Test and then Fievel Goes West..

Hey everybody!! Today was a pretty good day. I woke up had Paul,,made a 4/5 on that quiz, and then i had humanities..i made a 4/5 on that quiz, and then i came up to the room and took an hour nap or so, and then we had chapel where Dino spoke to us. He's the preacher or the person in charge at the Greek church we go to. After that, I studied for our Humanities test we had. I'm pretty sure I did okay except for the word bank stuff we had on the moleskine. Most of the stuff, I had no clue what it was. I talked to her after the test, and she said she would probably just make them 1/2 a point each or drop the hardest 5, so that would be good. Tonight, we had pizza and we watched Fievel Goes West!!! I was so excited. I used to love that movie!! (in case no one remembers) lol..alright, then, i played basketball for a couple hours..of course..hahah..anyway, I'm pretty tired so I'm about to head to bed. I'll see you all in about 2 months!! I love and miss ya'll..Ryan

Back to the Normal Life

Hey!! well, since we've been back from corinth, we started class again, and it's pretty much the same 'ol same 'ol..Read-quiz..then, read-quiz..lol..i made a 4/5 on the bible one, and a 5/5 on the humanities one..first 5 this year in humanities..yea!!! hahah..anyway, i took two biology quizzes today too, and all that's open and left to take is Exam 2. I'm not really looking forward to that one..Plus, not counting that, I have a Greek quiz tomorrow and our first Humanities Exam Saturday..So, Ashton, if you can tell me BEFORE the test how hers are..I think you might have, I just don't really remember..lol..Hopefully they aren't too bad..Biology is about to wear me out..but i just have 11 more quizzes to take..ive done 14 out of 25..and ill probably take the second exam on sunday..Hopefully, he opens up the other quizzes and exams so i can just hurry up and do them..He needs to cause if he waits too long, i won't be able to take them because of trips..Anyway, enough about school...This afternoon, i played basketball for about 3 hours..First, Me and Dr. Wam Bam Schramm beat Lauren and Anna..It was pretty fun..They didn't want to touch me because i sweat so much..so i had a wide open shot every time..lol..My sweat is my best offense, and there's plenty of people who can attest to that..lol..and i don't even know if i used the right word there, but i'm just gonna go on anyway..haha..Alright, then Frank, Schramm Bam, Chris, Ross, and I played shoot-out...That's pretty much how my day has been...I hope you all are having a great summer..I love and miss you all!! see ya in 2 months..or something..kinda lose track of time and dates around here..haha..alright..Bye!! In Him, Ryan

Back from Corinth

Hey everybody! Sorry, I didn't post and i forgot to tell you i was going to be in Corinth and the Pelopponese and Olympia so I couldn't get on and write on here. I tried to write right before we left, but our internet is so stupid, and I tried to put pictures on facebook, and it took two hours and it didn't even work. So, I'm pretty much just thinking about saving them all to my laptop and not putting any up until I get home because I am really not patient enough to sit there for two hours everytime, and have it not even work. Anyway, I made a 98 percent on my biology quiz today!! lol..best one ive done in a while..lol..I really need to go read for humanities and paul, so I will get back on and write, and once again, I just want to wait until I get my moleskine back to write about the trip we had the past couple days..Alright, well I love and miss you all..i will talk to ya'll later!! See ya in 2 1/2 months!! In Him, Ryan

Mt. Everest and Athens

Hey everybody..i guess since i didn't write yesterday, i'll fill you in on what we did..i pretty much just had quizzes all day..lol..and then in the afternoon, we went to Sounion, and watched the sunset..It was amazing..I'm going to try to put pictures up tonight on facebook if my internet will work. I tried to last night, but it I couldn't get wireless very well. After we got back, we ate some ice cream bars. I ate the strawberry one for you, Ashton. Very delicious..lol..it's Paul's favorite too!! Alright, anyway. Then, harrison, jarod, chris, ross, and i all played 21 on the basketball court. I won 3 of the 5 games..thank you..thank you..lol..alright, well then it was time for curfew so i just went to the room. Last night, Jack had this great idea to go climb the mountain at 9 in the morning..lol..so, jack, michelle, kim, jen, emily, adam, leah, ashley, lacie, stephanie, and i all went up to the mountain and climbed it..I figured it would just be jack, adam, and i but all the other people were up ready to climb too, so we just went with them. It was so intense!! I did not even figure it would be that bad. And I am really mad at myself for not remembering that Ashton told me to wear jeans up it, because i have huge scratches on my legs..hahah..It was pretty hard, but once we got to the top of it, it was definitely worth it. Michelle started to feel pretty sick towards the top so jack stayed down with her until we got back down. It was a whole lot of fun, and definitely a great experience. When we came back, I was more scared of crossing the road here than coming down the mountain. These people are insane!! They will not stop for anything. Even when we used the cross walk, they just ignore it, and drive right through us. Also, today that same group i climbed the mountain with plus probably andrew are going to head to Athens by ourselves for the first time. I really wanted to just ride the bus the whole way, but everybody else wants to do the whole bus, monorail, train, thing..I really don't know why.. Experience, i guess..Anyway, I'm about to head out to Athens..I will talk to you all later.. I love and miss YA'LL..(didn't that time, chelsea) lol..alright, bye ladies and gents!! See ya in 2 1/2 months!! In Him, Ryan

