Just a Few Pictures.

Just a couple of pictures from Istanbul:

Hagia Sofia

Rumelihisarı

Hookah bar (trying to blow smoke out of my nose, didn't work)

I bought a hanging lamp that I'm so obsessed with! The guy that sold me it...

The cistern underground.

Blue Mosque.

Blue Mosque, pictures won't ever do it justice!

Don't worry, I will defintely show you all of my pictures and talk about my trip for about another year! But, if yu want, you can go on my facebook & look at them! Mom, you can just add me!

ISTANBUL

We left Thessaloniki Friday night at 10 pm, and arrived in Istanbul after a long 10 hour drive around 8:30 pm. Honestly, I don't think it would've taken so long if we didn't have to stop at the border, it took forever just to check our passports! Also, we had to pay $15 for a visa to stay 2 nights?! Oh well...on the way we also stopped like 3 times to pick up people in other cities. The bus ride wasn't too bad, the only thing that really sucked was that it was SO HOT on there for some reason! I was getting crabby...but we finally made it!

As soon as we got off the bus, we asked for directions to our hostel. There were plenty of people willing to help, although they wanted money for it! So weird. Plus, we got lost like 5 times trying to listen to their directions! After awhile, a guy stopped to help us, and even called the hostel for us for directions. He was so nice, and didn't want money or anything, just a nice guy! Lucky we ran into him otherwise we would've been lost for like 5 hours instead of 45 minutes...The hostel was pretty nice, pretty clean for 7 euros a night. There was a bunch of tourists there, a lot of families too, which I wasn't expecting. We shared a room with 2 other American girls, and one French lady. One very crabby, very rude, French lady. So we got to our hostel around 10, but couldn't check in until noon. We decided to get breakfast, walk around a bit, and exchange our money. 1 euro converted into like 2 liras, which is awesome! So much better than converting dollars into euros...! We checked into our hostel then left to explore.

First place we went was the Grand Bazaar. We didn't even go there on purpose, we were just walking around and happened to stumble upon it! (We didn't even know we were there until we asked where the Grand Bazaar was & they told us we were there...must have thought we were real dumb Americans!) It was so nuts there, people just yell any words they know in English to get your attention, I swear. They loved saying "Oh, pretty Americans, come here!", flattery won't help you sir! Some of the pick up lines were pretty funny though. I, personally, got super annoyed by the end of it. I hate people yelling at me to come to their shop, all the things are literally the same. There you're supposed to haggle for everything you get. I don't know if you know this, but I SUCK at haggling, and/or negotiating anything. Luckily everything was pretty cheap anyway.

After that we went to the Blue Mosque. It is this gorgeous, HUGE church in the middle of the city. I can't imagine if you lived there. They had services running there, but we didn't get there in time for one, plus we had to wear a long skirt, something over our head, and take off our shoes. I have some pictures from there I will eventually put up. Across the street was Haghia Sofia, which was considered the greatest church in the Christian world. Now it's just a museum, and we didn't go inside. But, the outside was huge. It is supposed to be better than the Blue Mosque, but personally, I liked the Blue Mosque better. Both churches played music during church service times, and it filled the city. Gave it such an ancient feeling, I don't know if that's the wording, but I don't care, you know what I mean.

We tried getting to Taksim Square (like an outside shopping mall I'd say?), but we were so confused. Another American guy (like 30ish?) was trying to figure out how to get there too. We asked a local Turkish guy, and he helped us there. He was super nice, most people in Istanbul were really nice and helpful, actually. Probably better than Thessaloniki. We found somewhere to eat, and drank a bit. My feet were killing because the night before we went out, and I had to wear Josefina's shoes (which are size 8...I'm size 6) because I locked myself out of my room. Actually, I really blame Kosta for locking me out because I thought he was still in my room when I left. So, really, not my fault. Anyway, got reasonably drunk. The drinks were about 10 lira, which is like 5 euro, which is still not as expensive as Thessaloniki! Kosta ended up getting the girliest drink that night, I forgot what it was called, but it was hilarious. He chugged it down before anyone could see he was drinking a pink fluff drink.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go out again. We went on a ferry for 10 Liras to Bosphorus, in other words I ended up going to Asia too! Luckily the weather was gorgeous out. We passed Rumelihisarı, known as the "fortress of Europe". From far away, one of the towers looked just like the White Tower in Thessaloniki, except that it ended up having like 5 towers, and looking like a castle. It was so pretty.

