"I'll be back!"

Well today was my last day in London and my European travels. I spent most of the day at Regent Park, after a disappointing visit to Platform 9 3/4. I felt quite stupid asking where it was but the lovely tube attendant pointed (without looking) at a cart sticking out of the wall that had a measly "Platform 9 3/4" plaque above it.

We've done and seen so much in the past week, and month, that it was nice to spend my last day relaxing, reading, and people watching in the park. I was lucky enough to observe a cricket game going on as well but as Scot (hostel staffer) said, "any sport that takes a break for tea is a shit sport." I have to agree with him.

In just six days I've visited the Chelsea FC stadium, Westminster Abby, Sherlock Holmes Museum, the new Olympic Park, Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, walked across Abby Road, almost ran into (literally) Paul McCartney's girlfriend/fiancee/wife, marveled at Big Ben and the Parliament building, biked around Hyde Park, mastered the London Tube, experienced 50 degrees and 90 degrees, and had my mind blown by the Harry Potter studio. Seriously Harry Potter studios was a dream come true. It has been a successful week.

One of the highlights of London was staying in the Phoenix Hostel. Hostel life took some adjusting to at first, but once I gave up on ever getting a solid night of sleep I loved it. Its a chill pub by night and lounge by day. They played movies at night and you could either choose to be social, meet cool people from all around staying there or do your own thing. I've met some really interesting people, mainly Australians. And honestly I never get tired of listening to different accents. Plus the owner gives me free beers a lot. Good place.

I've loved almost every minute of this month long adventure. I saw so many things that were on my Bucket List that I still can't fully believe it. Its gone by in a blur and I'm not entirely sure it even happened. Even though it was only for a small amount of time I really enjoyed seeing the wonderful cities of Thessolaniki, Athens, Meteroa, Phillipi, Delphi, Rome, Florence, Paris, and London. It feels surreal that tomorrow night I will be back in the United States but I can honestly say I'm ready to come home, see some familiar faces, sleep in my own bed, shower, you know that sorta stuff. But I've come to really love Europe. So to help me sort out what I'll miss and what I'm looking forward to I made a little list. Mainly because I'm weird like that. And I had to separate it by major city because it felt weird to group them all together.

What I Will Miss About London:
- Strongbow
- British accents
- Australian accents
- the cool old apartment buildings. Well all the buildings for that matter. I've yet to see an ugly one
- Notting Hill market
- Strongbow. I know I already said this one but I really will miss it

What I Will Miss About Paris:
- the Eiffel Tower
- the Louvre building and that amazing park area in general
- the champagne
- the bread
- the pastries

What I Will Miss About Italy:
- GELATO
- the wine
- the pasta
- the beautiful piazzos that are freaking everywhere
- ancient architecture on every corner

What I Will Miss About Greece
- feta cheese
- real Greek salads
- the Greek Islands
- GELATO
- Retsina & coke

What I Am Looking Forward To (other than friends, family, obligatory things etc)
- actually feeling clean after I shower
- sleeping in a room all to myself
- air conditioning
- cheap food
- vegetables (I haven't seen one in weeks and I never thought I'd say this, but I'm kinda sick of bread based foods. Mind blown? Yeah so was mine.)
- tv shows. Specifically New Girl. But also Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Grey's Anatomy, etc, you get my point
- being in the same time zone as everyone. The time difference was inconvenient and now is just plain annoying
- hanging out with family and friends. I really do miss everyone.

Bloody Hell It's Cold in London

London. Well we've only been in London for a day now but I already love it. This may or may not be because the owner of our hostel gave us free beer to welcome us to London. I'll get to that story later.

We arrived late last night and were greeted with a loud "ELLO!" We went straight to bed, but mind you we share a room with 6 other people so we were woken up early to people packing to check out. They were an Australian and a New Zealander though so if anyone is gonna wake me up at least they had awesome accents. Luis is baffled by my love of accents but Hannah Grieser, I know you understand. We got to talking and boy was that conversation interesting. When I told them I was going to Hyde Park today the New Zealander got really excited because there are squirrels there. I may have offended her slightly with my blank stare. Who knew squirrels were exciting?

Anyway somehow I accidentally convinced her to visit the United States. She admitted that all she knew about the United States came through movies and politics. I told her not to judge us based off that, but I neglected to tell her I studied film in college. (catch that past tense? Studied. So weird.)

Our conversation was short, maybe five minutes, but enlightening all the same. One of the first things New Zealand  asked me was why it's such a big deal that Obama announced he was pro equal marriage rights. Her question surprised me, both because I forget how much other countries know about US politics, but also because I realized that it shouldn't be a big deal at all. Then she asked if I went to one of those crazy Christian schools that taught Creationism and that somehow came around to "do you know any Scientologists?" It was rather like 20 questions.

