A Semester to Remember in Athens Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

If you're looking for a vacation from school with some credits thrown in, CYA is not the place for you. If however, what you want is academic rigor coupled with amazing scenery, people, and dedicated professors, CYA may be the place for you. Professors like Dr. Romolo Gandolfo, Dr. Stewart, and Dr. Triantiafilidou(Contemporary Greek Politics and Society, Greek Myth & Religion, and Modern Greek professors,, respectively) made my experience in Greece rich with history, an understanding of the culture and the ability to converse with Greek people on a day to day basis. By no means were any of these classes easy, but they were more than worth the effort.

On-site administration of your program

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The CYA apartments are incredibly close to the academic buildings. Mine was above a salon with really friendly people, located across the street from Kekko's, my favorite cafe, with the friendliest people, Dimitris and Angelika. The apartment had some minor issues which the maintenance man fixed, but besides that living in an apartment building with Greek people, and American roommates was a great way to experience the country.

CYA provided us with lunch monday through friday of each week, traditional greek meals like moussaka, spanakopita, souvlakia and more. Everything was amazing, and the staff in the lunchroom were so incredibly nice! They would help us practice our Greek everyday and the food was always awesome.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I felt pretty integrated with the local culture. But I think much of that is because I made a genuine effort to go out and meet Greek people, speak the language, volunteer, and appreciate all that Greece had to offer. There aren't really any straight forward efforts by the school to help its students get to know Greek people, so to genuinely enjoy it you'll have to make an effort. You get out what you put in, and even now I have friends in Greece I still talk to and know I'll spend time with when I return.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had horrible allergies and/or was sick for the majority of the program, but generally took care of any issues myself. The pharmacies located on every street are incredibly helpful. I never needed to go to a doctor, because the pharmacist across the street knew how to help in every scenario.

Overall, I felt safer in Athens than I ever have in my life. People aren't aggressive, and I never had the fear that anyone would harm me. In tourist areas and just in general, be wary of pick pockets, and the children who will try to give you flowers, then charge you for touching them. This was more an nuisance than anything else.

I loved everything about Greece. In Athens, I found a way to satisfy my need to travel, my academic curiosity and love of literature and philosophy, and discovered a new language that I would now like to become fluent in. Greece made me more passionate about human rights and broadened my interest in politcs; as well as allowed me to meet so many genuinely wonderful people. I'm so grateful for my experience and wish I could do it all again.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

It wasn't expensive at all for me to live in Athens. I averaged about 50 euro per week on groceries, eating out, entertainment and necessities. The only time this changed was on the CYA mandatory and optional trips, because it becomes necessary to eat out for every meal during the duration of the week long trips, which quickly become expensive.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

If you take the modern Greek course, Lida encourages you to use the language as much as possible. And Greek people appreciate the effort so much! Other professors make a pointed effort to sprinkle Greek language throughout the course, and the first week of arrival all CYA students have to take a Greek "survival" class every day that provides the basic vocabulary to get by in the area.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans

• The optional trip to Crete
• The free time outside of class to explore Greece
• How applicable the classes are to living in Greece

• The mandatory trips are long and kind of tiring. They are also geared toward almost exlusively classics and archaeology majors. For persons like myself, an english and philosophy major, they rarely provided any aspect of interest in my field. Maybe try to include more activities that everyone can enjoy and be excited about.
• I had a few negative interactions with the staff when I needed help. A bit of patience and empathy goes a long way.
• The prices for laundry. Spending 10-15 euro a week to wash and dry clothes is quite a lot for students on bugets.

The Academic or Linguist