Article
The Real Greek Life
ID # 2664
My name is Adriana, and, maybe with such an international name as that, I was born to travel. Yet, I spent the first 18 years of my life within the boarders of the United States. It was not until this past summer that I finally began my global adventures, when I received the awesome opportunity through UNC to study abroad for two months in–and all over–Greece and Turkey.
Greece had been my dream nation of exploration since I was in middle school and had first discovered The Iliad and The Odyssey, and I was not disappointed. Rather, Greece, with her passionate people and living history, far exceeded my expectations, and I fell madly in love. Through all of the friendships I made along the way–even adopting my very own “yiayia” (or “grandmother”)!–I learned about what it is to be human, the importance of family, and that where we come from, our history, is a huge part of who we are, yet does not have to limit where we can go.
When I left for Athens, Greece was in major economic and political trouble, and I got to live in and amongst people who were going to the polls for a second major election in only three months, the result of which would decide their future path. To see the vivacity of spirit, which the citizens maintained, taught me a great lesson in perseverance and hope.
In addition to Athens, I spent time in Ephesus (Turkey), Philippi, Delphi, Thessaloniki, Corinth, and visited the monasteries of Meteora. As hinted at in that list of cities, I was in a class that followed the path of the apostle’s missionary journeys. Actually walking in the very footsteps of this man we were learning about was an incredible and once in a lifetime opportunity.
I cannot wait to share this passion I have for other cultures with students, who may, like me at that age, not yet have had the chance to go abroad.