Odyssey to the Home of the Gods

School was closed Monday through Wednesday, and I was itching for a road trip. Mr. Kasapidis, my boss, recommended a two-day trip to Mount Olympus, the fabled home of the Greek gods and the highest peak in Greece. It was the last week that the mountain was open before the climbing season ends for the winter, so it was definitely "go time". My intentions were to climb as high as possible without proper shoes or gear in order to do some reconnaissance for a climb to the summit in the Spring. After some logistical research, I figured that we'd need to arrive in Litohoro, a small town which serves as the starting point for an Olympus ascent. Once there, we could either hike for five hours or take a taxi to Prionia, a tiny outpost halfway up the mountain. From there, it was a 3 hour hike to "the refuge," a large outpost/hostel which serves as a base camp for those who intend to reach the summit or don't feel like making the trip back to Litohoro for the night. My ultimate goal was to reach the refuge then see what happened in the morning. Zeus had other plans.

Emily and Vered, a lawyer from Los Angeles who is serving as a visiting professor / intern at the college, wanted to come along, so we planned to rendezvous at the bus stop at 8:00 Sunday morning to begin our voyage. Emily and I sauntered to the meeting place around 7:55, but there was no sign of Vered. Around 8:15, I jogged down to the college to make sure she was awake. She had just gotten out of the shower and was shocked that it was already 8:30. Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at the bus stop frazzled and breathless exclaiming that it was actually 7:30 - daylight savings time had gone into effect overnight. After making a few phone calls to validate her claim, we realized that we had indeed gained an hour an were an hour ahead of schedule. So it goes. At the real 8:15, we boarded a bus to the train station. We arrived at the train station with time to spare and the hour-long trip breezed by. We were at the foot of Mount Olympus and things were all good...then came the rain.

As we stepped off of the train, a few raindrops fell - nothing serious. The sky looked a bit ominous, but we had gone far enough that it would have been pointless to turn back. As we entered a taxi to take us up the mountain to Prionia, the rain increased and the fog began its descent. Legend says that Zeus controls the weather from Mount Olympus based on his mood; I don't know what we did to anger the supreme god, but apparently he was irate. As we wound up the steep mountain road, fog engulfed the taxi. The higher we got, the denser the fog. It got to a point where we literally couldn't see ten meters (I've gone totally metric) in front of us. The cab driver spoke no English, so even if we had wanted to go back to Litohoro, it was out of the question. As the fog got thicker, the rain got harder and by the time we arrived in Prionia, a torrential downpour was underway.

We sprinted with our backpacks from the cab to the drafty, wooden cabin restaurant which apparently comprises all of Prionia. There was a "Welcome to Prionia" sign and this restaurant - nothing more. The restaurant was packed with locals who were snacking on soup and ogling the drenched, stranded Americans. We had lunch and watched the rainfall somehow get stronger and evolve into a thunderstorm. Our hopes of climbing to the refuge were washed away by Zeus' crabby mood. As the hours past, sleeping in the restaurant became a more realistic prediction because there was no lodging to be found and no taxis would dare drive up to Prionia in this epic storm. Luckily, Emily struck up a conversation with the neighboring table and some Greek men offered us rides down to Litohoro. Amid steady sheets of rain, we fled into two cars: Emily and Vered with two men in one, two men and me in the other. As if the treacherous weather and unpaved, windy mountain road wasn't enough of a concern, we had watched all of the men guzzle ouzo and beers in the restaurant for hours. We didn't have any other options and as they say, "When in Prionia"... So we somehow rode / floated down to Litohoro, and I actually had an intriguing conversation with the driver of the vehicle that I was in. He grilled me on my political beliefs in flawless English, then switched into French for the last 25 minutes of the trip once he asked me about my language studies and I told him I that je parle francais. Our substantial conversation took my mind off the weather but thankfully didn't distract him, and we arrived safely at our destination. Once in Litohoro, we thanked our escorts for the ride and found a small inn where we could stay the night. I was bummed that Zeus had stymied our ascent and we weren't able to climb from Prionia.

Litohoro was a quaint village which reminded me of a ski resort town. The atmosphere was relaxed, the terrain was hilly, and the king of Greek mountains was overlooking our every move. The rain fell all night, but we still had a blast. We went to a hole-in-the-wall gyro joint for dinner. The only other customers were about ten old men who were gulping down retsina (a sweet white Greek wine) and chain smoking cigs. One of the charming grandpas even started to serenade us and bought us a bottle of retsina to enjoy with the locals. It was a unique experience and we mingled with the geezers all evening. On a small TV on the wall of the restaurant, we saw footage of the severe flooding that was happening in the region and considered ourselves lucky not to be stranded in Prionia or at the refuge.

