From Valentine's Day to Snow Day

Valentine's Day
Not a typically large holiday in Greece, as Americans we decided to have our own little celebration of Valentine's day. One of the apartments was kind enough to host the girls on the trip and we had chocolate fondue, brownies, candy, cookies, and wine. It was really a pleasant event and the first time we had really organized ourselves without the program's influence. A girls' night out was in store afterwards, but my apartment was a bit under the weather at the time and we all decided to head back to our apartment where we watched a movie and went to bed. Not quite the spectacle it is in the United States, our Valentine's Day was a bit lackluster, but we managed to take the opportunity to get together and get a little dressed up.

A Weekend in Athens
The weekend following my Delphi excursion, I decided to stay in Athens and enjoy the city. Friday was a rather touristy day for me and the girls in my apartment. We went to Plaka which is a very tourist neighborhood right below the Acropolis. There I got myself a souvenir set of Drachma (the old currency of Greece) and a shot glass, of course. We ate lunch out at this restaurant we had frequented earlier this semester and enjoyed the same great Greek food. But we decided for dinner to try something a little more American and went to TGI Friday's. The food on the menu is the same as in the United States, but very expensive. It was good to have a small taste of home though, especially because I was pretty sick at the time and a bit homesick.

The rest of the weekend it snowed. Can you believe it? Yes, I saw snow in Athens. The Greeks were as surprised as I was and the city shut down in many places. And by that I mean, the public transportation was not running and all public offices were closed. The cafes and bakeries and grocery stores were still open. To celebrate the snow, Katie, Sara, Aubrey, and I (my apartment save for one) went outside and had a snowball fight with a couple of passing Arcadia students and went to a cafe. On the way back we decided to build a snowman with the snow on top of all the cars and ran the pieces up to our apartment. Ελένη, as we called her, didn't last very long, but we did manage to get some pictures with her. The rest of the weekend was a bit sleepy and I spent my time cleaning, organizing, doing schoolwork (yes, I actually have schoolwork here), and working on the largest puzzle ever mass produced. <--- If I haven't mentioned this before, I will discuss it in a later blog.

Snow Day
We actually had a "snow day" from school the following Monday. Well most students did, however, I only have an 8am class on Mondays and my professor lives nearby so we still had class, but the rest of classes were cancelled because of the snow. It was a nice chance to relax and enjoy the snow. The young Greek boys around throwing snowballs at us was less than relaxing, however, but not enough to dampen the unexpected holiday. Unfortunately, the weather did hinder any further exploration of the city, but I will simply have to pick it back up this coming week.

This weekend... Sparta, Argos, and Mycenae.