Music and Marathon

I just returned from a musical evening at CYA. One of our staff members sang with a guitarist and bouzouki-player a collection of Greek music from the 1930s up through today. It was a ton of fun to hear the Greek music. The music they played is called "Rembetika" or the Greek 'Blues.' Some of the other staff members got up and danced to some songs. They also sang along to many of the songs. If you want to hear a sample of Greek music check out Melina Mercouri from the movie Never on Sunday or Vassilis Tsitsanis who is a well known bouzouki player.

Yesterday was Marathon Sunday- the day of the Athens Classic Marathon. I woke up early to volunteer at the marathon. I took the metro out to the Katechaki Bridge and helped out at the water station there. I handed out water bottles to runners of both the 10k and the marathon. I have so much admiration for those runners. As I stood there shaking in the cold, they were running their 38th of 42 kilometers!

I also visited Parliament last week. I went with a group of students from school and we went on a tour of the building. It was very interesting to hear the history of the building and then to actually go into their assembly room (the one you always see in pictures of the delegates meeting). Their chairs are really comfortable! It was cool to be there at a time when the next prime minister was still being decided upon and the coalition government was being set up. It is so cool to be in Athens during such a hectic time. I am here while they are making the decisions that will influence the future of the European economy!