I really enjoyed my day today. We had class at our usual time, the Mystras group presented since that is where we are going for our day-trip tomorrow, and we got to act out/read some pretty awesome apocalyptic dialogues that we created.
In the afternoon Professor Finitsis took us to a cemetery very close by to where we live and we got to stroll around there and admire the beautiful landscape and intricate headstones. Although a cemetery is somewhat of an odd place to spend an afternoon it was gorgeous out, the sun was shinning and peeking through the trees as we walked around. It is a huge cemetery and according to Finitsis you have to be important to be buried there. Either an actor, writer, sculpture, politician, or something of that sort to be able to rest in the cemetery.
One of those so called important people is the archaeologist ho discovered the city of Troy. The picture on the left shows the giant tomb that is dedicated to him and his excavation and finding Troy. Finitsis told us this story during class and then pointed out the grave when we were at the cemetery today.
Another very interesting thing that I learned today was the the Greeks bury their dead in a coffin first in a cemetery just as is common in the United States. However, after about two-three years after they have been buried they exhume the bodies and then place their skeleton in these small box looking objects. That way the families can be placed together in a crypt type thing and the bodies are more compacted so that you can place more of them in there. So a lot of the times the marble headstone type things covering the coffins have a hatch on them so that they can be opened and the body can be removed and the bones placed elsewhere.
After class today a few of us decided to just get a quick lunch so that we would have more time to relax and we went and got souvlaki right up the street. On our way back from there we ran into a squiggling line of kids that looked like they were on some sort of field trip. They all had matching white baseball caps on and were lined up seemingly playing follow the leader on the way to their destination. We were talking as a group and then the kids started smiling and saying hello to us in Greek. One of the girls even started speaking Greek rapidly although we have no idea what she way saying. She seemed pretty excited about us though so hopefully it was good. This brightened my day up quite a bit as we were all smiling, talking, and laughing on the way back to our apartments. It's great how something so small like Greek children saying hello and being nice to us tourists could make our days but it definitely made mine.
Many people found the time at the cemetery as a sad time but I found it beautiful and relaxing. I enjoyed meandering through the rows, snapping pictures every now and then, and reflecting on my time here in Greece so far. I have loved every single day here and so far there isn't anything that I would change about my experience here. The children greeting us and that quick exchange of smiles and glee at being outside on a gorgeous sunny day was enough to make me thankful for my time in this amazing country.
In the afternoon Professor Finitsis took us to a cemetery very close by to where we live and we got to stroll around there and admire the beautiful landscape and intricate headstones. Although a cemetery is somewhat of an odd place to spend an afternoon it was gorgeous out, the sun was shinning and peeking through the trees as we walked around. It is a huge cemetery and according to Finitsis you have to be important to be buried there. Either an actor, writer, sculpture, politician, or something of that sort to be able to rest in the cemetery. One of those so called important people is the archaeologist ho discovered the city of Troy. The picture on the left shows the giant tomb that is dedicated to him and his excavation and finding Troy. Finitsis told us this story during class and then pointed out the grave when we were at the cemetery today.
Another very interesting thing that I learned today was the the Greeks bury their dead in a coffin first in a cemetery just as is common in the United States. However, after about two-three years after they have been buried they exhume the bodies and then place their skeleton in these small box looking objects. That way the families can be placed together in a crypt type thing and the bodies are more compacted so that you can place more of them in there. So a lot of the times the marble headstone type things covering the coffins have a hatch on them so that they can be opened and the body can be removed and the bones placed elsewhere. 
After class today a few of us decided to just get a quick lunch so that we would have more time to relax and we went and got souvlaki right up the street. On our way back from there we ran into a squiggling line of kids that looked like they were on some sort of field trip. They all had matching white baseball caps on and were lined up seemingly playing follow the leader on the way to their destination. We were talking as a group and then the kids started smiling and saying hello to us in Greek. One of the girls even started speaking Greek rapidly although we have no idea what she way saying. She seemed pretty excited about us though so hopefully it was good. This brightened my day up quite a bit as we were all smiling, talking, and laughing on the way back to our apartments. It's great how something so small like Greek children saying hello and being nice to us tourists could make our days but it definitely made mine.
Many people found the time at the cemetery as a sad time but I found it beautiful and relaxing. I enjoyed meandering through the rows, snapping pictures every now and then, and reflecting on my time here in Greece so far. I have loved every single day here and so far there isn't anything that I would change about my experience here. The children greeting us and that quick exchange of smiles and glee at being outside on a gorgeous sunny day was enough to make me thankful for my time in this amazing country.
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