After the boat tour, we walked all the way back to our hostel. It was a long walk, but it was so pretty out, and we stopped a lot on the way to look at stores and such. Right off the boat it smelled so gross, like fish everywhere. I couldn't handle it! Yuck. We walked through a park, which I don't know the name of, but it must have been like the biggest park there. It was so pretty out too. We were going to go back to the Grand Bazaar that day, but apparently we didn't get the memo that it was closed? We ran into the guy that called the Hostel for us that day too, small world! He said he rememberd us because of my face...I'm not sure what that means, haha! Later that night we went back to Taksim Square to eat, and hookah. The hookah was huge, and the guy that worked there was really weird, but I'm not sure what you're expecting from a hookah place? As we got back to our hostel, I heard Kosta scream like a little girl as we opened the door to the hostel. A rat literally fell on his face from the building. It was disgusting, and definitely the highlight of our trip! So gross, I was so nervous for rats in the hostel after that!

We left Turkey at 10 am the next day, while it rained the whole bus ride back. Couldn't have been more perfect timing. I couldn't believe how excited I was to hear Greek again, so much better than Turkish (which I couldn't understand a word of it). We got back around 9 pm last night. I got my care packages today from Brandon and my mom! My mom sent me my computer charger (YES!!! INTERNET!! And I can finally upload my pictures! And watch tv!) and some girl scout cookies, YUM! Thin Mints, of course! Brandon sent me some socks (I was running out, I needed them...haha), some chocolates & some movies! Thank you both of you! I end up getting a bunch of junk food the day I decided I was only going to eat fruits and vegetables, guess that's not gonna happen!

Oh, one last thing, Mom I got a 47/50 on my quiz last week! I only missed one multiple-choice question, which is so stupid that every question is 3 points. But whatever, I did good.

Spring Break Stress

Trying to book my spring break is getting so stressful. Thessaloniki's airport doesn't go out to many main places (aka, Paris, where I need to go!) But, so far our plan is: Monday, April 9-Thursday, April 12th, Paris with Natashya (she still has classes). Then April 12-15 Barcelona with Natashya, Craig & Craig's friend. After that the details Natashya & I need to figure out still! But we know Cinque Terre next probably, then Rome. Then, home for me & Natashya is gonna visit me in Thessaloniki for awhile! Can't wait! It's just so hard trying to figure out what's cheapest. My flight to Paris is about 36 euro so far, not too shabby!

There's so many other trips I'm trying to plan too. A weekend trip my friends and I are going to go to Amsterdam, just trying to find out what weekend is cheapest, again! I also want to go to London, Germany, Croatia, and maybe Crete. So many places, so little time. I think the two weeks I'm staying after classes I'm going to island hop with my friend Josefina, it will be gorgeous then!

Tonight we are having a family dinner with all of the study abroad kids. Then, we are going out to a club. Hopefully I'll make it to class this time, last Thursday when we went out I was NOT about to get up for class the next day. Promise mom, I'm keeping up with school still. I did good on my quiz today! Tomorrow we leave for Istanbul at 10 pm, and will get back Monday at 10 pm! I can't wait, I feel like it will be a lot different than here in Greece. A bunch of people from my study abroad group are going, but I'm just going with 3 friends in my building, Josefina, Emily & Kosta.

Anyway, I will be without internet access (like I haven't been for the past 2 weeks...). Thought I'd post some pictures on here so Erin doesn't have to hack into my facebook to show mom my pictures again?

Here is a picture of the monasteries in Meteora.

This is the monastery that we had to walk about 200 steps, but had the most gorgeous view!

Here is a picture of Carnival, where we all dressed up.

Me, Kosta, Josefina & Emily

More Carnival, these are all the girls from UWEC

Me, Karen, Jacki & Rachel

Here's the arch where all the protests go on usually.

Well that's about all I have to say for today. Hopefully I can upload my pictures soon! Have a good weekend, I will update you on my Istanbul trip!

Fried electronics

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet, because it's the one thing that is making Greece so frustrating. I have fried pretty much all of my electronics already, I'm horrible with technology. I let my friend borrow my router for wifi in his room, but he didn't convert it, he only adapted it...so that one isn't my fault. He bought me a new router but as I said, I'm horrible with technology. So I've tried setting it up like 50 times, but it's not working with myipad. It will work with my computer, but hey, next thing that fried. I don't even know what happened, I unplugged it from my computer and my whole room went out. So that was donezo. Then I forgot to change my adapter to converter when I plugged my straightener in, so that literally melted. So, I have no Internet access unless I borrow someone's computer, their charger, or if I'm on campus. Hoofta my mom sent me a new charger, so hopefully that will be here soon so I can put up pictures from this weekend!

