Kathryn Moro

As I have enjoyed everything so far on this study abroad, I find it hard to settle on one thing to discuss. We are about a week and a day into this now and  I feel like I have been here forever. I feel like it is fairly easy to fit in and find our way because everyone is so nice and friendly. Greece has beautiful sites and I love exploring the city. So today after a wonderful Greek style breakfast and our class on self-efficacy and stories (which was one of my favorite classes thus-far), a couple students and I went to visit the market and the square of Thessaloniki. A lot of us wanted to go back and to buy some souvenirs, so we spent today doing that! After buying some, we ate some delicious sandwiches and then visited the Crepe shop that everyone had kept talking about. We really wanted to experience it for ourselves and we for sure did enjoy it! I ended up splitting a nutella and banana crepe with a couple students with me because the crepes were just too big for one person! After tiring ourselves out from the shopping and stuff we came back to indulge in the “siesta time” that the Greeks follow (really trying to experience the culture…lol). 

After naps and dinner, a couple of us found ourselves anticipating the time until the artist was coming 

to share his artwork. His name is Φώτης Ασπρομάτης (Fotis Aspromatis). Little did we know that we 

were going to be able to actually draw a little with him and edit some of his work. When he arrived at 

the hotel, which is where one of his biggest artexhibits is, he told us a little bit about his style and 

work. He worked through a translator because he only spoke fluent Greek. After telling us about his 

art and showing us his favorite pieces, we then all went to the room and he took out “pre-drawn” 

pictures that he didn’t fully complete. He had left them that way so that we could embellish them in 

our own ways and then color them when they were finished. The pictures portrayed sites of Venice, 

Thessaloniki, dolphins, and one of his famous portrayals of women. He had only made 6 and there 

turned out to be 7 of us that attended the workshop. I got lucky because he then worked with me to 

draw a new one and I got to see him in progress as well as he let me make changes and embellish it in 

my own way. Out of all we have done so far, I have to say that this was truly my favorite activity. I 

really enjoy drawing and being able to work one-on-one with a Greek artist was an amazing 

experience. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this amazing opportunity will turn out to be like!

ΚΑΛΗΝΥΧΤΑ (Goodnight), 

Kathryn Moro

Me in the square of Thessaloniki, after shopping for souvenirs, enjoying a delicious crepe.

A collage of me working with the artist and one of his pieces on show in the hotel.

A “before and after” of the art I worked on with the artist. (still not fully complete)

A group photo of all of us with the artist after working on our art pieces.

Meagan Hughes

Today marks a week since we arrived at Thessaloniki.  It was set on our calendar as a free day and I woke up at 8 a.m. exhausted, running on a busy week with little sleep.  I was very tempted to turn off the alarm and bypass the museum visits we planned to go to on our own.  Somehow I dragged myself out of bed and grudgingly got ready for the day ahead despite my extremely sore calves from hiking Mt. Olympus yesterday.  Good news: what I assumed would be a day full of dull, lackluster hours turned out to be my favorite one on the trip thus far!

We started at the Greek Agora and Roman Forum where we brought out our inner goddesses by posing on pedestals and saw the crumbling ruins of where the city used to come together to settle their important business transactions.  This museum taught me so much about Greek history that I hadn’t the slightest clue about.  Anything from what they did in their pastime to how a boy became a man.  The security guard even shared a fun fact: playing games with a ball was started in Greece (specifically..not Spain!).  

A few of us decided to have lunch at the rotating tower. AMAZING VIEW!  It took an hour and a half for a full rotation and was definitely worth the visit.  I also tried a FreddoCappuccino for the first time and as a coffee guru, I must say I definitely approve and will be requesting it when we get back in the states. 

After lunch we went to the archeological museum.  Here I personally was so inspired by the ancient art that they dug up from centuries ago along with other artifacts like weapons, armor, jewelry, and even skulls.  The museum had a lot of modern technology that made it interactive which was a lot of fun!

After a day full of a boatload of information, we literally got on a boat!  The sunset cruise was the most relaxing end to an exciting day.  Sitting on the bow of the boat, bonding with classmates, and taking an insane amount of pictures…what more could you ask for?

It is hard to believe that a week has already gone by.  We still have two weeks left in this beautiful country but I know time is going to fly.  I can’t wait to see what other exciting adventures are in store for us!

Best,

Meagan

  

Courtney, Gabi, and I posing on pedestals at the Greek Agora.

My amazing dessert at the rotating tower. Walnut pie!