Tests, Quizzes, and Beards

Hey everybody! Thanks for your continuing comments on here..It really keeps me going knowing that you all are thinking about me. That's right, Chelsea..I said you all..lol..Anyway, I just wanted to write a quick note on here. I'm done with 11 of my 25 quizzes for biology so that's pretty exciting..lol..and I've taken 1 test and didn't do that amazing on it, but in the syllabus he said that he curves the tests one standard deviation..and i made a C, so i'm guessing that would move it up to a B. I've made two 5/5's on my Paul readings, but the Humanities are not as good..lol..She just asks them in confusing ways where it could be more than one, and i always choose the wrong one..lol..and I am not that great at comprehending what i read in the first place, so hopefully I'll get the hang of it. And I really wanted to finish A Prayer for Owen Meany and White on this trip, but there's already so many other readings we have to do, I don't know how I am even going to finish one of them..I have a slide test tomorrow..i made a 95 % on the first one, so hopefully this one i can do just as good or better..I also have my first quiz in Modern Greek tomorrow. It's over the alphabet and the first few words and phrases she taught us, so Ashton, if you can tell me how her quizzes are before then, that would be great!! lol..I'll also ask her if she remembers you tomorrow..I forgot to today and she's already gone..Tonight we had tacos, but there wasn't very much meat, so all the guys were pretty upset about that..lol..then for a while, we all started talking about our beards, and jonathan kept telling jarod that his beard was disgusting b/c it doesn't fill in..it's just random patches..it was just funny listening to jarod defend himself..idk..i guess you had to be there. And Sterling was like, I'm 21, and can't even grow a beard..lol..It's pretty funny..He said, "I'm just now getting to the itching stage" lol..Alright, well, I think I'm done talking about beards and probably done talking for tonight. I might play some basketball or ping pong and then study..Anyway, I love you all, and I hope you're having a great summer!! Miss you guys! In Him, Ryan

Acropolis and Agora...I want some mora!!!

