Yeia Sas!
My name is Allison Dean. I am a Fulbright College Honors Student studying Music, specifically Vocal Performance. This is my first ever blog, which happens to be about my first ever study abroad trip, the U of A Classics in Greece and Turkey Program this summer. I have been abroad once before, but never to what my sister-in-law calls "proper Europe." I attended the Fringe Theatre Festival in Edinburgh when I was 16 and London for a few days before, but now I can add Greece, Turkey, and France to my list.
Unlike most summer study abroad programs that I know of, my program had five mandatory class sessions throughout the spring semester that will count as a significant part of my grade. We had Modern Greek mini-lessons, quizzes over presentations from the previous meeting, and homework assignments to hold us accountable for finishing our site reports. We were each assigned two site report topics - one ancient, one modern - to prepare before the program begins and present during the trip. My topics are The Theater of Dionysos & Lysicrates Monument and Rembetika music. If you haven't heard of them, I won't bore you with the details, but I will recommend looking them up. Especially the music. :)
The program begins tomorrow evening in Athens, and my flight there leaves in about 6 1/2 hours. I was supposed to be flying along side one of my best friends who was also in the program, but unfortunate complications that sprung up at the last minute prevent her from coming and leave me travelling solo. :(
We had planned on staying an extra two weeks in Europe to travel Italy and France, but I am not experienced enough to travel Europe solo for two weeks, so I had to make some last minute adjustments. I will now be spending twelve days in the UK after the program ends in Istanbul, then spending a day in Paris before flying home the next morning. Thankfully, my brother and his wife ( who is from Northern Ireland) have several friends throughout Great Britain that I will be able to stay with. Within the past 48 hours, my brother and sister-in-law made arrangements with two different families with whom I will be staying, I booked a flight from Istanbul to London, a hostel in London, a train ticket to visit a friend near Blackpool, a ticket back to London, a train ticket to Paris, and a hotel in Paris. I honestly don't know how I would've done it without those two. Their infinite wisdom and unending compassion is much-appreciated. :) All of these last minute changes (which took place over the course of four days) were extremely stressful, but I'm finally able to relax now that everything is laid out. Oh yeah, and I can actually be excited for my departure!
Wish me luck with everything in Greece and Turkey and my travels after the program. The Lord knows I'll need it! And most of all, let's all hope that this supposed "rapture" that's apparently going to happen today is a hoax, just like I think it is.
Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes,
Allison
My name is Allison Dean. I am a Fulbright College Honors Student studying Music, specifically Vocal Performance. This is my first ever blog, which happens to be about my first ever study abroad trip, the U of A Classics in Greece and Turkey Program this summer. I have been abroad once before, but never to what my sister-in-law calls "proper Europe." I attended the Fringe Theatre Festival in Edinburgh when I was 16 and London for a few days before, but now I can add Greece, Turkey, and France to my list.
Unlike most summer study abroad programs that I know of, my program had five mandatory class sessions throughout the spring semester that will count as a significant part of my grade. We had Modern Greek mini-lessons, quizzes over presentations from the previous meeting, and homework assignments to hold us accountable for finishing our site reports. We were each assigned two site report topics - one ancient, one modern - to prepare before the program begins and present during the trip. My topics are The Theater of Dionysos & Lysicrates Monument and Rembetika music. If you haven't heard of them, I won't bore you with the details, but I will recommend looking them up. Especially the music. :)
The program begins tomorrow evening in Athens, and my flight there leaves in about 6 1/2 hours. I was supposed to be flying along side one of my best friends who was also in the program, but unfortunate complications that sprung up at the last minute prevent her from coming and leave me travelling solo. :(
We had planned on staying an extra two weeks in Europe to travel Italy and France, but I am not experienced enough to travel Europe solo for two weeks, so I had to make some last minute adjustments. I will now be spending twelve days in the UK after the program ends in Istanbul, then spending a day in Paris before flying home the next morning. Thankfully, my brother and his wife ( who is from Northern Ireland) have several friends throughout Great Britain that I will be able to stay with. Within the past 48 hours, my brother and sister-in-law made arrangements with two different families with whom I will be staying, I booked a flight from Istanbul to London, a hostel in London, a train ticket to visit a friend near Blackpool, a ticket back to London, a train ticket to Paris, and a hotel in Paris. I honestly don't know how I would've done it without those two. Their infinite wisdom and unending compassion is much-appreciated. :) All of these last minute changes (which took place over the course of four days) were extremely stressful, but I'm finally able to relax now that everything is laid out. Oh yeah, and I can actually be excited for my departure!
Wish me luck with everything in Greece and Turkey and my travels after the program. The Lord knows I'll need it! And most of all, let's all hope that this supposed "rapture" that's apparently going to happen today is a hoax, just like I think it is.
Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes,
Allison
