I feel like there are so many things I could talk about from this trip that made it such an incredible experience. If I did that, this essay would be much longer than 500 words. Instead, I’ll think back on the little moments of the trip which made almost breaking my foot while running in the original olympic stadium worth it. Of course, these experiences were all made possible by the relationships I formed with the people on this trip and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who made this trip so special. From uncontrollable laughter to the unmistakable feeling of possibility, the experiences I’ve had on this trip have made it unforgettable for me.
The first time I felt overwhelmed by excitement was when the plane first flew over the Greek Islands. It is a crazy thing to look down from thousands of feet and see what you are about to experience from an aerial view. This excitement continues as you step off the plane and into a foreign country, especially one where the first language is not English. Everything is new and different, this really hit me when I saw all of the signage in and outside of the airport in modern Greek. Then as we drove away from the airport, I saw the largest city that I have ever seen, Athens. This brought in another wave of wonder and escalated my excitement for my weeks to come.
While we were in Athens we visited the Parthenon and many other historical sites relating to Classical Mythology which was very cool. We also got to go to a cooking class and explore parts of the city like Monastiraki which was very good for shopping. My favorite part of Athens however was something that I wasn’t sure I would enjoy at all. We got to visit a local theater and I can definitely say that the experience was priceless and might have been one of my favorite parts of the trip.
When we left Athens, we went on a road trip to Delphi. On this road trip I had two more of my fondest memories from the trip and they both happened at a rest stop. Firstly, this rest stop was nothing like one in the U.S. There were so many pastries and it added to the awesomeness of this stop. The funniest thing however, happened to be in the bathroom. There was a thong dispenser in the women’s restroom and all of the girls had a huge laugh about it. This led to a lot of confused expressions on the boys’ faces which made it all even funnier. Right after this, the second great thing happened. Directly across the street from the rest stop, there was a lookout over the ocean. My friend Joseph and I decided to walk over to this gravel lookout to see the water and the city. This led to us discovering that there was a path down to the beach that couldn’t be seen from across the street. We got so excited we ran down to the rocky beach and it ended up as one of the best moments of the trip for me. I love collecting rocks and this was a rock collectors paradise. This trip was amazing and I could continue on and on about the time I had. On trips like these, you will get what you take out of them and if you choose to have a good time then it can be an experience that you will never forget.
Meredith Shaw (BA Art, Studio) spent part of May 2023 participating in a faculty-led trip to Greece with the Classics department. Meredith had the following to say about studying abroad, “Studying abroad is a lot of fun and I would do it again!”
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