Athens...

Toured around Athens and stayed in a groovy hostel, Athens Backpacker, run by a bunch of hip to the tilt Aussie's with some truly colorful staff; a green-haired Liverpool bar shark, and a young American bloke in search of his greatest motorbike ride in Athens. The day we arrived in Athens, Ali only had one day and then she had to fly back to reality, Finland. So, we immediately took to the streets of Athens. The highlight...the Acropolis! We were prepared to pay 12 euro to enter the Acropolis and were pleasantly surprised when they said EU students were FREE! (Woohoo, this gig just keeps gettin' better everyday.) Thank you EU! And we can also thank the EU for throwing superfluous euros into the restoration of the Acropolis, as it was just named an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. So, the Acropolis and Parthenon ruins are pretty incredible, it is one of the oldest cities to be discovered in the world and it is built on a flat top mountain in the middle of Athens. The views are pulchritudinous.

Camera. Ready? 1,2,3. Action Shot. We got whistled and yelled at for "disrespecting the ruins" as we attemped to execute action shots. But that didn't stop us from making a trip back at sunset and attempting more action shots.




Before bidding farewell to my Brazilian sister, we had a few Ouzo shots and called it a day. The next day, I hung out at Starbucks, ate a greek salad and was amused by the Greek cafe culture of smoking a pack of cigs, drinking 3 cups of Greek coffee (cold coffee with coffee grounds forming a "mud" at the bottom of the cup), and just enjoying the day pass them by. What a life!!

Cretan Peeps are Magnanimous!

Met up with my Brazilian classmate, Ali, in Crete, the largest Greek island. Now, this place has culture! It is known for it's production of fine olive oil, Rika (an equivalent to the Italian "grappa" spirit), and kind-hearted Cretan people. The first day I arrived (without Ali), I was invited to go "Greek clubbing", was offered (and acquiesced to) 3 FREE shots of "homemade Rika" and was hooked up with a room overlooking the ocean for a mere 20 euros in one of the fanciest hotels in this charming little beach town, called Malia. Once Ali arrived, we laid by the pool, ate greek salads and just relaxed. One day we explored the rolling hills of the Cretan inland via rental car. The Sunday afternoon eye candy included rolling hills complete with olive groves, vineyards and wild goats. We stopped in the tiny little town of Gonies and hiked for 3 hours up the Gorge of Rosa, complete with the sounds of wild goat screams and the aromatic smell of springtime blossoms. Awesome! Then, we stopped in a small tavern for an authenic Cretan lunch; greek salads, Domas (rusk of bread topped with olive oil and chopped tomatos), fava (bean paste) and the local brew, Mythos. A nice Cretan family bought us our drinks and I was like, "What do they want from us?" After much analysis of this kind offer, I finally realized..damn, these Cretan peeps are genuinely magnanimous! I guess I have become a bit of a skeptic when free things are offered to me but this renewed my faith in humankind (or at least Greek people). Our Cretan holiday ended with an overnight ferry to Athens. We were smart (and maybe selfish) and we each took a row of seats and sprawled out for a night of rest. Yes, selfish, but everyone else was doing it too...when in Greek, do like your fellow travelers. Hmmmm, there is something wrong with that statement!

Santorini Island in Greece!

After 3 days of Greek salads, Lucky's famous gyros, views of the caldera, hanging with my "adopted parents" from Pennsylvania (sorry mom & dad), a boat tour with a Greek god (yes, ladies...they DO exist!), a donkey ride up a switchback staircase (which was fun considering it was kind of sacrilegious for the "mountain girl" to be climbing a mountain on a donkey's back); I decided I needed one more day in Oia, Santorini. Oia is the quaintest little village on the Santorini island and I had been living in Fira; the touristy town close to the port. So, I took to the streets or shall I say narrow cobble stone paths meandering up, down and around the white stucco dwellings built on the side of a steep slope of the caldera in search of a hotel with a view. Many of these dwellings are literally built into the earth, they dig out caves on the side of the mountain and then put a face on the cave in the form of a beautiful white stucco building. I found a no-frills room, owned by a charming Greek family, with stunning views of the ocean for 35 euro and called it home for one night. The weather was colder than expected around 15C and windy, however, the hotel balcony overlooking the ocean (see video), was protected and so laying in the sun for 5 hours was quite invigorating.




