Skinny Asses!

In front of the Parthenon

SO…I finally ventured into Greece for my first time since I’ve been in Albania! Some of you might find this odd since Albania is so close to Greece! …others of you might need to google map Albania again before you realize that it shares its southern border with Greece. I can’t really say why it’s taken me so long to get to Greece…I just really hadn’t had the desire and I hadn’t studied up on it enough (unless you consider 6^th grade English lessons on mythology as counting…thanks worst year of my life for teaching me something I would eventually use! :D ). Perhaps it is also that generally Greeks treat Albanians pretty poorly since they are the largest (and often most illegal) menial labor force within Greece…so I was supporting my Albanian compatriots by being anti-Greek.

Roman Agora and Tower of the Winds (served as clock tower)

Anyways, what eventually got me to Greece was YOGA! [not the 2500 anniversary of the marathon that was going on the same weekend that I had no idea was happening until I got there!] But I was thinking that I needed a bit of a personal retreat…and that got me thinking to yoga retreat…and that got me thinking to greek islands….and that got me to thinking YOGA RETREAT ON A GREEK ISLAND! …why yes, in case you forgot for a moment, I am in the Peace Corps. Sadly, the months of dazzlingly blue Mykonos skies shining on meditating yogis are over for the year…it’s a bit too cold for those. But luckily instead, I was able to find a yoga conference that was going on in Athens. AND it was an Acro-Yoga conference (acrobatics+yoga+thai massage principles….recently started developing in the 90s, google it for more info, but it’s basically a type of partner yoga). So I was able to include 3 days of yoga during my stay in Athens!!!

Our instructors for the conference demonstrating postures [1 is from Spain, the other from Mexico]

Straddle handstand with a partner!....as if it weren't hard enough on the ground!

Not shockingly, what I enjoyed the most while there was eating! [seems to be a theme for all of my trips outside of Albania!] When I arrived at my hostel I asked the guy at the front desk what he recommended for vegetarians to try. And what did he say?? …a FREAKIN GREEK SALAD!!!! For those of you living in America, this might sound tasty! But for those of us who have been living in Albania for 1.5 years (and who are vegetarian), this is about 1 of 3 options to eat when eating ‘out’ at a restaurant. Luckily…I am probably the only person visiting Greece who didn’t necessarily want to eat Greek food (I live in a culture influenced by Greek and Turkish cuisine). So I found the Asian restaurants and ate some tasty sushi, Thai food, and I found an awesome noodle bar that served an eclectic array of noodley goodness! However, for those of you that would require a more culturally sensitive venture into Greek cuisine, I did eat the occasional veggie gyros, I tried the Greek version of mousaka (arguably Turkish cuisine depending on who you’re talking to), ate some great fish, tried various types of cheeses from various types of animals, sipped the occasional glass of ouzo (liquor made from black licorice), ate some fish roe (fish eggs that look like strawberry yogurt), drank salep (a pudding-consistency drink made from orchid root), and ate LOTS and LOTS of Greek yogurt and honey!

Part of the Acropolis seen through Hadrian's Arch [entrance into the ancient city of Athens]

For those of you that aren’t foodies, I will also let you know that the other amazing thing about my trip was being back in communities that don’t exist in Albania….the community of backpackers and the community of yogis. Both are communities where people are generally very welcoming and accepting as well as trusting. It was amazing getting to travel and meet people with the same passion and share travel stories and travel dreams. Staying in a hostel you always meet interesting people....I met people there for the marathon, people there taking a year break from work, students, Australians! (really, those Aussies know how to travel…considering it takes about 24 hours just to get out of their country anywhere, can’t blame them!), etc. And it was great getting to go to the yoga conference and meet many Greeks…and many Greek yogis (..makes me hungry for more Greek yogurt!). It was nice to actually take a yoga class and I’m hoping some of the partner yoga that I learned I will be able to bring back and do a session with the university dance students I teach in Tirana. Overall though, everyone was super friendly and it was fun to be part of a different sort of community again!!

Zeus' Temple and the Acropolis behind

Lastly, Stini yiamas!!! I was told by a Greek-American that in order to remember this Greek expression meaning “to your health” to think of “skinny asses!” It does make it quite a bit easier. And if nothing else, you can at least cheers towards having a skinnier ass!

Change of guards by the tomb of the unknown soldier at parliament building [I do love a man in a skirt!]

I won’t bore you with the billions of descriptions and pictures of temples and ruins and history [sorry to disappoint you if that’s what you were looking forward to!]….but if you need a crash course go find your 6^th grade teacher! I have included a few pics for you to get the idea….enjoy!