By Maddi Brenner

An absurd contradiction between dreams and reality

Throughout this past week, I’ve struggled and also made peace with the busy and hectic challenges as a student studying abroad because I am so new to this. I’m bombarded with wrong turns, language barriers, a constant state of tiredness and an abundant amount of stares and stress. I recognize my strong American accent, see the comfort I’ve spent 20 years living with back in the states pulled away at the seams and notice the extra hint of flavor that makes Athens so rich with life. Here’s a recap and what I’ve learned during week 1.

By Alyssa Tayrien

The Athenian culture promotes a feeling of connectivity between people. No one exists in his or her own separate world, but as all together all the time

By travelling to a new city and moving to a town with new people, I stepped into the city of Athens expecting a monstrous amount of “culture shock.” The funny thing about “shock” however, is that we are always shocked by what we do not expect. I expected to find differences in food, in language and in principles. What I failed to expect was such a vast difference in not only the way Grecian people treat each other, but also in the way they think of each other – how they just exist together.

By Alyssa Tayrien

Pre-Departure – How to prepare for study abroad in Greece

Here I stand, “on the precipice of a great adventure that will be [my] life.” –John Bonet

One day, I told my parents that I wanted to study abroad in Greece. They replied that the economic downfall and political turmoil made for a potentially unsafe semester, and can’t I choose somewhere else? I agreed to look into other options, and a bit later, came back with a potential research opportunity off the coast of Turkey… So here I am, with a plane ticket to Athens, Greece. It seems a shift in perspective can do wonders, can’t it? And this shift in perspective is just what I hope to gain during my semester abroad at the College Year in Athens (CYA).

[Deacon Bartholomew (Michael Mercado CYA ’10), recently visited us at CYA while in Athens doing research for his Ph.D. We wanted to re-share a wonderful piece he wrote about his experience at Mt. Athos whilst a student at CYA.  Read about his interesting journey from CYA onwards in our recent blog “Crossing Paths”.]