EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: The Real World: Alikianos

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

The Real World: Alikianos

So back in the states there’s this stupid ass term called “glamping,” otherwise known as glamorous camping. Put in another way, camping for people who can’t actually rough it. Well, welcome to Alikianos. At this point in time there is no power or running water at the institute and I have more bruises and cuts than actual skin. I haven’t showered in a couple of days and there is visible dirt and grime caking my nails and fingers. We’re all hot and sweaty, tired, slightly dazed and definitely confused. But the thing is I am confident that everyone is just as happy and content as I am right now.

Being in Alikianos is unlike anything else I have experienced before. This tiny village has welcomed with open arms a group of 15 rambunctious American students, many of whom were strangers with each other to begin with. But in less than two weeks this uncharted territory has become familiar, and the same people who were once strangers have become friends and family.

It is a testament to being a part of a personalistic society. There are language barriers to overcome, as well as differences in beliefs and values; however, none of this has been difficult and it has been easy to get a card game going, or a small exchange of words so that you can feel a connection to those around you. The people in this village and the students that are engaging in this experience with me have affected me in a way that I did not expect. Every interaction seems more genuine and sincere, and it is because you know it’s coming from a more nurturing place. It is heartbreaking to see how much the Eurozone crisis has devastated this village, yet those who have had so much taken from them by force are more than willing to offer whatever it is they do have.

This experience thus far has taught me to be more humble, and to slow down to stop and smell the roses. For the past few years I have been told to slow down and be active in the present more times than I can count, coming from both my dad and my favorite professor. Prior to this experience I was never able to successfully do this, but here I feel like I am finally starting to get it. It all comes down to the low hanging fruit: give what you can, and do what you can and just enjoy the process of it all.

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EC Eastern Security Studies Program

In the summer of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" was unfolding and the "Eurozone Crisis" was entering its second year, the Emmanuel College Eastern Mediterranean Security Studies Program was established in Crete, as a way to make the location the classroom. Beyond the grand theoretical, historical and political understanding that can be achieved through reading and classroom discussion and exchange, a more immediate, intimate and truer appreciation of the complexities can only achieved by experiencing the cultures, languages of personal interaction.

Since 2012 students have been able to combine an intensive curricular study, with the experience of immersion and living in a local setting. The geopolitical and geoeconomic forces that have acted in the region for centuries, can be identified in the classroom, but they can only be understood by being there. This year's EC EMSS Program will add a fourth week of study, experience and exploration and will also travel to the islands of Rhodes, and Cyprus. In Rhodes we will be partnering with the Prefecture of Southern Aegean and the Aegean University, while in Cyprus we will be hosted by the University of Nicosia.