Written by Italy & Greece Semester Students, Jonah & Aiden
This week, we left Italy and made our way to Crete, Greece! After a long day of planes, trains, and automobiles, we met our host, Xeno, in the airport and drove to Agios Ioannis, our village for the next 10 days.
We enjoyed an incredible dinner made by Christins, the owner of the taverna in the village, and went to bed excited for the possibilities of Greece. The next day we started off with 3 hours of Greek language class. We studied the alphabet and pronunciation. We played games to test our Greek skills. After lunch, we went for a walking tour of the village led by Xeno, where we saw views of the mountains and beautiful old churches.
The next 2 days were a similar structure. Greek class in the mornings and walk or activity in the afternoon. On the second day we drove to the nearby town, Ierapetra, in the afternoon, to do a ceramics workshop with Alex the Potter and to explore the town for a bit. On our last day of class, we learned about the Greek Orthodox Easter traditions. We dyed eggs red and learned traditional dances. One of our favorite traditions was a game you play with the dyed eggs. You pair up, each person getting one egg, and smack the eggs together. Whichever egg cracks loses and the last egg standing is the winner.
Then, that afternoon, we went to the beach and finally got a chance to swim in the ocean, which was amazing. The water in Crete is so blue! We also met an archaeologist, Carly, who taught us about the ancient peoples on Crete, the Minoans. The next day was a busy one because we drove all the way to Heraklion to see an archaeological site and a museum. It was one of my favorite parts of the stay in Crete, and we got to learn more about what Carly taught us. We were surprised to see 5 peacocks as we got to the archaeological site, just sitting on the ruins, in trees, even one right in the middle of the square.
The next day, we went with Carly to see more archaeological sites, including one that she dug at. In the afternoon, we went to a fishing village right on the ocean to eat lunch and swim again, then went back to Alex the potter’s to paint and glaze our art. On Thursday we went for a hike through the gorge beneath our village. We drove down to the beginning of the path and hiked up the mountain to get to the waterfalls and walked through a stream of freezing water up to a beautiful gorge, then walked back and headed down to the beach for a relaxing afternoon.
What were the top highlights of the week?
☀️ Spending time on the beaches and enjoying the sun.
😋 The food that the local taverna served to us (’twas absolutely scrumptious).
🐑 Witnessing the craziness of Greek Easter, and eating the spitted lamb and pork.
Our transformations are never without challenges – what was most challenging for the group this week?
Something the group was challenged by this week was sickness. As we traveled to Crete, multiple of us in the group picked up an illness that left us unable to participate in group activities. This was definitely a challenge for the group, though Crete was probably the best place it could have happened, as we had ample time to rest and it was our longest stay in one place at any point in the trip so we didn’t miss too much.
What’s on the agenda for next week?
During the next week, we will be finishing our last few days in Crete and then flying to Athens. There we will spend four days engaging in Greek culture and going to places like the Acropolis. After Athens we will be traveling to a permaculture farm called ReGreen, where we will be probably be doing permaculture stuff. We are looking forward to exploring Athens, visiting the famous historical sites, and eating delicious foods.
❤️ Until next time, Spring 2023 Italy & Greece Semester!
