Piraeus, Greece: Day 4

On our last day in Greece, Jill, Steph, and I wanted to do some shopping (I had yet to buy mass quantities of my favorite Greek treat: olives). We grabbed Tom and Brady and set out for La Plaka, a popular shopping area. We wandered for awhile and I got my olives, as well as some Greek candy and a present for Kaye. We stopped for some French fries and diet cokes before continuing in the (very) hot sun. After realizing that every store held virtually the same thing, I suggested we go to the Athens mall. The taxi there was very expensive, but I asserted that an air-conditioned shopping environment was absolutely worth it. We left Tom and Brady behind and got in the first taxi that offered us the ride for less than 25 euro (booo!); when we hit traffic, I asked the driver how long it would take, and he said, quite surely, “15 minutes.” Forty-five minutes later, we arrived at the mall with less than an hour to spend there if we wanted to make it back to the ship on time (6:00 sharp or more “dock time” for us).

The mall was ENORMOUS and overwhelming and wonderful, and while I am running low on money, I was also running low on clothing, so I bought some t-shirts. We were downright exhausted by 4:45 and hailed a taxi, which hit traffic almost immediately. Bridge construction caused our drive to the ship to be more than an hour long and nearly landing us the dreaded dock time, but we made it. Once back at the ship, I lounged poolside until the ship left the port.

The next day, my Art History midterm (the major stress-inducer that likely caused my never-ending illness) was returned: 93.5 %, thankyouverymuch. I have a beyond solid A in Spanish as well, but Global Studies kicked my butt on the first essay. I received an A for my stellar aptitude on the exam, but the graders were unfairly picky and gave me a C on my essay! A C! I am in a major where ALL I DO IS WRITE! Flabbergasted, I promised myself I would turn in a rough draft of the second paper in advance to one of the T.A.s (one is my Art History teacher..) to review before handing in another one where 20 points is taken off because I didn’t say “Fukiyama.” Shipboard education is difficult.