A Retrospective

 In my last post, I reflected upon how I couldn't believe it was already March and that I was halfway done with my semester here in Athens. Having just taken my last final exam earlier this morning and now in the process of packing my bags, I can't believe it is already May and I leave Greece this weekend. So much has happened over these last two months. 

A couple weeks after my last entry to this site, I traveled with CYA to northern Greece. We spent five days in Thessaloniki, the second-most populated city in the country. Not only is this area a vibrant tourist and commercial center, but also it is home to over 100,000 students. Most of them attend Aristotle University, the largest institution of higher education in Greece and the Balkans. Thessaloniki reminded me a lot of Boston, in the sense that it is a very student-friendly city with no shortage of cheap but good places to eat, drink, and go. On this trip, we also traveled to the tomb of Philip II (the king of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great who conquered most of the known world), as well as Thermopylae (the site of the famous battle in 480 BC in which King Leonidas lead his 300 Spartan warriors against thousands of Persian troops). 

The view from the White Tower of the waterfront apartments and
 businesses, with the main harbor visible in the distance

The White Tower of Thessaloniki

A memorial to King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan Warriors
at the site of the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian Empire in 480 BC

A few days after arriving back in Athens from northern Greece, it was Independence Day. Thousands of soldiers representing all branches of the Greek military marched in the parade marking 194 years since the revolutionaries of the First Hellenic Republic officially declared they were leaving the Ottoman Empire on March 25th, 1821.

Greek infantrymen marching outside of the Hellenic Parliament in the Independence Day parade

Due to the Independence Day celebrations, we had an extended weekend. So one of my roommates and I visited Italy. We flew to Rome, stopped in Vatican City, and then went by rail to Florence, Venice, and Milan. Not only is train travel cheaper in Italy than in the United States, but also it is high-speed. 

The view of Vatican City from the top
of St. Peter's Basilica 

Sunset over Vatican City

Sunset at the Uffizi Gallery

             

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Venice at Dawn

The Navigli District of Milan

George David (left), Me (center), Anastassis David (right)

The day after I got back to Athens from Italy, on March 30th, I met with George David, who generously funded my scholarship to live and study here, at his office at Coca-Cola Hellenic Headquarters. We were joined by his son, Anastassis, a graduate of the Tufts class of 1994 and a CYA trustee. The three of us met for almost an hour. We discussed a wide range of topics, ranging from my academic interests and professional goals to Greek and American politics to life at Tufts and CYA. I was very grateful for this opportunity to meet my benefactor, and I hope to see him again one day.

A few days after my meeting with the Davids, it was spring break. My first destination was the famous Greek island of Santorini. My second was not your typical getaway: Kiev, Ukraine.

The village of Oia in Santorini

During our first full day in Kiev, we drove with a tour company two hours north to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the most radioactive place on earth. On April 29th, 1986, the nuclear power plant in this area exploded, releasing an immeasurable amount of radiation into the ground and atmosphere. During our visit, in addition to seeing the plant, we walked through the abandoned city of Pripyat, which was once home to almost 50,000 workers and their families who had to evacuate immediately within hours of the accident. 

The entrance to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant 

The ferris wheel at the Pripyat amusement park

The jail under the Pripyat police station

The contents of a classroom in a primary school in Pripyat

While in Kiev, we also visited the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War, which ostensibly commemorates the role of Ukrainians in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. The fact that these exhibits were curated by Soviet historians back in the 1980s is very apparent, so much so I felt more like I was in a museum in Moscow than one in Kiev. Ironically, directly outside the museum, there are nearly half a dozen Russian-made tanks and missile launchers on display that were recently captured by Ukrainian forces in the eastern regions of Crimea and Donetsk. Under each vehicle, there is a placard that reads, "This item is material evidence of crimes committed by pro-Russian militant groups supported by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the territory of Ukraine." Given the degree of anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine currently, one would think that the Ministry of Culture would consider making some changes to the Museum.

The Motherland Monument, the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War is housed in its base

Standing on a Russian tank recently seized in the ongoing war

The Soviet-designed rotunda in the Museum

On our final night in Kiev, we meet several local college students who offered to show us all around their city. We were the first tourists they had met in a long time, so they were quite enthusiastic to share their experiences and feelings with us. Some of them had even participated in the revolution last year in which the pro-Russian president was ousted and the previous democratic constitution was restored. The pride they have in their country was very inspiring, and made me hopeful for the future of Ukraine. 

Maidan Square, the site of the Ukrainian Revolution of February 2014

The day after I got back from Kiev, it was Greek Orthodox Easter. At midnight mass in churches throughout the country, candles were lit to mark the conclusion of Lent. However, there is more to this ritual than meets the eye. Apparently, on the day before the holiday, the Patriarch of Constantinople enters a hidden section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem with a candle that is miraculously lit "by the hand of God." This candle is then airlifted to Greece, and used to light hundreds of other candles that are in turn delivered to every church in the land.

Midnight mass at the church on my street in the Pangrati neighborhood of Athens

In the month since Easter, time has flown by. The weekdays have been filled with classes and homework, and the weekends with visits to the beach as the weather has gotten warmer. Now, it is time to go...and I am not entirely sure what to say. My Contemporary Politics professor perhaps phrased it best during a dinner that he and his wife cooked for our class at his apartment, "If you've gotten anything--not just out of my class and the others you've taken here--but from your time in Greece, I hope its a sense of curiosity, a desire to learn about new places." I definitely feel that I got all that, plus so much more.

Onsite lecture at the Acropolis for
my Art & Archaeology class 

Visiting the Hellenic Parliament
with my Contemporary Politics class