Last ACT SGA Party

Last Friday, May 25, was the last the American College of Thessaloniki Student Government party of the semester. It was held on ACT's campus and it was outdoor and we had a student DJ and heaps of beer for sale for 1 euro. I still can't get over school events encouraging alcohol consumption. It's awesome though.

Kelsey straightened my hair, it was the first time I've had it straight since... December. And I wore high heels (the only pair I brought with me to Greece) for the very first time all semester, for the first time since...December. Whoops. I haven't exactly been putting forth the most immense effort in regards to my appearance lately, but hey, why waste time doing hair and expecting extreme foot pain after being out from 12-5 am? No thanks.

Anyways, I wore my black dress with a fake orchid in my hair and my high heels and I felt good. It felt great to get all dolled up for the last "hurrah!" at ACT. I arrived before most of the Americans because Gogos is on SGA and wanted to arrive early and Meredith and her twin, Michelle (who studied abroad in spain this semester and finished a week ago and is staying in Greece now with Meredith until school ends), were game to go early, so they requested I go with them making a "perfect four" for the cab-ride. Yes, cabs are cheap here, and it's great you split the cost of the ride, but it's a huge bummer that they are unwilling to fit in more than the legal capacity. Back at University of Iowa, the cabs there will cram as many people in the cab as possible. The more, the merrier. Since we pay individually for cabs in the states, the same rate for each person, they don't mind more people. Here, in Greece, we split the one price so it doesn't  matter if it's one person in the cab or ten. Sucks to always have to break into perfect fours though, especially when you're going somewhere with 5 people. Argh. Arriving early was perfect because I felt confident and happy and I loved making a little entrance without being in a swarm of 50 other Americans. I was warmly greeted by my friends, who all commented on how nice I looked-- yes I was glowing from all the compliments! And I sat for awhile with Maria, Marina, Sevi, George, Alex, Daphne, etc. Then I sat with Loula,  Michael, Stelios, etc. Then I went over to see Elisabeth and danced with her and her friends for a bit. Then I wandered to the Albanian group, yes there is a distinct Albanian clique, and I talked to Jetik and the other Albanians for awhile. Then the Americans arrived and we all got to dancing. It was wonderful to float around and talk with everyone and feel welcomed and warm.

Emily, Me, Daphne, Marina (With Nikos in the back)

Maria

Dimitris

Loula 

Daphne, me, and Emily 

Stelios

Maja

After the school party ended at 2, we all headed over to Club W, their "new summer spot." In the summer, most of the clubs downtown shut down and the summer clubs open. The W was near the airport- a very far drive- and it was wild. It was a great scene, good lighting and the music was loud as hell. That's the confusing thing about Greek clubs. They pound the music louder than loud so no one can talk or hear each other, but Greeks also don't dance. Either dance to the loud music or turn it down so we can have conversations!!! It's frustrating because what do we end up doing? Yelling in each other's ears, full-on-screaming, and our ears ring until the afternoon the next day. Hello, that's not healthy for those ear drums!

Outside W is a back area, which is like a big garden that has trees and flowers and benches sprinkled throughout. It's a pretty awesome idea, a back-garden-area. Love it.

I don't think I drank at all at W. I was too focused on dancing. When my ears were throbbing in pain and my feet throbbing equally painfully, I would go outside for awhile and chit-chat with a friend or two. Once with Katherine and her boyfriend and once with Jetik. It was nice to get to get some air and some space. But soon it started to rain so we all had to head inside. We all left W at 5:30 in the morning and luckily I got a ride home with Kostjan. Kostjan is from Albania but he has lived in Greece for 10 years. He's probably the biggest, beefiest guy at ACT with big muscles and a football player body. The first time I met him, I was convinced he was a jerk so I wrote him off. Most of the Americans all thought he was an ass hole, so we all avoided him until a few weeks ago when out-of-the-blue we figured out he is a huge teddybear and is super awesome and sweet! Who would have guessed? He says that he doesn't try to make a good impression at first so sometimes he makes a bad one. That's the way it goes. Interesting outlook, if you ask me. Big bummer that we didn't all realize how great he was earlier on though. We missed out on a lot of hang out time. Anyways, Kostjan piled me and 10 other Americans in his car. I was in shotgun on Travis's lap and I was literally laying on the dashboard. Uncomfortable? Yes. Immensely.

It's strange that even though drivers in Greece are CRAZY, they ignore stop signs, red lights, and basically all traffic laws, I still feel safer in cars in Greece than in the states. Cars here drive fast, they dodge and weave and shoot out around corners and I know driving in Greece would give me a heart attack. But the thing about Greek drivers is that despite all the craziness, they devote ALL of their attention to the road and to their surroundings. They are not texting, not talking on the phone, not trying to read a magazine, not eating a cheeseburger, not fiddling with their iPods... all the attention is on the road and on the wheel. Their reactions are fast and they are ready for all the insane driving going on around them. It's pretty awesome what devoting 100% of your attention to driving does for you-- give you almost superhuman reaction time and awareness. I also like the fact that police don't really enforce driving laws. I like that cars can double park and park on the sidewalks and basically do whatever they want. Yes, it's inconvenient at times, but I like that the cops don't feel the need to jump at every single mistreatment of the law.

Anyways, I digress. We all got home safely and slept in late.