Real School.... WHAT!

So I just finished my first week of classes and I absolutely love my classes. I'm taking Cultural Anthropology, Pilates, Yoga, Figure Drawing, Photography as a document & History of Art.

Cultural Anthropology is SO interesting. It's twice a week (1.5 hrs each class) and my roommate is actually in the class too. About 25 students and already with today's lecture I can't wait to learn more. We learn what anthropology is in detail and then move onto other topics.

Pilates and Yoga are both one credit courses listed under the dance department. Pilates is Monday morning for an hour with about 12 people, one GLS (my study abroad group) girl is in it too. That was actually the first class I went to and it was so funny. There you have Jade and I, light hair and super blue eyes speaking English.... we were such outsiders! Lucky for us our teacher speaks really good English. Yoga was a little more intense. Two hours every Tuesday and its only 6 people, located in the dance studio with all dance majors. The teacher had to teach in both English and Greek but my body felt so good after that two hour session... not to mention today as I can feel every muscle just a little bit sore. Both these classes we're also learning theory and history which I'm pretty excited about.

Figure Drawing.... oh drawing. So if you didn't know, I have a history of HATING drawing classes. Well my getting my Bachelor of Fine Arts, not a photography major so I learn all the arts. It's difficult to get dropped into a drawing class with drawing majors that don't need to be taught how to draw and have skills I can only dream about. But hey, according to everyone, I guess I have to graduate. SOOOOO, here I am signed up for an advanced drawing class. I actually have really high hopes for this class. The teacher clearly has some connection to the US, which is nice because not everyone is so open to Americans, and she also grades off of just your improvement within your portfolio, unlike at UA. Every class, 3hrs long one a week, we'll have a live model. She said it will be pretty exhausting and I don't question that, but if all goes well I'll be drawing nude people no problem by December!

Photography as a document: might be the most important class I take here. I didn't know anything about the class besides its title when I signed up. This class is a lot of photography history & theory (which I love, and totally wish the average non-art student could observe) and then there is also a practical part of it as well. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by the practical part and producing work. It will be more documentary than fine art which means a lot of research and interviewing.... hints where I get stuck, I don't speak Greek! But this will be a great class, its the last class their seniors take and a pre-masters class. The professor is finishing his PhD and is incredibly knowledgeable. I'm very excited! Oh and we meet once a week for 3 hrs.

History of Art: is a little up in the air. During orientation we listened to an art history professor and she spoke really well so I wanted to take her course. However, there are university courses and GLS courses. I'm in all university courses with local students, except I just traded my 8am** university course for the GLS section and now I have Friday class (dun dun dun) but there are only 2 kids in the GLS class so it might turn into an independent study type of class. Who knows, but I don't so I'll address that later!

To say the least, I love my classes and I have high hopes for this semester. It is a nice change of pace from the US too... less stress on grades and getting a certain certification but rather a strong interest in education as absurd as that sounds. I hope to gain a lot from these classes and I’m really excited.

Also, tomorrow I’m going to look into clubs and possible an on campus job. They have fitness clubs such as yoga, dance, basketball and outdoor club free of charge. I could use some extra food money and such so I’m going to see if it’s possible to get a job as well.

So that’s what is new at the moment. I’m still catching up on all kinds of stuff (scholarship apps, letters to UA, email, UA classes for the spring, photos, etc) but I will write about my trip in detail as soon as I get the time, I promise!

Love and miss you all! And by miss I mean you come here cause I'm not leaving until I have to! ;)




XOXO
Kayla

ps: If anyone out there loves me please send me a box of Kraft mac & cheese.... Simple pleasures <3

A glimpse into the life I've been living... Greece, Italy & Spain

Hello friends and family! I'm alive and happier than ever...

Sorry I haven't been blogging, I was in Greece, Italy and Spain the last 10 days. I don't even know how to describe my trip because I know there is no way I can possibly describe what I felt, how I was treated, what I saw and experienced... but I'll try my best. I also want to thank everyone again for all their support, this trip was so humbling and I'm so grateful for everything.