Hey everybody!! I know this is a couple days late, but I wanted to get my moleskine back to write down some facts just in case i couldn't remember everything. I definitely could not have remembered all this. I read back through it and I wrote a whole lot of stuff. Hopefully there's more room for all the other trips..haha..I will try to skim it down some so you don't have to read about every single building..hahah..alright, well we took the tour on May 18th, and our guides name was Catarina.
We started off with a city tour of Athens. We looked at the Hilton, the War Museum, the National "Royal" Garden. She then told us all the stories about how Greece was a monarchy until 1974, and all the different battles they were in. I thought it was pretty funny that the biggest commercial street in Greece was Elmo. I don't know why, it just seemed funny to me..We also saw the Anglocan church which was dedicated to Paul. We also saw the 15 columns that belong to Zeus, but there used to be 104. Then, we saw the Marble Stadium where the first Olympic games were held in 1896. It had a capacity of 69,000 spectators. We were supposed to head to the Marble Stadium to get a closer view of it, but we never did, but I will probably go look at it with Jack and Andrew sometime later. The first monument we saw was the Odom, which was the music hall. The walls were restored in the 1950's. It has a capacity of about 5,000 spectators.
Next, we went to the Acropolis. Words can not even express how overwhelmed I was with admoration and just pure awe of all these temples. But before I go on about the temples, just a few interesting Greek stories. I thought the Poseidon vs. Athena story was pretty cool. They were trying to figure out who should rule, and the people said that they each get to give one gift, and whomever gives the best one, will get to be the ruler. So, Poseidon goes first and stakes his trident in the ground, and gives them salt water which was very important for trading and things of that sort, but Athena produces the first olive tree. Athena was picked. Since Athens was built in one of the driest parts of Grece, the olive tree was the only tree that could grow, so they became very sacred. I also thought the story about Athena being born from the head of Zeus was really interesting. Zeus was married and his wife got pregnant, but he killed his wife because he was afraid he would lose control to his offspring. Since he did this, a long time later, he got a huge headache, so he called Ephestas, the god of fire over to him. Ephestas hit Zeus' head, and then Athena was born. Alright, I guess I can talk about the temples now.
The Temple of Athena Nike was very interesting. It was completely taken down twice. It is made with the ionic style. The last time they made it, they used titanium so that it would stay up for good. Next, was the Parthenon. This was one of my favorite temples in the Acropolis. We entered on the west side. It was dedicated to Athena, and it is called the "Temple of the Virgin." It is very famous for its optical illusions because there are no straight columns. Everything is curved. It is of Doric style, and the corner columns were thicker than the rest. It had triglyphs and metopes in the capital, and the west pediment, had the depiction of the contest of Athena and Poseidon that I described earlier. While the east pediment had the depiction of the story of Athena being born from the head of Zeus. There used to be a statue of Athena inside the Parthenon that was 40 ft. tall, made of wood and gold and ivory. When I first saw the Parthenon, I can not even describe how I felt. I was just so amazed as to how someone could even begin to build such an amazing temple. It was just incredible. The next temple we saw was the temple of zeus which was the focal point of worship and sacrifice to gods.
The Placa has paved streets with the Parliament building. The next temple we looked at was definitely by far my favorite. The Erechtheion. It was just so astonishing. I really loved this temple. It was the only temple not undergoing restoration while we were there. It is in the most sacred spot of the Acropolis. It was dedicated to Athena too, and it was to be used for the fertility of Earth and the city. There was the story about the snake that disappeared from the Erechtheion and so everyone thought it meant that the Persians were coming. Many of the stories they made up were created after the event had already happened. I thought that was pretty funny. They make up the stories to show that the gods were with them. Probably my favorite thing about the Erechtheion is the caryatids. They were the "Porch of Maidens." The caryatids were just so beautiful and miraculous. Jack was obsessed with them. He probably took about 700 pictures of them. It was pretty funny.
Next, we went to Mars Hill. It was pretty hard to climb because the rocks were so slippery. I was just thinking it would be funny if the people waiting for Paul saw him walking up, and they were like, "Paul, is that you?!" and then he says, "Yea, hold on, I can't get up there. I'm slippin all over the place." lol..I know it didn't happen, but it was just something funny to think about instead of thinking about falling off. It's supposedly where Paul spoke, but he really spoke further over than where we actually were. They chose this hill to attack Athenians and the Acropolis. We also sang a few songs on Mars Hill, and read Paul's sermon. It was very moving.
After we finished with the Acropolis, we headed to the Agora where we saw the Tower of the Winds. It was called this because male figures are personal implications of winds that prevail through the years. There was a waterclock and a floating device and depending on the level of the water, it would tell what time it was. I thought that was pretty interesting. The lines on the wall also served as a sundial. We also went to the Stoa. It was the biggest part of the ground floor. In the museum, we learned about the Archaic Period, which in all of their art, the people had a specific smile so I thought that was pretty interesting. We also had an assignment to pick out something we saw in the museum that we did not think they would have back then. I saw two things. The first was a potty trainer. I had no clue they had potty trainers back then. I thought it was pretty funny. Also, they had a machine that you put a coin in, and a ball would roll out to tell you whether or not you had jury duty. I thought that was pretty cool. I didn't know they jury duty back then.
Next, we saw the Odeion of Agrippa. It could hold 1,000 people. The roof fell off, so they rebuilt it, and now it can only hold 500. We saw the Great Drain, where other drains would fall into. It wasn't really that astonishing, but still pretty interesting. The next temple we saw was the Temple of Hephaistos. It was pretty astounding too. Almost as much as the Parthenon, but not quite. There wasn't very much room to get a picture of the whole thing, so I kind of just have bits and pieces of it, but I think it will work!! Alright, well I told you I probably would need time to write this, and all of my notes..Hahah..Hope you enjoyed reading it...I love you all, and I miss you, and I will see you in 2 1/2 months!!! In Him, Ryan

