Antonio Rosa

We’re just about a week in. If I could, I would sit here and type up every little detail of what has happened so far and how I feel about everything. Unfortunately I can not, otherwise you would be sitting here all night reading. Even though everything has been amazing, I want to try to express to you all how much I appreciate and love the group of people who I have been blessed with to spend these three phenomenal weeks with. 

I am usually a pretty shy guy, and I typically stay to myself when I am around people who I don’t know. I was worried that I would be closed off from the others on this trip and not be able to really enjoy it due to my shyness. I was completely wrong! RIght from the beginning everyone was getting along. By the first night it felt like I have known everyone for years. We even started having inside jokes with one another and felt comfortable enough to playfully pick on each other. What really impresses me the most is the fact that there aren’t certain groups or cliques that people stick to. When we have free time and we decide to explore the city it is never the same people together. I would feel completely comfortable and excited to go out to eat or visit the market with literally anyone in the group, and it seems like everyone else feels the same way. 

Since everyone gets along, it really makes the group activities that are planned for us way better! We feed off of each others energy and it makes every experience ten times more enjoyable. Today we were able to get a demonstration of some greek dancing and then we were taught a few steps to impress all of the Greek ladies and gents. This experience involved us getting very close to each other even though we were hot and sweaty. Instead of complaining or refusing, we all laughed it off and did the best Greek dancing we have ever done in our lives. Then later that night most of us went to visit a salsa club and had a blast. As I was dancing I looked around and saw everyone dancing with each other and switching partners. It seems like every event that we attend, the bond between the group continues to grow and grow. 

These are friendships that I know will last longer than the three weeks we have here. The people who you travel with definitely makes or breaks the experience. I still would have enjoyed learning the culture and all of the sights, but having these amazing people here with me is truly a blessing. This trip so far has simply been τέλειος (perfect)!!

Some of us on the boardwalk after a long walk from the mountains

A group picture before the Greek dancing session 

(I'm the guy laying down on the left)

Hailey and Sara enjoying a run together. 

The welcome dinner

Virginia Del Real

We started the day with breakfast as usual, and then we headed to class. Josh had given us a head’s up that today’s class was going to be really packed in terms of content. We went over the various different Enneagram types. During one of our pre-departure meeting, we were assigned to take the Enneagram test, and we finally got to find out what the results meant today. There were a total of 9 different types of personalities. There were many students whose results yielded more than one personality due to how close the results were. I was in between two types. After having open discussion and covering each of the types during lecture, I was able to pinpoint just one of the personality types. Today’s lecture was very interactive, as we were able to discuss with one another our Enneagram results. 

After class and debriefing, a group of us decided to go get fresh fruit juice from a café nearby, called Coffee Story. Oh my, was that fresh juice mixer delicious!! It was made from oranges, bananas, and pineapple. Best drink I have had here thus far. After finishing our drinks, Nhu and I started walking back to the hotel. On the way back, we noticed a small market and decided to explore a little since we still had some time before our community service. The market had many tables set up displaying fresh produce, clothing, and cheeses. Nhu and I walked through the market admiring all of the fresh fruits and vegetables. We stopped at one particular table because we were amazed at how beautiful the strawberries were. Everyone at the market was very friendly, two of the men at this table insisted on taking a picture with us after asking where we were from. So we did! Nhu and I took a selfie with them. I really love going to these markets, I love the fresh produce and just seeing how everyone interacts.

Once we got back to the hotel, I noticed that the rest of the group was next door to the hotel at Grillo, having lunch. We still had about 15 minutes before it was time to leave for volunteering so I decided to get some French fries and Tzatzikisauce. Yes, I dipped my French fries in the sauce. It is so good! I got a plate full of fries, which was huge! I shared with the girls at the table so we could finish them all in time to leave for vomlunteering. 

Today was our second day of community service at Smile of the Child. We continued working on the little paper houses and tags today. We were also able to ask any questions we had about the organization. It is a very well rounded organization; they do everything they can to be able to give children a home. I feel great knowing that we contributed to a great cause!

