Oles in Greece 2020

The morning began peacefully at Epidaurus, a quaint location with a sanctuary known for its healing abilities. We learned the history of this spot through relief sculptures telling of people travelling there for healing and the dreams they had of people or snakes visiting and curing thier ailments. Our readings and research presentations have taught us about ancient medicine in Greece and how it has changed, but also how it has stayed the same. This location can be compared to a modern spa, with calming sounds and relaxation. During a moment of silence in the remains, everyone could picture healing in the warm sun, hearing only the sounds of birds chirping. Just down the road, we visited a theater with a carefully designed structure that allows sound to carry from the center to each of the ~14,000 seats with no microphone!

Our next stop, Zotos’ Farm, was a lovely farm filled with hundreds of trees, nestled near the sea. We were welcomed into the home and farm for a tour through the orange trees and a cooking lesson. After picking fresh oranges for juice–and plenty for taking with us– we tasted our creations, along with the rest of the delicious homemade food. Following some basketball and chicken petting, our afternoon ended with a surprise first-hand account of the ancestry and story of Asclepius, Greek god of healing.

Today was both a day of travel and a day of learning! We left Athens right on time at 8 AM, and we began traveling West. We made a short stop at the Daphni Monastery, which no longer functions as a monastery, but a historical site. Since the original Byzantine church was built in the 11th century, the complex has also served as a Catholic monastery, as barracks during the Greek War for Independence, and as a psychiatric clinic. We were all in awe of the gold-flecked mosaics covering the walls and the ceilings. The restored monastery is a mixture of Gothic arches, ancient pillars, and Byzantine mosaics- the perfect example of empire and religion intersecting throughout the centuries. 

We then paid a visit to the Corinth Canal, the manmade canal connecting the Agean Sea with the Ionian Sea. We were surprised to learn that the successful canal used today was actually the fourth attempt! Corinthians had been attempting to built a canal across the isthmus for over 2,000 years before its completion in 1893. After the first failed attempt in the 7th century BC, boats had to travel across the isthmus using the Diolkos, a stone railway boats were pulled across. We enjoyed watching the boats and getting a quick snack from the café nearby! We then traveled by bus to the site of ancient Corinth to take a look at the museum, the ruins, and the Acrocorinth. 

At the site of the ancient city of Corinth, we saw the ruins of a bath house, public toilets, and the platform where the Apostle Paul addressed the Corinthians. The site had many layers because the Roman Empire destroyed the city in 146 BC and rebuilt it as a Roman civilization around 44 BC. In the museum, we discovered another connection between religion and empire in ancient Greece. Statues portraying Roman emperors often had head-coverings, a sign of priesthood. The political leaders, therefore, also acted as religious leaders for the Romans. After grabbing a quick lunch in the quaint town of modern Corinth, we began our ascent towards the Acrocorinth.

The bus drove us up to the first gate of the giant fortress, and we hiked the rocky, winding path the rest of the way. Our hard work was rewarded with amazing views of the mountains, the sea, and the remains of ancient Corinthian fortifications. The Acrocorinth was also built in layers, and each wall has different features, reflecting the weapons of its time. We then completed our journey to Nafplio, checked in to our hotel, and finished the day with a delicious group dinner!

A full day in Athens without any scheduled tours, meals, or bus rides allowed for us to explore the city on our own. Everyone was able to start the day catching up on some, much needed, sleep or get ahead on their homework. A late breakfast followed for most, then we broke up into small groups depending on what each of us wanted to do. One group headed to the chapel of St. George right away. Another, went to the Athens flea market and the third went shopping.

After a day at the flea market, with the group I had joined, we went to a laundromat and played cards while waiting for our clothes. This was followed by a hike up to the chapel of St George. The chapel is at the highest point in Athens and the view was amazing. At the top stands a church with a white exterior, a bell tower, and the national flag. We got their just in time to watch the flag be taken down and sunset was soon to follow. Although we have seen beautiful architecture and landscapes every day since arriving, none of them compared to the sight of the sunset at St George chapel.

Finally, as it darkened, we headed back from the church and to downtown Athens. We walked around for a couple hours, and eventually found a spot to sit down and eat. The food was amazing and was a worthy finish to a great day.

