Little Reminders

Anonymous You know, being in Athens, it's easy to forget we're taking a class.  It's easy to get caught up in the city and the dinners with great friends.  It's easy to get lost in the history and lose track of time when you've already been out for six hours.  You wake up the next morning to realize that you have class or you forgot to read, and it all comes back to you that this isn't just another vacation, it's a learning experience.

Yesterday, we had a free day.  I finally slept in and woke up when I felt like it, to do some of that class reading.  Fortunately, two of my neighbors had the same idea.  We all took our sweet little time, as they often seem to do here, and finally headed out around 1:30.  It felt nice to know that most of my class work was done and now I had time to explore the city with some great friends.

Traveling over to Starbucks, we had a nice glimpse of home.  What can I say?  You gotta visit Starbucks at least once.  The cool thing was, it had that awesome Starbucks feel.  The one that is so familiar to everyone around the world.  But, by the people and the set up, we were constantly reminded of the fact that we were in Greece. 

We then experienced Athens in a different way than usual.  We weren't being tourists visiting the museum.  We weren't walking around trying to figure out which new restaurant to eat at.  We weren't walking around to take pictures of every cool thing we saw.  We were walking around to check out all the fashionable stores Athens has to offer.  I can't quite remember if anyone has told you this yet, but everyone in Athens is always dressed.  And I don't mean in the sense that they are simply wearing clothes.  They have outfits that are put together in a very classy way.  It's a sight that makes us remember that we are Americans through and through, where the t-shirts and the jeans are a staple in the closet.  So, naturally, it only seemed appropriate that we experience the shopping scene of Athens.  After all, wouldn't it be nice to come back with some of that style :)