 Jenna, Anna, Sara, and I on the bow of our boat! 

 Matt and I at the beginning of the sunset cruise.

Josh Milligan

When Rosa asked me to write a blog post about our hiking trip to Mt. Olympus I jumped at the opportunity. Undertaking this hiking trip was one of my goals for this year's study abroad experience, I knew that they would all be familiar with Mt. Olympus and I wanted to give them the opportunity to hike this storied mountain. I fully expected them to enjoy our trek and to be blow away by the beauty that surrounded them. What I did not expect was how much the hiking trip, and our students, would impact me.

In my mind, before we left, I was envisioning starting at the base of the mountain and hiking up as far as we could, then hiking back down. Instead we were taken up into the mountain and dropped off at a monastery. Initially we were going to just undertake a short hike to a cave and back, however, many of the students wanted to hike more so instead our guide suggested we hike down the village at the base of the mountain and our bus would pick us up there. 

What we did not know at that time was that it was 7.7 km (just under 5 miles) to the village. At the start of the hike everyone was in good spirits, there was a great deal of laughter, and we stopped to take pictures often. As the heat of the day wore on, and we were, seemingly, no closer to the base students began to get sore, tired, and cranky. As I look back on the day with fresh eyes (and no longer sore, tired, and cranky myself) that's when I see what was truly awe inspiring about the day. 

Our students.

Many of them had only hiked a time or two in their lives, they were wearing tennis shoes and at best athletic gear, and they were not mentally prepared for what ended up being a five hour hike. And yet, they made it down that mountain. They encouraged one another, they shared their food and water, they lifted one another up, literally at times, and they finished the hike. Together, as a family. 

I think this trip meant so much to me because it so perfectly encapsulates what I love about Horizons. Our students are often faced with seemingly impossible challenges, and under the banner of Horizons they meet those challenges headfirst. They find the connections, and the family, they need not just to survive but to thrive. They are the embodiment of perseverance and they demonstrated that on the mountain. Olympus National Park is an absolutely stunning place, but the beauty of that place is nothing compared to the memory I'll cherish of my students succeeding together.

 

"Tricky stream crossing"

"The group at one of the many bridges"

"The same bridge, this time with context"

"Towards the end of the hike, our energy was a little low"

  

Shenetha Sheperd

I went hiking on Mount Olympus today. Before I go on, I want to start by stating that I'm not a very outdoorsy person; I’ve only been hiking once besides today and it was a very thrilling and terrifying experience that I swore I would never do again. Despite that promise,  when I was given the opportunity to go hiking today, I couldn’t pass it up. Seriously, how often does one get the chance to go hiking--on Mount Olympus, IN Greece. I had seen the mountain from the plane and I knew it would be even more spectacular up close. And it was. The group of study abroad students that chose to go hiking (which includes me, of course) got to the mountain around eleven in the morning. We were driven to the top and let out to hike down a  trail that led to the bottom of the mountain. We started out by touring the ruins of an old church, but eventually we moved on to regular hiking. Everything started out really exciting; my group and I were constantly stopping to take pictures of the clear-as-glass rivers, the unbelievably gorgeous waterfalls, and the view that stretched on forever. About an hour and a half into the hike, everyone began to really focus on the hike (and less on selfies), which was good because focus quickly became a necessity as loose rocks threatened to undo us. We traveled across so many bridges and up so many stairs that exhaustion quickly became a shared emotion among the group. At that point, we were stumbling and screeching our way through the mountain and some of us were getting worried that we’d end up trapped and injured in the mountains with no way to call for help. If I’m being honest, I was one of those someones (give me a break, though, it was my second time hiking). I couldn’t be too scared though, not with my fellow classmates and friends encouraging each other to push on and keeping the mood fun. Matt, who is also a study abroad student, was especially helpful; he came prepared with snacks, extra water, and a first aid kit (which came in handy on several occasions). 

The trail itself was encouraging, as well, as each rounded border led to another view more beautiful than the last. The trail, in an effort to torture our muscles, repeatedly changed direction taking us down the mountain and then all the way back up. Eventually, we made it to the end of the mountain, though--slightly worse for the wear, but it was definitely worth it. Mount Olympus was more beautiful than I hoped and I’ve never felt so appreciative to be a part of nature.

I'm the one in the front, hiking on Mt. Olympus

The waterfalls were so amazingly beautiful!

Horizons Study Abroad  2015 hiking in Greece!

Amazing view from Mount Olympus