre d’, like so many others, stopped us to talk. He asked us about our stay, and told us about traditional Greek music and dancing that would be happening tonight, and he was really genuinely nice, which was good. After that conversation, we proceeded to the beach. Which is amazing, by the way. The sand is incredibly hot, dark gray more than black but still very nice. The maitre d’ told us that the water was cold, but when I went in, it was better than some lakewater in Maine in July, so it will be very hard (and was very hard) to pull me away when the time comes.

After beach time, we went a ways down the street and had dinner, where I had another really delicious veggie burger (it must be a European theme, and I’m going to miss them when we leave—which is soon, what an awful thought), and then we went back to “our” restaurant, where we ordered some cocktails and settled in to watch the music. The electronic backup track cracked me up a bit, but the man with the bouzouki was wonderful. James was playing with his worry beads, and one of the waiters took them away and delivered a tutorial on how to do it, as well as informing him that he needed a new set, as his would wear out. We were immediately adopted by the entire wait staff, really, and had a wonderful time getting pulled into the dancing and listening to the music. Some of the dancing was somewhat awkward, but it was still lovely.

Music night was followed by girl talk in the room (with my roommates slightly tipsy), during which time I discovered my first sunburn of the trip—though it still wasn’t half as bad as most of the ones I get in Maine. I wonder if I respond better to this UVA/UVB combination than that in New England, but since I’m not a scientist, I honestly have no idea. We have to get up for a tour, I’d better stop while I still can.

Religion and Flush Toilets, Then and Now

Knossos, in other words

Today, we finally reached the point where everyone is more tired than they are amazed to be in Greece, which means that people are getting grouchy. My roommates are currently having a little bit of a silent-treatment tiff, and I’m going to write out the day and let them work it out for themselves.

Knossos was nice. Even walking through the walkway that was covered with purple flowers was lovely, and hearing the peacocks was fun, if somewhat frightening the first few times. I liked seeing the archaeologists actually at work, too, and got a chance to snap a few pictures. I know that reconstruction is a really big archaeological faux pas (I’m an anthropology major, after all), but I still really liked being able to physically see what parts of the palace might have looked like, especially the paintings. Hearing about the flush toilets was amusing, if nothing else (I hope they flushed better than the modern ones on Crete, as the modern water pressure is nothing to be proud of), and I like all of George’s incidental knowledge (I love him too, in a different way than Dionysia. She was go-ahead, definitely a fighter, while George is definitely more calm), and how he pointed out the double-headed ax on the rock for us, as well as casually uncovering a bit of pottery to prove that the site is still mostly unexcavated (if they don’t excavate the tourist parts soon, they are shortly going to lose all context in their site, but then again, maybe many people understanding at least some of the experience is better than documenting the exact position of every pottery sherd. I have just committed archaeological blasphemy). The whole time, everyone kept mentioning “the goddess,” and I hadn’t heard much about her, so I really would like to learn more. I suspect I will have to go back and do some research—on Theseus and Phaedra as well. Professor Passman mentioned that the other day, and I doubt that she’ll have time to tell us the story, which has made me insanely curious.

Following our time in Knossos, we made our way to the temporary Heraklion Museum, which was about the size that I had patience for. All the statues of the goddess and other things were really fun to see, and I got some good pictures taken … and then we walked out to go shopping. People on Crete don’t necessarily offer you discounts if you’re nice to them, but they are certainly willing to haggle. Beth especially became an expert at it very shortly, and it was really amusing. Ask to pay less for a set of earrings in the US and see how long it takes for the proprietor to stop laughing. By the end, I had finished most of my souvenir shopping for my friends, and was ready to get back for a relaxing afternoon.

The afternoon started with lunch with Professor Ogle, where we discussed trip details, as well as various other things, following which I went down to the beach and had a little bit of time alone—much as I love everyone on this trip, sometimes I just need time to relax and unwind, which I finally got the chance to do. I took a very short nap on the beach, woke myself up before I sunburned too badly, went back to the hotel, and had a shower and a proper nap while my roommates had their own beach time. When they came back, a bunch of us got together and went to dinner at a different restaurant (there was a help wanted sign on the way, and if my mother wouldn’t be completely horrified, I would think about it. Maybe someday, right?). It wasn’t the best restaurant I’ve been to on this trip, but the waitress was really nice, so that alone was worth it.