So that was interesting. Later I read and meandered through Hyde Park, which is the Central Park of London and watched a game of cricket. It was a scene straight out of The Wedding Date. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the streets of London and listening to Coldplay. Kind of perfect.

Hostel life is slightly different than I'm used to but damn is it cheap. And the staff are really nice as well. Solid sleep is pretty much out of the question when you're sharing a room with six other people, but when the owner heard we were thinking about finding a hotel he subtly gave us a free round of beer and said "welcome to London." Needless to say we are staying.

They say a lot of things about Paris

We've been in Paris for three days now and they've been up and down and all around days, emotionally speaking. Traveling here from Rome was hectic and stressful and sleep depriving. We almost got on a flight to Bari (we thought Italians just had a funny way of pronouncing "Paris." Like I said, sleep derepived.) After getting off the world's ricketiest airplane (RyanAir was just so cheap) and surviving the metro system, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed straight for the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful day so we plopped down on the grass and slept/read/listened to music/people watched for several hours. For the first time in almost three weeks we had no agenda and nowhere to be. It was heavenly. I felt more content, laying in the grass and looking up at that huge tower of steel, than I have in a long time.

So far it's been a perfect mix of site seeing and simply relaxing. We saw the Arc du Triomph and Eiffel Tower at night, the Louvre (honestly just sitting outside that building is mind blowing), the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Galleries de Layfette. Site-seeing is a blast but can be hectic in running all over the place. Today we took it easy and did laundry. That alone was an experience. A very nice French lady ended up having to help us use the machines and I'm pretty sure she thought we were idiots. But three different slots for soap would confuse anyone.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in a Starbucks. It may seem like a waste of time in Paris but I both needed the time to chill and loved listening to the culture around me. At first I was worried about the extra time in Paris but it's giving me a chance to get to know the culture. Just trying to make Goshen College proud. But I digress.

We meandered over to the Moulin Rouge which was cool to take of picture of but that's about it. Later we hit the Louvre and were astounded by its glory and architectural beauty. The Mona Lisa was okay too. We topped the day off with the Eiffel Tower at night. Not shabby at all.

I like the city of Paris a lot. I've mastered the metro system and love being able to blend in on the street, a luxury I did not have in Guatemala. Well, I blend in here until I open my mouth at least. This is something I try not to do. I love listening to the French language and thoroughly enjoy people watching on the metro and in cafes.

The food is delicious, though I have yet to have crepes or champagne. We're failing at the whole French Cruisine thing, but in our defense we're on a budget. I can't get enough bread, the paninis are to die for (though Daniel Penner's give them a good run for their money) and the creme brulee nearly put me into a diabetic coma.

I wouldn't say I've fallen in love with the city, mainly because to say you've fallen in love with Paris is arguably the most cliche statement to make and I would have to fight the urge to hit myself...but I like the "vibe" of Paris (I went hipster with "vibe" rather than cliche.....the lesser of two evils I suppose). But the city is just so chill. It's not bustling and crazy. People are just chill. That's the best description I can give. And there are always musicians playing in the metro! Yesterday we heard Hallelujah and Canon in D Major performed by a small orchestra.

Our schedule is so incredibly relaxed because we have a lot of time here in Paris and the same will go for London. Its an adjustment from the class tour where we were constantly going. I find myself waking up feeling the need to go, go, go and its nice when I realize I can do anything I want. And that means sitting outside a cafe, reading my kindle, marveling at the beauty of the Louvre or drifting in and out of sleep under the Eiffel Tower because I'm in freaking Paris!

When In Rome....do everything you possibly can

So I haven't updated this blog at all here in Rome, partly because the hotel's Internet wasn't working and partly because we've been so busy. Greece is gorgeous and a ton of fun but Rome has been amazing. We've packed in as much as possible. In just five days we visited the Colosseum, Pantheon, Fountain of Trevi, the Vatican, St. Peter's Square, a day trip to Florence, and a walking tour of Rome. I have never walked so much in my life but considering the amount of carbs I've consumed in the  small amount of time it's probably a good thing. Seriously, the last time I had anything resembling a vegetable is the bruschetta I've had almost every night. Breakfast consists of a double shot coffee, a sweet roll, and a regular roll with jelly. Lunch/dinner is pizza or pasta. Carb-o-load to the max. But it's so good!

Today was our free day here in Rome so a couple of us ventured out and were surprised to find that the main street by ancient Rome was completely shut down and filled with children's soccer teams playing. They had cones set out for goals, refs, and real soccer jerseys. These kids don't play in regular t-shirts. Then we stumbled upon some BMX ramps blaring American rap and a bicycle race. It was a full on festival of sorts but I think it happens every Sunday. It was cool to see the city full of life.

