EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: Week One Recap

Friday, June 2, 2017

Week One Recap

As the first official week comes to an end, I think it's a good time to reflect on what has happened. This trip has been a great experience so far. From getting to spend three days in Athens, to the week spent here in Crete, I am very appreciate of the Greek lifestyle. The commitment everyone has to each other has been refreshing to experience. I like that everyone seems to care about their fellow villagers. It is all very personal.
This was evident in our trip to the bakery. That family took time out of their work day and personal time to show us how their bread is made and let us all take the bread home. It was a very kind thing to do. Nobody here seems to have ulterior motives to their generosity, but just does it because they can and it makes others feel good.
On the class side of this trip, the classes and discussions have been very informative. Before coming here, I really didn't know much about Greece or the problems they were facing, both socially and economically. I also was not aware of how much they seem to rely on agriculture. I am very glad we got to go to the packaging plant and see a little side of the economy here.
I am very proud of how far I have come in even just the past week. Less than a year ago, I was unable to take the T by myself or leave my dorm room without talking myself up to it for hours first. Now, sitting here, I was able to travel to three airports by myself and come to another country on my own. I am here on this trip with people I did not know before coming here and yet I have been able to make friends this early on. I am excited to see what else I can improve on in the next three weeks. Moving forward, I am looking forward to going to Cyprus. The UN is what I hope to work for in the future so I am very excited to get to go to the "dead zone" with them and see what it is all about.

1 comment:

UnknownJune 2, 2017 at 5:09 AM
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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.