The next day, the weather was clear and we visited Mount Olympus National Park, a fifteen minute walk from Litohoro - it was spectacular. During the hour or so in the park, we satiated our desire to hike and experienced unrivaled views of Mount Olympus. We walked along a massive canyon which was serving as the main drainage outlet for the floodwater. As we walked, the water got closer and closer to our exact altitude through a series of waterfalls and streams. At one point, we were so close to the torrent that we were showered in mist and could barely hear each other speak; we could see rocks and other debris which has been swept away by the violent floodwater. It was intimidating and humbling to stand next to such a powerful force.

After the park visit, we hopped a train back to Thessaloniki and arrived home sweet home. It turned out to be a memorable trip. If Zeus allows it, I still plan to climb Olympus in the Spring. Although I can't say that I have technically hiked Mount Olympus, I can proudly claim that I have hitchhiked Mount Olympus in a life-threatening thunderstorm - a feat much less common than simply climbing the mountain.

AFS Sports

It may be the home of the Olympic games, but my observations indicate that athletic ability does not thrive in Greece. Allow me to elaborate. In order to describe the "athletes" of AFS, this post will contain some obscure references. For those that don't understand the comparisons, please bare with me. For those that do, I hope it enhances your ability to picture the characters that I describe. Also, this post includes some immature humor about people getting hit in the testes with various objects. I hope nobody will take offense at the low-brow humor [Mom, you may want to skip the third and fifth paragraphs] and realize that I am more mature than I sometimes portray in this blog...I hope.

Among my prestigious duties at AFS, I have the privilege of helping with the daily athletic activities. My main responsibility is coaching the soccer team. After two years of full-time coaching at Emory, it is a nice change of pace to oversee an informal group of uncoordinated teenagers. I also train with the team which is fun and has helped me bond with the students. We practice two or three times a week, and I have already seen significant progress. I also coach the soccer team of the college that shares the campus with AFS. In fact, through the abscence of any governing body comparable to the NCAA, I have been appointed player-coach and will be lacing up the boots for the Perrotis College Ninja Turtles (I don't think we actually have a mascot) during the various intercollegiate tournaments and scrimmages. The college is a very unique and special place. Most of the students are internationals representing Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Kenya, Nigeria, Romania, and Moldova. They are a lively bunch and provide an ideal multi-cultural haven when I need a break from Greek high schoolers.

On the high school team, one of my favorite players is the freshman goalkeeper, Antonis Papodopoulus. He is undersized for a goalie but full of energy. His on-field mannerisms are eerily similar to a young Patrick Knight [Obscure Reference #1]. From what I have seen of Antonis off the field, his carefree antics and kamikaze-style pursuit of girls draws the comparison even closer. Antonis' best trait as a goalkeeper is his obsession to train. Any time I see him on campus, he is badgering girls. But, and this is the only difference between him and Pat "Full Court Press" Knight, he will leave the girl alone long enough to ask me if we can go train. During our training sessions, we work on footwork, hand drills, and other GK stuff, then I shoot on him. He can always tell if I am holding back and insists that I fire the ball at him as hard as I can. On one such occasion, I struck a ball with all my might. It was a rocket. It started off heading toward the right corner of the net, then swerved back central. Antonis had already leapt and fully extended to his left, leaving his mid-section exposed. The ball blasted Antonis so hard in the testicles that he immediately shriveled into the fetal position and lay motionless for several minutes. Once able to summon the courage, he slowly crawled off the field and curled into a ball. To his credit, he was ready to train again the next day and his enthusiasm remains. Bravo Antonis.

Also, we recently had a staff versus students basketball scrimmage. Before describing the game, I must introduce Coach Petras. He is a burly man whose physical bullying of students reminds me of the infamous Coach Cropper [Obscure Reference #2]. He is belligerent and hot-tempered which leads to daily tirades toward helpless students who ask him simple questions that he somehow interprets as offensive; it can be quite unpleasant.

So anyway, the staff team was assembled from various departments around campus. The average age of our team was probably around 40, and there were more knee braces present than at an Espie family reunion [OR#3]. During our pre-game shoot around, it became apparent that Greek basketballers are unfamiliar with the concept of "change", the custom of passing a ball back to a shooter if he successfully makes a basket. Through growing up with the "change" system, I have been programmed to return the ball to a shooter if he scores. Thus, I was passing balls back to these old men when they made baskets. It caught a few off guard, but I continued to do it out of habit. One middle-aged man swished a jump shot from around the free throw line and I casually tossed the ball back toward him. He wasn't expecting it and it struck him directly in the crotch. He dropped to his knees clutching his privates. I felt terrible and apologized immediately. Striking a grown man in the nuts with a basketball must be one of life's most deflating experiences. I'm still not entirely sure where he works on campus, but I have been watching my back ever since the occurence.

