To Athens and Beyond 2019

            Coming to Greece, I had never tried Greek food before. Yes, I had had hummus and all types of seafood, but I had never tried a gyro, a traditional Greek salad, or many other of the traditional Greek foods. Honestly, I wasn’t exactly sure what Greek food besides the food I just listed. Luckily, there were many other students here that were in the same boat as me. And luckily again, I have found all of the food to be extremely delicious.             I tend to eat most of my meals out. I have a kitchen in my apartment and there is a grocery down the street, but the restaurants are typically inexpensive and so convenient. Obviously, there are many more options at restaurants too. In my neighborhood, I can get traditional Greek food, classic American comfort food, Italian, sushi, and all sorts of other food. Since there are so many restaurants in my area, ...

This may sound ignorant or naïve to say, but I personally feel like this place has not changed the way I think since I have been here. There are many differences here from home in New York, but I feel completely comfortable. This may be because I easily adapt to new situations and I am very go with the flow, but I don’t think any of these differences have strongly affected or change the way I think. This being said, this is not my first time living abroad. The summer after freshmen year at Loyola, I studied in Granada, Spain. lived there with a host family and was completely immersed in the language. Also, I lived as an exchange student in high school in Paris for two weeks. This is a short time, but it was the first time I was basically completely independent while also living in a foreign place where I did not speak the language. I think these two experiences of living abroad have affected me more significantly than my semester abroad so far. Besides this, I ha...

There are many similarities and differences between the neighborhood Agia Paraskevi in Greece and my hometown in New York. Besides the obvious of one place being in Europe and the other in America, there are numerous differences about my temporary home and real home.             In Agia Paraskevi, everyone lives in apartment buildings. Also, there are next to no front or backyards. This is extremely different from my town at home because everyone lives in a one family house with full yards. Also in Agia Parasekvi, there are many stray cats. There are no stray cats back home. Most families have cats and dogs as pets. If I saw a a cat was seen walking around outside, I would assume that it is an outdoor cat that belonged to someone. The people in Greece put out food and water for the stray cats, but they do not have a home.             The traffic is differe...