What to say about Greece?

Well we are starting to get use to being here, but there is no doubt about it, Greece is like a whole different world. Stray dogs are EVERYWHERE. It's really hard to watch. They fight, get hit by cars, and are essentially neglected in every sense. They don't get neutered, and they have all sorts of skin infections, and one has a huge open wound on his head that looks like a tumor but is most likely from a fight. They keep us awake at night with their cries and fights. It's one of the harder things about being here. Also, if you've never been to Greece, you would probably shocked to know that their septic systems are completely different. You absolutely do not flush toilet paper down the toilet. You throw it away in a bin next to the toilet. It's really hard to get use to, and pretty much anyone's immediate reaction is disgust, but who are we the judge? One thing that is especially challenging for me is the lack of efficiency in any sector of the country. Going to the supermarket takes FOREVER. The cashiers take their sweet ass time ringing things up, and have to go to an entirely different place to use credit cards which takes about 5 minutes to go through the system. The other day Katlynn and I were getting groceries and a kitten was hiding under some of the coke boxes by us. It was really scared, and I tried to get it to calm down but it just ran away. The super market is utter chaos.

The government is entirely different here. 1/10 or 11 people were for the government sector, and people constantly complain about the government but there is no personal involvement. It is easy to see when you talk to anyone about the economic situation because they complain about how little money they have because of government spending, but continue to eat out and buy fancy clothes and accessories. Personal responsibility is almost completely absent. It's really shocking to contrast Greek involvement (which is literally 0) with American involvement in government. We learned about that more in class today, which was really interesting.

I really can't say enough how lucky I am to have this opportunity. Greece in all respects really isn't that different from the US. They sell milk, have super markets, toilets flush. I'm not roughing it out in a village in Africa. But even so, it is an eye opening experience living here. It makes me appreciate so much living in America, and I am so grateful to be born into my family. I am amazed still by how generous the people are here. A guy struck up a conversation with a group of us on the bus, and he turned out to be 19 and a student at our university. He was originally from Athens and came to school in Ioannina. He got off at our stop to show us around just out of the goodness of his heart. He went completely out of his way to show us some really cool bars in a place we probably never would have looked. It is experiences like this that really make us feel welcome here. Well we have a trip tomorrow and so I'm off to bed,

Yiassou friends!

Tina