According to Aristotle, "All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind." So far, that has been the most true statement.

Working on the Parthenon has been a dream come true. The first week of work was full of surprises and firsts. Every time that I go into the temple, I discover something new.

The only lion's head that still exists

The medieval staircase in the opisthodomos of the Parthenon

Original paint from the Parthenon

Original metopes from the southwest corner

When i'm not off exploring the Parthenon, I am working at my desk doing AutoCAD drawings. So far I have done two projects-- drawing 3d blocks of the north cella wall and making a 2D drawing of a cornice piece on the west end of the temple. I also have the chance to do read some of their books that they have, which helps me a lot on my temple research.
The desk work gets very boring after a while, so whenever i'm feeling unmotivated, I just swivel my chair around and look at the massive temple behind me. :)

My office

All of this excitement definitely makes up for the fact that I have to walk 30 minutes to work every morning in the 90+ heat, NOT including the hike up the mountain to the top of the Acropolis!!! I can't wait until they turn the air conditioning on in the office!



Yesterday, Nadia and I went to the island of Aegina to see the Temple of Aphaia. This is probably the most beautiful temples that I have seen, because the majority of it still stands including the interior colonnade.

After seeing the temple, we took the bus back down to the water to get some fresh seafood!!! The kalamari was incredible!

Yes, thats exactly what you think it is!!

Once Nadia and I were so full we could barely move, we strolled along the water and found pistachios since Aegina is known for them! :) The entire boat ride back to Athens, our thumbs got sore from opening up the nuts.

We had to be back to Athens pretty early because we had an Opera to go to at the Odeon of Herod Atticus. Nadia, Carole, and I put on our best dresses and strolled over to the Acropolis to see Il Travetore. We stayed until intermission because the concert didn't start until 9 pm Greek Time (aka 9:45) and all of the words were in Italian with Greek subtitles. I did my best to understand the singer's emotions and enjoy the view of the ancient architecture.

That's all for now... I'll post more later!!

Random fact:

Greeks are always late for appointments and this also is known as being on 'Greek Time'. They say that the reason is because nobody wants to be the first one to arrive and have to wait for the other people because then he is a fool. So everyone comes late and  the people who come first, even if they are late, may leave again and come back when someone else is there, which means that unless 2 people show up at the same time the meeting will never happen. So if you are meeting someone and they are not there yet, sit down and wait for them and they will show up, most of the time. Aggravated Greek Time is when you are at a concert or performance and they delay it because some Government minister is late.