After that, there was more shopping, although a few people dropped out to go to the beach, and the shopping was nice except that one of the shopkeepers was (unintentionally, I hope) mean to Beth, and there were self-esteem problems, which means we never made it to the beach, which is why the roommates have been fighting.

And bless them, they have made up, which means that I can get some sleep and hope that everyone will feel a little nicer tomorrow.

Palaces, Law Codes, and the Deep Blue Sea

What a day! Crete has lit me on fire more than the mainland did, perhaps because I’d heard so much more about the sights in and around Athens and had built so many expectations about them. I was too busy being amazed at how different they were from the pictures to realize how amazing they are in their own rights. There are no such problems on Crete. The views from Festos are absolutely breathtaking, and while I don’t remember too much about the site itself besides the metal works and the fact that it’s eroding away fast, I do remember that there are cacti on the way in that people carved their names into, and another kind of flowering cactus we saw that seems to eat insects. But as I said, it was the views that really stuck.

I’m sorry to start with Festos, though. It was Gortyn first, which was actually more amazing to me. The church was really lovely (and I liked that there was one room left for icons and candles, as well as all the birds that were flying around), as was the Odeum, but the Law Code really blew me away. I don’t know why, exactly, but maybe because it really told us so much about how they lived their lives every day (I especially liked that there was no capitol punishment). I ended up getting a translation that I haven’t had the time to read yet, because for some reason it really amazes me, even though laws tend to not be my first choice of study. I was also wowed by the discussion of the evergreen plane tree (which I had to tell my agriculturally minded father about as soon as I could), whether or not Zeus ever did do anything there, as well as the trees that grew up around the Roman pillars across the road. On the whole, I didn’t expect anything in the day to be near as wonderful as Gortyn, but considering how I jumped in with my discussion of Festos, I’m sure you can tell how excited I was about all of it.

From Festos we went to Matala, and even though we didn’t see any archaeological sites, it was the most amazing part of the day. I had a quick lunch of bread and fruit, and then I got in the water (I thought about going to the caves, but the ocean was so blue and so nice, despite the waves, and then I just wanted to collapse on my towel). It was even warmer than it is on the south side of the island, and we had a lot of fun playing around in the waves. I got knocked over and got salt water in my face several times, as the tide was strong, but it was really worth it. When we left, I slept most of the way back (though I woke up in time to see “Zeus’s face,” which was a really cool story as well).

Back at the hotel, we all took showers and naps and compared war wounds—all of us were rather tanner, and very tired, and I’d managed my first proper sunburn of the trip, which hurt a bit but was still worth it. After resting, we collected the rest of our group and forayed down the road to get some dinner. One restaurant would not give up trying to recruit us, so we went there, where one of the waiters looked like the Greek version of the Fonz. The wait staff there was wonderful to us as well, joking around with us when Katie and Lena both ordered “Sex on the Beach” and bringing us free drinks at the end of dinner. We even got our hands kissed! On the whole, it was an enjoyable dinner.

After that, I gave myself a people-vacation, letting Beth and Kerry go upstairs for a little bit of a party and listening to the techno music that the boy across the way was playing (and dancing a bit, I may as well admit it. Well away from the window, though). Now he has gone to bed, and it’s time for me to do the same.

I am not in Santorini

It might have been interesting to go to “Atlantis” today, but it was a really wonderful day here nonetheless. We slept in, which was amazing, and then went off shopping (and saw the Fonz again, who wanted us to come to lunch). We went most of the way down one street and ended up at “Gyromania,” which seems to be some sort of fast food. It was delicious, no matter what it was, and very filling considering how cheap it was. After that, we wandered back to the hotel for some relaxation, and then spent much of the afternoon at the beach again (it will be very hard to get me away from this wonderful water) before going to the Patisserie a few doors down to have sandwiches and sugar for dinner. This brought on another spate of shopping, and then the fun part of the day started.

First, most of us who had been there all day went to Julianne and company’s room and had an attack of the giggles, and then we decided that we wanted to go down to the beach at night, so we started off for that. On the way, a pair of gentlemen noticed us, without men along, and apparently assumed that all of us were drinking, since Beth had a wine bottle with her. They followed us down to the restaurant by the beach, where the very nice maitre d’ overheard their conversation and gave them the what-for in Greek before talking to us for several minutes while making sure they were out of the way.

On the beach, Beth and I started singing, which might be one of the highlights of the trip so far: Broadway, folk songs, and a few hymns. She sang a bit of an aria, but I didn’t know it. The wait staff leaned over the handrails and listened to us sing, and then we discussed music with the maitre d’ on the way out, which was wonderful again. He really is one of my favorite people that I’ve met on this trip, though all of them continually astonish me, not only with their kindness, but with their intelligence as well (most of them speak three or four languages, if not more).

At long last, we are back in the hotel, and I am realizing that for the first time I’m actually homesick, so I suppose I should go to bed. I’ve had the strangest dreams on this trip—hardly any of them actually about what we’ve been seeing, but I wonder if the air is just different here or something, because they’re very vivid. However, I’ll have to think about that at a later time, because I’m exhausted.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

I am trying my hardest not to sleep at all, which means that I am writing this around two o’clock in the morning. (Transcription note: advance warning, I have done my best to make this make sense but it still might be a tad bit tangential.) Today was another free and relaxing day. It started with a fun breakfast with my roommates, Felicia, and Julianne, which was followed by a trip down the street with them, Katie, and James. There was shopping, of course, but the point of the trip was to visit the Orthodox Church down the road.

After almost two weeks of craziness, even though I’m not at all religious, it was really lovely to go in there and breathe for a few minutes. The paintings inside were gorgeous, but mostly there was this air of peace, and I think all of us who went in prayed for a few moments, to whatever god or gods we believe in. After that restorative break, we walked most of the way back to the hotel, before a few of us decided that we wanted to go to Gyromania—so back we went, so I could eat tzaziki (which I have become addicted to), and everyone else could have gyros. We finally went back to the hotel after that, and I got some tzaziki mix and a few other things at the hotel shop, before we got ready for our last beach time.

We stopped and talked to “our” maitre d’ again for a few minutes, and then went down to the beach, where I swam more than sunbathed for once, which was really lovely. Kerry and I got a little bit hysterical and started “talking to Poseidon,” because we were having problems getting out of the water and decided that he wanted to keep us. It was bittersweet and fun all at once.

Whenever there is an event that is the least bit fancy, there is a certain kind of female that will take any excuse to dress up. This meant that, before dinner, a large group of us met up in my room to do hair and admire one another’s dresses, in a way that was reminiscent of getting ready for prom, in a way. Then we went downstairs to wait, where all of the poor boys seemed disturbed that they were going to be out with a bunch of girls in dresses.

Dinner was a wonderful way to wrap the whole experience up, and the evening that followed even more so. I won’t comment on the dinner except that I really liked that it was almost the same as we had on the first night, since it brought the whole thing full circle. After dinner, we went for cocktails at “our” restaurant, which was another real highlight. The wait staff remembered us, the waiter who had tutored James approved of what he had learned and reminded him to get a new set, they gave us free drinks and teased poor James until he blushed because he was alone with seven girls (and offered him a condom at the end of dinner. Europe really is a very strange place, at times). When we were finished there, we went down the road to the Black Cactus, where the techno was loud, the patrons were drunk, the bartenders hit on James (the funniest thing I saw all night), and where they were inexplicably dancing with a children’s pool toy that was shaped like a duck. Needless to say, we did not stay very long.

Back at the hotel once again, I watched a bit of the Eurovision contest with Greta, Sarah and Matt, and then came up here to journal. And now, even though I should stay up all night, I am going to take a nap, because my not being a horrible person tomorrow is more important than lack of jet-lag.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

On the plane. The second one.