10 memorable moments… make it 11:


* Tent shopping in Pissa: I was picking up some gifts and such and I asked a vender how much for a shirt and he told me, I said I might be back for it. Everyone had the same stuff so I went back like I said I would and the other guy was helping me, but I saw the original guy and said, I'm back! And kept going with my purchase, then the original guy said something and I thought he asked where I was from and I said, from the US and his friend goes no, no... he said you're beautiful... ciao bella, so cute! So doesn't like getting told you're beautiful in 4 different languages in a matter of 10 days



* Island Hop: SOOOOO, after a long night in Athens we had a free day so we drug ourselves out of bed (only 5 people total made it) and we went to the ferry terminal to go to Hydra Island. Sure enough I walk up to the ticket office and said Hydra Island? The guy pointed and shook his hand quickly toward the ferry undocking... we literally run as fast as we can, bags in hand and we were the last 5 to sprint on with no tickets, no nothing as the huge ferry was completely untied. We were standing there panting with about 8 Greeks and finally when we were able to breathe, we go this is going to Hydra right? The worker taking ticket had big eyes and goes, no! Porros Island! Our jaws dropped because we had no idea where or what that island was but everyone laughed and the Greeks in broken English comforted us saying, beautiful island! Beautiful island! So priceless



* Hello Nude Greeks: Getting to the first beach on Porros Island the first thing we saw was old lady boobs! So not attractive!!! We all got a good laugh though, but we picked such a beautiful and local beach. The water was warm, the people were as Greek as possible and that day was one of my favorites. Moment in particular: last swim… two steps into the water and diving into the warm Mediterranean water, swimming forever because its stays so shallow. I went out all by myself and it was something I’ll never forget.




* Sunset at the Temple of Poseidon... 2 hours out of Athens on a hillside we walked up to the ruins and it was so romantic and beautiful. Huge sail boat going by, a few islands in sight, a magical and colorful sunset



* "MaMa Miaaaa!" Walking around in Athens, yes wearing the magical little black dress with friends, this VERY Italian guy came out of nowhere and got super close to my face and exclaimed, mama mia! with the typical hand gesture of an Italian... the three girls behind me and I died laughing, tears in our eyes. Something we joke about all the time… we call particular moments, Kayla Moments!



* Heart Pizza: after 8 hours on the bus traveling from Rome to Pissa to Florence, Tiffany picks me up and we walk to a local pizza joint, all the cooks are from Naples and Tiffany ordered for us in Italian. We sit down, number is called and she walks back with HUGE pizzas in the shape of a heart. She's been there about 6 times, with 2-6 girlfriends and has never seen a heart shaped pizza, I was SO impressed and happy. Not to mention it was the best pizza I've ever had in my entire life and the guys didn't charge us nearly as much as it was, "for you, only 5 euro!" :)




* Sightseeing extravaganza! All the places we visited, all the monuments and classical tourist places were breathtaking. It’s such a weird experience to study these places, hear stories and looks at pictures and then finally be standing there in person. Pretty hard to describe, but so hard to forget; I hope that everyone is able to understand that feeling one time or another during their life



* Rain storm in Rome! We were finishing a 5 hour walking tour in Rome, approaching the Trevi Fountain and it started to sprinkle… lesson learned: a sprinkle turns into a downpour in about 3.5 seconds in Italy! We threw our coins and ran through the streets of Rome, locals hiding under the store coverings we cheering on our group of about 20 dancing through the streets, people had see through clothes, running makeup, puddles in our shoes and we couldn’t have been happier.



* Venice with the girls: We took a boat into Venice and after doing so much tourist stuff we decided to get lost… “you must get lost in order to find yourself” after all. We ate pizza and drank wine sitting on a dusty little alley way for about 4 euro each, followed by a huge double stack scoop of gelato (white chocolate on top of caramel) and more wine.



