Life Continues

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Hey guys!

I wanted to write a little more about my daily life here in Athens by highlighting two important features: hand washing my clothes & going to the market.

Hand Washing Clothes!

So, as many of you already know, Laundromats are very rare here in Athens, (and when you can find them, they are very expensive!) And while we do have access to free washers and dryers at my Academic Center at CYA, it is a pain to have to lug all your dirty clothes all the way to the school, and even more of a pain to do your laundry there—because the doing laundry here in Greece takes about 1-2 hours for the washer, and anywhere from 3+ hours to dry in the dryer. Thus, a lot of people just hand wash their clothes, and hang them out to dry in the Mediterranean sun on their balcony.


I decided it would be most practical to do the latter myself, and have officially completed my first load of hand-washed laundry. It really wasn’t very hard—you just fill the sink, add the special hand-washing detergent (they sell special detergent here, signified by a little wash basket symbol on the box to indicate it is for hand washing only), rinse them in the bathtub, and hang them out to dry! (After vigorously wringing out all the water you can by twisting!)

It’s true that I think I may be ruining all my clothing due to the scrubbing and wringing and twisting (and I’m sure inadequate rinsing on my part)--but I don’t really mind, as long as I have clean clothes to wear! (Well, clean enough anyway!) The only problem I have really encountered (other than the incredible stretching and malformation of the clothes themselves), is the fact that it is actually winter here in Athens, and thus, it rains A LOT. People don’t really think about things like that when they think about the weather in Greece, but the winters are actually quite chilly, and very damp/wet. So that could be a problem for me if I plan on drying my clothes outside in open air.

Also, my clothes never really come out smelling super fresh and clean like when you do them in a washer and dryer, and often times they are pretty stiff (as opposed to soft and fluffy). But like I said, that’s not really a problem for me. I’m not picky.


And I thought it would be funny to mention that after my first hand-washing load was completed, and I got it all hung out to dry on the balcony, that luck I’m known for kicked in, and it stared to pour! (Can you see the sheet of rain in the picture?)

The upside: the sun was still shining, and it made this beautiful rainbow! ☺

I actually made video documenting my first time hand washing, which I hope to figure out how to post soon! Haha

The Market

So as I told you in older posts, I buy a lot of fresh things here in Athens. For example, you can buy your bread fresh everyday from the bakery, get your meat from the meat store, and your fruits and veggies from the market.

And here in Athens, the market is quite an experience! Every Friday, it forms in the streets in two areas of the city: one in Kolonaki, and one in Pangrati. It usually lasts from the early morning to the late afternoon, and every kind of produce you could possibly imagine (all grown locally, naturally), is laid out for you to buy (super cheap!)

Each market stretches for several blocks, and it is just a really cool thing to experience. Athenians crown the stalls to get the best deals (although in my opinion, they are all pretty much a steal!)

On the ends of the market, they sell things like clothing, socks, and other miscellaneous products. But the middle (and the majority of the market) is made up of dozens of fruit and vegetable stands, along with a few stands that sell things like nuts, dried fruits and home made candies and jams.

Here is a picture of all the stuff I got last Friday, spending a grand total of less that 5 euros!


So you can see why the Friday market is a big happening here in Athens! Everything they sell is so fresh and big and delicious, and it is all super cheap! Just look at those strawberries! Yum!

Getting Lost

Another thing I wanted to write about is: getting lost.

While I am definitely getting better at finding my way around Athens, I still find myself getting a little disoriented at times. For instance, last Friday I decided to go look for a bookstore that sells books in English that I read about in one of my Athens guides. It was located in Kolonaki, (right across from the National Library building, which is a very beautiful building itself to see), and it is a pretty far walk from my apartment, but I thought it would be a good way to get to explore the city a little bit.

