Delphi

We have now arrived in Delphi. It is a big change of pace from Athens. Delphi is a very small town located in the mountains of Greece. Did you know that Greece is 80% mountains? This was news to me...shameful as a Geography teacher. We had an excellent guide with us for a couple of days in Athens. His name was George and he had some great pieces of information to share with us (see above), and he was always able to keep the students' attention with a good joke here and there. At one point, on the bus, a student asked "George, where are we now?" and in the most deadpan and disgusted tone with a strong Greek accent, George replies "We are in Greece, of course!" George also told us that there is now a website where you can go and listen to any song you can think of. Then he started naming off some favourites: "Gloria Gaynor...(long pause)..." He couldn't really think of anybody else worth listening to.

Also while in Athens, we were able to visit the Temple of Poseidon at the Cape Sounion Temples, the large Archeological Museum in Athens, and we spent a full day at the ancient Theatre of Epidaurus where the acoustics are so good that from the very back of this 15,000 seat venue you can hear an actor speaking on the stage without any electronic amplification equipment. Several of our students recited monologues on the stage; definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. After Epidaurus, we visited the ruins at Mycenae, and Agememnon's Tomb. For many, the best part of the tomb was the fact that it was underground and the walls were cool to the touch. It was 38 celcius outside, so we were getting pretty warm by this point.

Delphi has been great so far. Our view is spectacular. I do not have my camera cable with me, but I found a photo online that someone had taken from a balcony at our hotel. This is what many of our students see from their rooms: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/13/78/17/view-from-the-balcony.jpg Quite stunning.

Perhaps the only challenges we have faced are related to the different types of insects that can be found in this country. Late last night I heard a terrified scream coming from one of our girls' rooms. Concerned about their safety, I rushed over to see what was going on, only to discover that a rather large bug had entered their bedroom when they had the patio door open. Fortunately the hotel staff are good at dealing with terrified Canadians and they took care of the problem immediately.

That's all for now. Hope everyone's doing well back home. Talk to you soon.

Ryan