Semester at Sea- Greece

Greece

To say the least, it has been a busy time. We have all been non-stop and it’s nearly impossible to catch a minute to stop and think, let alone reflect on the amazing adventure that is happening. I did not send out my e-mail about Croatia, to sum the experience up in a few sentences hardly gives it the credit it deserves. However, I must attempt to reveal my experience in Croatia narrowed down to sunny days, banana boating, laughter with friends, conversations with locals, cliff jumping, and incredible food. We were there long enough to experience the life of a local in the “Old City”, and were there long enough to walk around comfortably knowing where to go and what to see. I absolutely loved Croatia.

Greece was overwhelming. We see throughout history, and our education countless pictures of famous sites and head the events that shaped history that took place at the places where I stood. The Acropolis is an incredible phenomenon and is definitely worth seeing. When I walked up there for the second time in my life, I noticed the hoards of people, construction scaffolding and blazing sun. I was hoping to feel humbled by these great ruins, imagining what took place there so many years ago, instead I felt very little. I wish so much to stand in these places and be alone, to sit in silence and take in the majesty and power of these places. It is often ruined with the groups of tourists traveling to these places without appreciation or understanding of what we stand in front of. The center places of history have become a checklist for tourists who wish simply to take pictures and add to their collection of travels. I am not without fault in what I am explaining. I stood there, took my pictures and unfortunately didn’t understand the importance or greatness of where I was and in my ignorance and naivety I felt ashamed of not being able to stand still in full appreciation at the history before my eyes. I look back now on these moments in my life as images of my days in Greece flash before my eyes and I take with me a humbling experience of how we often walk through life without understanding or appreciating the times or people we have, it takes moments when we look back and savor these moments in silence and gratitude which shape our memories and perceptions of these experiences.

After visiting Athens for 11 hours the first day, we got our rest and woke up the next day to catch a ferry to Mykonos. Mykonos was a very relaxing Island, known to be a vacation spot for locals and tourists. It had beautiful beaches and we stayed in a small, beautiful hotel. One experience out of the three days that I was there, which comes to my mind, is one night when we were sitting on our porch watching the sunset and chatting with 10 of my closest friends. There was a weird nose at the balcony a few doors down from ours breaks, and the man that was leaning against it falls 3 stories to the floor. The image stands out in my mind as I was one of the first to run down to him. I thought to myself that there was absolutely no way that he survived that fall and as I ran to him I thought I was going to see a bloody mess. This man was very lucky, he landed on his feet, breaking his ankles but not hurting anything else. It took the ambulance 30 minutes to get there and they said the man survived because he was drinking and as he fell his body was more relaxed. It was truly an eye-opening experience and since he did not get hurt, it makes for an interesting story!