Sunday, July 7, 2009

Leaving on a jet plane...........


Oh, no! We are leaving tomorrow on a 6:30am flight out of LAX and I haven't packed a thing! We are going with some people from Kasondra's school. Kasondra's friend, Lauren, and her mom, Michelle (my friend), are going too. Lauren's dad, Brian, is kind enough to drive us to the airport at the ungodly hour of 3:15am. We are supposed to meet Kasondra's Classical Greece teacher, Mr. Kearney, at 4pm.


To start things off, this is how things are supposed to go:


We are flying US Airways flight 1418 from LAX to Philadelphia. We leave LAX at 6:30am and arrive in Philly at 2:30pm. We change planes and fly US Airways flight 758 from Philly departing at 4:15pm and arrive in Athens at 9am on Tuesday, July 9th. Of course, we will go through customs and officially be permitted into Greece. (Note to self: don't forget to pack passports).


We arrive in Greece, meet our NETC Tour Director and transfer to our hotel where we will have an introductory meeting in the evening. We are staying the first 2 nights at Hotel Titania in Athens. On July 10, 2009, we will go sightseeing with a local guide where we will visit Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. Tonight we will get a lesson on Greek dancing. (Sounds interesting.) On July 11, 2009, we journey to Patras where we will learn the ways of Atherian society and debate. We will also visit Delphi. Tonight we will be staying at the Hotel Pavlina Beach in Kato Achaia, Greece. On Friday, June 12, 2009, we will visit the Olympia Museum and Ruins as we journey to the Nauplia Area. We will be able to choose our own god and debate on our new protector. We will stay at the Hotel John & George in Tolo, Greece tonight and tomorrow night. Saturday, June 13, 2009 we will go to Epidaurus. Sounds like fun, right? On Sunday, June 14, 2009, we will travel back to Athens and visit the Mycenae Ruins and the Corinth Ruins and stay once again at the Hotel Titania for our last 2 nights. On Monday, June 15, 2009, we will do a half-day excursion to Marathon and visit the Marathon Battlefield and Burial Mound. On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, we go back to the airport for our trip home.

We fly home on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 from Athens, Greece on US Airways flight 759 departing at 11:45am and arrive in Philadelphia at 4:00pm. We will go through customs in Philadelphia. We leave Philly on US Airways flight 729 departing at 6:00pm and arrive in LAX at 8:54pm. Albert will pick us up.

I know what you are thinking...all these places sound, um, interesting but you haven't heard of most of them. Well, me too! Kasondra took a Classical Greece course this year in place of US History and so I am hoping that, #1 she learned about some of this stuff and #2 she will be able to impart some of her knowledge to me. I know. I am asking a lot. For my part, I asked the plant manager at work, George, who immigrated from Greece, how to say a few words in Greek. So, tentatively I know how to say Hello, How are you?, I'm good, Where is the bathroom?, Thank you, and You're welcome. Whether or not I pronounce them correctly still remains to be seen. Ok, so I will post as often as I can and try to upload some photos too. Pray for us on our trip and pray for Albert because he will have the other 3 kids by himself for the next 8 days!