* Oh Barcelona… you deserve your own page of amazing moments; by far one of the best weekends of my life, if not the very best. We just happened to be there during the La Merce Festival. Do yourself a favor and look at this for more info. I can’t even begin to start talking about this place or I won’t stop, so when I do my city to city blogs I’ll fill you in but this is a good starter…. http://www.barcelonayellow.com/pointer-articles/145-merce-festival-barcelona



* The people, the people, the people: I’ve met so many incredible, and scummy people on my trip… lucky for me more amazing people than scummy ones. Traveling through 6 countries in one month really makes to appreciate meeting people from all over the world. I experienced different cultures, picked up enough of each language to communicate and met wonderful people. You don’t need to know a language to understand someone trying to help you out or show appreciation. I understand we all come from really different places but we’re not that different.



(Florence at sunset)

Well I hope you got an idea of the fairytail life I've been living, wish I had better ways of sharing, aka you being here! But this will have to do.

Love and miss you all,
and you're little world traveler will be staying in one place for the next 2 weeks, well at least in the same country, then off to Greece again with a friend! Started school today, more blogs to follow! :)

XOXO,
Kay

We're going to conquer the world

you better believe it!

(outside the school gym, one of the stops)


These are the wonderful girls I went on the scavenger hunt with! If you don't know anything about this, basically the last 5 days we've been learning about Cyprus in various ways and today we were dropped off in the middle of downtown Nicosia to complete a scavenger hunt and find our way back home on our own... really to test how much we know with a goal of us becoming completely independant in our new home city.

In groups of four we had to visit certain places, photograph it, translate text, give prices of things, find current exchange rates, list common phone numbers, etc. We felt like we were in the amazing race! Even in our taxi, we explained the game to him and he was racing over to the church we had to take a picture in front of. He was included in our picture! haha. I think we did really well, but my feet were crying and I was so hot and sweaty after running around for about 3 hours! Winner, with the most tasks and questions completed wins a free dinner at a traditional greek place.

Now that you conquered the city of Nicosia, we're off to Greece, Italy and Spain! Louie and I will be back home in 10 days :)

Welcome to my home! Pictures :)

My apartments in Nicosia, Cyprus. 4 roommates, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and I'm loving everything about it!




View to the left, looking north to the Turkish side
















Before leaving Seattle with mom :)


So bad news, I have a memory card problem. Something is wrong and I can't get my pictures off my camera from Germany, London and my nice pictures of my apartment from day one. I'm working on the problem but right now these are the only two pictures I have from Germany. Keep your fingers crossed about my situation, please!

My travel to Greece, Italy and Spain.

Thursday we travel to Athens and by noon we’ll be all checked in and the rest of the day is free to do whatever we want.

Friday, morning tour of the Acropolis and the Athens Museum. Free evening

Saturday, completely free day! We plan on taking a day trip to one of the nearby islands as this provides a perfect opportunity. (Aegina, Poros, Hypdra, Spatses and Angistri were all recommended islands)

Sunday we travel to Rome! Midday we’ll be touring the Colosseum followed by a 3 hour walking tour of Rome. By 17:00 the evening will be free to do whatever we want.

Monday we stay in Rome and get a 2 hour guided tour of the Vatican Museums and a chance to see the Sistine Chapel with headsets in English included (Yey for amazing art!) By 13:30 we’re free again.

Tuesday is our opportunity to see the Pisa Tower! How cool, didn’t know about this excursion. We’ll make a stop to see David (not the real one, but one of the many replicas, this one overlooking the city). By early evening we will be in Florence with a free evening hopefully to spend with miss Tiffany Brown!

Wednesday we tour the Uffizi Gallery with our guide for two hours, but by 12:30 I’ll be free and I’d like to once again spend my time with Tiffany!

Thursday we drive to Venice! We’ll get to St. Marcos where we’ll be free to explore Venice on our own. Something about some ferries and then getting back to St. Marcos Square.

