I never really understood the whole “passing out” thing. I’ll be honest and say that when my childhood friends would tell me that they “passed out” at the sight of a needle at the doctor’s office, I thought they were being overly dramatic. My mom always reminded me that, despite my harsh judgment, people DO pass out on a regular basis for justifiable reasons and I should consider myself lucky to never have had the experience. Well, not so fast, mom.
Monica and I became fast friends in Greece, actually…all of us did (and we made some soldier friends – see photo above)…but Monica was my roomie and one of the only girls I did not know prior to the trip. Well. All I can say now is that I have no idea how I survived the first two years of college without her. By our third day, Monica and I had gotten lost in the Acropolis museum together, had easily become accustomed to eating feta cheese for breakfast, had countless (and totally hilarious) pillow talks, and had taken one too many “sangria selfies”. She was always by my side (awwww), ready to catch me. Especially on May 28th….
May 28th, 2014:
The drive to Vergina was absolutely amazing. Truly pictures will never do it justice and describing it in words just doesn’t cut it. We stopped by Thermopylae on our way – the site of the famous battle between 300 Spartans and thousands of Persians. We were also familiar with the site because it was where the movie “300” was filmed. Of course, we took the appropriate pictures before continuing on our journey.
We arrived at the archaeological site and headed down into the underground museum, where the tombs had been excavated. It was there that King Phillip II of Macedon’s insanely impressive tomb is located. It truly was like nothing I had ever seen before. All 18 of us just stared at it. No one was taking pictures and no one was speaking. It was pretty weird but there was just something interesting in the air…it felt as though we were all standing in a different world; staring at something extremely powerful. I’m telling you it was so strange. The magnificent and worn blue doors stood before us like they had a million secrets behind them.
As we were being told how Alexander the Great (King Phillip II’s son) was the last one to open the doors, something even more weird started to happen.
All of a sudden, I could feel a heat rise from my feet, up through my stomach, up to my shoulders; literally feeling like a weight atop my arms, and straight up to my head. The blue doors started moving to the right and here I was, standing there thinking, “wow…I didn’t know they could move…” and BAM! My knees hit the ground.
I, naturally, grabbed Monica’s arm as the ground was getting closer to my face, and when she asked me if I was okay, I told her I had tripped. Lies. I didn’t trip at all.
I thought I was fine, and kept telling everyone that I was…but was holding onto Monica for dear life and could barely make it up the stairs. When I got up to the main room of the museum, (thanks, Monica, I think?) I quickly found myself laying on the floor, a wet towel behind my head, three women speaking in Greek rubbing me in places I didn’t feel was necessary but didn’t question, granola bars flying towards me (thanks Emily), and my legs high up in the air. Thank goodness for our professor’s wife because she was right there on the ground with me the entire time.
I knew I was fine; I could see everything, I could speak and think clearly, and could hold a conversation fine (talking with prof’s wife about why the Greek women were “massaging” me). I was so confused with the Greek people around me and what they were saying that I was convinced I was actually more hurt than I thought I was. Maybe they knew something I didn’t?
Before I knew it, I was in a wheelchair at the entrance of the museum. They told me people pass out all there alllll the time. Okayyyy. I wasn’t going anywhere and I was completely fine but safety precautions called for me to sit and greet the American tour bus that just pulled up. “Hope you guys have a great time!” I smiled from my wheelchair. Yep. Everyone stared and everyone looked terrified.
A few days later, we arrived in Mycenae, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Tiny pink flowers lined the incredible walkway up to another one of Greece’s most famous landmarks, The Lion Gate, which is the entrance and sole surviving monumental piece of the Mycenaean sculpture.
After exploring the fortified palace complex and taking in our fair share of the breathtaking views, we were told our next move: another tomb. My heart dropped a little, but for some reason I was excited and determined to conquer this tomb and show the ancient Greek spirits what’s up. It was sort of thrilling in a super strange way. So, literally holding Monica’s arm…I entered the tomb.
And I survived! Take that, King Phillip.
That afternoon when we arrived in Nauplion, a couple of us headed up and around the Palamidi Fortress, and down to the Aegean Sea. The white tablecloths, linen candle holders, and sparkly pebbles lead us to the most gorgeous, glistening blue water. We talked and tanned; mojitos in our hands. In the evening, we enjoyed the lovely city square of Nauplion and reflected on just how fortunate all of us were to be studying in Greece, even for such a short time.
I could have fainted at the sight of the moon that night…but I opted for the opposite: falling asleep to the sound of the stray dogs barking in the crisp, Greek night.
Photos provided by the author
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