γειά σου

γειά σου!

This means hello. It is pronounced "ya-sas". I know know how to say hello, hi, thankyou, sorry/ excuse me, so-so, bathroom, and the names of many of the nearby towns. I can't believe the amount of new things I learned today. I am starting to understand the Greek alphabet and it is getting easier to sound out the names of shops and signs.

This mornign we slept in (I'm tols it's one of our last opportunities to sleep late so I made it count). I got up in time for lunch and then after we headed on our first trip to Athens. We took a bus from Porto Rafti to Markovolo (1.40 Euro) then got on another smaller bus to Kariopi (1.60 Euro). Once there, we got tickets for the Metro bus (.50 Euro with a student ID). This train runs through a mountain and into the heart of Athens. We waited a very long time on the platform, but it gave us a good opportunity to talk and practice some of our Greek words. After riding the subway to the center of Athens we unloaded and walked out into a bustling station and then a beautifulthriving city.

With my rain jacket and waterproof shoes on (it was rainy and in th 50-60s today) we walked around Athens for a couple of hours. Here, we are warned, that there is a high risk of being pick-pocketed. I kept my bag infront of me with my hand on it the whole time, and I felt very safe. After finding our meeting place, we waled around the Plaka (an amazing street market with tons of cool shops). I can not wait to go back and get to explore all the shops! We walked for a while and even got to see the Acropolis lit up on the hill in the distance. We will be going there tomorrow for a more educational guided tour ( we will take notes for class). Then we headed back to the meeting place, Starbucks, and made our way back to the Metro station and back to The Artemis. It was so good to get off our feet and have lasagna for dinner. After dinner we set out tea and coffee, and some people watched a movie.

Tomorrow promises to be a very full and long day! We are set to leave on a bus at 8am and spend the whole day in Athens seeing the historical sites. And tomorrow night I will be eating at my first "Taverna" (No, it's not a tavern. more like a street vendor with gyros.)