During my time in Santorini, I met many friends along the way; the crazy Malaysians, "Lucky" the owner of the best gyro shop in Fira (I visited him everyday for some good eats and free 'home made' wine), John & Ann- a retired couple posing as my "adopted parents", and "Papa" the Alzheimer's elder of the Greek family in Oia. That is truly the beauty of traveling solo, you meet so many interesting and convival people with piquant stories.

In Greece!

Be back April 27! Check back for some Greek salad and gyro posts...

Easter Marathon!

Being away from home and the traditional Easter customs, I think it is interesting how we always seem to create our own holiday celebration which tends to be an infusion of cultures. Easter was a perfect example! My roommate, Mary from Belgium, and I hosted an easter brunch at 11 a.m. After a few hours and an Easter egg hunt, there were 4 of us; the Brazilian, Indian, American and Flemish. We painted Easter eggs, drank Russian wine, put stickers on our face, drank Chilean wine, ate an authenic Indian dinner, and watched a funny U.K. comedy, called Coupling until 8 p.m. We don't know how the Finns celebrate Easter but our 9 hour celebration was quite memorable!

St. Petersburg, Russia!

After an amusing overnight train to St. Petersburg (see Moscow video), we arrived in the "Cultural Capital" of Russia. We started off with a city bus tour and got the lay of the land. The highlight for me was the Hermitage, the 3rd largest art museum in the world. The Hermitage was the tsars winter palace from 1762 to 1917 and the magnificent 1057 rooms are nothing but ostentatious and grandiose. We were there for about 3.5 hours and our guide whipped us through the "great works" of Monet, Rembrandt and Matisse. I could have used another day but was satisfied by being in the presence of such artwork.

The travel agency, Aikamatkat Oy, coordinates these Russian tours for students and therefore they are not void of parties. One night we enjoyed a Russian dinner, with Russian performers singing and dancing, a lot of Russian vodka, and a lot of crazy spanish students. Another night we went on a river boat cruise complete with Russian champagne and vodka, many got sick after doing shots of vodka followed by champagne chasers, they call this the "Polar lights". We checked out the nightlife in St. Petersburg and the adventurous part of the evening came when hailing a taxi.

There is no oversight of the taxi business, in fact anyone can be a taxi driver to make extra money. So, you simply hold out your hand to any car that drives by. They stop, you negotiate and hope that this ride will get you home with your money and your pride in tact. Luckily, we got home safe. However, there were a bunch of scams that other students experienced; the cops stopped the "taxi" and demanded money or a night in jail, and the "taxi driver" demanded more money than negotiated and slapped the

student for disagreeing.

A bus took us back to Finland and through the long border formalities (my passport was checked 4 times.) We said goodbye to our new friends from the Uni of Jyväskylä and headed home to Tampere.

Moscow, Russia!

An overnight train brought us to Moscow, where we joined another 110 international students from a few Universities in Finland. We walked out of the train station and it was surreal; Russians buzzing about not afraid to grab the wallet in your pocket, the distinct Russian architecture tantalizing your eyes and the Russian alphabet screaming, "You're not in Finland any longer." We jumped on buses and began a day of city tours. First, the RED SQUARE, with the Kremlin walls beckoning one side of the square, the dazzling and colorful St. Basil's Cathedral at one end, Lenin's tomb and the sassy and upscale mall occupying the Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin (GUM) on the northeast side of the square. It was a fusion of incongruous values, yet stunning architecture right in one big square. You could see the wax like-figurine of Lenin's body rolling in his grave as wealthy Russian's throw down big roubles to purchase the latest fashion at Paul Smith & Dior and satiate their voracity with the golden arches of capitalism, McDonald's.



We spent a good amount of time in the Red Square (see pics) and then we wondered safely to the Ulitsa Arbat street, a pedestrian mall lined with cafes, souvenir stands and buskers. We were lucky enough to see the April Fool's Day Parade where heaps of Russian's blow bubbles and parade through the streets (see video).