First we went to ionnina, we left at 745 am, it was horrible. 3 hour ride, but I slept the whole way. When we got there, we went into the caves. They were all naturally made, it was so cool in there. I was expecting it to be freezing there too, but it was humid, the caves stay at a regular humid temperature year round. Then we went to stay in metsovo for the night. It was this cute little (I mean little!) town in the mountains. It was so pretty there, and so romantic, haha. We went out to eat together as a group that night, i had sausage that was apparently bred and made there. Kind a grossed me out thinking that I ate a pig that they knew and slaughtered...We left for meteora the next morning, only an hour and a half drive (eau Claire distance from home, so I'm used to it). Driving up the mountains was so scary, such a large bus with such narrow, winding roads! Props to the bus driver for not going off a cliff...the first place we went to I had to pee so bad, and all they have at the monasteries are Turkish style bathrooms...aka you squat over a hole in the ground. It was disgusting. And hard, considering we had to wear skirts there (no pants allowed for girls). The view from there was beautiful, I wish I could live there! The nuns that live there have 8 hours of free time (pretty much sleep!), 8 hours of work, and 8 hours of praying, so with a life like that, they deserve a gorgeous view! The monasteries looked like they were floating on top of the world, it was amazing. We had to walk up 200 or so steps just to get in. They also keep all of the bodies of the old monks there, aka, all their skulls are kept in a room. Gross.

Anyway, that's my trip. Now I'm going to get my bus ticket for Istanbul this weekend. I'm trying to research info about Istanbul, so I know where to go and everything!

It's only been 2 & a half weeks?

I can't believe I've only been here 2 and a half weeks, seems like a month. I'm starting to become better friends with some girls in my building, thank God or I'd go crazyyyyy! We went out the past weekend together, I know the bar spot pretty well now, valeritou, the water street of thessaloniki. I like it. Haha. My friend Emily and I went out Tuesday night to a club called vogue. It was amazing, I loved it. It was huge! I somehow made it to class the next day too, don't worry mom. Tonight starts the carnival, which is like the mardi gras of Greece. So, we are dressing up and going out tonight to a club with a bunch of people from the act group! Can't wait!

This weekend we are going to meteors and ionnina, the first overnight field trip. I hope it's nice out because I had my jacket stolen last weekend at the bars....blahhhhh. Luckily, I brought another one. Too bad it's not a very warm jacket. The weekend after that we have Monday off, so a couple of us are going to instanbul! It was not a place that I had on my top list, actually it was not a place I would have ever really thought to go. But, I like the idea of going somewhere not many people have been. Plus it's gonna be less than 100 euro for transportation and hostel!

As far as classses and everything else here goes, they go by so slow. Because I have such a long break between my class and the free bus shuttle, I usually go up to the gym to workout a bit. Too bad the gym sucks, the treadmill and bikes and most of the weights don't work...but I run on the track for a bit. Pretty proud of myself, trying not to gain the freshman 15 again...I've also been stretching a lot, I miss dancing so much already! Can't wait to get back into that.

For my meals, I've been eating pasta like crazy. I can't cook a lot...but my roommate is pretty good and so is my friend jacki, so we have family dinners every once in awhile. But I'm slowing becoming a pro chef of pasta and salads (yeah, I'm eating salads here! Desperate...) can't wait to get back home for my mom to cook for meeeee!!!!!!

Ok, class time!

Residence Permits Suck

So, because I will be in Greece for more than 90 days, they have this stupid rule that you have to get a residence permit. With this permit, you have to do a lot of stupid, annoying things like depositing 500 euro in a Greek bank (although you don't have to spend itor anything, just deposit it), get a TB test and chest scan, and pay a bunch of money to Greece because they are poor. Well, yesterday I had to get a TB test at a public hospital. It as the worst experience of my life.