Today we had a free morning in which groups set out for different adventures. Some went to explore the flea market, others went to parliament and saw the changing of the guards. The changing of the guards is meant to symbolically resemble horses as an homage to Greece’s military past. All men in Greece have a mandatory nine month service in the army, and another twelve months mandatory service to the Navy and Air force. We learned that they are able to defer this mandatory serving, but they must complete it before they turn 45. Women are also able to join any of the forces, but it is on a voluntary basis and not required.

In the afternoon we went to the archaeological museum of Athens where we learned all about the different styles of statues and what time period they are connected with, such as Archaic statues having very little defining features, simply a sly smile. We also saw the progression of different Gods and Goddesses throughout time and learned how perceptions and iconography changed with the times. An example is when Aphrodite was first portrayed with no clothes on different communities were in uproar about it, but slowly over time her being portrayed with very little to no clothes on became a norm to showcase her beauty and set her apart from the other Goddesses.

We then were left to our own devices for dinner and a majority of us went to our favorite souvlaki place for gyros! We have become regulars and the owner even remembered some of our orders from the previous nights before.

Today was the Epiphany holiday, which is thought to be the birthday of Jesus Christ since he was baptized today, with the baptism symbolizing rebirth. With that, there is typically a ceremony where a priest is on a platform with officials present and a cross is thrown into the sea. Then, people will jump into the water and retrieve the cross. Unfortunately, we did not get to view this ceremony today because the weather was very windy and rainy. Before this ceremony, there is a service at the church. Our group first gathered outside the church. The church service was a very communal gathering and other people were flooding out the doors of the church, and a few students managed to shuffle through the doors and glimpse inside to view the service. During the service, holy water was also provided outside in metal containers that people could either bottle up and take with them or cup it into their hands and drink, throw onto their head, or rub it onto their hands. The water in all these aspects plays an important role since it can represent the symbol of rebirth, through baptism, or it can represent life, healing, and washing away your sins. 

The next stop after the church service was a drive down the coast towards Cape Sounion, where we would see the Temple of Poseidon. Back in antiquity, there was a lot of boat traffic so the spot where the temple lies was a very strategic spot. The temple was built therefore not only to worship the god of the sea, but also to help control who would go by the cape. The temple was built around the same time as the Parthenon, but is more worn down because the location and weather have not been as kind.

Our last location the group went to was the Monastery of St. Paul, which is inhabited by nuns who come from over 14 different countries. Inside one of the buildings lies a mural that were painted with resources from the land, such as goat milk and minerals. The artist who painted it created it within four days. Afterwords, we chatted with one of the sisters about her daily life and asked her a couple questions before we ended up in the monastery’s little shop. 

We began the day with a 40-minute drive to Marathon. Most people enjoyed getting a bit more sleep, listening to music, and looking at some of the sights Gabriele pointed out along the way. After arriving at Marathon, we learned the story of the battle at Marathon. It was between the Athenians and Persians. At the time, the Persians were the most feared army because of their size and being undefeated. While preparing for the attack, the Athenians sent a runner to Sparta to ask for support. This is where the marathon race originates. Another interesting fact about the site of the battle was that those who perished were buried there instead of being removed and buried back in Athens. We saw the hill that marked where they were buried and continued the tradition of St. Olaf students running a lap around the hill (instead of an entire marathon). 

We then continued on to the Marathon museum where we saw a room dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis. There were many statues similar to what we see in Egyptian history. There was also a statue holding grains of wheat that was thought to depict Demeter. 

Following the museum, we got on the bus for another hour to Eleusis, the city that honored Demeter. The story goes that Demeter took human form and became the caretaker of a human child. She tried to make the child immortal by holding it above fire and was caught by the parents, forcing her to reveal her true form and swore them to secrecy. This is how the secret cult of Demeter, the most populous cult, legendarily began. We had read about secret religions, including the secret cult of Demeter, so it was really interesting to visit the site that our reading was discussing.