Yesterday we pretty much walked from 8:30 am to 11:00 pm. We went down into some ancient tombs and then toured the Vatican. The Vatican tour was both quick and incredibly long. We really didn't stop at all and it still took us about three hours. It was cool to see Rafael and Michaelangelo's work and St. Peter's is breathtaking but the museum was crowded, stuffy and I felt like we were cattle being herded from one room to the next.

Afterwards we made our way through St. Peter's Square to the Bridge of Angels and found some of the places where scenes from Angels and Demons was shot. Then we slowly made our way back to the hotel, stopping through Piazzo Navona for dinner and random wifi. It's a sad addiction.

Wandering through the streets have been the most fun for me, especially during the evening. There are fountains everywhere and it's beautiful. Piazzo Navona is where a lot of movies like Return to Me and Ocean's 12 are shot so it was cool to see. I could just sit there and people watch for hours.

Another highlight was our day trip to Florence. It's about a four hour drive from Rome and a lot of people weren't sure it was going to be worth driving 8 hours in one day. However, the literary and art history nerd in me was stoked to see the monument of Dante and the tombs of Galileo, Michaelangelo and many more. It was a beautiful day, as they all are here, and we spent a lot of time walking around. We sampled gelato because we're pretty much obligated to eat gelato everywhere we go, and then some of us finished the day with an "unofficial" wine tasting with the curator of Sting's vineyard in Tuscany. Perfecto!

It's been an incredibly exhausting couple of days but fantastic all the same. I'm sad to leave Rome but Paris is the next stop and after that London!

"I still believe in heroes."

On Sunday we went to a Presbyterian church and had the rest of the day free, so what do film students do with several hours to kill in Greece? Go to see a movie of course! We've been in Athens for five days and have more than explored all of the shops in the area so Jake, Sammy and I decided to see the Avengers. We'd wanted to see it for some time because it's been out longer here in Europe than the US. So we asked for directions to the theater and braved the metro by ourselves. Thankfully we didn't get lost, and when we weren't sure what street to exit on we simply followed the tweens who led us straight there. We figured out where to buy tickets, clarified multiple times (poor Village Cinemas info lady) that the movie was indeed in English, and got a cheap yet delicious dinner at the food mall. They had Taco Bell but I am a firm believer that TBell is gross in every country so I chose a Greek chain and pointed to a picture of what I wanted. It was a delicious sandwich but I have no idea what it was called so unfortunately it was a one time thing. Anyway the food is not the point of my story here. But it was a really good sandwich.

Back to the Avengers. It was awesome. Witty, action packed and just really entertaining. I saw lots of movies while I was in Guatemala but I forgot how much fun it is to see a movie in a different country. While we may not always think about movies theaters as a communal experience, it really is. You laugh together, cry together, gasp and jump together. Watching a movie with a big crowd can make a movie better than it actually is, or worse if you have a crazy old man yelling "die!" (Cabin in the Woods....there isn't enough time to get into the psychological analysis that experience requires) But whether the crowd is good or bad, for two and a half hours we are all equals because we are all experiencing the same thing. And then the lights come on and we all go back to reality, but for a short amount of time Jake, Sammy and I weren't tourists in a foreign country. We were the same as everyone else in the theater and we were all watching men in tights save the world and looking great while doing it.

This experience reminded me how film transcends cultures. To some people, going to see a movie while I'm in the beautiful country of Greece is a waste of time; I can see a movie any old time. A part of me likes that my 12 euros went to the struggling Greek economy, but it's more than just how I spent my money. I came out of the Avengers, not only thoroughly entertained (and ready to take on any threat to the world), but excited because the career path I chose is capable of reaching across so many cultures. And that's inspiring to me.

This is our life right now. Real or not real?

Today is our third (or fourth, I really don't know) day in Athens. It's been a whirl wind of sites and museums and getting yelled at in Greek. It's been about 85 degrees everyday in Athens and it's exhausting to shoot in the brutal sun. Our crew have been troopers though, hauling the camera equipment up and down the acropolis to the Parthenon, across the city, in the subway, through museums, etc. Honestly I'm surprised no one has passed out from dehydration yet. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen. But hey, I'm working on my tan and making up for being lazy in LA. The afternoon is my favorite time of day because it's breezy and cools down enough that I am perfectly comfortable sitting outside a cafe, eating gelato, and creeping on passersby with my camera.

It's unbelievable to think of where we've been in the past week and a half. I've seen the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, the stadiums where the original Olympic Games took place, one of the ancient Roman roads (still in tact) and ran a lap around the Paranthenaic Stadium. As an athlete, the later was a dream come true.

But while the sites have been gorgeous, it's the streets that I find the most beautiful. As I sit and write at a cafe I am watching some local kids play soccer in the street, listening to a political rally happening not too far away, and what I find most intriguing is that at any given moment I can hear roughly five different languages being spoken. Given Greece's currently economic state, I'm reminded that the richness of the culture I am experiencing right now is partly because we are in a touristy part of Athens, and this street doesn't adequately display the people of Athens, but it is beautiful all the same.

