First days

I am writing now from my hotel room on my first night in Messolonghi. Things are not always as one would like or expect them to be. I have a few little problems, that seem to bother me a bit, like no internet connection in my room, but I have internet in the city center and the university. Also, the fact that I am staying in a hotel is not that appealing to me, but I have come to understand that this is how a very large part of the students live.

I wrote the passage above last night, before finding out that my colleague from the Bucharest decided to leave and go back home because she did not like the accommodations or the facilities. I am now in the International Europeans Office of TEI which is the name of the university here. I left the office soon after I wrote the passage above, I couldn’t write then, since I was a bit busy and I was talking to Konstantinus.

I am now in my room, living by myself in a hotel by the sea. I talked to someone responsible about moving me closer to the city in another hotel, but I have come to understand that this hotel is the nicest there is. I am having second thoughts. In the other hotel I would probably be living with another student, which is actually a good thing because I feel I would get lonely on my own. Although I like to have my space, living with a Greek student could be very interesting.

The only person I met here and with whom I’ve had more than one short conversation is Konstantinus, a Greek student responsible with my accommodation here and helping me with everything I need. He’s very nice, he showed me part of the city and where I can find many things.

I am the only Erasmus student here, as this university is straight in the middle of nowhere, in a very small city. City is a compliment, village would be the right word to describe this place. This will not be the Erasmus experience I had expected or hoped it would be. I am still doubting the decision that I took to stay here, contrary to my colleague who decided it would be best to go back home. I think it’s stupid to go back, after coming all this way and not even giving the place a chance. A friend of mine, Tony, told me about his Erasmus experience in Poland, how he only hung out with other Erasmus and didn’t even meet that many native students. This will not be like that at all. I don’t understand why this University is in even in the Erasmus programme since it seems to lack some facilities and from what I’ve seen so far doesn’t seem to be such a great university. When I get back I might have a long talk with the Erasmus responsible in Bucharest. I don’t know why they signed a contract with this particular place, instead of a slightly bigger city, like Patra, very close by, about 50 km, a city with a big university center, or even Athens. From what I understand from a friend in Patra, this university in Messolonghi is actually part of the university in Patra…

The hotel room is nice, although I still don’t appreciate the idea of living in a hotel that much. I feel watched and stripped of part of my freedom. No doubt this feeling will soon go away. I will take some pictures of this place and maybe post them later. The view I have is very interesting. Because I am only on the second floor I can see the roof on top of the restaurant or other rooms on the first floor out my window. To be more exact, I can actually go out the window and walk on the roof. I thought about trying that last night, but Sonia, the Romanian girl who was here, thought I was crazy and I decided to postpone the idea. I think that before I leave here I will surely take at least a few steps on the roof. :D Call me crazy but it’s something I wanna try.

I found a TV music station, like MTV, called GRtv. The only difference from mtv is that this TV station plays great music, various rock genres from what I’ve seen so far.

I had my student ID and meal-card given to me from the university today. It’s a great thing that I can eat for free in the university’s restaurant, which has great food. Unfortunately, the university is very far from the city and even further from this hotel. Breakfast may be a problem. :P

Internet will also be a problem, I will post this article after I go back to the city center later this afternoon. It is almost 4 o’clock now, so it’s still siesta time. Everything here is closed from 2 to 6 pm, with very few exceptions. From what Konstantinus told me, the Greeks love two things: food and sleep. During siesta they sleep, take a stroll in the city, and of course have some coffee at one of the many ‘cafeterias’ here. I think this very small ‘city’ captures a lot of the essence of the Greek lifestyle. I will know more in a while, after I get to know more people. I start courses next week. Until then I have no idea what I will do. I might have to go to the university again.T

his is a very bohemian lifestyle the Greeks have. I probably won’t have all the parties I’ve heard so much about from other Erasmus students, but I’m pretty sure I’ll have some fun. I have 4 long months ahead of me. I hope I won’t get bored too soon…

Since I am in Greece, and I am pretty tired from walking around all day and waking up early in the morning (can you imagine me doing that? :P), I will take a nice nap. When in Rome… (or Messolonghi..)

I will soon post another article about the long trip I had coming here from Romania by car.