Another highlight, the Moscow Circus full orchestra. Honestly, the acts with the lions, bears and horses were cruel but the acrobats and orchestra were quite entertaining. Outside the circus ring, the exhibition hallway is home to doped and sedated animals where sleazy Russian's charge a load of roubles to take a picture with the animal (see video).

2 days in Moscow and now the overnight train to St. Petersburg...

The LOVE of my Life...

One of my favorite books, "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert has a passage that describes my greatest love and everytime I read this passage, it just simply resignates. So, I will share my greatest love with you through the words of Elizabeth Gilbert,

"...Traveling is the great true love of my life. I have always felt, ever since I was sixteen years old and first went to Russia with my saved-up babysitting money, that to travel is worth any cost or sacrifice. I am loyal and constant in my love for travel, as I have not always been loyal and constant in my other loves. I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, restless newborn baby--I just don't care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it's mine. Because is looks exactly like me. It can barf all over me if it wants to--I just don't care."

And how fitting...because I am traveling to Russia TODAY and wanted to bid you all good-bye. I will return on April 5. Stay tuned for my Russia post. Cheers...

Cottage Trip in the Finnish Forest!

About 30 of us international students hiked (flatland hiking) to a cottage 6km into the forest. The cottage was fairly rustic, complete with a smelly outhouse, no running water, a kitchen (with a microwave?#%!), and a bunkroom/living area all in one. The long wooden table got a great deal of play throughout the weekend, hosting pasta meals, muesli & yogurt breakfasts, baked bananas with chocolate and a superfluous amount of international drinking games. Oh, I think the table even got danced on a few times by my favorite Belgium roommate. The cottage sits right on a lake and the sun was beaming as the weather was a perfect 50 degrees (15C)...made for a beautiful weekend in the forest! It reminded me of the many hut trips in Colorado, without 8 feet of snow and a topo map.

Smorgasboard of FOOD!

St. Patty's Day in Tampere calls for another HEEM international potluck! So, 14 of my classmates and a few other friends gathered for a convival evening of green curry (Thailand), lemon rice (India), fried rice (Vietnam & Taiwan), vegetable soup (USA), ginger chicken (Thailand) and many other satiating dishes...oh and I can't forget the VEGEMITE toast (from our local Australian who rides kangaroos back home!) There was not just excellent food but also entertainment, our local Brazilian and Pakistani danced the Irish jig for us while others started a free hug campaign and apparently the paparazzi was present because the camera flashes just kept lighting up the room.

We also took this opportunity to thank our Finnish tutors who have been instrumental in welcoming us to this benevolent country. When we arrived, they helped us register for classes, find our way around campus/Tampere, track down lost luggage, grab our keys from the housing department, and shared their culture with us and they continue to be resourceful. The best part...they are Finnish students! You can read more about this "international office best practice" on the hedda blog.

Tampere Happenings!

So, you might be wondering what the heck is going on in Tampere, Finland? Well, I'll tell you!

1.) Elections were TODAY...March 18 and all of the Finnish flags were flying high, regardless of the snowy and wet spring-like conditions. The biggest question in this election: which party will emerge as the biggest, the Centre Party or the Social Democrats? The winning party will take the prime minister seat. (See photo...this was election headquarters, right in the center square!)
2.) 100 years! Yep, 100 years ago women gained the right to vote in Finland, the first country in Europe to grant women suffrage. But not only did women get the vote, men did too. This is a socialist country, equal rights for everyone, baby!
3.) The sun is rising! We now have about 12 hours of daylight...6:30 a.m. sunrise & 6:30 p.m. sunset. In one month, we will have 15 hours of daylight 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
4.) BYE-BYE Old man winter! All of the snow has melted and the mud (and dog poo) is becoming quite friendly with the bottom of my shoes.
5.) Did you know that tobacco advertising has been banned since 1978 in Finland? But, it doesn't stop Finns from smoking in public places.
6.) The tallest peak in Finland is still Halti at 1328 meters (4,350 feet). Other than that, Finland is pretty much a flatlanders paradise!
7.) Did you know that the current prime minister is SINGLE?! Yes, and he is one of the most eligible bachelors. His most redeeming quality: he built himself a detached house (which most Finn's only dream about.)
8.) To board a bus you must physically flag it down by jumping up and down and waving your bus pass (ok, maybe a little bit of an exaggeration.) Then, follow one simple rule: board at the front of the bus and depart at the back of the bus, otherwise execution will follow.
9.) Even though the snow has melted you still see people walking fast with ski pole daggers. Don't be alarmed! It's NORDIC WALKING! It's a form of exercise.

