Easy as Aß∆

Ever since I graduated from high school, I’ve thought about all the things that I could go back to and absolutely dominate if I were able to now.  So far, my list includes things like the first grade spelling bee (which I was eliminated from after misspelling the first word I got…chair), machine-pitch baseball (I would smoke those things like Albert Pujols now), and any sport in gym class (wait, I dominated those anyways).  Up until yesterday, that list also included kindergarten.  Now I may be no Da Vinci, but I can fill up coloring books like it’s my day job.  And forget learning about how to tell time.  I’ve gone through 8 time zones in the last week and have only slipped up once.  But apparently, if I had to relearn the alphabet, I’d still have the same problems I did in that first grade spelling bee (stupid chair).

Why do I say this?  Well, yesterday was the first day of classes here in Athens.  First on the schedule: Modern Greek Language.  Now, I’m assuming most of you reading this have never tried to interpret an alien language, but I can now assure you that I have.  Not only are Greek words weird sounding and without any comprehendible rules, but they also are written in different letters.  Any of you who have ever been in a frat (sorry, fraternity) or sorority may have already noticed that these letters are quite foreign.  But we don’t have any frats (sorry, fraternities) or sororities at the upstanding universities of St. Ben’s and St. John’s, so my innocent eyes have never looked upon these odd symbols before.

As I sat in this class yesterday, my mind went to mush.  All of the sudden a “p” made an “r” sound, an “n” made a “p” sound, a “∆” made a “th” sound, a “∑” made an “s” sound, an “H” made an “I” sound, and a bunch of other made up symbols such as circles with lines in them and Ω’s and so on made other sounds.  I’m sure our teacher was doing her best to go slow, but I don’t think she could understand just how hard this was.  This wasn’t like learning Spanish or French (which, as we all know, I’ve already struggled with this trip), but instead was like trying to learn hieroglyphics.  After only an hour and a half of sounding as incomprehensible as this guy, I was exhausted.

Luckily, I was given a much-needed break before I had to go to our next class, which was Art History.  Even luckier still, Art History only lasted 10 minutes.  So I had that going for me, which was nice.  Our first day of classes was thus ended.

Later that afternoon, we met with a travel agent who has worked with our study abroaders in the past.  Little did I know that by the end of the meeting, we all would have booked a three-day stay in Santorini (small volcanic island about 10 hours off the coast).  So I guess I’ll have that to write about soon.

Oh, and let me not forget about yesterday’s other big event.  You see, at CYA, most of the students studying abroad aren’t with entire school programs.  There are a couple schools that are represented by high single-digit numbers (USC, Notre Dame), but St. Ben’s and St. John’s are the only schools here with a large group.  That was until yesterday, when the Lewis and Clark group of 17 new students arrived.  I could have sworn the skies grew a little more ominous over our heads as the gods realized the circumstances below.  These new students instantly became our rivals.  We knew that we needed to get prepared for a battle over Athens that would be bigger than any war in Greek history.  All we can hope for is that the Lewis and Clark admissions lady didn’t accept any brave or courageous students.  (For those of you who are a little lost over the last sentence, I personally know one of the admissions ladies at Lewis and Clark, so this is serious stuff).

In other news, we had the night free last night, so we decided to visit one of Athens famed outdoor cinemas.  It was on the roof of an indoor cinema, and was run by an old man and his wife.  The movie itself wasn’t the best (The Proposal), but the outdoor atmosphere was awe-inspiring.  I then slept for 10 hours and we all headed to the beach for the first time today.  I guess it’s a little known fact that the Aegean Sea is saltier than McDonald’s french fries, so I could basically float without any effort.  But, the water was also perfect on the hotness scale, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

Other than that, not much has happened.  We went to the grocery store and got some bare essentials (Coke, cereal, milk, and Snickers bars) and also found a great little shop that makes gyros the size of Chipotle burritos for only 1.80 euros.  A gyro for that little euros is as good as it gets.

Alright I’m clearly running out of ideas for this post.  I guess I’ll write again soon when more things happen.

Special Shout out of the Day:  Joseph Jensen.  For those of you who don’t know Joe, he is a 20-year old friend of mine who is studying abroad in Mexico.  Normally none of that is important enough to merit a special shout out but Joe did something amazing yesterday in his pre-med studies down in Puebla.  That's right ladies and gents, on the first day on his hospital shift, Joe delivered a baby.  It’s a miracle of life and also a miracle that he didn’t faint.  Congrats to Joe and to the newborn, who was soon named after him (I just made that part up).

European Insult Tally:

Bill: 1

Scott: 2

Matt: 0

Ryan: 1

Ok I’m sorry this is getting monotonous, but it’s tough to insult a Greek, and that’s not for the lack of trying.

 

Ya digg?

 

Your friend or family member (or random acquaintance)

Scott Twelves