JSIS/Hellenic Studies Greece: Greece and Europe – Travelers, Migrants and Tourists
During fall quarter this past academic year (2018-2019), I meet several UWB students who had spent their summer doing study abroad in different parts of the world and they talked about how great their experience was. They shared with me their experience and how much they had learned about the world and how much it helped them develop interpersonal and professional skills that they would be able to put to good use in the future. Hearing them talk about study abroad sparked my interest in going somewhere else in the world to study and get to see more of the world. During winter break, I started to look into the different study abroad programs I could be eligible for and that was interesting to me. After carefully looking into my options I came across a program in Greece that was focused on Travelers, Migrants, and Tourists in Greece. I decided that I wanted to apply to that program. I completed the application and then I got a phone interview with the Program Director. Several days later, I received an email from the Director letting me know that I had been accepted into the program and that during the spring I’d have to go to his seminars to prepare us for our trip to Greece. The months leading up to my departure to Greece were exiting. I was counting down the months, weeks, and days to the day I’d get to board the plane that would take me to my destination. During spring quarter I spent so much time planning out what I would take with me for the month and a half that my study abroad would last. I attended all of the seminars with the Program Director of my program and I got to meet some of the other students I’d get to share such an experience with.
The day to leave finally came and I could not believe that it was time to go. I was dreading my ten-hour flight to Germany and the three hour one from Germany to Athens; I just wanted to magically appear in Greece and not have to deal with the dreadful airport experience. The first few days in Athens were surreal, it did not feel like I was present there at all but I eventually grew out of that. Greece was beautiful, every city and island was different and there was always something new to explore, see, and learn. It was difficult to be bored. I did not experience much of a culture shock because the way Greeks did things are similar to my own culture. Our Greek class was a lot of fun and I learned a lot for how little time we had spent learning the language. It was great to be able to say at least a little and simple phrase to someone in Greek because they appreciated that we were putting some effort into learning their language.
We also conducted interviews on the treatment of the Roma people in Greece, which was shocking because some of the things that were said are similar to the things some people in our country say about marginalized groups of people. When we were not in school or conducting interviews, we were going to different towns and places with a lot of ancient Greek history. After spending the first three weeks of the program in Athens, we took a five-day road trip around Greece, which was great because we really got to see different versions of Greece. Before the road trip we mostly visited the islands, so being on the mainland was a nice change. After the five-day road trip, we finally arrived at our destination in Nafplio which had been the first capital of Greece back when they first gained their independence in 1829. There we took a class at the Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies where we learned a lot about modern Greek history. After spending so much time exploring and traveling in Greece, by the time the end of the program was approaching, I was ready to return home. I was missing my family, friends, and some super spicy Mexican food (it was very hard to find food that was spicy enough to satisfy me), but I at the same time I was sad that the time to leave was approaching.
After the program ended, I also took the opportunity to travel for several more days in other European countries because I had the advantage of already being in Europe and I wanted to see more and it was less expensive than if I were to travel again from the U.S. Being back in the U.S has been a little strange because there are things that are done slightly different than how they are done in Greece and in other European countries, things such as customer service. Being jet-lagged was probably my biggest struggle while being back because I was sleeping during the day and I was wide awake during the night. The only thing that helped me fall back into my regular sleeping schedule is having responsibilities during the day so that I wasn’t tempted to go to sleep in the middle of the day here.
Study abroad was a great experience. It helped me step out of my comfort zone and it opened up my mind even more possibilities. It has made me realize that not everything that is considered to be common sense in the U.S may not be common sense in other countries (like nodding your head yes and shaking your head no). It was great to be reminded that what we have normalized might not be appropriate or it might be weird in other countries. While studying abroad, trying to be respectful to the people and the culture is very important, it makes it easier for you to get accepted and to keep the harmony between you and your host country. I think that everyone should study abroad at some point. I never thought that I’d be able to do it and now I have. We have the privilege of having so many resources as a UWB student to be able to finance such opportunities and we have the sources to try to solve any problem that comes up along the way. So get out there and take advantage of every single moment you spend exploring the world.
Oriana Robles, Summer 2019
