Fabulous, Enchanting, Liberating, and Unexpected

My time abroad was everything I could have hoped for and more. I tried to go into my month in Greece without too many expectations, having developed them in prior situations and being let down when things went differently than I had expected. Greece, on the other hand, couldn't let anyone down - this I am sure of. Some of my favorite characteristics of Greece, found in both the city of Athens and in more rustic island settings, would include the merry personalities of people there, the delicious selection of food, the intriguing architecture, and the constantly ideal weather conditions. The first week and a half of my trip were spent in Athens where we had class for three hours a day and took many tours of culturally significant sites around the city such as the Acropolis museum. Our tutor, who had lived in Greece for at least 30 years at that point, explained many things about Greek culture in addition to background and historical information about the sites that we visited over the course of our time in Athens. Between going to class and writing for class, the girls I stayed with in our apartment made the most of our time in Greece by visiting nearby beaches on the weekends, going to a gym nearby our apartment in the mornings, and spending our nights out at tavernas drinking wine, getting to know each other, and observing the foreign environment around us. After Athens, we moved on to Nafplio, Greece, for a couple days, where we lived in a quaint hotel just below an ancient Portuguese castle towering over the city. Although Nafplio seemed to served as a sort of summer tourist destination for those living in Greece rather than a city normally inhabited by Greeks, it was a beautiful small town filled with gorgeous shops overflowing with enticing Greek jewelry and a mini version of the famous Syntagma Square in Athens surrounded by its fair share of comfy-looking tavernas with unbeatable prices for house wine. After Nafplio, we moved on to Poros for the final two weeks of the program. I certainly plan on returning to Poros some day, for it stole my heart and soul and was everything I could have ever hoped for when I first heard the words "Greek island". Just off the coast of the Greek Peloponnese sits Poros, a two-part island with one portion overcrowded with tourist shops and mini tavernas on the coast with spectacular views of the endless supply of fishing boats, visiting yachts and sailboats moving smoothly along the bright blue surface of the cheerful water between Poros and the Peloponnese. The other portion of Poros is more rural, scattered briefly with houses of more long-term residents and the occasional public beach with drink service and everything. All in all, my time in Greece felt similar to the best vacation I've ever had, except with a structure that kept me seeing things I had never seen before at a more organized and timely pace than if I had gone there alone with no true idea of where to start. I got to know locals and learned about their lives, dreams, and prospective futures, and had the opportunity to tell them about mine. I tasted food I had never had before, I went spearfishing, I spent endless hours in the sun enjoying a peaceful and reflective time in my life, and I met people that I fully intend on staying connected with. Prior to departing for my month in Greece, I was nervous that the experience would be too foreign to conquer and that I would leave still stunned by the exotic quality of it all, not knowing one lick of Greek and all. I was quite surprised by the end to find that I felt more or less acquainted with Greek culture by the end of just one month in that country. I would return in a heartbeat, just to spend more time there under the sun, learning from Greek people about their way of life and cultural traditions.