Date: May 31, 2007
Partners for the day: Johann Maradey (text) Gahl Rinat (pictures)
Sites: American and British School of Classical Studies
Museums: none
Principle Buildings/Monuments: none
Time Spent on Sites: 2 hours (4-6 PM)
Weather: Hot and Sunny
A really tired man once said, “I’m exhausted.” Eighteen Dartmouth FSP participants once said, “Dude, we’re exhausted.” Right after they said, “Dudes, where are there printers?”
I’m sure the preceding paragraph makes no sense to our avid blog readers, but let me inform you all that the preceding expressions have become familiar to us all. Why, you ask? We’ll, 2:00 PM this very day was the deadline for our so called Independent Study Projects. Independent they were, we had no friends while we were writing them. For the sake of privacy and efficiency everyone went their own way. Some stuck together, but for the most part everyone departed from Mykonos on the morning of May 24th for different parts of Greece (except Athens, no body wanted to go back to Athens, except Prof. Rutter).
A group of six, Kyle Jazwa, Gahl Rinat, Johann Maradey, Kristina Guild, Kinsey Stewart, and Kelsey Blodget, stayed on Mykonos for the 6 days. Despite Mykonos’ reputation as the prime party spot in Europe, the members of this 6 person party had their own festival to attend. It consisted mainly of homemade dinners, occasional visits to the beach, and early wake ups. As with any good festival, the end was the most exciting. Five of the six stayed up all night, worked through a boat ride, a bus ride, and short train ride in order to finish the paper just in time. Similar stories abound from other corners of Greece. Since these stories are too complicated to tell here, below are some brief quotes from others in the group:
“It was wicked fun”
-Ray DiCiaccio
“My feelings are very mixed. It was cool, seeing the pyramids and all, but parts of it were also the low points of the trip.”
-Josh “I spent my ISP break in EGYPT” Drake
“I’m not ready to talk about it. It’s been hard for me.”
-Chris Blankenship
“My ISP break consisted of my hotel room and the only two restaurants open in Aghios Kyrikos on Ikaria.”
-Liz. Stamoulis
“Lots of writing and sitting. But the eating was delicious and so were the breaks at the beach (the nude beach!).”
-Kelsey Blodget
“Let me talk to you later, I need to sleep.”
-Johann Maradey
“Let me put it this way, I was so stressed that one day I ate 4 bags of chips for lunch.”
-Lizz. Sigler
The past week was the culmination of 3 months of intense research, and about a year of anticipation. Some people hammered (this means typed maddeningly fast in Dart-speak) out 10,000 or so words in several days, others did so in a more healthy manner. Whatever the case, everyone handed in (or are planning on doing so) specific reports on a topic of their interest, and which should have proved to be exciting. This of course varied—some people had exactly 38 or so pages, while others had up to 129. Either way, once the project was done the second challenge was to find a place to print it out. Most fulfilled that challenge, but some are still working on it. I’m sure there will be several people still trying to print their ISP tomorrow.
Upon arriving in Athens several of us went with Prof. Rutter to the Weiner Laboratory at the American School of Classical Studies and the Fitch Laboratory at the British School of Classical Studies. When we entered the American school, the atmosphere was immediately laid back and friendly. Dr. Sherry Fox began the discussion immediately as if she were speaking with fellow classicists. At the British school, we were greeted with handshakes by the director and offered snacks (almost like tea time). Despite being funded by specific countries, each school employs a large number of Greek and Turkish archeologists of varying specialties.
If you feel as if this blog has in some sense been incoherhent, then I have been successful in expressing to you all the general feeling of the group. Live long and pray that no ISP’s come your way.
May 31. 2007. Greek Standard Time: 11 00. Time ISP Paper Due: 14 00. Private Maradey puts the finishing touches on his paper. Go Johann, go!
May 31. 2007. Greek Standard Time: 12 30. Time ISP Paper Due: 14 00. ISP paper due date approaching. Kristina gets lost in a sea of trees at the subway station. “Where am I?” I don’t know Kristina, but with the paper coming up, my only advice is “RUNNNNNNNNN”.
May 31. 2007. Greek Standard Time: 13 50. Time ISP Paper Due: 14 00. A familiar scene by now. Prof. Rutter and Caleb arrange the rooming assignments at the Pan Hotel. Our favorite receptionist assists them in this miserable task.
May 31. 2007. Greek Standard Time: 15 00. Time ISP Paper Due: 14 00. The paper has been turned in! Prof. Rutter, Kinsey ’08, Kristina ’07, and a few others hit the streets in search of labs. Others stay in the room and sleep. Some begin partying at 14 01. Most importantly, as we say in Hebrew, “what was, was was, was was”.
May 31. 2007. Greek Standard Time: 15 45. Time ISP Paper Due: 14 00. The site of today: labs. Our group visited both the labs at the American School and the British School. Although this photographer did not participate due to sleep deprivation, those that went commented on the “cool” techniques, interesting explanations, and good-looking employees. 
Not much happened today. Only five photos are needed to really capture a day that involved transportation and recuperation. But having turned in our last academic assignment in Greece, some began to reflect on the trip. I would like to name this next series of photos “the times of Greece”. This photo: The Good Times – Kristina ’07 drives me down windy mountain road on a moped in Paros.
The Bad Times – Ray ’09 tries to wakeup after a not so delicious breakfast in Istanbul. Early wake ups presented a serious obstacle to most members of the trip at various points. 
The Pretty Times – Assos. Arguably the most beautiful site we visited in terms of the surrounding scenery. As a Brit would say “simply spectacular”. As Prof. Rutter would say “notice the topography”. 
The Ugly Times – Johann ’08 gets dominated in arm-wrestling by our Turkish tour guide Yildirim. Life sucks sometimes Johann. Deal with it
The Funny Times – Kyle ’08 shows his “sexy pose” off in front of Hagia Sophia. Kyle, please show more respect in the future when visiting Islamic countries. 
The Sad Times – Kitlas ’09 sadly signs a piece of paper trying to protect some Roman Bath complex in Turkey that might be flooded by a new dam project. 
The Crazy Times – How many Greek people can you fit into a VW bug? How many Greek people can you fit into the Museum at Mycenea. Apparently, a lot! 
The Mellow Times – Prof. Rutter eats a cookie while Mike ’08, Chris ’09, and Josh ’08 eat there own munchies. Relaxing in a field near Nemea, the group takes time too cool off before a race later that day.
The Healthy Times – Johann ’08 explains to Kinsey ’08 the merits of eating yogurt. Johann, yogurt may be better than some foods, but eating any dairy product with your finger is bound to get you into trouble one day. Who raised you?
The Sick Times – “Kristina, ya dead man?” “Ya man!” Kristina does not feel well after a day in bed in Thessaloniki. I am glad to say that she made it out just fine, but at the time she wasn’t looking so hot. 
The Short Times – Johann ’08 hops on for a quick train ride. His evil grin shows that Johann was meant to be a train robber from an early age.
The Long Times – Caleb smokes in frustration when he finds out that we must wait three hours for the boat from Santorini to Paros. What he forgot, is that Greeks work on Greek time. 
The Non-Academic Times – They say that the French men and Blond Americans of Athens know how to live life. Here yours truly and Lizz ’08 successfully show the rest of the group how “gangsters role”. 
The Academic Times – Another site in the Argolid. Ben ’08 may take notes but Kinsey ’08, Liz ’08, and Brooks ’08 know what academics is really all about.
Oh the Times… – Prof. Rutter and yours truly take a photograph together in Turkey. Any trip for three months has its ups and has it downs. But man, was this a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
