Home for the Semester

   The American College of Greece, where I am studying this semester, is located in a suburb of Athens called Agia Paraskevi. It’s not suburban like at home with houses and backyards. All the homes are apartment buildings, which gives it more of a city vibe. Once you leave your private street, the main road welcomes you to tons of restaurants, shops, bars, and traffic. The cars here will not stop or even slow down for you while crossing the street. This also makes it feel more like a city than a neighborhood.

When walking down the main road, compact cars and motorcycles line the streets. There are several kiosks on the road that sell anything from magazines to bagged croissants to shots of alcohol. Many of them will be open late into the night. In fact, there is always someone out no matter what the time or day is. It could be three am on a Tuesday and there will still be people walking around and cars going by.

The area is relatively safe. However, since being here I’ve heard of a student getting jumped outside of my building. Then the other day, some students I know had their bags stolen and threatened with a knife. There are also rumors that some bars in the area roofie Americans. I didn’t completely believe this until a neighbor of mine had to go to the hospital and found out she was drugged. I think the area is pretty safe, but it is definitely a place where you need to be smart. For instance, no one in our group walks alone, especially at night.

Since there are so many restaurants in the area, there are a lot of great smells everywhere. Often you may smell a gyro being made: the salty pita bread, perfectly cooked chicken, ripe tomatoes and lettuce, and the special gyro sauce. Otherwise you may smell fresh breads and pastries from a café. However, a lot of people smoke cigarettes and vape so we often come across these unpleasant scents.

Surprisingly, you will definitely hear a lot of English while walking around, especially in school. The majority of people here can speak it and frequently practice in their daily life. That being said, there is also tons of Greek being spoken. Other sounds that will be heard are the cars and motorcycles. Not only are they fast and careless towards pedestrians, but they are extremely loud.

A difference I have noticed while in class is that all the Greek students constantly interrupt. They frequently will try talking over the professor or if a student asks a question, jump in before the professor has a chance to speak. This type of behavior has been perceived as rude to all the American students in my classes; however, the Greek students don’t see anything wrong with it. That being said, I have noticed that the teachers have mixed opinions on this. Some professors encourage students to speak up whenever they have an idea, while other professors claim the interruptions are both rude to the professor and the entire class.

As for the demographic, in the neighborhood of Agia Paraskevi almost everyone is Caucasian and well to do. There are some people of Egyptian descend, but most people are Greek for many generations. It also seems to have a large young population. This is probably due to the fact that it is a college town, but there are many high school and college aged students. There are also tons of stray cats and a few stray dogs all over town. This is the case for most of Athens and the islands.

Once you go into the city itself, things begin to change as it does for any major city. There are more people, larger businesses, more to do, higher prices, and more historical sites. Athens is an extremely old city and has ancient ruins all over. The most famous is the Acropolis. This is a hill in Athens, the highest point of the city, and it contains many ruins. Some of these ruins include the Parthenon, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Monument of Agrippa, and many others.

Athens is located in the South of the mainland. One side of Athens is surrounded by mountains. Because of this, it is easier to reach the beaches and ports on the other side. This side is more populated and busy. The metro connects the entire city and suburbs underground and is extremely clean and efficient. However, taxis are extremely popular since the locals don’t use Uber. That being said, Athens is a big walking city. Even though not everything is walking distance, most things can be. Additionally, the airport is close by so going to other parts of Greece and Europe is very easy. I have found Agia Paraskevi and Athens to be a great place to live. I think it’s nice that we are in a lively suburb but can still go into the heart of the city whenever we would like.