Good times at the Artemis

Hey everybody...im back!!!! sorry i didnt write for a while..its been pretty crazy here,,we went to the Acropolis Sunday and it was pretty much amazing, and I'm planning on writing a whole post about it when i get my moleskine back..so i don't leave out anything i could have forgotten..anyway, yesterday was a lot of fun...we just had classes, but after that..jack, andrew, adam, and i went to the supermarket and i got a journal and some more pens and then just hung out around the artemis, and played games and all that jazz...last night we all gathered around in the living room and read our favorite verse..then, after that, we all had banana splits..they were to die for!!!! and then, i played basketball with some of the guys...it was awesome..i was making all my crazy shots like i usually do, and they were just like..how in the world do you do that? lol..it was a lot of fun, and i got to know all of them a little better so it was good...anyway, im gonna go for now..ill get back on and write about the Acropolis when i get my moleskine..alright, i love you guys and i miss you..see ya in 3 months!!! In Him, Ryan

Class Day II

Hey everybody..Today, i had missionary anthropology which was pretty interesting this morning, and then i did some biology after that, and then i had Modern Greek which was definitely a blast...She was just telling us any phrase we wanted to know for the first day..it was pretty funny, and she was giving us hints like not to show the palm of your hand to anybody...Then, i went to the bank to exchange some money, but it was definitely closed..lol..oh well, i guess ill just do it some other time..tonight is our first pizza and movie night so im really excited about that..well, i have a slide test later, so im gonna go look at some of that stuff..yay..lol...alright..i love you all and miss you.. i might write another one tonight..just depends on if i have time..I don't know what DiMy and Captain have planned for after the movie..anyway, i will talk to you all later..See ya in 3 months!!! In Him, Ryan

School's Not Out for Summer

Hey again...today has been pretty long..mainly cause ive been doing my biology lectures on the dvd all afternoon...i took two quizzes and i got a 16/17 on the first one and a 25/28 on the second one, so i guess thats okay too..im already pretty tired of it..the dvd is way toooo boring to do all that stuff...lol..tonight, we playing "Who am I?' where we all turned in a random fact about us yesterday and DiMy made a worksheet and we had to go around asking people which one they were...then, we did the greeting thing again-then, we had tea again, and thats when i went to finish my lecture and test...It's not really that bad, but its just way too boring..lol..alright, well i probably need to go and study for my slide test tomorrow...that should be a lot of fun..I love you all, and sorry this one is pretty short, but i just wanted to let you know what happened tonight..alright..i love and miss ya'll..In Him, Ryan

First Day of Classes

Hello everybody..Today was the first day of class..i had Paul and then Humanities..i got a 4/5 on the reading quiz so i guess thats alright..lol..i also have my first slide test in there tomorrow at 6, so that should be a lot of fun...i started my Biology independent study the a while ago..i finished the first chapter..im about to look and see how the tests and quizzes are set up online to see how I am going to work all that out..i don't think it should be that bad...Okay, mimi and chelsea..a moleskine is the little booklet they give us to take notes at the places we're at...and we turn it in after every trip for a Humanities grade...so, I'm excited to get it because I think it will be a lot of fun filling it up with random facts..lol...Jack, Andrew, and I are about to go to get some Euros..and maybe try to climb that mountain..lol...I don't know though..i might wait til i'm over the jetlag..im still pretty worn out from it..They said it usually takes about a week to get used to the time over here...so, hopefully it'll be over by wednesday..lol...anyway, im gonna get outta here...hopefully you all are having fun..and ashton, tell them that i wish i was there playing video games with them too..lol...alright..i love and miss all of you..Have fun!! In Him, Ryan

First Day Part II

Hey, I actually got time to write again today...So, Part II..yea!! alright, well the rest of the day we had supper and then we did a group activity to get to know one another..we had to pick how ever many m&m's we thought we would need for the game, and we had to pick at least 3, and i didnt' really care so i just dipped my cup in and got a lot..about 70 to be exact...then, she said for every M&m we picked, we have to say something about ourself..and everyone picked a lot, so we were all pretty bummed..lol..but we only had to name up to 10 things, and if we had more than 10, we had to do 10 pushups or jumping jacks...I named nine things, and my tenth fact was that I loved M&M's..and then i did my push-ups..everyone seemed to think it was pretty funny...lol..then, the next activity was we had to greet eachother in the different ways that different cultures greet eachother..we had to slap the right shoulder, shake hands, give eachother a hug, and then "kiss the air" ..it was pretty funny...alright, well im about to have to go to my room. We're gonna have a reading quiz tomorrow, and i probably need to start off good..so just keep respondin..I love and miss you all!! In Him, Ryan