I just wanted to start out by wishing everyone that may be following along with us on our trip a very Happy New Year! For the majority of us, today was departure day. Most of the group flew out of Minneapolis on the same flight as Professor Ripley, with that flight departing at 7:40 p.m. with a connecting flight the next morning in Amsterdam, to finally reach our first destination for the class: Athens, Greece! For myself, I departed Chicago at 5:30 p.m. and will meet up with the group out of Minneapolis in Amsterdam for the same connecting flight to Athens. We had others in the class on different flights from numerous different states as well. These states included California, Colorado, North Dakota, Iowa, and Massachusetts. We even had a couple people flying out of Spain that will meet up with the rest of us in Athens later in the evening. Thankfully, the first leg of my journey has so far been quite uneventful, and I will be landing in Amsterdam around 8:00 a.m. local time. Unfortunately, however, this is seven hours ahead of where my flight originated from and Athens is still yet another hour ahead of Amsterdam, so it will more than likely take a few days to settle in and get used to the time change. Before departing, we were assigned a reading by Pico Iyer entitled, “Why We Travel” and asked to reflect on the reading with the goal of getting us to think about our own reasons and hopes of what we will get out of our class and trip. I really enjoyed a few quotes from this article that I feel like capture a few of the many reasons (aside from the class content, of course) as to why I am very excited for my first experience studying abroad as well as traveling internationally outside of North America: “We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate… The first great joy of traveling is simply the luxury of leaving all my beliefs and certainties at home, and seeing everything I thought I knew in a different light, and from a crooked angle.” I am very much so looking forward to landing in Athens tomorrow and I hope you will all continue to follow along with our class throughout the month.

Today was the first full day in Athens and it was an amazing day, it was full of information about the history of Greece. The first thing we did was meet our tour Guide, Gabriele, and I can already tell that she is going to be a great tour guide for us throughout our whole trip! We then headed to Hadrian’s Gate which is a gate built by a Roman named Hadrian (Hence the name). This is an important place for our class to see because when the romans took over Greece, Hadrian really liked the greek culture so he built this structure which was similar to the greek structures, but it was also a political statement because it is mostly symbolizing the Romans taking control of this city. The Temple of Zeus was our next stop which was gorgeous. We learned all about the columns and how they are built in sections to make it easier to build. This was all walking distance from our hotel which was incredible to think about thousands of years ago these temples and gates were still standing and now we get to live so close to them and have the ability to learn about them. 

The Museum of the acropolis was next. Gabriele led us through and explained the different meanings of some of the sculptures that were originally spread throughout the acropolis, but have been transferred to the museum to keep them preserved. These sculptures were made over Time, so we could see the transformation of the styles represented in each one. This was important to our class because we are studying Religion in Empire and this whole place was mostly a temple to Athena or the gods, but it was also a major political hub. You can see the acropolis from most parts of the city, it’s the highest point in the city. We eventually climbed up the hill to get there, it was very windy, but it was definitely worth the climb and all the wind. There were many pieces of stone that were laying all over the place. You could tell they were parts of a building long ago, but they got destroyed over the years. At the middle there was the parthenon which had these beautiful columns . We learned that these columns were all curved inward, towards the center, because it makes the building look more “perfect”. The amazing thing about this is that it only took 9 years to build! Nowadays I feel like it takes forever to just do simple things, but it only took the greeks 9 years to build this beautifully sculpted, huge building.

After spending the day there and taking as many pictures as we could handle, we headed back to the hotel for class, dinner, and then bedtime. It was a very full day of learning and so much information, but it was so amazing. Learning about the history of Greece being intertwined with religion and politics makes me very excited for this month. The Acropolis is a great example of this. The parthenon is a temple made for Athena, but it was also the part of the city that needed to be conquered if you were trying to take over the city. This is just one example of how religion and politics were meshed together during this time, and I’m excited to learn more about that.

I started my January 2nd somewhere in the sky, most likely over the ocean. I’m not sure where exactly my day started as my flight to Greece began the previous day in Los Angeles and ended in Amsterdam that morning. At the airport in Amsterdam, there was some time to rest before our flight (that ended up being delayed) that took us to Athens, where we ended our day and started our trip. One of our texts for the day also wrote about Paul arriving in Athens for the first time and much of the historical context behind that situation. We too arrived in Athens for the first time in many people’s case which is an interesting parallel to see. Throughout the day I found myself wondering if this was really happening and being excited yet stressed out for our travels to begin. Not much time was spent learning today as we spent most of it traveling and doing various things on our own time, but many of us were still able to get a taste of Greece at the end of the day. After arriving at our hotel in the evening, we were able to walk around the Plaka and explore the nearby area as we decided what to eat. Unfortunately, many of us were not extremely hungry and had relatively small meals, but it was still nice to have a small introduction to Greece to start our adventure.

By April Wong