March 21

Well, it did rain today. And thunder. And lightning. It was not a good day to do much of anything besides visit museums. I actually woke up to the thunder and realized that all my laundry hanging out on the balcony was getting soaked. So I groggily got up and secured my sopping wet clothing. It was about 20 mins before my alarm was set to go off, so I just stayed awake. The breakfast here is pretty decent actually, and I ventured downstairs at 7:00 to read and eat. My roommates weren’t up yet and I didn’t want to wake them by turning on the lights.
Everyone gathered in the lobby to head out to the Sparta Museum at 8:30. It took all of 2 mins to walk across the street to the museum, but the rain was still pouring down hard and the thunder was still loud and angry. The Spartans were not known for their artistic abilities. They mostly focused on battle training from a very early age, having conquered the neighboring peoples and forced them to farm the lands and take up the metalworking and crafts fields. Therefore, the museum was very small and had little on display. We only spent about 45 mins there before heading to the Olive Oil Museum. This second museum doesn’t open until 10:00am, so we met back up in the lobby at 10:00 to head there together. Allie, Louisa, Emily, and I spent the 30 mins drinking coffee at the café next to the hotel.
I have already been to an olive oil museum on this trip. I went on the free day in Assos to a cute little place that makes there own olive oil and soap using traditional methods. You may remember my post describing my trip. So, I mainly wanted to go to this museum (which was optional) for its gift shop. I really wanted to buy some more olive oil soap and check out the jewelry. Krentz has been telling us that bought his most successful purchase, an olive tree necklace, here for his wife. I was very disappointed by the items for sale. The soap was not scented and though it may be nice soap, I don’t really want to smell like an olive. The necklaces weren’t to my taste either. So, I walked back to the hotel and had the entire day to myself. At this point, it was only 10:45 in the morning.
I read for my classes and some of Captain Corelli, ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich and was planning to exercise a little at 3. Caroline, who had gone for a run with Allie, Louisa, and Sarabeth at 2:30, sprained her ankle during the first 5 mins of the run. By the time she got back to the room, there was a nice sized egg on her upper ankle. Sarabeth the injury expert knew exactly what to do, but, when Krentz got to the room, we all decided that it was better to make sure the ankle wasn’t broken and Krentz took Caroline to the hospital. Spiros drove them (in his car, not the bus!) and they were actually back in no time at all, under an hour. Spiros has connections in Sparta. We all call him “Captain Spiros.” Her ligaments are strained, but nothing is snapped or broken, thank goodness. Allie and I have been making sure she ices her foot for 10 mins at a time. She’ll have to stay off it for the next 2 weeks, but the hospital was able to provide her with crutches. People have been in and out of our room all day to say hi and check up on Caroline, so I am glad I already finished my work before this whole ordeal happened.
The same group as yesterday met for another discussion at 7. This time we went over Plutarch’s Lycurgus, which details Lycurgus’ laws for Sparta, and the inscriptions found at the Asklepion sanctuary we visited the other day. I had the rest of my salad in the room and hung out with Caroline. With her crutches and her bandaged foot, I was reminded of The Office episode where Michael uses crutches all day because he burned his foot on his George Foreman grill. I just had to show her the episode and we laughed the whole time.
I spent the rest of the night packing and reading. We have a few hours on the bus tomorrow as we drive to Pylos. If the weather is good, we will go to a town called Mystras, a ghost town known for its 12th century to 18th century churches. This place has nothing to do with Classics, but Krentz thinks it is a cool place, and it is nice to go enjoy sites without having to worry that you are catching and remembering every detail. Also, something visually and historically different with be a little break.