In true celebratory fashion, I broke in my twenty first birthday with a Spanish history exam before taking some quality "me" time during the afternoon to take a nap and enjoy some time in the park. The evening was spent preparing for the party I was to host that night, which turned out to be everything I could have hoped for to celebrate my birthday in Spain. It really was a reflection on the great people that I have come to know this year, and I think everyone had a great time crammed into our small apartment dining on tapas, snacks, and the Italians' four-man pasta effort, and helping themselves to an array of drinks. Taryn even made me a "cake" out of Maria cookies, frosting, and sprinkles, after her oven stopped working as it baked the real one she had planned. It was quite sweet (in a few ways). Even with exams the next day for many, I was really pleased with how many people came and how much fun was had. Happy birthday was also sung at least five times during the night. My birthday marked a sort of renaissance for me here in Spain. While I had really loved the month before, it was for different reasons. I had been busy traveling and having guests come to visit me. After my birthday, I have really started to be pleased with living here again, and my outlook on going home has turned from "basically ready", to "I could definitely spend another year here". The biggest reason for this I think is realizing that I've reached the point here where the good friends I have had all year have become the "real friends" that I had missed at the end of last semester. Also, I've felt a renewed excitement about the Spanish language that I think I had lost for awhile. It's amazing how much you can learn in just a few days when you get that passion back.
A few days after my birthday, I was off to visit my Madison friend, Mandy, in Athens. I had been looking forward to the trip for weeks, but was met with tragic news the day before I left. I had known that two members of her study abroad group were struck by an out of control car as they walked home one night. Although they were both seriously injured, it looked as though they were both going to be just fine. Tragically, Eric passed away unexpectedly a few days before my visit. Honestly, I couldn't believe what I was hearing when she told me, nor can I imagine the pain that they have gone through the last few weeks. The news tore me apart the entire day, and I had never even met the guy. It was just so easy to relate to the situation, and I couldn't help but think about what it would be like to have that happen to someone here in Madrid. And his poor family, seeing their son leave to spend the semester of his life in Athens, never to come back home. I'm still in shock just thinking about it.
Needless to say, I felt that it wasn't exactly a good time for me to travel to Athens, but as my ticket was non-refundable, I went with the goal of just lying low and helping Mandy feel a little better if I could. The mood there was sad, no doubt, but I found everyone in higher spirits than I expected. It may have been a result of having a vigil for him the night before, which probably gave everyone a chance to have a bit more closure to what had really happened. Talk of him that weekend was about what a great young man he had been, a real tour de force it seems, with the ability to light up a room. When his name came up, there were more smiles than tears. It was truly inspiring to see that group of people cope with a tragedy of such colossal magnitude.
After a late night arrival into Athens, I was greeted by a smiley, giddy Mandy, the same one I have missed all year, and the long bus ride back to her apartment flew by as we talked about everything under the sun. While she was the same person I had always known, I could tell that she had developed a slightly higher level of maturity, which I suppose is true of most that live abroad for any significant amount of time. She also seemed to do everything with a kind confidence that I had never seen as much in her before. Her apartment is situated on the top of the highest hill in Athens, and as we arrived late, and the house was full with another visitor as well, we said our good nights and I slept beautifully on the air mattress that had already been prepared for me.
Early the next morning I met her roommates, Emily, Safia, and Lindsay, as we all struggled to get up in time to catch the coach bus that would be taking her group to the famous town of Marathon, where the young Athenian army defeated the Persians in 490 BC. It was quite an awe inspiring moment for me to look over the battlefield and think of democracy's bloody triumph over a powerful imperialist army that day. We even entered a burial mound, where skeletons lied uncovered, and one could fairly easily guess how they had died, such as a smashed in skull...
Later that day we made a chilly two hour stop at the coast for lunch and what would have been nice sunbathing and swimming. However, as the wind howled, we were quite ready to head back after eating Mandy's expertly packed picnic lunch. Tired from a busy day, we all collapsed for a little while when we got home before Safia prepared us some tasty tuna melts and fruit salad for dinner, and after I had some time to talk to a few more members of her group, we all settled in to watch a movie, as the circumstances didn't exactly warrant a crazy night out. It was a very nice first day in Greece.
The next day, Mandy took me on a big tour of the city, which I had been really looking forward to since I had arrived. Our first stop was the Acropolis, which is the most famous image of Athens. A series of temples, most notably the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, stands atop, dating back to the 6th century BC. There is also a beautifully preserved Roman theatre that is still used for special performances these days. While I have seen a lot of Roman monuments before, this gave a whole different sense of antiquity as it sat among so many Greek ruins. So many of the ideas we still live by today descended from the Greeks, and the sheer age of the perfectly constructed temples I was looking at was almost unbelievable. After the Acropolis, we descended the steep hill and emerged into a beautiful green and bustling area lined with vendors, shops, and restaurants. I found an old map of Europe written in Greek, and after a little haggling, had found myself the perfect souvenir. We passed through the Agra, which was full of temples, theatres, and statues which were all quite impressive.
We spent an hour or so wandering through the street markets, and stopped to get a delectable gyro and coke for a late lunch costing only 2.50 euro. I think I'd be eating a lot of gyros if I lived in Greece... We ran into Mandy's roommates on the street a bit later after we made a stop in a gorgeous Orthodox church, and made plans to meet them for dinner later that evening. Mandy and I walked around Parliament, through one of the city's parks, and watched the changing of the guard, which was quite a production compared to others I have seen. After another walk through a different section of the street markets, we found Mandy's roommates sitting outside at a busy restaurant, where I ordered a delicious Greek salad and a very different type of lasagna (the name isn't coming to me at the moment) which is very typical, and had warm pita bread as an appetizer. The food in Greece is second to none. I would be in heaven living there. Absolutely stuffed, we walked to a bus stop fairly close by and caught a mini bus up one of the city's giant hills through the winding streets back to Mandy's apartment.
The next day, we took the tram to the beach with a group of her friends. It turned out to not to be the nicest of days, but we spent a very lovely afternoon at the beach, and before I left, I continued my conquest of Europe's shores and took a running plunge into the frigid Mediterranean.
That night, Safia outdid herself yet again on delicious pasta and Mandy made her trademark nutella dessert. And after I had semi-packed to leave early that morning, Mandy and I headed out with a few of her friends to a bar nearby, where we passed a few very relaxing hours talking at a table outside. With so many new faces around me all weekend, it was nice to have a smaller group to talk to and get to know more personally. Most everyone in her group is really friendly and interesting and I look forward to hopefully getting to know some of the Wisconsin students better when we are all back at Madison again next year. We arrived home late that night just in time for me to catch two hours of sleep before heading out at 4:00 that morning on my walk down the giant hill to catch the bus that would take me to the airport. It had been a great trip, and it was a treat to see Mandy again after so long and see a little bit better what her life was like there in Athens.
I made it back in time for class that morning, and after a bitter hour and a half battle against my drooping eyelids, fell happily into my bed for a much needed siesta that afternoon. I've also had a great week following the trip getting to know some new people and planning out my last few months here. I'll just say there are some pretty amazing trips in the works... Again, you have to love budget airlines and having a student's flexibility. It's a great combination. I'm off to Santander on Spain's northern coast in a week for 20 euros including all taxes and fees. I did have plans to visit El Valle de los Caidos today, Franco's incredible burial monument outside of Madrid, but it's raining and cold. That also puts a damper on the hike in the mountains I was going to go on tomorrow with Emma and Pablo. Kind of a bummer, but it's nice to have some downtime too, I suppose. That's all for now. Spain is better than ever.
RIP Eric Stearns 08-04-2008
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