The student team was comprised of about 15 boys, one or two of whom had some athletic ability. A popular trend among the student squad was facial piercings and meticulously gelled hair. It could be the absence of formal coaching or a side effect of pubescence, but the boys were literally out of control on the basketball court. There movements were jerky and awkward, and our staff team achieved an easy victory. One of the highlights was when Coach Petras, who consistently brags about his basketball ability, felt that he was fouled and the student referee overlooked the call. He yelled at the alleged fouler and the ref for about thirty seconds then punted the basketball across the gym, setting an excellent example of sportsmanship for everybody present.

In conclusion, no professional scouts will be calling AFS in the near future, but the sports are a great outlet for the students and obviously help with physical fitness and social skills. I enjoy the role that I play in the high school athletic program, and I love my player-coach role for the college team.

I have been substitute teaching in English classes about once a week which has been a great experience, and contrary to the rantings in my previous post, I do tutor and help the students with their assignments. Emily and I are also in charge of putting together the student newspaper and helping the Model United Nations team with their presentations. Life is good.

School is closed Monday through Wednesday of this week for national holidays, so I am going to Mount Olympus for the weekend. I"m very excited to visit the home of the gods and do some hiking.

Holler.

Golden Beach Pics

Sunset at Golden Beach with Mount Olympus to the left.
Da Beach / Olympus

Another Day Another Euro

Autumn is officially upon us in Thessaloniki. Weatherwise, that means brisk, windy days and scattered rain every afternoon. I have settled into a daily routine which I will now share. This is my daily schedule for Monday through Thursday. I have not included laundry hours which are thrown in sporadically. I have converted fully to military time so some conversations may be necessary on your end:

7:00-8:00 WAKE UP / BREAKFAST (PROINO) - The typical cafeteria offerings are fried eggs and bread with bright orange jelly or chocolate spread. My usual proino consists of two eggs on wheat bread and the occasional piece of bread with chocolate spread. I will elaborate on food in a future post.

8:00-13:30 FREE TIME - I spend the majority of this time writing and reading in the library. I have random meetings throughout the week and sometimes teach English or sit in on classes.

13:30 LUNCH (MESSIMARIANO) - Lunch with the students is my first official duty of the day, so I guess you could say that my workday officially begins at 13:30. At first, the students were wary of having me around. I would sit with a group of kids and they would go silent. They would glance at me, speak rapid Greek with each other, laugh at the random American, hurry through their lunch, then bolt out of the cafeteria. Thus, I would be left alone at the table to eat my full tray of food. If I was the first person to sit down, nobody would join me. So it went for the first week or so. It is much better now that the students are comfortable around me, and we actually sit and converse. They teach me some Greek, I teach them some English, we all overdose on feta, and everybody wins.

14:00-16:00 FREE TIME - Greece is similar to many European countries in that the early afternoon is siesta time. Most businesses shut down after lunch and do not open again until five or six in the evening. For me, this is usually more reading time. I have a favorite bench on campus in a somewhat secluded area where I go every afternoon. It's a nice spot to read and sometimes nap a bit.

16:00-18:00 GYM - Two or three afternoons a week, we have soccer practice during this time. The other days I will open the weight room for students or play basketball, volleyball, or tennis.

19:00-22:00 STUDY HALL (MELETI) - All of the students have study hall during these hours with a thirty minute break (20:45-21:15) for supper (vrathino). Emily and I supervise study hall in the library*, work at the library circulation desk**, and help the students with homework***. We have a group of 20 kids, allegedly the best students****, who are assigned to the library for their meleti.

*By supervise study hall, I mean Emily messes around on Facebook and I play online hearts.

**By work at the library circulation desk, I mean we sit behind the desk while Emily messes around on Facebook and I play online hearts.

***By help the students with homework, I mean Emily messes around on Facebook and I was once asked to help a kid with his homework; I was in the middle of an online hearts game, so I told him to scram. I probably shot the moon - I'm just sayin'.

***The "best students" are an interesting bunch: We had to separate two students who would consistent spoon/dry hump each other in one the study rooms, one girl draws bubble letters during the entire three hours, a group of five girls always have dance parties between the book shelves, and I'm relatively certain that two Goth girls participate in voodoo rituals and are planning a meleti mutiny of some sort in the library.

