Thought it might be good to let readers know what our daily/weekly schedule looks like.
Three days a week we have language class from 9-10:30. Our Greek professor, Angeliki (pronounced ahn gel eee KEE), is wonderful. From the first class she understood that we were there to learn conversational Greek that would best help us immerse ourselves in Greece during this six-week program. She says she’s like the bride’s father from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” because she never misses a chance to point out how English words have Greek origins. On Tuesday she showed how the root of the word technology is techni meaning art, which I don’t naturally pair together.
Fortunately Angeliki has taken to our rowdiness so she is always up for joking around or translating the random phrases that suit our individual needs, especially when it comes to food. Monday’s trip to the open market was eventful for those who partook because we hadn’t yet learned most food vocabulary, so finding and describing what was needed was a challenge. There may have been some accidental cucumbers purchased in place of zucchini…
The walk from the apartment to class is only about 15 minutes, and directly in our route is a lovely bakery which gets daily business from this band of students. Usually they have just taken the bread out of the oven when we arrive (a large loaf is only .60€!), so we are treated with that warm, fresh bread as we make our way to class. The bakers have been pleased with their new and devoted customers so they often let us sample their cookies and biscuits, as well.
After Greek we have acting class for a few hours. Acting class is loads of fun as we perform, adapt, revise, rework, and rewrite the comedies and tragedies from the 5th century BC. There are fewer than fifty extant Greek tragedies and comedies from comic playwright Aristophanes and tragedians Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. They are all rather short, so we are looking at the entire body of work over the six weeks. It’s amazing to think that what we’re restaging is 2,500 years old, yet it is ever-accessible.
Most of us have mastered the afternoon siesta, an integral part of the Greek day. Also in the afternoon and evening we like exploring different parts of Athens on foot or by metro, bus, and trolley. The beach is just twenty minutes away so we’ve been sure to make use of the warm Mediterranean. Though we’ve found some favorite bakeries, creperies, markets, and gyro and other food stands, we often try new places to sample as much Greek food as we can. There are shops, markets, gardens, hills, churches, theatres, museums, ancient ruins, and modern structures everywhere in sight, so new adventures are to be had each day.
Just to give you a glimpse of what we have coming up this week in addition to language and acting class:
Tonight we’re going to see Greek folk dancing (more info: http://www.grdance.org/en/), tomorrow we have an all-day trip to Sounion and Thorikos, on Sunday we’re going to see a show from Berlin’s Schaubuhne — one of Europe’s leading theatres, based on Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses (more info: http://www.schaubuehne.de/en_EN/program/repertoire/577991), on Tuesday afternoon we’re speaking to a Greek rug-maker about his craft, then on Tuesday evening we’re off to the theatre again to see the Apology of Socrates, and on Thursday we have a day trip to Delphi. So much to look forward to!