The Greek culture is filled with laid-back cafes and places to pick up a cheap gyro (only about 3 Euros), but only a few internet cafes. Even in these cafes it is mainly tourists who are checking their email. So unfortunately it has not been a top priority to get myself online, which has caused this blog to suffer in return. However, since I am now at an Internet cafe, I will give a quick rundown of what I have been up to in the past month or so.

It's been the same old routine with classes, but there were two very welcomed interruptions. The first was that I traveled the mainland of Greece for about five days as a sort of "field trip" for the program. We stopped at almost every major tourist site including the Acropolis in Athens, the Oracle of Delphi, and the Olympic Stadium. It was very rushed and I spent many hours on a bus, but it was all worth it to be able to see everything that we did. The other trip was one that I took with a couple girlfriends to Barcelona, Spain. We stayed in a hostel for six nights and met a variety of people from around the globe. This trip was focused more on nightlife than seeing the sites and it was a nice change of scenery from what we were used to.

As for the rest of the time in Rhodes, we have rented cars and driven around the island to explore where the buses will not take us, such as the southern tip of the island (where there is amazing snorkeling) and Lindos (where there is a castle on top of a hill that you can ride donkeys up to)! Easter is almost here, which is the official kick-off of tourist season, so I'm sure I will find plenty more things to explore as more businesses begin to open.

I only have one more month in Rhodes, so I will try my hardest to write more often! After that I will be in Dion, Greece for a three week summer course and then who knows after that. Maybe island hopping? The possibilities are endless...

When we first arrived at the house of the bride, we were all pinned with small white fabric roses that showed that we were a part of the wedding. From there we were offered more pastries and drinks than we could handle, which was a good thing because we were missing dinner!

The groom was not allowed in the house to see his future wife until she was fully dressed and ready to go to the church. About an hour after we got there, she was still getting her hair and makeup done, so I'm sure the groom was getting a little restless -- they were already two hours behind schedule. The bride was in her room with the bridal party and her family while about 50 people waited outside for her to get dressed. Getting a bride dressed is an old tradition that involves her removing her clothes and her family dressing her. Usually this is done in a living room with everyone watching and singing, but she was shy and wanted it to be done in her own room. (I dont really blame her.)

A man playing an accordion and another playing a violin went into her room and all the elderly women sang as she was dressed. After about 20 minutes of singing she was finally ready and everyone lined the street outside her house to throw nuts and candy at the couple as they began the short walk to the church. I think the entire village may have been there, and a few of my friends were pelted with walnuts by a few of the younger attendants.

We all followed the bride and groom to the church, which was about a 10 minute walk. The bells from the church rang out with the traditional wedding song. An interesting side note -- the bells only ring for a person three times in life: when they are baptized, when they are married, and at their funeral.

At the church everyone gathered around the men with the violin and the accordion and they began to play once again. First the bride and groom started to dance in a circle, and soon other members of their family joined. The dancing was cut short because the wedding was behind schedule, so we all entered the church.

The most dramatic difference between this Greek wedding and an American wedding was evident once the ceremony started. Everyone who was there to see the bride and groom get married did not sit quietly and take in every detail of what was going on. Instead, everyone walked around freely while having full conversations with the person next to them and did not hide the fact that they were being loud.

However, this did not seem to distract the bride and groom as they went through the motions of the rings, of switching a crown-like veil on their heads, and of dancing around in a circle while getting rice thrown at them. They were married within one hour, and then everyone in the chuch lined up to give their congratulations to the happy couple.

At this point my friends and I left, but not without getting one of the small goody bags filled with chocolate that were being passed out as we left the church!

School here is different than anything back home. I am taking five classes, three history, one political science, and Greek 101. They are taught in three different buildings all spread throughout the island. One is at the University of the Aegean campus and looks much like any college building. It is in the middle of Rhodes Town, the main city of the island. Another building is actually an aquarium that is located on the tip of Rhodes Town which is also the tip of the island. As my fellow classmates and I are taught we are given a panoramic view of the ocean with the mountains of Turkey silhouetting the horizon a mere five miles in the distance. The third building is located in the town I live in, Soroni, which is about 45 minutes from Rhodes Town.

Soroni is a small village where everyone seems to be related to everyone else. There are about 20 students in the study abroad program and we are all housed in apartments that are more of a mini dorm. The locals have been extremely nice to us so far, and the instant we go anywhere they will ask if we are the Americans from Soroni. I guess we really stick out.