I opted not to venture outside Athens during my last days in Greece partly because it was a lot of travel time and partly because I was so exhausted from the two months that I kinda needed to chill a little bit. On Friday, I brought my office cookies and finalized my project to disc, after which I finally went to the New Acropolis Museum, which was awesome. If there was any doubt about the painted majesty the Parthenon, it was eradicated when I stepped into the museum. The cool interior was a great way to escape the heat and the friezes and other artifacts from the Acropolis were amazing to see up close. On the fourth floor, one can walk completely around the "Parthenon" and see all marble detailing as it would have been on the Parthenon. There was also bits of color left on some of the statues, showing that they had once been brightly painted. Due to our current perceptions of what marble art is (the clean, smooth, whiteness that defines "class"), I don't think I could have imagined the Parthenon ever brightly painted, but now, I can see a little how glorious it would have been.
That Friday night, after a picnic at Zappion, I wandered around the city and completed what was to be the last task on the List I would complete. This one was especially dear to my heart because I decided to do it after much thought. As I flipped through the book of designs, I tried to find one to best encapsulate my trip to Athens this summer. Turtle? No, though my work with turtles was what inspired my trip, I had entirely too many turtle things to remind me of the trip. Owl? Though the symbol of Athena and wisdom crossed my mind, I decided against it, especially since i had a little owl of my own to remember Athens by. Finally, I decided on this:
To me, a phoenix represents rebirth, rejuvenation, and reinvention. With each passing summer, I feel a little more grown up, but this summer, truly living on my own, buying my own food, and making my own travel plans, I felt myself blossom. Through writing this blog, I could see myself through my adventures, and, almost like an outsider looking in, see myself grow. I had no regrets on this trip, no coulda-shoulda-woulda's. My mom told me this morning that once a choice is made, you live with the consequences; there are no regrets. And as I write this, I realize how I could live by that philosophy. I won't paint this summer as a perfect golden-fielded frolicking fantasy, because I had my ups and downs, but even sleeping in the tiny, bug-infested cots taught me something. And if anything, made a great story.
The last day in Athens was a bit of a slow one, sleeping, packing, and eating. Shivani's plane had left without her, so she came back to spend Saturday with us and we picked up some Golden Chopsticks and went to eat on the top of Filipapous Hill. When Weike and I went up her last night in Athens, I said that I would go with my group our last night in Athens as well. That was when I still had hopes that we would be a solid group of 13, but although only our apartment went, and I'm glad it turned out that way.
And then it was back to Los Angeles. And I learned that karma works in mysterious ways; sometimes you wait forever and a half for something to come around again and sometimes it happens in the blink of an eye. In my case, I gave up my seat so a couple could sit together and a tin of chocolate covered blueberries came my way (courtesy of the couple). And on the next flight, I gave up my seat again so that a woman could sit with her family and lo and behold, I got my forgotten passport back! Yeah. Karma rocks.
Three weeks passes by very quickly. I feel like I barely had enough time to spend with my cousins and my grandparents and my mom and my aunt and then I was back here. Yale. Old Campus. JE SUX. I was (and still am a little) sick for the last part of my time at home so that wasn't all that fun, but otherwise, I was so happy to be back there and to see my family. My family is the most important thing to me and I was super happy to be back for my grandpa's birthday and to have girly time with Mom and puzzletastic time with Grandma. And now...Yale.
The summer has come to an end, and so shall this blog. It's been a great ride. Thanks to those who read. I love you all. And writing things down has inspired me to continue blogging, more for myself than anything else, just so I can remember stuff about this year, which I feel in my bones will be AWESOME. So many exciting things are happening and it's exciting to be a part of it all! So without further ado, I graduate The Summer of 20 and bring you...
Talk, Walk, and Chew Gum
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