Hello from Greece

Hello from the homeland!

Today is 11 June 2008 - 14:19 local Chania time (2:19 PM) It is my first day of IIPES (International Institute for Political and Economic Studies) in Chania, Greece. The journey here, both literally and physically, has been long. But it appears to be worth the struggles.

A wise man once said that the first time is always the hardest. I do not know who this wise man is and I do not want to meet him! His prophecy has made life very difficult for the past couple of days!!!

Suffice to say, my travels were not so smooth. I am in Chania, at the University safely now, and very relieved about that. This morning brought an early bus ride to the University, made more difficult by the signs all being in Greek, a language which I unfortunately cannot read or speak well. But I am here and moved in. I have met my roommate. His name is Ariel Baum, and he is from Israel. We have been walking around campus most of the day, talking about our backgrounds and such. We have already had a very insightful conversation of socialism vs. democracy vs. autocracy and compared each others religions. We both admitted very quickly that we were concerned about meeting others with harshly clashing views. We also played ping-pong (he won) and ate lunch together - Moussaka :-). Sorry mom, it was better than we have at the festival!

Well I'm dead tired, so I'm off for a nap in my luxurious living quarters. Yasas from Greece!

Alec