Rose, Bud, and Thorn

After being here for just over one full week, the entire group has made it a nightly tradition to explain our rose, bud, and thorn at the dinner table. A rose is supposed to be the highlight of your day, the thing that makes you smile when you look back on your day. A bud symbolizes what you are looking forward to in the future, and the thorn is something that might have been challenging or difficult to overcome. As a whole, this experience has already been filled with many roses, lots of buds, and some thorns. 

Some roses of week one include visiting the Maynousakis Winery, walking around the beautiful city of Chania, and having a hands-on learning experience at the Institute of Cretan Studies. A thorn that I have personally had to overcome is testing positive for COVID-19 and struggling with isolation during the last four days. But because of that, I do have many buds. I am looking forward to being able to take part in group activities again, go hiking through the Samaria Gorge, and study on the island of Samos next week. 

Post-Week 1 Wrap Up

We are officially one week into this beautiful and once in a lifetime experience. There have been some ups and downs, including initial airport troubles as well as unfortunate and inevitable covid interruptions, but I can reassure you that the ups have severely outweighed the downs and that this group is of people are perseverant, flexible, fun, and overall, quite special. It is amazing how quick everyone gets to know each other here and how connected some people become in such a short period of time, especially considering the fact that some people have to step outside of their comfort zone and many people do not know each other before entering this trip. 

With that said, I would like to highlight some of these special moments that this group has experienced together throughout this first week. 

One of our first excursions was to the Souda Bay War Cemetery, where 1,500 Commonwealth servicemen are commemorated from WWI and WWII. I would without a doubt say that this was the most beautiful and well-kept cemetery I have ever seen with my own eyes. The land lays right next to the water with bushes of colorful flowers surrounding the grave site, clean-cut grass, and beautiful gravestones. It truly puts a few things into perspective and allows you to take a step back from reality and feel for these families and cities, where many unknowingly lost their loved ones. 

Another memorable event was not only observing the historic landmarks in Chania such as the lighthouse with Venetian, Egyptian and Ottoman influences, the Maritime Museum of Crete, and the Venetian Harbor and its importance as access to the water/sea, but it was insanely cool and interesting to take our classes as a small group one day inside the museum and in a nearby coffee shop in town. It was a nice little change of scenery, and our lessons revolved around the history behind the town and the importance in its access to the sea. 

One of my favorite memories from this past week has got to be our venture to the local winery, the Manousakis Winery. Everyone got to dress up nice, bond over tasty food and drinks, and learn a little bit about the history of the winery and the key role in finding ideal land for such a business. The lights strung through the trees hanging over the walkway, the gorgeous stone building where we ate, the Manousakis house, and the stone overhead for dining made for a wonderful setting. 

We still have so much to do, so much to learn, and so much to look forward to. The memories are just beginning to take shape, and the best is still yet to come. I am so excited for the next few weeks in learning new things, getting closer with my classmates, going on different ventures or excursions, and experiencing the deep culture here in Crete. 

Crete Week I

 As the First week is coming to a close, I want to highlight some of the best parts of the week, and some of the things I learned this week while exploring the island.

left to right (Emma, Professor Vamvakas, Stevie, Zoe)

This picture was taken at Professor Vamvakas's favorite beach in Crete. 

One of our favorite things to do after the beach is taking walks around the village. We will normally pick oranges, apricots, avocados and blackberries along the way, and watch the sunset. 

This picture was taken at the Eleftherios Venizelos Tombs in Chania. Eleftherios Venizelos was a very influential Greek politician in the early 1900s, and this monument was created to commemorate his accomplishments, and also offers amazing views of Chania. The airport in Athens was also named after Eleftherios Venizelos, and is the largest international airport in Greece.

This is a picture of a Greek Orthodox Church in Alikianos, Crete. We attended a memorial service to pay respects to over 40 Cretan men killed by German paratroopers during WWII. 

This picture was taken in Chania, Crete. On the right you can see the lighthouse of Chania, which is a Venetian lighthouse built in the late 16th century to protect the harbor. The tower fell but was eventually rebuilt in the 1800s resembling a minaret during a time when Crete was ruled by Egyptians. 

This picture was taken at the Allied War Cemetery, Souda Bay, Crete. Many of the tombs were of unknown soldiers from both WWI and WWII. Souda Bay is a US Naval Base that operates under the US Naval Support activity. The cemetery is very well kept and reminiscent of the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.

In the next few weeks I am looking forward to hiking through the Samaria Gorge, and traveling to Samos to work with the Archipelago Institute!

The first Week!

  The first week of this study abroad program has just ended, and the experience that I have had here until now has been beyond my expectations. It is fantastic to see the community's interaction here compared to the United States. Every single interaction I have had with the locals has ended up with them showing the best the place has to offer, and everywhere I went, they did their best to make me feel comfortable in their country. 

Greece is a culturally rich country, and where we are in Crete, there is a strong focus on community. Although I think this interaction is lovely, and the idea of community over individual sounds so heartwarming, I feel sometimes it can be overwhelming for the people who live here, as there is a big emphasis on duty as well. When going to the village, market, or even the beach, I have had several fantastic interactions with the people in the region.

It is impossible to select only one favorite moment of this program. However, before this trip, I didn't know most of the people that came, and what I thought would be something terrible bad turned out amazing. Having this new experience together has bonded us, and it feels like I have known them for a long time. I am looking forward to spending the following weeks with them.

All I can say about this program is that if you ever have the opportunity to do something like this, I highly recommend you do it. The connections, friendships, and lessons are worth it, and you will definitely come out with a new sense of community that you have never seen before. 

We are Back 10 years after the original trip and two years after Covid-19

 What started as an idea a decade ago continues ten years later. Late in the summer of 2011, as the sorties were flying from Souda Crete to Libya and as Greece was in economic crisis, the idea of moving the classroom to the Eastern Mediterranean was born. In 2022 and as the covid pandemic is receding the challenges in the region have shifted, but the issues of geopolitics of energy and democracy and statecraft and diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean are as relevant as ever.....This year we will continue to use this blog page as a means to communicate the experience of the next four weeks to the wider audience, as we study, experience and travel through region.