Weekend Thoughts: Odyssey in Greece

It is truly a tragedy that Greece has been in such bad shape for the last four years. The country still has so much to give in natural beauty, the study of our mother civilization, and (of course) food! Hopefully they'll soon realize that with tourism as their number one industry, rioting will not solve their economic problems. Here is my tribute to that wonderful country, which I hope will find peace again so that you can all make your own Odyssey!

October 2

The school kicked off our class trip to Greece with our very own Olympics. Dressed as gods with wreaths on their heads, the professors looked down as we ran in races, came up with group chants and songs, and made human sculptures with shaving cream. Apparently 2008 is "too soon" to make jokes about the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD.

October 3

By late afternoon, buses had brought us to Bari, on the eastern coast of Italy. St. Nicholas is buried there in a grand basilica. At twilight we headed onto the ferry Piraeus that would take us to Greece. My friends and I had a blast wandering the corridors, getting lost, and sitting in the darkness of the stern deck, watching the waves churning and leaping in our wake. We danced late into the night at the ship's disco, ordering kamikazes and arguing about who came from the best state. Plenty of smokers lounged in the bar, which probably contributed to me having a bad cold for the rest of the trip (As I said when I started this half a year, sickness is definitely a theme of my Rome Semester).

Weekend Thoughts: Pompeii

I'm playing with the idea of a "Weekend Thoughts" recurring post where I give a few quick ideas. Hopefully everyone is spending time outside in this gorgeous weather rather than Interneting, so I'll make this short for all of us. Besides, I really don't have that much to say about Pompeii!

Although we experienced amazing things--Greek temples, warm beaches, lost cities, and the nightlife of Southern Italy--I feel like I had an entirely fulfilling time there. In other words, I don't regret not doing something, nor do I feel like I missed out on an event.

This is connected to my Half a Year, a Whole Life posts in two ways: first, regret is a whole lot easier to write about. You've got all the deep emotions that make the memories stronger. As in, I know how wonderful Rome and Venice are, so I regret not going to certain places often enough. Second, Regret is going to be a big part of this Half a Year. I regret a LOT of things from the Rome Semester--things like not going into Rome enough, not going on that extra weekend trip, not exploring more those nights in Greece. I regret those things that I failed to do.