After a week and a half of hard work, including finishing two final projects, I finally cleared enough room in my schedule to write about my return to Greece. The journey back to Patras was as long as it was fun, considering of course the free booze that British Airways doles out on its passengers. Actually it was a rather arduous 28 hour journey with no in flight entertainment and lengthy lay overs in both NY and London. Despite my late arrival to my apartment the best part of the whole journey was stepping through my front door. It was such a great welcome to climb into my own bed and be surrounded by my own things.
The next morning I awoke to find the abundant Greek sunshine replaced with large black clouds and howling winds. The wind was so intense it was actually pushing me all over the sidewalk as I walked to and from class. But like the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining and this terrible weather allowed me some time to catch up on the pile of work I left myself by actually enjoying my time over Christmas break.
The political situation in Greece has calmed down considerably from when I left and I haven't heard of any other conflicts with the police. This does not mean however that there haven't been any protests. There have been a couple of marches around campus protesting the fighting in the Gaza strip but I am glad to say there have been no strikes. I think the students would like to finish the semester which will require them to hold off on the strikes so they can complete their exams. All of this is welcome news to me.
Not everything in Patras is work and bad weather some really exciting things are happening also. The celebration of carnival began this past weekend and will last until we leave in February. The town square is decorated with a large stage hosting bands for the street parties. I cannot wait to go see the floats, the music, fireworks, and just experience the whole thing. Also the weather has been absolutely beautiful here the last two days. Today after giving our presentations for our FRP class some of us found lawn chairs and commenced a hard afternoon of lounging in the sun. We were all completely care free and had an excellent time discussing the newest chicken and egg question, orange, which came first the word for the color or the fruit? From our chairs we could feel the sun warming our faces as we gazed at the snow capped peaks that lie behind campus. It was probably one of the best days I have had so far and am definitely already getting a little sentimental about leaving in only 2 and a half weeks.