22:00-22:01 Sprint from the library to my room so Shimosh doesn't ask me to open the laundry room.

22:01-23:30 Read in bed and ignore knocks on my door (it is probably Shimosh about the laundry room).

23:30-7:00 SLEEPY TIME (dream about online hearts)

So that is my typical work week. Fridays through Sundays are usually free. I discovered a beach last weekend that is about 1.5 hours away on the public bus. There were about a dozen people there and I was the only one under age 60 (I'm now in love with several elderly angels). It is appropriately named Golden Beach. The "sand" was small pebbles, but the water was clear and smooth; it is a great place to swim. The best feature was the view of Mount Olympus looming in the distance. Unfortunately the beach season is coming to an end, but I will post some pictures of the Golden Beach trip.

Word.

Shimosh!

The one and only Shimosh. He is posing in his natural environment, the laundry room, and toting his laundry bag. In Greek, his shirt reads "Somebody who loves me very much went to Crete and got me this t-shirt." God bless Shimosh. Long live Shimosh.

Athens Pics

Astir Beach, just south of Athens.

Viewing Athens from above.

The 1896 Olympic Stadium, recently renovated for the 2004 games.
The Temple of Zeus.
The Parthenon.

Athens Road Trip

The school was closed Friday and Monday for the national elections in Greece, so Emily (my fellow Teaching Fellow) and I hopped a train to Athens. It was an amazing excursion and a well needed break from campus. I enjoy my daily routine at AFS, but it was refreshing to spend a few days away from the cafeteria food, the laundry room, and the hickey epidemic that is rapidly spreading around campus.

We selected the overnight train on Thursday to maximize our time in the Greek capitol. Several of our students, returning home to Athens, were on the same train. Being our first trip to the train station, they helped significantly with the process. At the station as we waited for the train, they also contributed to the copious amounts of second-hand smoke that I inhale on a daily basis. Smoking is a serious issue in Greece. In between puffs, the school administrators try to discourage smoking among the students, and the teachers slip out back for a cig or four between classes. As I write this, cigarette smoke is wafting into the library window.

On the train, smoking is outlawed but smelling like cigarettes is a roaring trend. I was lucky enough to sit next to a hairy, obese old woman who enjoys hogging arm rests and leg room. She also "snored" throughout the duration of our seven hour train ride. Her "snoring" was unique and cyclical; after approximately five wheezes that sounded like a muffled steam whistle, she cranked out the jackhammer-esque inhales followed by the exhales, which sound like the world's largest garbage disposal grinding a load of glass. After seven glorious hours next to the world's most repulsive human alive, we arrived in Athens.

Strung out and delirious, we had six hours to kill before the hostels opened for check-in. Thankfully, one of the AFS students invited us to visit her sister's apartment for a nap and breakfast. Her sister, a nursing students at University of Athens, was a gracious host (I'm in love with an angel) and the nap was a life saver .

Like New York City, Athens is crowded and dirty in an endearing way. Unlike big cities in the States, there are no skyscrapers. Athens is built around the Acropolis, which can be viewed from almost anywhere in the city due to the lack of tall buildings. On the flip side, the view from the Acropolis is breathtaking: mountains to the South and East and the sea to the West, not to mention the actual monuments themselves. The Parthenon and other structures are massive. It is mind-boggling to think how, 2500 years ago, people constructed them without the conveniences of modern equipment. Although most of Athens is overrun with tourists and identical mind-numbing souvenir shops, it somehow maintains authenticity. On day two, I walked all over the city and saw several more historic sites: the 1896 Olympic Stadium, the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, the national gardens, and a few others. Athens is very walkable plus the metro is easy to figure out. You can't proceed a block without running into an amazing monument; it's a bit overwhelming but a great city.

We stayed at the Hostel Zeus which is located about a mile from Ministraiki Square, a bustling area that sits at the foot of the Acropolis. At 12 euros a night, it was the best deal in town and we met some cool travellers from Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and England. After bonding at the rooftop hostel bar, we all went out to one of the bar districts and had a good time (I'm in love with several angels).

On Sunday, one of the hostel employees took a group of us to the beach. It was about 40 minutes on the bus and it was awesome. There were ancient ruins sitting in the middle of the sand and Greek trout splashing around as far as the eye could see. After a full day there, we headed back to Thessaloniki on a midnight train, sunburned and oh so content. Now it's back to the grind on campus after a perfect weekend. I must admit that I missed my routine a bit and of course I missed Shimosh.

Good Things.