Orange, banana, and pineapple mixer 

Gorgeous strawberries at the market 

Selfie with Nhu and locals from the market

French fries and Tzatziki sauce!! Yumm 

Nhu Pham

Today was our fourth day in the beautiful city of Thessaloniki, Greece. Our lecture today focused on intercultural sensitivity which was a very interesting topic in my opinion. As my professor defined it, intercultural sensitivity is the ability to distinguish, experience, and act appropriately in different cultures. This topic is especially fascinating to me because of the vast amount of diversity that I get exposed to everyday on Purdue campus, so it is extremely important to be aware, accept, and make an effort to adapt to other cultures. Our lecture today made me feel very privileged to be a boilermaker, representing Purdue University on this wonderful adventure learning about Greece. During our discussion, we came up with several ways to help us become more interculturally sensitive at Purdue like engage in cultural events on campus, join multicultural clubs and organizations, take the initiative and reach out to international students, and be careful about our attitude and behaviors about other cultures. 

For lunch, a group of us went to get the traditional Greek gyro which had roasted pork, cheese, fries, ketchup, and mustard all wrapped in pita bread. I'm a meat lover so I absolutely loved it! The restaurant waiter was very friendly and welcoming. She knew we were tourists, so she tried to explain to us all of the ingredients in the gyro and gave us some traditional Greek cheeses and sauces to try. The longer I stay here, the more I fall in love with the Greek cultures, language, and people. I realized that as long as you make an effort to go out of your way and interact with people, you will be amazed at how much people take pride in sharing their cultures. 

Then we had our community service in the afternoon. We volunteered at a non-profit organization called Smile of the Child. This organization was inspired by a boy who was diagnosed with brain cancer. He believed that every child deserves to have a smile, a second chance, so the organization started with the sole purpose to help less fortunate kids. The organization now has 13 homes that support 380 children. We made small crafts like paper houses and cards that the organization sells to the locals during special occasions like weddings. All of the profits go toward helping the children. I had a lot of fun because I love doing crafts and volunteering has always been one of my favorite hobbies. I also enjoyed talking and getting to know my fellow study abroad friends who have been there for me, indulging in this adventure....

Hailey, Shenetha, Josh, and I eating our Greek gyros!

A more close up picture of the gyro. 

Varieties of cheese and fries that the nice waiter gave us. 

Me making the cards for Smile of the Child :)

Sara Morrison

After a wonderful breakfast of yummy yogurt, fantastic fruits, eggs, and cakes, we had a class over Global Leadership which was eye opening. Personally, I have the mindset of “focus on the markets”; however, global leadership is more than that. Learning how to collaborate, connect, share, and develop with all the nations. 

Heading to the market was an adventure in itself as we squished between locals on the bus, trying to validate tickets…this time. We certainly were noticeable with our giggles and decided that the silver loop during winter at Purdue was most similar to this experience.

The best word for the day would have to be: FOOD. We ate all sorts of delicious and interesting things such as pastries, coffee, bread rings, more pastries, olives, tomatoes with cheese, bread with cheese, cheese with cheese, and much more! Then there was the sausage. Smoked to perfection, this sausage would make my sister impressed (that is a tough challenge with smoked meats). Between our time eating we saw many shops and met many wonderful people. Everyone here has been so kind and accommodating that our most used word is Ԑυχαριστώ (thank you). Spilios set us up with a cordial tour guide who then introduced us to many friends from a café, pastry, olive, cheese, and fish shop.  

After our large lunch, groups of us went separate ways. Rosa headed down to the market for some shopping and Josh got on a bus heading up to the top fortress. I joined him and once there we split into small groups. Josh and some other members went to some souvenir shops. Some girls and I went exploring to the top of the fortress and were able to see more houses. Life at the top is quiet, peaceful, and full of curvy roads. The silence reminded me of back in my hometown where the only noise is of birds and the wind. From there we decided to head back to the hotel. Different groups went separate ways but we all made it back in one piece. Taylor, Samantha, and I certainly took the roads less traveled and immersed ourselves into Thessaloniki’s parks, college, and elephants.  

I feel as if I can speak for everyone that we burned off all the delicious food that we had and now we are ready for more. Off to dinner with free time afterwards! 

Love,

Sara Morrison

Me and Josh eating pastries

Our first stop on the food and market tour

Delicious Greek coffee and loukoumi 

Pastrami Stop

Chef Andonis and Antonio

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.

Heading Out!

Departing Purdue University, see you soon Greece!