Jenna DeSousa

Jia sa! Today we embarked on our journey in Greece. After a long day of travel and sleeping on relatively hard beds, everyone had to muster up the strength to wake up for class at 9am. Thankfully, we delved right into the Greek culture by learning the language. We learned phrases such as hello, good bye, good morning, where is, how much is, etc... I learned how to at least communicate by introducing myself: me lene jenna. I can tell others "spudazo, ime fititria" which quite literally translates to I study, I am a student. Now we can build upon our greek knowledge as we continue in our study abroad program. Some of us also got to experience technology from the dinosaur age as we purchased brick phones to send/receive text messages from in country. It was very interesting to go back to middle school days where the only way to text a certain letter is to press the number three times. 

Beyond class, we finally were able to do some exploring. For this, we took an open air city bus, but first we needed to travel to the bus stop. We took a city bus to arrive at our destination, and it reminded all of us purdue students about the busses on campus; You know, like the silver loop on a below freezing day where everyone is shoved in like sardines. Except this one was in 80 degree weather, more humid and everything was in Greek rather than English. Okay, so almost the same thing. Regardless, it was an exciting experience even though most of us failed to validate our tickets to get onto the bus, whoops! The open air bus city tour was absolutely breathtaking. We saw so many historical monuments, brick ruins, stray cats and dogs, random people laughing at us tourists, and of course, the highest point of thessaloniki. Looking out over the city, you could see millions of houses just packed right on top of each other all surrounded by blue water. I have never seen an area as populated as this city, and I cannot imagine what the rest of the country looks like. Tonight, we also experienced a taste of the Greek culture by attending a welcome dinner. The dinner consisted of 8 different meals, all ranging from cheese dips for rolls to chicken wrapped in grape leaves with a yogurt based sauce. The best part of the meal was the dessert, when we ate tree trunk. Don't worry, it wasn't actually tree bark. It was a sweet chocolate based dessert with bread pieces topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. If heaven had a taste, it would taste like tree trunk! Now it's time to get some sleep and do all over again tomorrow. Good night, or as we would say it, kalinihta! 

Me enjoying the view of Thessaloniki from a dock in the city!

The open air city bus

Traveling to get to the bus for the open air city bus tour. 

The site overlooking the entire city from the highest point in Thessaloniki. 

Matthew Basham

Our group flew from O’Hare to Frankfurt, Germany. When we arrived in Germany the first thought that came to my mind and I am guessing to everyone else’s was, "thank the lord we are off that plane!". That flight was about seven and a half hours where we felt squished and could not sleep.

On the positive side we were given a wide range of movies, music, and T.V. shows to watch that made the trip more enjoyable. Upon entering Germany’s airport it was as if I was in a sense of disbelief. The thought of not being in the continent of North America had not yet settled in my mind. We sat in Germany’s airport for about two and a half hours then it was time to board the last flight of the day to Greece. On both flights I can say that the airline food was pretty good. The first flight had a dinner and a breakfast, while the second flight provided one meal. When we arrived in Greece we were not welcomed with the most ideal weather but it still did not hide the beauty of the city of Thessaloniki.

 The city had a vibe of closeness and felt small even though it is very large. After loading on the bus, we rode to our hotel while just staring out the window to see what this opportunity would bring us. The city was full of apartments approximately eight floors high and each of them were full of character in the design. Some floor balconies would have greenery all over the railings so whoever was living there would be able to walk onto the balcony and have a beautiful view. Upon arriving to our hotel we received our keys and proceeded to our rooms, mine was on the seventh floor. We looked out on the balcony to see a view you just cannot get in Indiana. It felt so comforting and made me feel excited to know that as I stood there I was beginning a journey that would not only change my way of life but how I see the world.

 Ready to check-in at O'Hare

Finally in Greece! That's me holding the camera

The view from my room!

Class One: Greek Survival Language Course

Professor Maria Kalaitzopolou, American College of Thessaloniki

Students began their morning with a tasty breakfast followed by Greek language instruction.