Two Top Ten Lists

Well, I'm almost halfway through my time here, and while this is not an update on my travels (Sparta/Mycenae/Nafplio take two, Hydra, Carnival, