Kythnos and 1st day of classes

So yesterday was the first day of classes for us Arcadia Center students and I found out my schedule!

I have Greek Literature as Culture, the Greek Economy, and Ancient Greek Philosophy, in addition to Modern Greek Language. I had Greek Literature and Economy today and I really like both my professors. My Economics professor has a very very thick accent that I will have to learn to get used to but she has a good sense of humor and definitely knows her stuff. My Lit professor has this really calming voice and relaxed cadence; she also seems really intelligent and really enthusiastic about our class and getting to know her students. I am already excited to read the short story by George Viyiznos she assigned for our next class on Wednesday.

This past weekend all the students and staff from Arcadia went to the island of Kythnos to relax and end our orientation week. Kythnos is not a tourist-y destination, it's very slow and a lot of local Greeks go there for a weekend during the summer to get away from city life. The off-season has begun for all the islands and Kythnos was empty except for the 50 of us Americans. My friends and I found ways to keep ourselves occupied like going on hikes in the mountainous terrain and walking miles around the island to different coves and beaches. As a group we all took a bus to a very small town in the center of Kythnos to go down into an old mining cave that opened up to the public in 2005. We had a 15-year-old tour guide who spoke very little English so it wasn't the Best tour I've ever been on, but the cave was still really cool.

The group stayed in hotel rooms right by the ocean so we had gorgeous views of the Mediterranean and luckily even though it was supposed to be rainy and overcast all 3 days we were there, it turned out to be sunny and beautiful. The town we stayed in was very quaint and lovely. Everyone we met--the restaurant owners, the barmen, the locals in general--were so nice to us and I think everyone had a great time.

I have to go to my first Philosophy class now but I'll update more in a few days!