Back home...strange.
Well, after all the waiting, counting down the days, I'm actually home. 30 hours of travel later, I was in pretty severe culture shock coming back to the States. After 5 months out of the country, I feel like I'm seeing everything here as a visitor would. This is a good thing, though. My time abroad has given me an entirely different perspective on the country I call home, a greater sense of objectivity. I see America's many admirable aspects in much clearer relief now, but I also understand its faults more acutely. This puts me in a difficult position; I'm happy to be home, to see my family and friends, but I feel like I'm in a kind of limbo. I don't know where I belong.
I know this is normal for people who've gone through such intense experiences--reentry is always difficult. It's going to take a while to sort things out. For this reason, I'm going to keep this blog up, for now. Hopefully it will be a place where I can write down memories as I'm looking through pictures or more thoughts about how the trip affected me. I might not update it much, but feel free to keep checking back occasionally. I'll also keep the link to my pictures up, and I'm working on getting all of them online!
5 days and counting
Well, as usual I've not been updating nearly as much as I wanted to, and somehow I've suddenly only got 5 more days until I go home and the door to the last five months of my life closes on an unimaginably influetial experience. Some part of me doesn't quite believe I'm actually going home, because I've gotten used to this life of hopping between countries and changing scenery every 5 weeks. But in all honesty, I'm feeling a little worn out; I don't know if I could handle any more stops. So it's good to be going home. I have to keep saying that to myself so that the reality of it will start to sink in.
Life moves on and things come to an end while new things begin; new experiences overlap with memories in the ebb and flow of life. I know that the experience of traveling these last 5 months will be part of my daily life when I go home and continue to remember everything we've done and seen and process the overwhelming amounts of mental and experiential information I've been exposed to and have tried to absorb.
How do you sum up 5 months of your life? How do you explain what life has been like--the magnitude of what I've seen and done-- even to friends and family who I've been in contact with regularly, much less those who I haven't been able to talk to? The thought of attempting to do this scares me, in a way, because it's not really possible. Photos and words help, but only to approximate. But at the same time, I'm excited to come home and share (with anyone willing to listen!) some part of what I've taken and learned from my 5 months abroad. Reminiscing and discussing with friends here this past week has reminded me just how much I've learned and absorbed.
Since my last update, we've been busy around here. We've had two mini-excursions --no sweat compared to our week-long epic voyages through Morocco, Turkey and Egypt! The first was an overnight in Nafplio, a wonderful seaside town on the gulf of Corinth, where we stayed in a modern
pansion in a neat 17th century house on the side of a hill with a view of a 17th century Venetian fortress rising above the town. On the way there we visited ancient Corinth, a powerful trading town in classical times and famous for its Jewish community which hosted St. Paul for 9 months in Roman times. We also saw the Asklepeion (pilgrimage site of the Greek god of healing Asklepios) and the largely intact 14,000 seat theatre at Epidauros, and visited the site of ancient Mycenae, where archeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered the famous Mask of Agamemnon and proved once and for all that Homer's Iliad was based in historical fact.
Yesterday we took a day trip up to Delphi, the site of the renowned oracle of Apollo where (according to Sophocles) Oedipus received his fateful prophecy which began the spiral of that famous tragedy. We drove through the Swiss Alps-esque ski-resort town of Arahova, and even caught some flurries ourselves as we shivered in the 5 degree celsius weather. On our way back to Athens we visited the monastery of Housias Loukas, where it began to snow heavily and added an atmospheric sense of mystery as we looked at the beautifully preserved mosaics in the church and the frescoes in the crypt.
We have class every day this week and are also busy going to museums with our professor, so time is filling up. We even have 3 papers to write this week, which should be interesting after not having done anything beyond essay tests and informal writing for the last five months. I guess it's a good way to ease back into the overwhelming insanity that will be classes at St. Olaf when I get back: 2 history courses, one theology with writing credit, and a philosophy/ethics course. I may be living in the library second semester, so please come visit me sometime on the north corner of the fifth floor ;-)
This may be my last update until I get home, so I want to say thanks to everyone who put up with my inconsistency and semi-incoherence these past 5 months. I hope some of what I've written about was interesting and can be a starting point for discussions in the future. See you stateside soon!
sad news
The happiness and excitement of the last week have been dampened by recent events at home. I knew that my dog Maya had not been doing well--she'd been having frequent seizures and clearly wasn't herself. On Thursday morning I got a call from my dad, and he told me that Maya had gotten a lot worse and they were doing all they could to treat whatever was wrong, possibly an infection in her brain tissue, and hopefully not a brain tumor. He told me that she might not last much longer. On Thursday night when I called home my mom sounded slightly more optimistic, but Friday night when I called again, the pause on the phone when I asked my sister how she was told me all I needed to know.
