With emotions ranging from bored to wildly happy to stunned. You’ll find out why.
I am a person that is used to constant movement. Throughout much of my life, I have spent my days being active at all hours, or finding a way to entertain myself if I don’t have something to do. Especially at Iowa State, I usually keep busy with classes, clubs, fitness, and work, plus hanging out with friends. Here, I can do about half of those activities.
Since each class at the American Farm School occurs once a week, I have a lot of free time. My schedule includes no class on Mondays, three classes on Tuesdays, one class on Wednesdays, two classes every other Thursday, and one class on Friday. That being said, I have to find stuff to fill up my time. Sometimes, other students are available to hang out, but lately, most of us are busy with papers and tests. Other times, I make a trip to Thermi to get groceries, or spend time on the school roof garden journaling or reading. I try to make the most of it, but all of the free time is starting to get to me a little bit. I might ask around for ways to become a volunteer on the farm or in the community, so stay tuned for that update.
Last week, I had a Nutrition test in which I was a little worried about my results. Nonsense, though, since the grading system here is much different from Iowa State’s. Here, a 70-100 is an A, while 60-69 is a B, 50-59 a C, and so on. I did well enough on the test, though while going over the answers, there were some questions I couldn’t believe I answered incorrectly. There’s always room for improvement! I had a short advising appointment with this professor, as he is also the head of the Food Science Department. He wanted to make sure I was enjoying my time and my classes, as well as if I had any concerns. No, no, and no, besides the endless pasta served in the dining hall. Thankfully, he gave me suggestions on how to improve our meal plan.
Twice a week, Des and I play soccer; or football as it is correctly called everywhere else in the world. We play with four to six guys from school while Erika and Mallory cheer us on. Sometimes, we get a big crowd for about a half-hour. That half-hour can be kind of exciting, though, since we feel the need to do better for our fans. For me, it’s a little tough since I haven’t played soccer in roughly twelve years, but I get better each time we play. This week, I even scored three goals in a row. Cue, She’s the Man.
On Tuesday, I took over the ISU Study Abroad Instagram stories. I introduced myself and my program and encouraged viewers to ask any questions they may have! I was able to show off my dorm room, the view from my room, and some aspects of the city. It was a fun day, and I was glad I was able to help and connect with future study abroad students, especially some who will be in Greece next semester!
Friday evening was spent doing the most innocent, basic, young sleepover activity: making a cootie catcher. I’m not even going to try to explain what this is, but I am hoping most of you know. Bored, we decided to make one, but with a twist. Inside, we wrote dares instead of fortunes. The dares ranged from performing in the lobby to recreating a vine to asking for chocolate without saying, “chocolate.” Involved in this fiasco were myself, Erika, Des, and Mallory. Taking things seriously, we made a pact that we would never back down from a dare, and would always perform the dare in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Dress. It was a hilarious game, and we have decided to play it on a more active night and continue to add more dares. My only wish is that we would have filmed our production efforts.
On Saturday, all of the study abroad students and the three AFS fellows loaded the school’s minibus to embark on our trip to Meteora. The destination is about three hours from school in central Greece and is home to six monasteries built atop rock formations. The site is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and it is pretty obvious why. The rock formations are stunning, leaving you to wonder how on God’s green earth were these giant cliffs formed. They think the area was once underwater, and the rocks were carved out of from the water. A wild thought, since the formations reach nearly 1,300 feet in height. Our guide taught us about the monasteries, the monks and nun’s way of living, and the stories told inside the churches. The rocks are a decent ways from civilization, perfect for the solitude and simple life of the holy. Also, each female visitor is required to wear a skirt to cover up, which thankfully are supplied at each monastery. All in all, the experience was exceptionally interesting, and I recommend adding it to the quality list of places to visit in Greece.
We spent Saturday night in a hotel below the rocks, indulging in an authentic Greek family-style meal at a local restaurant. I don’t know how I ever went through life without consuming tzatziki sauce on the regular. After dinner, our evening was spent educating ourselves on the darker side of American history and trading in dares for truths. After a peaceful sleep, we woke up the next morning to feast on the hotel breakfast. It was probably the best hotel breakfast I’ve ever had, with hard-boiled eggs, sweet bread, pastries, fresh fruit, and some wafer cookies. The wafer cookies reminded me of home, and we snagged some for an afternoon snack. After leaving the hotel, the group stopped in Trikala for a walk around town. Since it was Sunday, all the shops were closed except for cafés. We all split up, and my group of four found a cute little place called The Love Shake. I ordered tea, and was delighted to see it served in its own little tea kettle! Our server also gave us small cork keychain souvenirs, which we thought was so sweet. Before boarding the minibus again, we had to get a quick photo opp.
This upcoming week doesn’t hold too much excitement, though we have talked about participating in a little karaoke. We’ll see how that goes. In other news, I finally added the Greek keyboard to my phone, so I may now send messages in Greek! It’s up to you to decode them. :)
Amanda