Kalispera, good evening from Nauplia!
My name is Caroline and I am lucky to be one of seven students from the Pittsburgh area embarking on this study seminar with CWB.
To start off this trip I did not know what to expect, but what to hope. Primarily, I hoped to accomplish the goals of this trip, to construct insights on issues raised from this seminar and eventually convey these to my community. This responsibility places a great value on every experience this group has and will encounter because in truth we are not only learning for just our benefit, but also for the education and inspiration of our respective communities. With this in mind, sometime while flying from the US to Greece I asked CWB veteran and fellow student Sam Smith about what to expect on a Tsipy trip, to this she replied, “just know that you hit the ground running,” – she could not have been more accurate. After a total sixteen hour trip, immediately the seminar began when we were greeted with a cheerful “Kalimera,” from our tour guide, Eugenia. From there, into the heart of Athens, a je nai sais quoi feeling washed over the group, the almost magical connection and presence of ancient times to modern Greece. Only fifteen minutes from hustle and bustle of modern downtown Athens we reached the Acropolis, the ancient citadel and site of the Parthenon. There after hiking past the numerous olive trees and up the dusty stone steps we reached the top; overlooking the scene of Athens was incredible. From this view we appreciated how the layout of Athens was juxtaposed with ancient and modern architecture, such as buildings of neoclassical era (think Plato’s Academy) and more industrial type modern buildings. From this view, it was evident that Greece’s identity, both physical and culturally, to this day is greatly rooted and influence from it’s history. Additionally, this was my personal eureka! – No longer were we meager students appreciating the history from an outsider’s perspective, but we were living it! Touching it! Walking in it! A new found appreciation was felt by all.
To sum up the first days of this trip, my initial take away is that experience is an integral part to learning and appreciating history. So what can one expect of a CWB Greece trip? To be empowered through education by experience, and to continually be inspired by the past.
“Give me somewhere to stand, and I will move the earth”.
Archimedes as quoted by Pappus of Alexandria, Synagoge, Book VIII.
Best,
Caroline
