Ioannia, Meteora, and Random

Bones of the monks (left) View from a monastery (right)

Ruins from the old city in Ioannia (left) Monastery(right)

Haven't gotten around to blogging recently... Don't really have an excuse for it to be honest. This weekend I went on my first trip! We traveled to the cave at Ioannia and also the monastaries at Meteora. I have been to several caves before, but this was by far the grandest. The largest formations dated back to one million years, and the cave is located in the side of/underneath a large hill.

After our tour, we went on a walk through the old city, which was constructed before the Ottoman empire. When the Turks took over the area, they built their mosque on top of residents place of prayer (See picture above). I climbed the top of part of the castle in another area and actually saw the slits where bow and arrows were used to shoot at the enemy. This was also around the time that I tripped and ripped my favorite pair of shoes, but you win some you lose some :) We stayed the evening at a hotel, and a group of friends and I went out to a taverna for dinner. When we got to our hotel my friend Sam and I immediately turned the TV on. It's interesting to see how much you rely on something once it isn't made available.

The next day, we got back on the bus for another 2 hours to head for the monastaries. We were surrounded my beautiful mountains the entire time, but I crashed for the whole bus ride due to the rude awaken by the 15 year olds in the hotel for the entire night. In Meteora, the monasteries used to be located in the city, but eventually the monks decided they did not want to be around people anymore, so they headed up the mountains. The city is surrounded by amazing cliffs formed a million years ago when the area was once surround by ocean (See the pictures above).

Although I am not religious, I found the monasteries absolutely breathtaking. It's fascinating to see how they live. Monks live on very different cycles compared to us. They go to sleep when the sun sets, which sometimes could be as early as 4 pm, and then rise 8 hours later, which can be as early as 2 am! 8 hours a day are also spent working, which means in prayer. With all the fasting that they do (40 days before easter, christmas, mondays and wednesdays, etc), monks spend half the days of the year this way. That's insane! It definitely takes strong will... Contrary to popular belief, monks were not always peaceful. In times of war they were forced to bear arms to protect themselves and their homes. Although the cliffs kept them safer, every one of the 6 monasteries still functioning in Meteora was attacked at least once. The invaders would not destroy everything, however did scratch the faces off of all of the frescos on the walls as an act of disrespect.

On another note, all monks must be buried at the monastery, however with all the generations of monks, there fails to be room. To solve this, the deceased are buried for 7 years, and then they are dug up. They are completly decayed by this time, so the bones are cleaned and systematically placed on shelves in a particular room (See picture above). As a skull obsessionist, I found this technique absoulutely fascinating. I had never seen real human bones before, and I was definitely taken back by this way of life.

Overall, it was a very good first weekend away from Thessaloniki, however I am very happy to be back home. Last Friday marked one month of being in Greece. Time is flying! Only 3 and a half more months. It's amazing how at home I feel in my apartment... The comfort of a bed I can call mine. It seems to me that home is where you make it. For me, this is home. The United States seems like a distant planet. Aww the beauty of Greece :)

Earlier this week, I went on a date with a greek famous musician friend of mine. Boy are american and greek ways different on this front! I mean sure the guy still makes it clear that he is paying, but it was definitely out of my element.. Granted I had never been on a date with someone I didn't know before, so maybe it's just me :) Overall it was an interesting and worthwhile experience, but nothing more. I sort of have a potential from my home town that could be blinding this entire field of my vision, it just made me miss him more. Not to mention any sort of relationship here would be completely fantasy. I'm looking for something long term and that just won't happen while I'm in a foreign country. Definitely one every study abroad student should experience while they are here though! It's fun!

Another thing I noticed today when I was on my way to get groceries is that I'm no longer afraid of crossing the street! I come from a small town so any form of walking through traffic has always terrified me, but living in a city of 1 million people has cured that fear. You walk when the Greeks walk! No need to wait for the little green man, just make sure no cars are coming and go! Otherwise you will be waiting at that light for several minutes sometimes, and it's definitely not worth it.

Anyways... it's March first!! I leave for Italy in 26 days :) Egypt after that!