Friday, we check out and leave for Barcelona. This is when some of our group from school will go back to Cyprus. There are multiple programs with Global Semesters Abroad, so for example SIM (semester in the Mediterranean, my group) SIE (s.in Europe) and one other program. So all of these programs are going to Italy and Greece, but only my program will go to Spain; so about 18 people at first, then 9 people in just my program. So anyway, once we’re in Spain we’ll take a guided tour of Barcelona which is expected to be 3-4 hours with a free evening.

Saturday is completely free! I need to figure out what I might do… any ideas?

Sunday we travel back home!

Monday morning it’s off to CLASS! (what a concept hehe) I plan to take cultural anthropology, figure drawing, photography as a document, Greek language and culture, Pilates, and Dancer’s Body: Healthy Habits. Note, I am a genius at working my magic, 4 day weekends every weekend : ) Class only Mon-Wed. I’m considering changing out my Greek class for the History of Art or geography of europe, but we’ll see…

If you have been to these places please write me with suggestions on what to do and where to go with my free time. I’d love to hear anything you can think of… anything from a particular food to try, a club to go to, a gallery I can’t miss, etc. Email or facebook asap as I leave real soon : )

Αυτή είναι η ζωή

Can I just say, the Mediterranean people know how to eat! I’ve eaten some of the best foods in the past few days, it’s unreal. Global semesters abroad even arranged a cooking class for us to learn how to prepare some traditional Cypriot food on our own. Chef Charis Heracleous, who has worked at some of the best restaurants in Boston and now has his own cooking show in Cyprus, gave us endless recipes and served stuffed cheese ravioli, traditional meat balls (nothing like Italian meatballs) and pita with grilled halloumi cheese and fresh tomato. In theory, I’m prepared to make any of these dishes. Halloumi cheese is by far my favorite and it is a staple in Cypriot cuisine.




It’s neither a soft or hard cheese, but somewhere in the middle. You can bake it, grill it, cook with it, or eat it straight out of the package. However, it’s trouble! Heracleous warned us students have gained 20-30 pounds in ONE semester from this cheese! Lucky for me, my roommate runs track for her college back at home and we’ve already been running together and I plan to take Pilates, as well as regularly attend the gym to hopefully avoid that situation! HA!
Last night we had our welcoming dinner at a beautiful Greek restaurant where we ate out in the patio in perfect weather. Dinner time around here is between 9pm-11pm, coffee from 11pm-12am, clubs 12 until late, late into the morning. Something that has been an interesting change after being told in the US to not eat late and getting kicked out of bars at 2am.

Speaking of which, a group of us (including a girl from Capital Hill in Seattle, working at the Seahawks main bar just outside of Seahawk stadium… small word!) went over to a sports bar not 5 minutes from our apartments to watch the Seahawks game Sunday night/Monday morning. I couldn’t believe I could watch the game over here, but I guess when you got so many Americans buying drink after drink, anything is possible! It’s funny because they have multiple tv stations but each one owns different rights to different sporting events, so if you buy one package you only get certain sports/games. However, if you’re like this kind, older, very traditionally Cypriot bar owner you somehow can get anything you could ever want to watch with some crazy secret satellites. It was funny to hear our advisors talk about this guy because they honestly don’t know how he does it, but sure enough Americans have even watched the superbowl there. It’s a great little set up too, he put our game on outside in a side patio with a huge projector screen. We played pool and darts and really enjoyed the night out.

Other than that, I’ve been really enjoying my time here. Everyone has been great, the staff, the students, etc. Our days have been full of history classes, art history classes, and various lectures to get us acclimatized to living here and ready for our upcoming travels. Thursday as 5:30am I’m leaving home to start my 10 day international travel.

I tested out two very important things tonight!

Couch napping and night time running....

