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Athena Paros Island Spring 2012: Hannah Zoppi

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Hannah Zoppi

Hannah Zoppi

I'm Hannah! A 21 year old Theatre major and Creative Writing minor at Flagler College in Saint Augustine, Florida; Currently studying abroad on Paros Island, Greece for the second semester of my junior year. I'll be posting pictures, stories, and inspiration from my time here as much as possible so check back frequently and experience this amazing journey right along with me. :)
The last few weeks of life on Paros was mesmerizing and wonderful, so much so.. that I completely forgot to blog and instead floated into a state of pure happiness that made nothing else seemed to matter (i.e: blogging). So I'll fill you in now... the final weeks were filled with art showings, painful goodbyes to my now life long friends, and most of all: PLANS. I made it my mission to return to Paros. It was a semester unlike anything I'd ever experienced, not only for my college career but in life and I wasn't ready to move on to the next chapter just yet. I talked to Barry (director of HISA and one of the most amazing and supportive people I've ever known), professors at HISA (who developed classes so that I could stay on track for my Spring 2013 graduation- incredible), college professors at Flagler who all were so helpful, as well as ATHENA (the absolute best study abroad coordinators-- not just for the fact that I am a blogger for their site but also because they are genuinely friendly people who make even the biggest obstacles seem effortless. I would recommend them every time: proof in that I went through Athena the second time around, and would a thousand times over!)
 
Adjusting to life post-Greece has been everywhere from dramatic and melancholy, to relaxing and comfortable. When I got home in June I realized that a lot of things were different. It seems like it would be so clearly apparent, but sinking into the old routine that I had lived months prior didn't feel as eventful and inspiring as my most recent months of galavanting around Europe had been. The people, the food, the weather, the atmosphere of Florida living was now a nagging reminder that I was not where I was happiest. I'll admit it, I was spoiled--  3 months of non-stop eye opening experiences, island hopping every weekend, landscapes for days, just the simplicity in waking up on an island is ecstasy... and then in a blink I was plucked right out and on a plane home to... heat.
 
It was hot. When I attempted serenity, instead I felt sweat. I was exhausted. Emotionally and physically and all I wanted was to go back to Greece. But first... I wanted to hibernate. It's true I became a recluse for the first couple weeks and didn't want to be seen by my friends or the sun. With so many stories and memories flooding my mind it became TOO much to tell everyone. It's impossible to explain what you've been through to others who haven't.
 
So instead, I kept to myself for the most part. (Aside from the stories I forced upon my mom and best friend whether they were interested or not) I channeled what I'd learned in my months abroad into art and I painted... and painted... via Pollock: I'm talking paint flying all over the floor and the walls (sorry mom) grasping on to everything I had left inside of me still lingering from Greece.
 
I refused to let it be lost and forgotten so I made it permanent in my paintings, and with that.. created some pieces of work that I now can smile at because they filled the gap of my adjustment back into my "old" life, while implementing elements of what I'd learned on Paros.
 
Luckily, I didn't become agoraphobic and eventually ventured out into my old stomping grounds and while everything was the same, I felt even more how I had changed. I was now even more determined than before to return to Greece, because this time I knew what was out there, and I needed more of it.
"Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now, we will never be here again." -Homer, The Iliad
So here I am now... 1 day away from hopping a plane and heading back to an artists sanctuary and another whirlwind of a semester which I imagine will knock me off my feet and make me forget to blog all over again. I certainly expect that it will be a different experience this time around, so my expectations are only for the things in which I have control over. And as ever, they are high.
 
I will continue writing with George, taking Directing with Sigrid, philosophy with Barry, painting with Neva. We also have mid-semester trips for the new "Fine Arts Triangle"  excursion to Prague (a dream for me) and Paris. Long layovers, unnerving taxi rides, and a tedious ferry will soon bring me back to you, Paros. With already one semester under my belt, I can't wait to see what you're going to do to me next!


xx hannah
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It has been way too long since I've blogged last. It's nearly impossible for me to grasp that the end of the semester is coming near so I'm spending even more time appreciating where I am and less time sitting on my computer. SO MUCH has been going on! School, island life, people, work... It's overwhelming and exciting. I can't even talk about actually leaving Paros or this blog will turn into my recent slew of poems. And no one wants to cry right now.

In school we have been focusing in on our final exhibition! At the end of next week we have our poetry reading and the following night is the art exhibition. I have a huge amount of work left to do in all of my classes, on my writing, and finishing touches on my paintings. But it's so exciting and I can't wait to see all of the work the other students have created throughout our semester here. They are ridiculously talented people and I have a feeling it's going to be mind-blowing. The piece I chose to read is a longer monologue that I've worked on here and there through the semester and is close to my heart. Nerve-wracking, yes. But I can't wait to share it with everyone and giving it a voice. One week!!

