Rebecca's Page

I have officially seen ALL of Athens. I mean quite literally. OK... Maybe not quite all but it sure felt like it. We had to be on the bus at 8 that morning which was a bit of a struggle having only gotten 4 hours of sleep the night before. I woke up at 2 and couldn't go back to sleep till about 5.

Anyway we picked up our tour guide and the first thing out of the guy's mouth's was... She's HOT! Is she married. Unfortunately for them she was. But they all paid very good attention through out the day. We started out at the Olympic Stadium which was built back in 1896 to host the first modern Olympic Games. It was built on the exact same location as the Ancient Stadium. From there we headed to the Acropolis. Saw the Parthenon and NUMEROUS other temples. I think I'm beginning to understand what they said when we would get VERY sick of temples by the end of the semester. The Parthenon was AMAZING! I've seen pictures and read about it all my life but to see it in person was... words fail me. Which is a rare occasion! Then we went to Mars Hill which was pretty cool. It's amazing to think that we were sitting where Paul and others from the bible sat, walked, and lived.

FINALLY... I think it was about 1 or 2 we got to head out for lunch. As we walked through the bustling streets of Athens for the first time I really felt like I wasn't a tourist, more a part of their culture. There are shops everywhere and vendors with items laid out on sheets. As soon as the police come around they yank up their wares and make a run for it. I felt a little sorry for our waiter because every time he turned around we needed more water. It was incredibly hot, muggy, humid and all around slightly miserable. Usually the breeze helps to keep things cool but there wasn't one of course! Yes mom I wore sunscreen. No sunburn

From there we walked some more to see the Roman Agora, then to see the Ancient Agora, a couple other temples, and finally the Agora Museum. By this time I think we were all about ready to fall over. Not only were our feet hurting but our hands were hurting too because we had to take notes over everything. We have these journals which we call our MoleSkines in which we write notes about everything we go to see-- Justifying the education value of it I guess and then write Journal entries about the place. We were given free time and told to meet back at the Starbucks. I think we all just stayed there. Ryan Anne-- You wouldn't do well over here with your coffee addiction. Mine was about 8 US dollars. But I forked it over anyway because this was an EMERGENCY. We all went to church together. The services are offered in 4 different languages, starting at the beginning of the day. English is the last and almost identical to our services back at home. I may go to a greek one for fun sometime. We ended the evening with lots of laughs and more good memories. It's amazing to watch how close everyone has grown over the past couple days.

Unless something really interesting happens or I post another album of pictures I probably won't write again until I get back from my cruise this weekend. We will be going to Turkey, Cyprus, and a bunch other islands.

Here's the link for the pictures from my Athens Tour yesterday. There are 2 albums. Enjoy
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004314&l=ab0b3&id=1523040053

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004315&l=6460e&id=1523040053

God Bless!

Love, Rebecca

Well I've been here for 3 days and I'm growing more in love with this place everyday. It will be hard to come home. I guess I'll have to managesomehow

Yesterday we lounged around, relaxing, catching up on some much needed rest. I went swimming in the Aegean Sea which was AMAZING! How many people can say they've done that? Show of hands? Just kidding. A whole bunch of us walked down to the peninsula and jumped in off the rocks. I'm not the strongest swimmer in the world but the water is so salty that it's hard to sink. You can just sit there and bob along in the water. Floating on your back was NEVER easier!

Quick story about my shower... It's AWFUL! There's a bath tub and the shower head is on a hose and should be attached to the wall but it's come off. I'm trying to take a shower my first night here and get covered in plaster. I can't fix it so I have to hold this tiny shower head in one hand and wash my hair with the other. In the mean time I might as well have a water hose. I think it would have better water pressure. Where the shower head is supposed to attach is a little messed up so some water comes out in the right place but the rest sprays out all over the place and soaks everything. So yeah... GREAT experience. Oh and PS... Be VERY glad for the plumbing in the US. We cannot put our toilet paper in the toilets over here because it will back EVERYTHING up. Good times! Lol

It's a unique feeling living with 40 people and seeing them all the time. I've loved every minute of it so far. It reminds me in some ways how it must have been to live at Hogwarts. Being on a small campus you still see lots of people but it's a completely different feeling here.

Today we started class. Yes I KNOW... on SATURDAY! Haha. But since we actually only go to formal class for 36 days we have to grab a day whenever we can. But before you get TOO jealous I have a TON of reading to do in a very short amount of time. Luckily we take all of our tests before we travel anywhere.