First off, public hospitals here look like they're ancient. I'm already freaking out because they're gonna stick a needle in me, then the first thing I see is a cold, creepy building with lots of random Greeks in it waiting to be seen. First thing I hear too? A crying baby. Not just crying, but like screaming bloody murder like it was in so much pain. Then we had to walk to another building (there's apparently a lot of them for the one hospital) to get the TB test. Of course they have to go in alphabetical order by last name, so guess who was towards the end? Everyone said it was just a prick, but I didn't believe them. I hate needles, and the building was so scary, I was geting nervous the whole time. Yes, I've had 2 tattoos, and a 2 piercings, but none of that is like a shot from a doctor with a language barrier. Everyone came out fine fromthe shot, then they finally called my name. I told the doctor I'm not good with needles, so he tried just asking me questions while they did the shot. He asked, "How old are you?" & I yell "TWENTY ONEEEEEEEE!!!!". Everyone waitng outside (aka, half my study abroad group) heard. I was so embarrassed, but at least it was over with! Then, we went to antoher building to ge a chest x-ray. I had to get completely topless for teh test. Luckily though, I ha a woman nurse. So, I didn't feel that weird about it.

So, I found 2 books from some friends that have taken the courses before. I just need to buy, or share, or not buy, 2 other books. I guess I'll have to buy them since I don't want to fail (yeah, my mom e-mailed me the next day to say she saw what I said about my grades this semester, don't worry I'm not going to fail!)

The last week in February I have a 3 day weekend (I guess there is some Greek holiday? I'm not sure, I tried asking my friend Demetris, but I didn't really understand other than they fly a kite for a reason?). I want to try to go on a trip tha weekend, my friend Karen might be going to Milan, and I'm really considering it! I just hate trying to book things, I have no idea how to do the whole hostel thing. I dont want to end up being in a shack!

Tomorrow is finally Friday, I go back to the hospital fr the doctor to see if I have TB or not. At least no shots this time! Then I will be drinking all night. Bet you're proud to see me say that, huh mom? And, just to clarify, my computer is overheating and skipping letters because I type too fast. I'm not that horrible at spelling, I promise.

First Two Days of Class

Yesterday was my first day of classes. They went alright I guess. We have a free shuttle to and from the school for free, but they only pick up at 10:20 am and drop you back home at 5:45. This means a long day on campus, or taking the city bus home for 90 euro. I took the city bus home the first day, just so I knew the route in case I did want to go home early anyday. It was ver interesting to say the least. I had a very old, smelly man keep getting closer to me. He had so much space yet decided he needed to be literally on top of me...I moved ASAP. My friend and I were talking in English & an old lady completely stops her conversation and turns around to STARE at us. Very noticably stare & awkwardly. We couldn't help but laugh. I also had a random guy stare at me for at least 15 minutes. I think he finally got the courage to try and speak English, and he asked me "China?", followed by "Japan?", and finally "Korea?". It was interesting, but I got home a lot earlier than 6 pm!

Classes here are so small. My first class, History of Ancient Greece, was all students from our study abroad group and there was only 6 of us. The second class was Human Resource Management, and there was about 18 in the class. I only had 2 other study abroad girls with me. They definitely separated themselves from us, except for the few local greeks that knew us already. The campus is so small, I had nothing really to do for the 4 hours I needed to wait for the free shuttle. My second day I had International Business with about 12 students, half greek, half american. Then I had Organizational Behavior, with 6 people. The classes are so small, I don't know how I feel about it yet! But, for the most part they seem pretty easy.

Apparently all of the books are like 40-60 euro, which I don't want to pay for! I got my Org Behanvior book for free from the teacher because my roommate & I are going to share, so that's one down! I'm asking a few ACT students from Greece if they have any old books they'd be willing to sell me or lend me. Otherwise, there is a rental service for old books other study abroad students left behind, for 5 euro for the whole semester. Hopefully I'll get lucky looking there.

I'm trying to clean up my room a bit, and make it look a little more homey. It's not going very well, I don't want to spend money on things I will most likely leave behind. But, I put up my Greece flag, and have some candles. My friend Becky studied here 2 years ago and suggested grabbing some Greek posters off the street (they're literally everywhere!) and putting them up in my room. I'm definitely going to do that as soon as it stops raining...But my room is so gross with hair everywhere. Mostly mine, of course. I shed like crazy.

Last, but not least, I went to the street market early today before class. It seems like a good place to go. We got instant soup stuff for 1,50euro & it looks like it'll last awhile! There's also homemade tortellini sold there. I'm giong to get that next time!

