A certain Athens of many…

“Oh, that city kinda feels like Berlin.”

“This town reminds me a little of Chicago.”

“It is like a small version of London.”

“Memphis looks a lot like Cairo when you cross the Nile.”

Yeah, you can cross reference and label dozens of cities with a sister city or one that has a similar look or feel. For some reason, as unassuming as it sometimes is – full of unrest, graffiti, and streets that make no sense – I’m not sure I know of a city that I would say, “It sort of reminds me of Athens.”

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And I like it that way.

When I was a student, I would take the bus in and wander. I was doing street photography things before I really knew what street photography was.

And I fell in love with it in Athens.

Now even more years removed from the Olympics which completely overhauled the look of the city, it has returned a little more to it’s former “glory.”

If somewhere you felt warm and fuzzy about suddenly caught on as a “happening place” and developed with strip malls and condos and manicured sidewalks… wouldn’t you feel a little… off?

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All these problems Greece is having doesn’t really feel all that “new.” Back a few years ago, there were still strikes, protests, demonstrations. Things are sorting themselves out and new problems will flare up in no time, I’m sure.

Somehow the weird burn scars on the marble tiles in Syntagma Square or the surrounding streets toward the University are not unusual.

Perhaps they are just as unusual to the outsider as the men sitting in the Plaka playing Backgammon.

This is more of the Athens I see.

The media says, “Holy crap, they’re burning down the state Christmas tree!” (That happens!)

I say, “Eh, the one sitting in thousands of living rooms just a couple of blocks away are just fine.”

That’s my Athens.

But in other news, today is Thanksgiving. Yep, another Thanksgiving away from the family. Such is life.

This one might take the cake…

The semester is winding down for the students in the same program I was in back in 2008. And they throw a big Thanksgiving party for all the friends of the program. Of course, it is just a normal dinner party overseas… but it is an opportunity to say “thank you” to all the people who make the HUG (Harding University in Greece) program happen. From the travel agents to the maintenance man to the lawyers, everyone is thanked.

And some birthdays are celebrated.

Going back is like returning to a childhood home. All the current students are just distant cousins. And we now share in a common, special experience that is the Greece program. I hope they can return someday as I have.

Stay tuned…
-Noah D.