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What an amazing spring break. Our entire school went to Istanbul, Turkey for a week and it was unlike anything I've ever experienced in my entire life. I tried to change it up this time and let the pictures (and video) speak for themselves mostly... enjoy :)

We took the smallest plane to Athens due to the possibility of ferry strikes on Paros. It was a 35 minute flight compared to a 4 hour ferry ride... yes please!

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Posted by on in Fall/Spring 2012: Hannah Zoppi

It is possible that I just had one of the best weeks of my life...

Shayla, a friend I met here in Greece, and I decided to take a week long trip to Rome & Florence to meet up with my best friend Kristen who is currently studying abroad in Copenhagen! 

Overall, the traveling days were the most difficult. There is a lot more that goes into hopping from country to country than what I expected. Shayla and I woke up early on Friday the 30th and headed to the ferry (carrying our luggage across cobblestone streets made us realize that perhaps we packed too heavy, and had not even left Paros yet!) We bought our tickets and got on the ferry which was 4 hours to Athens. Once in Athens we got a taxi to the airport, checked our bags, and off to Roma we went! When we were landing every time someone said "Welcome to Rome!" we screamed a little bit. 

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Posted by on in Fall/Spring 2012: Hannah Zoppi

I was talking to a friend I did theatre with back in Saint Augustine, and she told me that when she was traveling, every day she would wake up and say "today is the best day of my life" and she would end every day by saying "today was the best day of my life." That spoke to me because I have experienced the same exact feelings. I think about how lucky I am every single day on my walk to class, or when listening to my professors, or when working on my assignments, and of course when I get to travel around and see things that are just mind blowing beyond comprehension... Every day here is the best day of my life.

Ever since I have gotten to Paros, I've felt a level of comfort that I didn't expect. I'm in a new country, I don't speak the language, it's different food and way of living and I have accepted all of that and just went with it, which makes living somewhere different that much easier. Sure, things aren't always perfect: my power goes out frequently, the apartment is always 10 times colder than it is outside, no cellphone, no hulu or netflix, communication with people here and people in America, and things even as simple as grocery shopping have become an incredibly daunting task (i.e: Half the time you have no idea what you're buying. Vanilla cookies turned out to be banana filled biscuits?!) But none of that seems to matter here. When my blowdryer knocks out my power and I have to run around to different rooms with my brush, blowdryer, adapters, and soaking wet hair, all I can do is laugh because I know that not only will my hair look awful regardless (due to the extremely low level of power my hairdryer gives off anyway), but who really cares? There's a sense of freedom on this island that is lacking in the US, much less emphasis is given to vanity which leaves you with more time to be in awe and appreciation of where you are instead. In film studies, when our light blew out on the projector during a showing of "Leaving Las Vegas" due to an outage in town because of the strong winds, he told us that that's the charm of Greece: things don't work properly, and they break, and you fix it the best you can but nothing is flawless. There is no need for perfection here like there is in America: that's just the quirky charm of Greece. 

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Posted by on in Fall/Spring 2012: Hannah Zoppi

Waking up every day, opening the doors to my balcony, and feeling overwhelmed with this much beauty is an unexplainable feeling. People keep asking me to describe this place and I can't seem to find the words. All I can say is that you must see it for yourself. I want nothing more than for everyone I've ever loved, known, or spoken to, to be able to experience this. It is incredible, and no words or pictures could ever do it justice. I can not stress that enough.

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Posted by on in Fall/Spring 2012: Hannah Zoppi

As I’m sitting on the ferry making my way to Paros, all I can think about is how surreal these past couple of days have been. It’s hard to grasp that I actually am experiencing all of this and I know I will continue to feel this way up until the day I leave... which I already am sensing will come too soon.

Overall, the traveling portion of the trip to Greece was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. The two connections were in Atlanta and Paris; The Paris airport was by far the hardest to navigate because of the layout of the airport and the minimal time I had. When I landed in Athens I faced my first test of independence: I was originally supposed to meet two girls in the program but when I got off my flight they were nowhere to be found. I ended up searching the airport for them for quite awhile but because none of us had our phones or any wifi available we were unable to communicate. I contemplated giving up and happened to run into our taxi driver and after making a few calls he told me both of the other girls flights were delayed and they would be taking a later taxi into Athens. So, I took the journey alone! I packed up my suitcases and was driven into Athens to my hostel. 

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Posted by on in Fall/Spring 2012: Hannah Zoppi

Twelve days out and I am beginning to feel the reality and excitement of this next chapter. Since this is the first entry it only seems fair for me to share some information about myself: I'm 21 years old, a second semester junior at Flagler College in Saint Augustine, Florida and studying Theatre Arts with a minor in Creative Writing.  I love Flagler with every piece of me, but couldn't pass up the opportunity for a change such as this. After all, everyone needs excitement!

Thus, along came Greece.

What led me to where I am now can be summed up as 5 months of running around my college in an attempt to obtain signatures and the "go-ahead" from just about every office on campus (some more helpful than others). But in the end, whatever led me to pick up Athena Study Abroad's handbook and figure it out for myself could not have been a better decision.

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