Vergina Field Trip

Today was the last day of "orientation". We went on a trip to Vergina, which is about an hour away from Thessaloniki. There, we went to a museum where King Phillip II was buried (Alexander the Great's father). I'm usually not into history at all, but Greece has so much more history (and so much more interesting!) than the states! There was a bunch of gold things in there, I loved it! Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures, but it was amazing down there. The tomb was covered for centuries, and I guess people used to watch soccer from it, thinking it was just a hill. Can you imagine if you were sitting on top of Alexander the Great's father? Weird to think of. Anyway, when I said I wanted a gold crown for my 21st golden birthday, this is what I was talking about mom:

This wasn't even the largest of them all, it's all 22k gold. There was a huge one with leaves, but this one I really liked. Now, since I didn't get it for my birthday, I would like to have it for my wedding. Just saying.

Today was the first day I went to get some souvenirs. I got a big Greek flag, that I love. I also got a jewelry box and shot glass. I'm thinking a jewelry box for one of my sisters? Or both? Or myself. I don't know yet. I have no idea what souvenirs to bring home for everyone, so if you have a suggestion, please let me know! I know I'm gonna get something for my mom from Croatia? If I get my butt over there! I also got a post card from Efi, who is in charge of our program here at ACT. She is a giant Greek woman, with jet black hair and bright red lipstick all the time. She is so cute, and so happy about everything! The front of the postcard is so pretty, I will have to send it to someone home when I get the chance.

So, I start class tomorrow. But, a bunch of use are going to watch the superbowl at a local bar. The superbowl is played here at 1:30 am-5:30 am. Yup, I'm gonna do it. Even though I hate sports, I wanna watch and just hangout. I doubt I'll make it until 5:30 a.m. Next week there is a field trip to Ioannina to see monastaries, museums, and caves. It's a 2-day trip for 70 euro. I really want to go, and I know a bunch of people want to. So, I think I'm gonna try to sign up for it right away tomorrow! Can't wait.

Well, other than the trip to Vergina today, Friday night we went out to eat with everyone, including the President of ACT, after the orientation. Everyone got profusely drunk off of unlimited wine, and ridiculously full from the endless amount of food. So, it was heaven for me. We all danced to the live Greek band, and threw paper napkins all around in celebration (apparently they are not allowed to break plates anymore? Which is a bummer for me...). Afterwards, most of us went to a bar. Drinks are so expensive here, literally like 7 euros for a drink. I'm not going to pay that much, so I chugged some more wine before going out! Then, on the walk home, I got a beer from the kiosk. They sell beer straight off the street? Haha, so weird.

Well, I've been having fun in Thessaloniki so far, unfortunately classes are starting up. Oh well, I'm not really aiming for A's this semester....hope mom didn't see that. I promise I will pass still!

Orientation - Day 1

Today was the first day I had to actually do something, it honestly wore me out. We had to be up at 8:30 to leave for the buses to go to the school. We had a breakfast buffet, which was delicious. Then had a bunch of presenters talking about "culture" & "culture shock" & how everything is originated from Greece. Yes, just like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", every word, every meaning has something to do with the Greeks. Then, we went to Ikea to get a bunch of crap we needed. Aka, pots & pans. I bought a cheap blanket that I'm going to bring home, so it will remind me of Greece when I'm back in the states. After we got back from all the madness, a couple friends & I went to the market to get some food & cooked. Okay, I didn't cook at all. But, I did peel some potatoes. It was delicious & only 3 euros! Chicken, fries, corn, wine & ice cream!

I'm going to rearrange my school schedule tomorrow, I thought I had to take 13 credits, surprise I only need 12! Which means only 4 classes this semester, YES!!! & as I keep hearing the language, I'm getting really interested in it & want to learn. Especially if it will help me getting around places, even little things would be nice! So, I'm taking 2 management classes & an econ class that will go towards my degree. Then, an intro to Greek class that will most likely have nothing more than an elective. Oh welp.

Mom called my cell phone today, it works! So glad that I can get ahold of people if I need to. I feel so vulnerable without a phone, especially in this huge city where I can't understand or read ANYTHING.

Oh, at orientation we also went over all of the field trips that will be offered over the semester. There are so many cool ones that I want to do, it's hard to choose! I guess I will have to see what most people are interested in. There's a lot of trips to monastaries throughout Greece, museums, etc. that are all really cool looking. But, I also really want to travel to other European countries.

Guess I'll just have to wait and see. This whole time difference is not working at all for me, I'm still off my sleep schedule. It's 1:25 am & I need to be up by 7:25. Wish me luck...I'm sure I'll be sleeping at day 2 orientation tomorrow (or should I say today...) Night!