Greetings from Greece!

I made it! I am now in Athens, Greece!

I arrived earlier this afternoon and spent the afternoon and evening meeting up with my peers, so I just got home and will only write briefly as I have a long day ahead and much to say later.

First, my trip to Berlin was a fantastic one. I couldn't have asked for anything more, and I am so glad to have met everyone on the Honors trip. They were fantastic people, and I'm going to miss hanging out with them. I also appreciated getting to stay at my friend, Ronny's. That was a fun experience, and I loved living in another part of Berlin.

This morning, I took a taxi to the airport. Ronny's roommate helped me call one since I knew they'd speak rapid-fire German, and I'd probably have plenty of trouble. I guess I should've tried, but I didn't want to mess up my ride to the airport.

Once I got in the taxi, the cab driver was one of the nicest German guys I've ever met. He spoke a bit of English, but he made me speak to him in German after finding out I'd been studying it for two years.

"When you are in Germany, you must practice speaking your German, just like I must practice my English with you," he said. Practice, we did.

He'd asked me questions in both English and German, but I had to answer all in German. At one point, I started answering in English, and he cut me off with a "No no no no, you are in Germany. You must speak German." Of course, he chuckled after this, so he was obviously enjoying himself.

I definitely appreciated his efforts though because I actually realized how much of a conversation I could have if I didn't worry about messing up. He was very understanding about speaking slowly and/or repeating a question or two. Not to mention, he had a particularly intriguing life story.

He was born in Kansas of all places, but he was German and had lived in Germany practically all his life. He still has family back in the US, and he visits them every two years. He's been all over the Midwest. We had a fun time talking about southern American accents.

Anyway, he dropped me off at the airport, and I have to say that those 25 Euros for a taxi ride were the best I've ever spent in Germany. The money I spent on breakfast, though, was not. A croissant and orange juice should not cost almost 6 Euros.

Once I got on the plane though, I was exhausted as I realized I really didn't get much rest in Berlin the past few nights. I had such a blast I forgot to rest up, so I pretty much slept the whole three hours from Tegel Airport in Berlin to Athens.

When I arrived, I felt a surprisingly pleasant breeze blowing across the tarmac. I figured today's weather was simply exceptional though since it's usually near triple digits.

My professor, Taso, was on hand at the airport to greet me, and I met up with Steven, another one of my classmates. He had arrived earlier and had waited for me, and then we had to wait for Amanda to arrive. So meanwhile, Taso had bought us food--some sort of sandwich. I took a picture of it.

Well, when we finally took the long bus ride back to the guesthouse, we met up with Maggie, who had arrived earlier this morning. I have to say that this guesthouse is amazing. It's located on the south side of the Acropolis, and we have views of the Parthenon close by and the New Acropolis Museum just down the street. Awesome, no?

After we rested and changed clothes, we met up with Taso to head out for dinner. He took us on a walk up toward the Acropolis and gave us a brief history of some of the ruins. Pretty awesome stuff. I was like a kid in a candy shop.

We ate dinner on the other side of the Acropolis at a nice restaurant in a quaint neighborhood. More and more people came out as the night drew on. Just like any other major European city I've been in, people seem to socialize much more at night and just enjoy the city and sights.

The food was yummy. I was starving!

After dinner, Taso had to go pick up Emily at the airport, so the four of us--Maggie, Amanda, Steven, and I--took a stroll around the neighborhood. It's still pretty surreal for all of us being in Greece. I'm liking our group--I said at dinner today that I think our group identity will be one of exploration (whereas some others are to shop, etc.). We have fun people.

We finished the night by meeting up with Erinn, who is interning in Athens. We were actually classmates in German for a while during my first quarter of German at UW. After meeting up with her, we went to a little cafe and had a few drinks. I had a Greek beer, which tasted like water actually. No more German beer... : (

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures today, but have no fear, I will have plenty over the next few weeks. I should head to bed for now though. Tomorrow, we will have our orientation and our last classmate, Jordan, will arrive in the afternoon. I'll also get my Greek cell phone sim card, so I can actually call people. I still have my German sim card right now.

Finally, I need to call my dad and wish him a happy birthday. He's halfway around the world though, so I need to figure out how to get a hold of him as I don't know where my family is in their own world travels. Happy Birthday anyway, Dad!

Ok, bed time. More tomorrow.

Cheers,

Sam

P.S. I have five mosquito bites already. I swear Mediterranean mosquitoes hate me. Yet another reason why I love Berlin--I never get bit there!