Maya was put to sleep at about 9:00 am Friday morning December 30th, 2005, with my mom and Hannah holding her in their arms and with a loving and compassionate vet sharing their tears, knowing how much this wonderful dog has meant to our whole family for the past 6 years.
Anyone who knows me knows how much I loved Maya. She really was a member of our family; whenever we were home, she was happy, and she was the source of so much joy for all of us. She loved nothing more than to be close to us, sitting with us on the couch or sleeping next to me on my bed. It is so hard to even think of home without thinking of Maya, waiting by the front window for her family to come home, and wiggling uncontrollably with pure joy when the front door opens and she runs to greet us. What makes everything even harder is the fact that I am 8,000 miles away from home right now and cannot be there grieving with my family. I am so thankful that I have good friends around me, and of course the Gimses, to comfort me and let me cry and share my memories of Maya. But I want to be home. Two weeks feels like too long to wait.
When I've talked with my friends here about going home, we all have said (somewhat jokingly) that we were looking forward to seeing our pets more than our families. In a way this was true, though--while I missed my family and friends so much at times that it was painful, at least I was able to talk to them. But I couldn't wait to get home and see my Maya, to let her sleep on my lap while I sat on the couch with my family. I missed her tangible presence more than anything. And now it is so hard to realize I will never get to see her or pet her ever again. I do believe she is in a better place now. I once heard heaven described as a purer, cleaner, brighter version of life on earth. My vision of heaven now includes my wonderful little Maya, free from all suffering and pain, frolicking and happy and waiting patiently as always for her family to come home once and for all.
There is a Maya-sized hole in my heart which will never fully heal. I've barely stopped crying since I heard the news from my sister last night. I keep remembering things about her and it breaks my heart to know she won't be there when I get home in 2 weeks. Home won't be the same. That's the thing about life, I guess--we're always wishing for everything good not to change. We selfishly hope for one more hour, one more week with those we love. Time is never enough. It is so precious. What can we do when we lose something we love?
I thank God for his gift of unconditional love given to us in the form of a sweet, joyful puppy named Maya. I miss her so much.
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Christmas has come and gone...
Post-Christmas greetings to everyone. I hope you all had a great celebration with family and friends. It was strange for me to think of everyone at home, going on with the same traditions and family get-togethers as always, while I'm halfway across the world. Although, in a way, I've gotten used to this idea, and it seems almost normal to be missing Christmas after we've been gone for so long. Talking on the phone to my family, though, I was reminded that no, this is definitely NOT normal! I could hear the chatter of voices and music in the background, and at that moment I wished more than anything to be on the other end of the phone line, back at home. But that moment passed, and hanging up the phone I realized how lucky I am to be here in Greece and how much fun we had celebrating with our extended TIME family.
I don't have time to write more but will update again next week when we get back from our excursion to Naplion.
For now, I've added 50 more pictures, some from Egypt and mostly from Greece, to my yahoo album. to see them , click on the link to the right called "Abby's Travel Photos".
Happy New Year 2006!
first week+ in Athens
The last week and a half has gone by quickly and I am already getting used to life in Greece even though it is so different from any of my experiences in the last three countries. The most obvious differences are superficial: Christmas trees and holiday music are everywhere, the weather is cold, the streets are clean, you can drink the tap water, and everything is expensive! But it goes deeper than that. I have to ask myself, how does Greece tie in with the other countries? Greece is Europe, through and through. But the longer I look, the more I am able to see how cultures and societies overlap and influence each other through history. Aspects of civilization such as art and architecture, political ideologies, and religious belief, have made their marks in many ways all over the region, and this sense of co-mingling and borrowing of beliefs and ideas has been strong in all four countries I've been to. That is why it is so fascinating to study both the similarities and differences between these four very distinct places--and to discover that there is more overlap than I had ever realized.
Last week, we began our classes with our professor Ryan Preston, who is currently in the process of getting his PhD in Orthodox studies from Harvard. His style of teaching focuses much more on discussion and interaction, which after 4 months of basically all lectures and question/answer classes, is a welcome change. Our class is focusing on the rise and development of Christianity, especially the formation of doctrine, the influences of Judaism and Roman-Hellenistic culture, and art and architecture. As a history and religion double major (for now at least!) this is right up my alley. College Year in Athens, the program with which we're affiliated here, is located very close to downtown, in fact right next door to the huge marble Olympic Stadium (which was renovated in the 1890's and used in last summer's Olympics). It was about a half hour brisk walk from the hotel where we stayed for our first nine days here. It is so great to be in a place where everything feels so accessible--either by walking or by a short metro ride.
