Monday Classes

​The experience of studying abroad has already been so incredibly unbelievably fantastic and I’ve only been here a week! I’m already a stronger, braver, wiser woman and I hope to continue to develop these traits during my time in Thessaloniki.   

First Day of School
​Classes began Monday! Yay!!
I only have one class Monday/Wednesday/Friday morning and it is History of Ancient Greece. (Check out one of my early posts to read more about it.)
ACT, the study abroad program I’m attending, provides a shuttle to the school for my morning classes, however the times it runs back to the apartment are inconvenient. However, a few of my new friends and I went to the bus kiosk early Monday morning; later, two of us were able to find our way back to the apartment building.

It's All Greek to Me
​The public bus system in Thessaloniki is hectic to say the least! First of all, nothing is in English, and add to that the fact that you’re cramming a ton of people into a tiny space and you’ve got a recipe for stress and disaster!
Fortunately, Alec and myself were able to hike across campus, hop on a bus right outside of the school, hop off at a stop several blocks away, and then run across a busy street to transfer to another bus before riding it all the way to a familiar neighborhood. Or, I should say, a street that I’m familiar with.
There’s a running joke that if Alec thinks we’re walking in the right direction we should probably turn around – it’s hysterical because it’s so true!
The entire process took less than thirty minutes. Alec and I were very lucky not to have to wait for either bus but to also not miss them by a few seconds either! I hope to have the same luck every day.

Alone Time
​So Monday afternoon was my first alone time since arriving in Thessaloniki. I’m a natural extrovert, so alone time isn’t something I need very often … or ever really. But alone time did allow me to sit down and write this post about my first day of classes, so I should try to find alone time at least once a week for my blog!
I also did laundry for the first time since arriving in Greece. I was down to my last pair of clean pants and only had one more pair of socks before I would have been hand washing my clothes in the sink.
The washing machine at my apartment building was fairly easy to figure out, however, we don’t have a dryer. Meaning that all of my clothes go out onto the balcony to air dry. This works best when the sun shines onto said balcony, a phenomenon that doesn’t happen for a very long stretch of the day on my particular balcony.
I’ll get used to it and by the end of the semester; I’m sure I’ll return to America and have to re-learn how to use a dryer!  

Sea Sailing
​I only have one other class on Monday evening. If you’ve read my pervious posts, you might recall that I’m taking Sea Sailing 101 for college credits! (This might not sound legit, but it is, it so is.)
The class only meets once a week, and this week we met on the college campus. However, for most of the rest of the semester we’ll meet at the marina, which is at short bus ride from the apartment.
Not only will I learn how to sail a sea boat, I can also become certified if I pass a test at the end of the semester!
Our class will also participate in a sailing weekend trip in which my classmates and I will sail ourselves around the Mediterranean! To say I’m excited is a bit of an understatement.

​I can’t wait for the rest of the semester and to the new experiences that will be presented to me throughout my time in Thessaloniki, Greece.  

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Coming up Next: My weekend getaway in the city of Chanina on the island of Crete with some of my new besties! PS: We're celebrating Valentine's Day secret Santa style!

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All photos included in this post were taken by Alexandra Kapetanopoulos.