First Real Day Part I

Hello again everyone...Sorry I couldn't figure out a title that rhymed this time..lol..I just want to thank everyone who has replied so far...i put part 1 because i dont know exactly how many of these i am actually going to get to do today and it's only the beginning so we'll see..This morning we ate breakfast and then had orientation which was tons of fun!!! not..he just went over all the rules and what they expect of us and so on and so forth...then we had our first humanities class, and i got my moleskine!! we also have our first reading to do already!! we're gonna have a quiz over it tomorrow too...i cant believe we have school here..hahah..im looking forward to filling it up with random facts of places..lol...then, we ate lunch and had the second part of our orientation, and here i am..tonight, i think jack, andrew, me, and a few other people are going to go around town, and get some stuff we need..i still need to buy a journal somewhere...i was thinking of doing it online, but i think it would be a lot more interesting to look back on if i actually write it out..anyway, people are waiting to use the computer, so im gonna get off of here..i might get back on again tonight if i have time..i think captain had something else for us to do at 8, and i might do my reading and go to sleep early...so, i will see you all later, and hopefully talk to you all later...i love and miss you all..In Him, Ryan

Airplane Rides and Ocean Tides

Hello everybody! I forgot to mention in my first blog that we ate at Roma's in Searcy..Mom told me that I should probably put that in there..I did make it safely to Greece. i just thought i would let ya'll know..it has been the longest day. The first flight, i sat by this really nice lady who actually lived in Paragould until she was 14. So, that was pretty interesting, then when I got on the Detroit flight, no one was sitting by me for about 20 minutes, so I was like, yes..im all by myself..Then, this arabic man comes up and says he sits there. I couldnt ever understand a word he said. And, also his name was Husane Sadaam, so that really freaked me out. Haha..You can't make this up..Then, the Amsterrdam flight was just really tiring since I hadn't slept all day. I pretty much just wanted lay down in the middle of aisle and pass out. When we got to Athens, we met the Myhans, and then they took us to the Artemis which is pretty much the most amazing place ever..There's a basketball court and pool, and just everything. The Myhan's took us on a short tour of Porto Rafti, and it was amazing!! We went to the beach and everything..and i almost got pushed over by the tides..i was talking to andrew and jack and they keep creeping up on us..You might need to be worried that I won't come home..lol..jk..anyway, i'm really tired and we have to be in bed by 10, so I just wanted to write a short blog and tell you about the first day..Classes start tomorrow which does not seem fair at all..I can't even think right now..Anyway, I love you all, and miss you...See ya in 3 months!! In Him, Ryan...And pop, I hope you can figure out how to get here..lol..

Pre-Trip Fun

Hey everybody, I just wanted to write a blog before i left just to kind of understand how this all works..Not that your instructions were not amazing, Ashton, but I just wanted to get the feel for it, so I wouldn't be stuck in my hotel room for 3 hours trying to figure it out. I am about to leave for Little Rock, so this won't be very long. I just wanted to say that I hope all of you have fun reading my blogs and I love every one of you, and I will definitely miss you all. I hope you all have a great summer. I know I will..Haha..I just want to say that hopefully this blog will actually be storieS of the Greek Geek and not storY. haha..Usually I don't commit that well to journals, but maybe this will be more convenient since I like to type a lot more than write..And I need some feedback from all of you because if Ashton didn't want to write unless we talked back to her, then you definitely know I won't want to if no one is reading..That brings up another point..I know that everyone close to me says they won't compare mine to Ashton, but for all of you from church or around who are reading this, I am not a journalism major like Ashton so it will not be as in detail probably. Although, I really do enjoy writing, I am not as passionate about it as her. So, please, just do not compare my writing to hers. It will be greatly appreciated. Unless you think it is just as good, then you can post that or something..haha..anyway, i need to go, so to sum up, 1. I love you all and I am going to miss you...2. I wish you all a great and fun-filled summer..3. I will try to write on here as much as I can..4. Don't compare my blog to Ashton's (unless you think it is just as good) i think that covers it all..Okay, so the next time I will write to you all, I will be in Athens!!! See you in 3 months!!! In Him, The Greek Geek