And this, the last day, is misery. I feel like the living dead, exhausted and homesick. I have no personal space, people bang into me no matter how I sit, and there is what seems to be a large Greek party occurring all around me. I sleep for ten minutes at a time, I’ve relived that same hour six or so times, I’ve heard “All Shook Up” three times at least, and even though I know I’m whining, I just want to be home. Every bit of soreness and tiredness that I should have been feeling all along has finally caught up with me, and I am less than impressed.

There has, however, been one perk to this never-ending flight: Ireland. I have wanted to visit there my entire life, and even flying over it meant a huge amount to me, though of course I couldn’t see a bit of it. Once again, it’s hit me how far from home I’ve been, and considering what a small-town girl I am, I’m bowled over all over again (though that might be the plane ride. By all logic, gravity should feel like it affects me less up here, but the exact opposite tends to happen, and I get sore all over. I’m lucky the rest of the travel is worth it).

It’s a shame that the wonders we’ve lived through have to be ruined by a miserable plane flight, but there’s no avoiding it. They can’t invent teleportation fast enough, though, because I would love to be able to pop over to visit London for an afternoon, or take other similar trips without the plane ride.

If the people around me don’t quite down soon, I will either scream or start crying (for the second time today. I really don’t travel well). At least they aren’t like the other students on the way over …

The next morning

Well, I survived the rest of the travel, though that last grouchy entry made it sound as if I was close to snapping. I will never like the plane riding part of travel, but being there makes it exciting enough to put up with. I slept in JFK more than I had since the night before, and was glad to see my family, so everything has a happy ending. I’ll write one last entry when I’m over my jet lag and have had time to sleep a bit.

Epilogue

I’ve had days to think about the trip now, and I can do my best to summarize, in a few bullet points, what I’ve learned.

No matter how many times you hear it, you can’t comprehend how different famous sights are from the pictures until you actually see it.
The plane ride is worth it.
Knowing the history really does make seeing the sights better.
Don’t spend too much time behind the camera lens, or you’ll miss some amazing things.
You’re only young once, have fun as well as doing academics—or have fun with the academics. If you do something, you might regret it, but at least you will have done it.
American girls should always walk with a male escort, especially if there are any signs at all that they are dressed up or have been drinking alcohol. There are no exceptions to this.
Write it all down, or document it somehow, because you really will want to remember all of this in twenty years.
Take opportunities like this with both hands, because they don’t come around often.

This has been an amazing experience. I’ve learned not just about history, but about modern people as well. I’ve met wonderful people, both within and without our group, and no matter how corny this feels to say, I really do think that this was a life-changing experience (in five years, I might know in what ways it has changed my life). I would definitely recommend that other people take the class, because everything seemed to fall together very well (though in future incarnations, utilizing stateside time better might be a good idea). In other words: don’t forget to tell me when the next trip is!

Thank you for a wonderful experience, all of you. You can feel free to excerpt parts of the journal on the blog if you want, and I can e-mail you some of my better pictures next week some time.

The Count Down!

2008-05-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we have just a little time until going. The class has survived health scares and new diagnoses, final exams and getting papers in on time. Right now, your fearless leaders are busy grading, so it will all be done by Tuesday morning at 6:30 AM (bus leaves from Hauck Circle at 7:00 sharp!)

I must say I am a little nervous, but with Josh, James and Maisie to help out, I think we will be good to go. Some of you know that I had bilateral knee replacement surgery 2-1/2 years ago, which makes me a little slow, but, hey, it is so much better than having to navigate with a wheelchair, although that can be done, and IS done, by many people!

This is a dream for me - I have been in love with the ancient world all my life, have taught it since 1975, when I taught my first Latin class at the University of Iowa, and have never been to Greece! To be able to share this experience and to see it through the eyes not only of myself and of my colleagues Jay and Nancy, but through the eyes of the students who are going will be a wonderful thing.

Welcome!

2008-02-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the blog I have set up for our trip to Greece. We should be able to upload photographs and also link to a Picasa web album for our trip. I have left this blog open, so that your friends and family can access it and add any messages or comments they wish to it. I hope you will find this a fun and helpful way to connect with everyone about the trip - starting now!

Feel free to play around with this - explore the possibilities, add your own photos if you wish.

Tina