The route I took to get there was actually pretty neat. I got to walk down past the Stadium (where my school is located) and then up the other side of the hill, strolling right past the National Gardens, along with the Greek Parliament building, and a few other important government buildings that I couldn't really identify. And it was really cool to see all the guards who walk the streets there. They stand guard at all the gates, and march up and down the streets in lines, doing all kinds of fancy leg movements and footwork, and tapping out interesting rhythms (the bottoms of their shoes are more like tap shoe soles, and made a sharp, loud click when they hit the ground.) They also wear uniforms that make them look a lot like say, the British Guard that are so famous in England. (Sorry, I'm not brave enough to get a picture yet--they carry bayonets and aren't allowed to look or talk to people on the street. Although, I have heard stories about them whistling at the pretty women, and kicking the men who walk to close! Literally. haha)

So since the Gardens looked so beautiful, I decided to try and take a short cut, and walk right on through the gardens—and when I finally came out on the there side, I knew exactly where I was, and proceeded on my route to the bookstore. (Or so I thought.)

So about 40 minutes later, when I was still walking and saw no sign of any kind of Library (although I did pass quite a few Museums!), I decided to stop at the nearest metro station and take a look at my map. And sure enough, I had gone right when I should have gone left, way back at the spot where I had exited the Gardens, and had been walking in the complete wrong direction the entire time. But the weather was nice, and I was really enjoying my walk. So I just turned around, and headed in the other direction.

But when I finally got to the bookstore, I was disappointed when I discovered that their English language travel section was not very well stocked. (I wanted to get the Rough Guide to Greece, to start planning some of my weekend trips more thoroughly.) So I settled for The Lonely Planet Guide to Crete (where I plan on spending my 5 day weekend exploring the island.) But as I was walking back home, I actually ran into two additional stores, each with a much bigger selection, and I found the Rough Guides to both Greece and Crete (one in each store.) So I bought those, and headed back to return the other book to the first store I found.




So by the time I was ready to head back to Pangrati, it had already begun to get dark. But I wasn't worried—as I said before, I have yet to feel unsafe in Athens. Rather, the walk back was actually quite beautiful. My path took my right behind the back of the Acropolis itself, which was lit up. And I also passed the Stadium, which was also lit up for the night.






Thus, in having only been in Greece for 2 weeks now, I have finally learned the value of getting lost. Because it's not always about the destination; it’s about the journey. And I find I really enjoy the adventures that come with trying to find my way back home, and the things I experience when I'm not looking for any adventures at all.


(You will see more of this when I post about accidentally wandering off the beaten path on my hiking trip last Sunday...which was the absolute best day I've spent in Greece yet! But it will take a long time to write about, and I have sooo many pictures and even a few videos... so look out for it!)

Another reason I don't feel scared getting lost in Athens= the dogs! Here is a picture of one of my favorite friends, who hangs out around my neighborhood and the Academic Center.


A funny thing about walking with a dog here is that every time they hear a noise, they freeze—and then take off at a full sprint into the bushes. Then all you hear is a loud "MROWR! (that is supposed to be a cat's distress call... I'm not good at the whole onomatopoeia thing I guess...), and a flash of black or orange comes dashing out of the bush—the dog right behind it, chasing the poor cat in circles and zigzags, in and out of bushes, under cars, etc.

But the cats are typically the victors, for the dogs are not quite as agile, and while the dogs can sometimes corner them in a tree or on top of a car, cats are much more patient than dogs, and the dog soon loses interest and prances back to find another human to hang out with.

Although I don’t really feel bad, because the cats are the ones who are typically victorious. (The dogs are not quite as agile, and while the dogs can sometimes corner a cat in a tree or on top of a car, a cat is much more patient than a dog, so it just sits and waits and the dog soon loses interest and prances away to find another human to hang out with.)


Here is a picture of one such an incident, (which I witnessed earlier this week), which involved my friend (from the pictures above), and a black cat that he spotted, pursued, cornered, and harassed until he lost interest and decided to follow me instead.


So I guess that’s all for now!

-Summer Rose