Between Parkland and Pangrati

It's hard to believe that we've already been in Greece

a week.The time is flying by, and I know that before we've realized how long we've been here we'll be back in Parkland. But at the same time, so much has happened in the last few days that it feels like we could have been here for a month already. Our group has gotten a lot closer, we've been to several cities and famous sites, and we've been learning a lot of Greek phrases.

In class we've been talking about the Jews in the Diaspora and how they kept their faith and traditions when living in different cultures. There were three ways: resistance, acculturation, and accommodation. These categories vary in the amount of the other culture they accept into their own.

I've been thinking a lot about what I might take from the trip, whether I'll go back to PLU and live life a little differently or just go back to the same habits and schedule as before. I love the lifestyle we're living here, where we're spending two

hours at meals, walking everywhere, not completely focused on being somewhere at a certain time. I love walking around looking for the little things in the city, for something to capture in a picture or some new shop to try out. The fact is that when you're living life on a college campus, a lot of the social and fun aspects of life are lost. Majority of the time I do my homework at dinner. We take our meals to go and eat high calorie, grease covered food all the time. The farthest I walk on a consistent basis is to class or work. I'm realizing more and more how in love I am with the way we're living now, and I don't want it to end when the month is over.

Today we went to Corfu, which was beautiful. My favorite part was just walking around the old fortress and seeing the different architecture on the streets. We were walking in a group for most of the time, but after we arrived at this huge square area we all spread out and explored on our own for a little bit. There was a huge building with the columns and huge steps, a really old wall that allowed you to look out to the sea, and a hill with a beautiful building on top. I spent a lot of time looking out over the wall and taking pictures of the water and mountains in the distance. It was then that I realized how I wish this wouldn't end. Sure, I've been homesick a little bit and miss some of the comforts of being home. But I wouldn't give up this lifestyle for anything. Living in Greece has turned out to be so much more than a study away trip, but I'm hoping it will influence the way I live my life once we get back to the states.