Yesterday morning we moved out of our hotel (no more free breakfasts, unfortunately!) and into very nice apartments in the fairly upscale Kolonaki neighborhood. Five of us girls are in one apartment right below Mac and Jackie, who definitely lucked out with the deluxe faculty suite. They even have a living room which will be perfect for our big Christmas gatherings coming up. It's kind of strange to have our own homey places to live after being in such close quarters in hotels for over 2 and a half months now. While the apartments do afford us some much-appreciated personal space, I kind of miss being able to step right across the hall to talk to someone, since now we are all living in different buildings. I suppose though that it is a good way to ease us into the transition of going back home next month and being away from that intense group togetherness.
We have class only every other day, so last week we took advantage of our time outside class to explore downtown Athens. The downtown revolves around the major squares, Syntagma and Omonia. Within walking distance from these are the National Gardens, many shopping streets, museums, tons of streetside cafes good for people-watching, and smaller squares which, if you time it right, are set up with Christmas carousels and flea markets which you can wander through while munching on candied nuts. This is what some of us did on Saturday, after our half-day visit to the incredibly vast and fascinating National Archeological Museum. We've had a great guide, Gabriele, for both our city tour and museum visit. Some of my favorite things from the Archeology museum were the perfectly preserved gold mask of Agamemnon, the strangely post-modern looking Cycladic sculptures, and the idealized beauty of many imposing and impressive Classical figures.
We've been trying to sample as many different restaurants as possible around the city, which is difficult to do without breaking the bank, but the Plaka neighborhood, situated right below the Acropolis and just above the classical agora (marketplace of ancient Athens), is filled with picturesque "tavernas" nestled in the narrow streets which traverse the hillside. Not surprisingly, Greek food is incredible--I'm a fan of salads with feta cheese and spanikopita, traditional spinach pies. It's going to be hard going home, if only because the food is so good here!
Well, we're all getting ready for Christmas here, planning meals together and looking for the perfect thing for our Secret Santas. I am so thankful to be here, to be having this experience as a cap off of an amazing five month whirlwind trip. And there are three weeks still left, with new places to visit and things to learn along the way. I miss you all and wish you peace and joy as we celebrate the dawning of new life this Christmas.
holiday season in Athens!
Well, it's hard to believe that just yesterday I woke up in our funky yet homey hotel room in the Cosmopolitan in Cairo, and today I'm writing from a new-age high tech internet cafe in Athens, Greece! Our last few days in Egypt were hectic--after taking our final exam on Saturday morning which I'd been studying for all week, I had to mail a package home in order to meet the weight limits for my luggage at the airport. A hassle, but luckily our friend Adam helped us out. On Sunday morning, we went to church at St. Andrew's, where we presented a donation of around $600 to the coordinator of the church's refugee education program. This money comes from an independent fund set up by alumni of Term in the Middle East and Global Semester programs, and current groups like us get to designate where we'd like to give the money. It's a pretty neat idea--it gives those of us who have had life-changing experiences on this trip to give back to the communities we've shared in during our stay. We chose St. Andrews for many reasons--especially becaus a bunch of us were able to volunteer there a couple times in beginning English classes and see firsthand what it means for the refugee children, almost all Sudanese, to have the opportunity to learn English. We were also able to speak with the leaders of two major tribes of refugees who are living there in Cairo. They told us about the struggle of trying to find work in a city where over 40% of Egyptians are already unemployed, and enduring prejudice and racism on top of everything else. I can't imagine what their lives must be like.
That evening, our last night in Cairo, I was "kidnapped" by some of my friends who insisted on taking me to a mystery location to celebrate my birthday! What fun--we ended up at a Pizza Hut right across from the Pyramids and watched the sound and light show from the upper floor! After that, they took me to a wonderful restaurant that was in a tent right on the edge of the Nile, where we ate great food and hung out for the rest of the night. So much fun! It was definitely one of the best birthday celebrations in recent memory! I am so thankful for the wonderful people I've been traveling with. I felt so special and it was just a great day overall. I can't imagine any better way to turn 20!
Yesterday morning we left Cairo and after a short flight got off in the beautiful city of Athens. Cairo and Athens are like night and day. The first thing all of us noticed were the Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE--and the weather is perfect, just chilly enough that we need to bundle up when going out! This is a real treat after being in relatively warm weather since June! Today we had a half day city tour, during which we visited the Acropolis and the Parthenon with an incredible 360 degree view of the city, and walked through the quaint and idyllic pedestrian streets of the old town. So far, I absolutely love it here. Our hotel is very nice and conveniently located close to the Metro and bus routes. Tomorrow we begin classes at the College Year in Athens. I can't wait to get out and explore in the next few weeks!
Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful birthday messages--I love you all so much and can't wait to see you soon. Until then, season's greetings from Greece!
catching up!