I took the most wonderful and relaxing nap on my couch tonight. Huge fuffy pillows covering my entire body cooled by the ac. After my nap I went for a run... don't worry mom I survived :)

It seems pretty safe around here, it doesn't matter if I'm walking, running, standing, doing whatever the Greek men will stare so I'm trying not to worry about that and I just stay in areas that have lights. However, I did see the tiniest, cutest, most adorable kitty-cat ever. I ran past two Greek men sitting at a table outside and then stumbled upon this kitten, it was mostly white and brown and I think she was sniffing for food. I wanted to scoop her up and take her home as she made me stop in my tracks. Poor kitty cat... she was only the first one I saw though :/



North Nicosia and the Turkish occupied Cyprus. If you click the picture and make it bigger you will see a huge building in the mid/upper right with Turkish flags. It was probably one of the many churches they took over. Also on the hill side you will see the flag and some writing declaring that part of Cyprus their land. The land at the bottom of the picture is before you get to the buffer zone and green line.


South Cyprus/Nicosia


One of the many streets lined with clothing and older buildings








Warning sign as we were coming up to a buffer zone


The buffer zone, Turkish flag in the back


Today I visited the city of Nicosia as we are staying west of downtown. It’s really interesting to hear the history of this city. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean and Achaean Greeks during the 1st and 2nd millennium BC. It then became a province of the Roman Empire and then the Byzantine Empire. 1571-1878 it was under the Ottoman rule and in 1878 Cyprus leased by the Ottoman Empire to Britain. 1914 Cyprus was annexed by Britain following Turkey's alignment with Germany in WW1. 1923 under the Treaty of Lausanne Turkey relinquishes all rights to Cyprus and in 1925 Cyprus declared a British crown colony. 1954 Greece brings the issue of self-determination for Cyprus to the UN and in 1959 Cyprus was granted independence. 1964 UNFICYP arrives. Turkey bombs and threatens to invade Cyprus, which US president Johnson's intervention halts the threatened invasion. 1974 Turkey finally invades Cyprus in a two-phase operation and occupies 36.2% of the Republic killing many and leaving even more homeless. 1983 Turkish Cypriot leadership declares the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" in the area of the occupied Republic. 2003 the Turkish occupation regime announces partial lifting of restrictions it imposed since 1974 on the movement of people across the ceasefire line. 2004 the Republic of Cyprus joins the EU and in 2008 they join the eurozone changing their currency to the euro. Pretty interesting and current history, yet at the same time the old city has so much rich history.

This is one of the three entry way to the walled city, 150 feet long. The Turks would have to make it through here, being attacked from both sides and above to make it in. Instead, they finally just went over the walls. This walk way is now used for art gallerlies and information.


Look what was on display in the museum! BAM! MY CAMERA!


Anyways now that you got your history lesson, we drove into the city by bus and they took us around the Venetian Walls surrounding the old city. The walls are in a very particular design around the city, resembling a crown or something… hard to explain. But below the 40ft walls there used to be a moat that is now used for public parks, soccer fields, etc. There are only 3 entrances into the city and the dividing line is in the middle of the city. It amazing, you’ll be walking around and then all of a sudden come up on the buffer zone with a ton of barbed wire and signs, so you look up and sure enough you see the Turkish flag not far off. Quite interesting to say the least! We did not go to the Turkish side, but I’ll let you know if we do.
After our extensive tour our group broke up and about 15 of us sat down at a restaurant in the old Nicosia to try meze, a meal where they serve you course after course and everyone shares the small plates of food. I’ve never had anything like this but it was such an experience and let me just say, the Mediterranean people know how to eat! I had salad with the freshest everything and yummy oils, so much pita bread, grilled cheese (GRILLED CHEESE, SALTY YUMMY CHEESE = amazing) every kind of animal in every form (probably 6 different meat dishes)… I can’t even remember all the food but all I know is I didn’t need to eat for a long while and it took about, oh and hour/hour and a half for all of this. It set me back about 16 euro, so 20 bucks. Won’t be doing it very often but I needed to experience it!

See all the plates and left over food!


Meet one of my roomies!


at the market, I bought some fruit and it was good :)


Welcome to Cyprus... also in the grocery store you learn to stay away from the meat/fish section if at all possible, it smells horrible... maybe even worse than this!


Just the start to my journey... about half the group. Global Learning Semesters, Fall 2010 :)