Athena Blogs

Two weeks until show time.

Everyday I get up and bounce back and forth between the painting studio and darkroom. Everyone is starting to feel the time crunch. It is a little stressful knowing that we only have that long to make our work for the final show, but also exciting to work in the studios with everyone. It helps that my photography project is something new for me. Even thought I am a photo major, I have never experimented with night photography.

I absolutely love it.

In some ways everything has slowed down, but it may just be the calm before the storm. Last weekend was my first weekend on Paros without some kind of trip to another island. With friends in Rome for a long weekend, I finally had a chance to relax.

I spent my weekend switching from the darkroom to the painting studio. It may be "work" but it is what I want to do. That is what is so amazing about being here. I "have" to do exactly what I want to do anyway, so it never really seems like work and I never dread class or what we have to do for it.

The Orange Flash

Having unforgettable experiences on a weekly basis has now become my norm. Last Sunday, Halloween, was the 2500 anniversary of the Athens classic marathon.

The 42km marathon course takes the same route the Ancient Greek messenger, Phiedippides, ran in 960BCE from Marathon to Athens to bring word of victory over the Persians. The marathon finishes with a lap in the Olympic Stadium where the Olympic games were born.

The first leg of our journey to Turkey was to the Greek island of Samos. It seems the further from the Greek mainland I am the more I like the islands, maybe it's the farther I am from Athens. Samos immediately had a different feeling than other islands. The architecture is more varied with elements of Venetian and Turkish styles. Although I enjoy white washed buildings with blue shutters, it was refreshing to see more color variation.

Exhausted and hungry from the long ferry rides all we managed to do before collapsing into bed was walking to the waterfront to eat dinner. Our waiter was very enthusiastic about the island and drew all over the tablecloth map, showing us all the best places to visit.

Even after all of the Cycladic islands I have been to by now, I always end up coming back to Paros thinking it's the best…until now. Even though I only spent one night there, Naxos has taken over as my favorite. It immediately felt less touristy, even at the port. Then as we made our way through the winding streets its unique character began to show even more.

Our first night we were free to wonder. Walking along the coast we saw the most amazing sunset, better than Ia. After that, our first night we were not very Greek. We went out for Mexican food at Picasso. The food was amazing, maybe in part because I haven't had Mexican in over a month, but it definitely hit the spot. After eating at least a couple meals worth of food we made our way to a Mexican bar. Pablo, a Brazilian server, tried to teach us how to salsa…tried. When we got back to our hotel, even though it was 3am, me and Kate sat out by the pool for about an hour getting life advice from Moses, a little grey kitten. Sunday we got to see more of Naxos's vast landscape. First our bus winded its way to the temple of Demeter, the goddess of grain. Demeter and Dionysus, the God of wine and fun, are the most glorified deities on the island due to its dependence on agriculture. Then we visited Apiranthos, a little village nestled inland among the rolling hills. The village was slow paced and peaceful, not at all a tourist destination.

A Greek sunrise.

Studio classes are really starting to pick up. We had our first painting critique last week. I surprised myself at what I could produce if I put enough time and effort into it. Our first assignment was a triptych. Other people’s work inspired me rather than making me feel intimidated.

Our first photo critique was also last week. It was interesting getting used to a new darkroom, but I finally found my favorite enlarger and got back into the swing of things. It was extremely rewarding to actually print after all of the shooting I have been doing. Our next assignment, due this Friday is two different themes with 4 photographs each. I thought I was on top of my game and went to Naussa Sunday to shoot. Not so fast, my film was blank. Trying to make up time I got up before the sun on Monday so that I could at least make up so shooting time in Parikia. Tuesday morning back in the lab at the crack of dawn…blank. I WILL NOT LET MY CAMERA BE BROKEN! One more roll. Finally whatever I was doing wrong, or what ever was happening with my camera is better. I missed out on three rolls of film, but feel better knowing my camera is ok. Besides, it’s a good excuse to go back to Naussa!

Looking at Greece's beauty

Every day here seems to last an eternity…in the best way.  Last weekend was the long awaited trip to Santorini.  Even though we only spent one full day there, we did as much as I might expect if we had AT LEAST a week.  The ferry ride only took 3 hours.  As we approached the island the cliffs of brick red and gold shimmered above the turquoise waters.  After driving the never ending switchback up the cliff we arrived at our little pastel colored Villa Popi in the town of Fira.  Of course Brittany and me ended up with the only room with one bed, it seems we always end up in strangely romantic situations.  I guess its just unavoidable no matter who you are with in Greece.  After a little exploring, the whole crew went out to dinner.  The fava melted in my mouth, the best I have ever had. 

Saturday was the epic day.  We started out walking down the cliff on a rock and donkey poop switchback.  The donkeys don’t seem to notice if anything or anyone is in their war, or they just want revenge for having to carry oversized people up and down the mountain all day, and plow right by you.  When we got to the bottom we boarded a boat that looked like a pirate ship with Mama Santorini as our guide. 

Fun with friends!

It's fascinating how different some of the Cycladic Islands are from one another. Sunday we went to Delos and Mykonos. Delos is an extremely sacred place to Greeks, being the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis.

They myth goes that Artemis and Apollo were born on Delos because their mother, Leta, was the victim of Hera's jealousy. Hera's husband, Zeus, became obsessed with Leta and convinced her to have sex with him. When Hera found out Leta was pregnant with Zeus' children she kidnapped the goddess of childbirth and threatened anyone who offered Leta any help giving birth.

Never did I think that my life could be so affected in 10 days. I arrived in Athens on the 6th after an 11-hour flight from Atlanta, running on about 5 hours of sleep over the past few days. I got my passport stamped, got rid of my American dollars and my adventure began. I opted for the metro to get to the Dioskouros Hostel, wanting to be engulfed by the city and the people.

I got off at the right stop and eventually found the hostel after wondering the wrong way for a while. I was ready to get away from my bags but eager to get back out to explore Athens. I recognized some girls I thought were a part of Athena Abroad introduced myself and had lunch with them. That night we went out to a fancy restaurant for appetizers and wine before we went out for dinner. The charming Greek waiter gave us each a glass of free wine.