Student Post: Kristen Weber

Upon landing on Paros, the first thought that crossed my mind was, “I can’t believe THIS is my home for the next three months.” I’m the type of person that enjoys living somewhere with a lot of aesthetic beauty, and Paros definitely has that covered. After meeting up with the other returning students, whom I spent last fall in Italy with, they took me around to show me the ropes. At first I thought I would never be able to find my way around this island, since the roads were built to confuse invading pirates. But after a few days of walking around, I got the hang of it.

Going out for food here is another new experience altogether. The first three nights we went to a restaurant called Albatross. The food there is so delicious, that we clearly couldn’t resist going. Albatross is also the first place I experienced eating a mussel, which was alive before it went into my mouth. I’ve always said I would eat an animal as long as someone else did the dirty work for me, but I caved when everyone told me to try it. I feel that the spirit of this program is to try new things, so it was a great time for me to get over my fear of eating something while it’s still moving.

As we started classes this past week, I thought I would be getting stressed at the rapid pace. So far I have just been accepting of what the classes and professors have to offer, and with that have been getting more excited with the work I am doing. After attending a school with a lot less encouragement, it is like a breath of fresh air being here. My nerves have calmed, my mind has been at ease, and all I want to do is live in every second of these next few months.