Shifting gears a little I realized I haven't explained much about what I am actually doing in Greece or what a typical day looks like for the film crew. I usually start my work for the day the night before, researching the sites we're visiting and figuring out how to shape the interviews. Much of that is done with the help with my professor but the actual interviews he's letting me do alone which is a ton of fun. The crew has a different assigned job each day including lighting, camera, audio, production assistants, and director. On lighter days we only take one camera but on heavier days we take two. We lug the gear to the site, tagging along with the bible class. Once we get there we break away and set up the shot for the first interview. The interviews are stressful as we are on a serious time crunch because we can't start the interviews until our guide has finished talking to the bible class. This usually gives us about a 30-45 minutes to conduct interviews so when you include tear up and tear down it's a very quick turn around. Plus there's only a little pressure when 35 people are waiting for you to finish. While the team is setting up for the interview I bounce back and forth listening to what David, our tour guide that we interview, says to the bible class and making sure everything is going smooth with the camera. Once he's done talking I prep him for the interview and as we finish setting up. Then directly after David we tear down and move to a different shot for Bob Yoder Campus Pastor (BYCP) and repeat the same. It's hectic but exhilarating. Yesterday our team did three interviews on top of the acropolis, next to the Parthenon, in midday heat, in an intense crowd, in about an hour and a half. I was very proud of how well the team worked together.

I had a brief moment where I wished I could be simply touring the Parthenon and taking pictures instead of running around filming but then I realized that I get to help produce a video at the Parthenon which is ten times better than a measly photo. It's all about perspective. As Sammy just told me:

"How amazing is it that we are listening to this [currently olympic games music] and sitting so close to the Parthenon? This should be in a movie or something."

Opa!

Today is now technically our fourth day in Greece but the days tend to blur together. The seven hour time difference (10 from LA) was rough but the pack of 5 hour energy drinks I brought along are helping. We traveled for nearly 20 hours before we reached Thessaloniki, Greece. We were all exhausted, sleep deprived and at one point or another slap happy. Sammy quoted almost the entire Bridesmaids movie before we even boarded the first plane and hasn't stopped since. Thankfully that movie is fricken hilarious. It's been almost a year since we've seen each other and it's been a blast reuniting with my GBF.


Right now we're in Thessaloniki but tomorrow we leave for Mt. Olympus. It's absolutely beautiful here and the temperature ranges from 70 to what feels like roughly 85 degrees. Most of the places we've visited are outside so I've developed a good ole farmers tan bested only by the nice sunglass line I have across my nose.


Filming has gone more or less smoothly. We've dealt with intense time crunches and more often than not we work through lunch but no one has passed out yet so that's good. I love my position as assistant producer. I have the best of both worlds, I get to help film the documentary but I also get to tag along and listen to the tour guide, take what he says about the Apostle Paul and use that info for the interviews. I get to focus a lot on story and I really enjoy that.


It's mind boggling to see all of the places that I learned about for years in numerous world history classes. To walk along the same road that Alexander the Great and his army marched is almost incomprehensible. There is so much history here everywhere you look and the people are literally living on top of it. Much of the modern cities are built on top of the ancient cities so you will be walking along and all of a sudden a giant church will be sticking out of the ground. The city of Thessaloniki is currently building a subway system but its taking a long time because they have to excavate the city as they dig. Its fascinating to say the least.


Greeks are very hospitable and in my experience so far, quite nice. But then again they could be calling me a dumb American while they smile at me and I wouldn't know the difference. The Greek language is beautiful but very hard to learn. It's more character based than letter based so sounding out words is more or less impossible. For me this has been the hardest part of the trip. Most people know at least a couple words of English, but I don't like that I can't communicate in the native language. It constantly reminds me that I am merely a tourist. To give you some idea of how Greek sounds here are a couple of words I write on my hand every morning. Keep in mind these are how the words sound, not how they are spelled.


Ef-har-isto - thank you
Para-ka-lo - your welcome
Ohie - no
Neh - yes
Kalimara - good morning
Kalispara - goodnight
Anthio - goodbye
Nero - water


A few of us have been lucky enough to meet several local students through Sammy's awesome friend Dimis. They all spoke pretty good English and when I asked Dimis how many languages he spoke he replied, "Spanish, Italian, a little bit of German, and I really want to learn French but its hard." Most Greeks (and from what I understand this applies go a lot of Europeans) speak at least three languages. And to think I am proud to be able to merely get by speaking Spanish.


Tomorrow we will be hiking Mt. Olympus and staying in Hotel Aphrodite. The hiking should be fun, especially with camera equipment in tow, but hey, challenge accepted.