We went to see the Temple of Poseidon today. My mother is very concerned that she sent me to a christian school to go see pagan temples. It was amazing! We think of these people as backwards sometimes or at least not being as intelligent as us and here they have constructed these structures that have been standing longer than our country has been in existence. I was really hoping for some better sunset pictures but the fog was so thick that it made taking pictures a little difficult. The Athenians used to go to the temple of Poseidon before they set out to sea to ask for protection. Very close by you could see the remains of a temple to Athena. We also heard the story about how the Aegean Sea got it's name. The Athenians used to have to send 6 girls and 6 boys to the Island of Crete to feed the Minotaur. So King Aegean's son said he would go and kill the Minotaur. The king said he would let him go on 1 condition. If it was good news change the sails to white, if bad keep them as black. The son killed the minotaur but forgot to change the sails so the King jumped from the temple into the sea, killing himself. I know, GREAT story!

On the way back we were on a real small windy road and our tour bus went head to head with another. It took us forever to navigate around the other bus and cars and get down... Good times. At least there was no wreck and no one got hurt but all we can see is the tour bus going over the mountain.

So go check out my pictures!
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004292&l=c67ea&id=1523040053

Enjoy!

I'm going on a 3 day cruise next weekend! I'm sure I'll have pictures and more to write before then but def. be on the watch out for more after next Sunday!

Love, Rebecca

I'm FINALLY HERE! And I never want to fly again. Well at least for a little while. I have been up over 30 hours and gotten maybe about 3 hours of sleep during this time. As soon as I finish this I'm going to go take a shower and go to BED! I don't think a word has ever sounded so sweet.

So here's what's been going on. Sat by really interesting people on all of my flights. First flight I sat by the guy who owns the Real-Estate Company Keller Williams. Second flight I sat next to a guy from Denmark and on the final flight I sat next to a guy from Norway. All very nice.

Detroit has a really cool airport with an awesome tunnel between concourses. The walls are made out of panels that change colors in time to music. Hope no one who needs to go through it has epilepsy.

I got my first stamp in my passport in Amsterdam! VERY COOL! We finally reached Athens around 1:45, spent a long time trying to get our luggage. It took about 20-30 minutes to reach our hotel and as if we weren't tired enough they have all our room assignments posted in Greek! I got to ride the elevator up to my floor which is a good thing because it's 3 floors up. NOTE: The elevator door does not open automatically like it does in the US. So I rode it up and back down again and had to ask how you get it to open. I was looking for a button and they were all labeled in Greek. Ahhh! The hotel rooms are nice but it's the first floor common area and the outside that are absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Click on my picture link to see some pictures of the hotel.

Our cook made an amazing dinner, giving us the chance to sample some traditional Greek dishes. We had something that is very similar to hamburgers only the center is stuffed with cheese. Then we took a mini-walking tour of Porto Rafti. We went down to the harbor which is said to be one of the most beautiful harbors in all of Greece. I have learned 2 things since I have been in Greece: 1) Pedestrians have NO right of way and at most intersections there are no stop-signs, lights or anything so it's everyone for themselves. 2) There are stray dogs everywhere! They like to bark at all the cars and I'm surprised they aren't lying hit on the side of the road.

Alright... Here is the link to my pictures. I'll have captions explaining what they are as soon as possible but for tonight I can't even see straight.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004280&l=529a1&id=1523040053

NO Mom I didn't proof read this. Sorry!

-- Rebecca

Note: I took care of signing everyone up who had expressed an interest in getting my blog. I finally found a blog that wasn't going to make you sign up for your own to read mine so yeah for that! Hope everyone enjoys reading my blog while I'm over in Greece!

I woke up this morning and my first thought was... OH MY GOODNESS! I'm leaving the country! TOMORROW!
Needless to say this has been an interesting week. Between my superior avoidance skills in packing and being a case of nerves my mother may be glad to get me out of the house. As she's fond of saying, anything she says at this point is wrong. I think at one point I even said that I didn't want to go. Pure nerves. So nobody volunteer for my spot! Not going to happen!

I will leave my house at around 5 a.m. Yes that does say a.m. For those of you who have been around me early in the morning or had the misfortune to wake me up from a nap you will understand why this is such a big deal. For the rest of you... Let's just leave it at: I like my sleep. My flight from Austin leaves at 8:30. I'll get to Detroit sometime around noon. I leave for the next leg of my journey around 5:30 and arrive in Amsterdam 8 hours later. Then we leave for Greece and finally arrive in Athens at 1:45 pm Thursday.

Here a map of my "flight plan":

My address overseas incase anyone needs it is:
Rebecca Miller
Harding University
37 Klm Leof. Porto Rafti
P.O. Box 268 Markopoulo
19003 Attiki
Greece

MAKE SURE to put enough postage to send it by airmail otherwise it goes by boat and who knows when or if I'll get it!
Hopefully I'll have pictures up and be writing about my adventures in Greece by the end of the week. Keep me in your prayers and thanks for taking the time to keep up me.

Love, Rebecca