A Greek Thanksgiving

So I went to Athens for Thanksgiving! I'm not sure what else I can concisely say about it..

I thought it was really surreal to see Greek writing. It paid off to be 'greek' with a small 'g', I was able to make out some of the letters and words! As I told my roommate, I should feel at home in Greece...after all, I am a sista : )

On our first night there I stopped a man who was passing us in the street.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at a ginormous lighted mountain.

"...Acropolis??" he semi-replied/questioned back. (It must have been like asking what century we're in)

"Ohhh okay, just checking...I found it!" I exclaimed.

Yikes. What a tourist.

It must be so strange to be Athenian...to have the Acropolis and old civilisations in your backyard. Also, I was pretty excited to be on the south slope of the site--It's supposedly the place where Pablo gave his famous speech about the "unknown God"!

I wish I could imagine what it was like to be there amidst temples and togas. Instead there were cranes and construction workers putting the ancient stones back together.

Good food, though : )

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Istanbul, Turkey

It began on the plane.

My travel buddy, Mo, and I found ourselves seated amidst a group of Turkish men who were acting as if we were at a bar rather than on a 3 hour flight. They were standing around in the aisle unchecked by the very British flight attendant, Francesca, whom they kept calling over so they could buy more drinks. Every 5 minutes, they would burst out into unified Turkish song. It was pretty intense (And this is already skipping the part where our plane got struck by lightning).

And, of course, these folks became our new friends. By the end of 3 hours, Mo and I were invited to come to a Bisiktas football game, the official team of Istanbul.

Our new Turkish hosts were more than hospitable. They took us out to eat, drink, and sightsee--and wouldn't let us pay for a thing. Right before the awaited game, they brought us into the team gift shop and insisted that we choose Bisiktas gear to wear for the game...and then they paid for it. We protested with all our might, but they acted truly offended at our rejection of their hospitality.

"Wouldn't you do the same for us if we came to Los Angeles?" demanded Ercument.

"Uhhhmmmmm..." said we.

"Well, whether you would or not, this is how we do it." he replied to our awkward pause.

Istanbul itself was an incredible experience. I had never been in a Muslim country before. There were mosques galore and we immediately heard the 5 daily calls to prayer from the loudspeakers posted on the top of the minarets.

It was really neat to be able to travel from Europe to Asia (and vice versa) daily. The Bosphorus Strait was an interesting body of water with lots of vessels traveling through it.

You'll have to ask me later about the strange hostel receptionist, ridiculous rain, racial issues, why the Turkish flag design came to be, beer & wine, and near drugging experience. There are, again like Madrid, way too many stories to recount.

All I'll say for now is that Bisiktas lost 2-0 : ( , yet I am still a fan for life. Also, I have never been offered the sale of so many carpets!

Sadly, I came out sick from the weekend; a combination of not fully recovering from the previous weekend, my sick host, and being immersed in rain-water. Please pray that:

1. I'll get healthy again.

2. I will get all my assignments done.

Thanks : )

Fin de Semana en Madrid, Espana

I would like to start by thanking God that I am alive and safe at home in London.
This was the worst and also the best travel experience I have had yet.

There are so many stories that came out of this weekend; I'll only write about the main events here.

The worst part:
Upon arriving at the airport, I took the Metro to meet my host & was pickpocketed :(
My cell phone and all my cash...all taken.

I was supposed to text my host when I arrived at El Diamante, a bar in the centre of Madrid. This is when I discovered that I no longer had my phone. I wasn't sure which option to pursue: a) run back to find the perpetrator (which wouldn't help), or b) sit down and cry. In the Metro station, I found a police officer and told him my sad story (good thing I speak a bit of Spanish...).
He answered me simply with a, "Es dificil." (essentially "tough luck") and a shrug.

I pulled myself together and asked for directions to the bar. I emerged into the cold night of Madrid and stood on the corner next to El Diamante alone with all my stuff. No way to contact my host, and hence, no place to stay. Also, no numbers to call, nor did I know a soul in the city...or the country for that matter!

I was desperate enough that I started asking random men if they were my host, and when they denied such an identity, if they knew where the nearest Internet cafe was. I finally came across two girls who were English-speakers. They felt so sorry for me that they told me that they'd try to help my situation when they finally met up with their friend.

Altruistically, they brought me to their friend, a gentleman named Miguel. They insisted that I come along with them since they were going out for Halloween night. So with my backpack and all, I tagged along to watch an amazing Flamenco show and then to a club to dance the night away to house-esque music!

At 5am, when the night ended early (in their opinion!), I arrived with Miguel back at his home. After a much needed night's rest, he was kind enough to show me around Madrid and lent me his guest bedroom for the weekend.



The best part:
Madrid was beautiful and sunny. It was in the high 60s F! What a welcome change from London : )

The loveliest part of Madrid was El Parque de Buen Retiro. Amazing acreage of grass, waterfalls, ponds, gardens, walkways, etc. People all come to rollerblade, stroll, walk their dogs, sleep, read, jog...you name it : )

Miguel thought it would be a great idea to take a rowboat out on Enstanque, the big pond. It was very charming, although rowing is a lot harder than it looks : )


And the best part is that I got to practice my Spanish. It was awesome to see that I was able to effectively communicate...although in some cases it was not to my benefit...

The lessons I learned is that: a) there are things worse than death, b) there are more devastating things to be lost than material possessions or money.

And for this I'm a thankful girl : )