This one might be a little random, but bear with me. I'm going to try catch up a bit on our time at Luxor and the Red Sea, and share some more thoughts. We'll see how far I get! Firstly I want to comment on an important issue my grandparents raised, which is my "disappointment" at seeing amazing historical sites which in reality don't live up to one's imagination. While superficially at least this may be true, I have to stress that every aspectof this trip--everything I have done or seen--has been worthwhile. Every experience has value for me, because I am learning that the only variable that can truly determine whether an experience is positive or negative is my own attitude. The only thing I have control over is myself, and I can choose to see each situation as an opportunity to learn something about myself and the world around me. With this attitude, at a place like Troy or the Valley of the Kings, simply being there presents an opportunity to question the ephemeral nature of civilizations, and to use my own imagination to reconstruct the former glory that is only hinted at by the remains of the physical site today. This questioning and wondering is where the value lies, for me, in every place I go, and which makes even those "disappointing" sights undeniably important and worthwhile to see in person.
When we got back to Cairo from our fall break on the Red Sea and four days in Luxor after that, we did some more touring around Cairo. We spent half a day visiting the Giza Pyramids (which are completely the opposite of "disappointing"!) , and were able to climb all the way inside the Great Pyramid through dark, narrow tunnels to reach the impressive burial chamber in the center. What an incredible experience! I still can't quite believe how lucky I am to be able to say that I've been inside the Great Pyramid, probably the most famous building or monument in our cultural lexicon. Egypt is just incredible. While we were in Luxor, visiting the elaborately decorated tombs and temples in the Valley of the Kings was like walking through a dream world. I never thought I'd have the chance to do these things. Last week, we visited a part of Cairo called Garbage City, which is basically a large slum area between the City of the Dead (the vast cemetery of both ancient and new mausoleums) and the steep sandstone hills which mark the end of the Nile Valley and the beginning of the desert. Garbage City is where many of the city's unofficial garbage collectors live and work, sorting trash for recyling to make a living. Many large cities around the world have these so called 'garbage towns' but what makes this one unique is the large churches that have been carved out of the side of the sandstone mounains against which the city is built. The mostly Christian community created these churches without the knowledge of the government and they have become an incredible testimony to the faith and determination of the thousands of poverty-stricken people who have only been able to find work doing what no one else wants to do. The churches are decorated with beautiful carvings of famous scenes from the Old and New Testaments, with verses written in Arabic and english. It was breathtaking to see.
Well, I barely even touched on Luxor--more coming soon. To be continued!
post-Thanksgiving update
It's been a while since I've had time to sit down and write something substantial, since we've been moving around quite a lot in the last few weeks, what with our trip south to Luxor and Hurghada and then our Thanksgiving weekend in Alamein and Alexandria. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday--I know I missed being at home and seeing my family but I had a good day with my new "family" here!
We were actually in Alamein (site of WWII battle) on Thanksgiving day. We drove all day from Cairo, visiting the ancient monastery of St. Bishoi on the way, and ended up being the only group at an otherwise empty resort/hotel right on the Mediterranean. It was so beautiful, partly because we had basically a private beach to ourselves! The sand was so white and the water incredibly turquoise blue and fairly warm. So we had our Thanksgiving dinner there, and the next day we had free to relax and swim. I read a book (I've been doing a lot of that lately, which has been great!) and swam and walked out by myself to a small point, and did a lot of thinking. Then on saturday we visited the El-Alamein war museum, the German and Italian memorials, and the British commonwealth cemetery/memorial. It was powerful to see the gravestones rising out of the barren desert and to imagine young men fighting and dying by the thousands out there. It was overwhelming.
In the late afternoon we reached the city of Alexandria , which was neat because of its location right on the edge of the Mediterranean. Itwas cloudy and cool (well, cooler than Cairo anyway) and not smoggy. but there was not much to see in the city itself in terms of visible history because it has grown so much over the past 2000 years and much of the history is buried underneath the layers of modern urban sprawl. The Greco-Roman catacombs were really neat though, as was the Roman theatre where we all took turns standing in the center of the stage and making fools of ourselves while listening to the loud echo caused by the perfect acoustics of the place. The best part of Alexandria was visiting the new library that has been built near the site of the famous ancient Museum (library) of Alexandria. What a beautiful space! after our tour there we all spent an hour just browsing around. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is designed so that all 10 or so floors are open at once, with two staircases connecting the floors like giant steps, if you can imagine that. Although the new library is nothing like the old one, neither in architecture nor function (the old "Museum" was a place where great scholars and philosophers came together to think and produce scholastic literature, not a public lending library), it was an impressive place.
On Monday we got back to Cairo and had some free time before going out to see the new Harry Potter movie with our Egyptian friends. It was a lot of fun, although it feels like kind of a cop-out to watch a movie instead of taking advantage of being in Cairo. Oh well--that will probably be the first and only movie we see here! But it was fun anyway. The rest of this week we have more classes and this weekend we'll be touring part of the old Islamic Cairo where the great mosques and monuments of the Fatimids and Mamluks stand.
