February 8

So yesterday, I left off with the idea of going on a walk in a bit. When I left the hotel I took a right and in about 30 seconds I had left the town. If I had taken a left I would have left the town in 5 minutes. The path I took turned into a goat path. It was a beautiful walk at first. It snaked along the coast of the Aegean. Our hotel is also right on the coast, and looking out from where I am sitting I can see the waves crashing against the rocks. This path then quickly turned left because of a boundary wall, but I continued to follow it because it was distinct and I was curious. I probably walked about 20 minutes in one direction, until the trail became too poopy and I had to turn around for sanitary reasons.
Dinner was also very nice. The hotel provided the meal again, chicken this time, and then I went back to reading The Iliad.
This morning I woke up early so I could get in plenty of reading before our 11:00 discussion, and about 10 minutes before our class, I finished The Iliad! Yes! The hotel has set up an area for us on the glassed-in patio. They have several tables arranged in a square and these have been the most successful “classes” of the trip, just because we can so easily see and hear each other. That has been one of the more difficult things to try and find on this trip: places where all 17 of us can comfortably sit and discuss the readings. Up to this point, we had only been able to discuss three separate times.
After class, we went to the little town farther up the mountain/hill (neither one sufficiently describes the landscape), and had lunch. This restaurant was cute, but they soon changed the music for us, from, what seemed to me, typical Turkish music, to “American”music, which included really old Jennifer Lopez and Backstreet Boys. It’s always weird to hear American music here. I don’t like it. I’d rather gain an appreciation for their music, not listen to what I am familiar with. After lunch we went back to have another discussion, but this one only lasted about 45 minutes. Krentz could tell everyone was a little less exuberant, having just eaten lunch.
Instead of a nap, I decided to go on another walk. It had rained pretty hard and the wind was very strong this morning, but by the afternoon, things had cleared up. This time I took a left out of the hotel and trekked up the mountain/hill. I made it up to the top, and passed 3 bulls, 2 sheep, and 2 lambs on the way. They were all just chillin’ out, munchin’ grass. On my way back down, the bulls had meandered into the street. But one here seemed to care.
After lunch, we met up again to have another class, and then another one at 6. I wasn’t really looking forward to that third class, but by the time we really started digging into the material, I was glad Krentz had us meet up again.
The hotel’s dinner started to look pretty familiar by the third time, but it was still tasty and satisfying. I still feel like I’ve yet to have an authentic Turkish meal. We have three weeks here, so I’m sure the opportunity will present itself at some point.
I don’t know if I’ve put this in my blog yet, but for the past couple of days I’ve been kind of sick. I think it’s just allergies. I bought some generic Claritin back in Greece, and it works well. My body just gets a tired more easily when I am sick, and waking up in the mornings after the medicine has worn off is not a great way to greet the morning. I’m glad I got sick when we hit the slow part of the trip. I’ve been able to get plenty of sleep and to take it easy while we’ve been in Assos. Tomorrow is a free day, so I will sleep in a bit in the morning. Sleep always seems to be the best remedy for me. I’m tempted not to sleep on this trip because there is always so much you can do (and so much to read for homework).
I’ll post again tomorrow.