Theresa in Athens-2018

Sunday was a great day of recharging before everything got a lot crazier at the language center this week.  We all got up and planned lessons for the week and did other chores.  Then 4 of the teachers headed down to the beach with a picnic: cheese, fruit, veggies, dolmas, hummus, pita, and wine.  We got there around 3 and hung out until sunset.  It was hot, but we had shade and it was so relaxing!  It was a send-off for Roberta, the American teacher who had been here for 7 weeks. It was also a good way to chill before this week when we opened new classes and enrolled a lot more students.  We added extra English classes and Greek and computer classes.  The noise and activity level has increased drastically, which is great, but which makes me appreciate my prep hour in the middle of the day even more.  I need the time to clear my head.  Here are a few pictures.  Roberta is the blond woman.

Sept. 21 is the day designated by the United Nations as International Day of Peace and our celebration of it here at Halcyon Days was inspiring.  We decided to have the classes discuss peace and the UN declaration independently for the first hour.  After the break for tea/prayers, the 3 classes came together to create friendship bracelets and then watch Malala's address to the United Nations.  It was wonderful to see the Afghan, Somali, Syrian and Iranian women helping each other to create beautiful, colorful bracelets.  Since no pictures are allowed of the students, I could only post this one of bracelets made by my students for me. Bracelets that my students made for me During Malala's speech, the lower level students read the text in Farsi, Somali or Arabic and watched the video;  higher level students read along with the closed captions in English.  The speech is so inspiring (it's on YouTube) and the students and instructors were moved by her co...

Walking around downtown Athens is a study in contrasts.  One street can have burned out buildings and lots of graffiti while 2 blocks over there are Hermes and other luxury stores.  There are so many tourists, the super wealthy and the backpackers.  The language school where I teach is located in an area of many Somali and other Africans, so there are ethnic grocery stores and hookah (or shisha) bars on the corners. Last night I went out with Refugees Refuge, one of the many groups that feed the homeless here in Athens.   The group meets at the Salvation Army at 5:30 to make sandwiches and hot tea.  At 7 we go out to distribute these, walking around some of the parks, the poorer areas, and the places around the metro lines where people sleep at night.  Most of the homeless are men because the UN has designated women and children refugees as at higher risk and therefore they get access to support first.  Unlike most of my students, these people are fro...

My first day in Greece, I went to take a tour of the classes and the office.  The program director, Martha, was just ordering coffee and asked if I wanted one.  Imagine my surprise when, a few moments later, a man drove up on a scooter with our coffees.  This is a service that is common all over Athens and you don't pay more to have your coffee delivered, nor do you tip the delivery person.  While it is convenient, I am certain that it must not be good for the environment or the cafe's bottom line. Coffee deliveryman The buskers on the street here play traditional instruments for the tourists and the bazaars sell all kinds of things: instruments, junk, religious art, kitchenware, etc. Busker across from the Acropolis A nice restaurant in the tourist area has a whimsical theme of hats as light covers.  Mopeds are a popular form of transport here. The farmers' market is huge and can be overwhelmingly crowded. Yesterday...

Last Sunday I went to the Acropolis for sunset.  The hill that it was built on towers above the city and is generally an easy reference point when walking around the downtown area. The Parthenon at sunset Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus The Acropolis The Ancient Greek Agora from the Acropolis The Porch of the Caryatids - The Erechtheion Last night some of the other instructors and I walked up Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in the city and a great place to look down on the Acropolis.  The hike is a great workout, straight up through a park.  There IS a cable car for those who don't want to hike up to the top (or are going to eat at the fancy restaurant and don't want to be covered in sweat when getting there.)  We walked up, but skipped the restaurant.  We were there at sunset and took pictures of the city with the Acropolis and the Mediterranean in the background. Lycabettus Hill from the Acropolis The Acropo...

In the US, other instructors and I wondered why some students would only sporadically attend classes.   We knew they were often adults with jobs and families, but wished they would commit to coming 6 hours per week every week.  Here I hear the reasons that students can't attend and I am amazed that they manage to come to 4 classes out of 5 every week.  A few of the "excuses" that I hear: Students A & B have to go to the immigration/relocation center at 4 in the morning to stand in line to speak with someone.  The center is an hour away by bus and they can only do this on certain days.  They go at 4 because it is on a first come basis.  Some people camp out there the night prior. Student C has been housed in a small room in her camp with 3 men who are not relatives.  She hasn't slept well in months and cannot remove her hijab.  It has been over 90 all summer, so she comes to class early to use the bathroom here which also has a shower. ...

So, what is a normal day of teaching like... I usually get up at around 7:30 or 8.  I have a bowl of fruit with yogurt and tidy up my room which doesn't take long :-) .  Currently the teachers and director live above the classrooms.  We currently each have our own room, but that will change in the next couple of weeks as 3 more volunteer instructors join the program. My room faces the street, so I keep my windows closed at night.  It gets hot, but it mutes some of the noise.  The fan running also helps to mute the sounds of a very big city with no noise ordinances. I wash my dishes and clean up some of the common spaces, emptying the trash cans in the bathroom of the toilet paper which is put in them instead of in the toilet. This is a view from upstairs of the interior patio just outside of the classrooms.  It is in the shade all day and the plants are lovely.  Unfortunately, they also provide a haven for mosquitoes at night....

Wow, I am exhausted.  Today was my second day of classes.  Each class is 2 hours long and there is a short break in there, so it seems like it should be a fairly easy schedule.  However, as all of the ESL teachers reading this blog know, if the class is small (1-4 students), the level of energy that the instructor puts in is higher.  By 5 I am ready to sit down and relax. However, last night after class, Roberta (another English instructor) and I went to a rooftop bar downtown to take pictures of the Acropolis in the evening.  It was very swank, so we had to dress up.  We got a couple of good pictures and then went to the "tourist grocery store" to buy things like cocoa (for my coffee), wine, jam, and other unusual items.  We got back quite late, but I finally had a good night's sleep.  Even though it is really hot, I sleep with my window closed because it is so noisy.  The night before people were out on the streets yelling and honking at 3...

After waking up late (still adjusting to the time change and the heat), I headed down to the beach south of Athens.  Everyone else in Athens had the same idea and the bus was like a tin of sardines.  However, it was worth it.  First, I found a rocky coast and waded out into the waters.  The water was refreshing, but much warmer and saltier than the Pacific.  The water just floats you along.  I was picking my way over the rocks and then realized that the rocks I was walking on were surrounded by sea urchins!!  I immediately froze and then started moving cautiously back to the shore.  I walked just a short way down the coast on the pedestrian path and found a lovely sandy beach with tons of trees and shade.  It was so nice to just hang out and people watch with the breeze coming off the water to cool me down.  It felt like a world away from the noisy, crowded city.  Nature-the best stress reducer of all.  This was a good way to ...

Sept. 1, 2018 Today was a free day- Saturday classes don’t start until next week.  I took the city bus with Roberta, another EFL instructor, down to Syntagma Square.  This is the heart of Athens.  Parliament and the botanical gardens are on two sides of the square and the GB Hotel, a very swank place, is also there.  I believe GB stands for Great Britain and I had thought about heading up to the rooftop cafe with its great view of the Acropolis until I discovered that fancy dress is required.  After only a couple of hours walking (in the shade as much as possible), my shorts and t-shirt were already sweaty.  Instead I went to the Roman Agora, the Athens Agora,  and the Agora Museum.  Everywhere I went there were Greek or Roman ruins.  Here are a few pictures: the requisite old temple and a view of the Acropolis, but also, a picture of the jury selection system of Athens and a child’s potty. After being out for just a few hours, I was rea...