Winter Sports Day!

Monday was winter sports day for us HEEM folks (who, by the way, instantaneously turned into children as soon as we arrived at the winter playground.) Our administrative coordinator, Tea, organized a day trip to Saarikylat, a community just 30 km outside of Tampere known for its maze of rivers, lakes and islands. For the Finns, this is an outdoor haven during any season of the year. Definitely a special place!

You can check out the video on winter sports here! A compilation of our Skiing-Sauna-Ice-Skating adventures!

Thank goodness it was still cold enough to ice-skate, because that was unequivocally the highlight. It's a unique experience because you don't wear traditional ice-skates. You wear nordic boots and snap on ice blades to the front of the boot. Very cool! And then, it's smooth sailing on the ice, but not for everyone...as there was so serious carnage...Thai, Indian, and Australian road kill.

Dude, Don't YOU Study???

Yes, I go to school and I study...I just don't want to bore you with the details. However, since so many of you write e-mails with subject lines such as:
"Dude, don't you study?"
"A free ride in Europe!"
"Leasa's master degree of travel."
I will update you on the main reason for being here...SCHOOL!
Thesis!
Yes, it's time to start thinking about my thesis topic. I have a list about 15 potential topics and will need to choose one to write a 5-page proposal on, due April 5, then off to Russia. We are taking a methods course right now...so, we are learning all about research, yippee! Another 5-page methods paper is due April 19, then off to Greece. See how I have balanced my studies with travels, I am learning just as much out of the classroom as I am in the classroom.
Blog!
I am the blog administrator/writer for the Hedda (Higher Education Development Association) blog. Honestly, this takes a good deal of my time, I am clocking 5 hours/week, but in reality it's more like 10 hours/week with the research and writing. However, this (and yoga) has really grounded me. I feel like I have a job and responsibility, which is important to keep me feeling like a contributing member of society, not just a drunk graduate student.
The Truth!
Honestly, I'm not going to lie, they give us ample time for reading and studying. It is interesting because one year ago I was sitting in an office, working way too many hours, trying to keep up my social life, I got sick often and work politics sucked the life out of me. Now, the most stressful thing I must deal with is reading material I find interesting and writing papers that are equally enjoyable. It's a rough life...

The Cat's Meow...

So, back home in Boulder, CO, I have left a few things that often tug at my heartstrings. My cat, Kilimanjaro, "Kili" for short, has been adopted by/loaned to/loved by my dear friends, Megan and Chris. Yesterday, they sent a photo of her with her new sister, Hermione, and apparently they love each other despite the typical taunting that occurs in sibling relationships. Kili is the black and white kitty and the human looking creature is Megan. Thank you Megan & Chris...

Beauty-School Drop-out!

Is that natural? Yes, well, ur, uh, you mean the curls or the color? The curls, yes, they grow straight out of my brain like this...but the color, well, that was a cultural art project (gone bad?) Since everyone (men and women) like to color their hair here in Finland, we decided to do like the Finns and color our hair. However, the selection of hair color was something to be desired (jet black, oranges, firey red)...hmmm, this will be an adventure! So, we opened up for business, a hair salon right in the bowels of my corridor, the bathroom. I ended up with a nice brownish-slightly reddish tint and bad (supposed to be copperish) orange highlights. Good thing those locks, that come straight from the brain, are damn smart and fuse together to form a dreadlock sort of look, as it takes away from the amateur beauty-school trial run at highlights. Also, glad I'm done with that cultural art project.

Next question...is that nose-piercing real or fake?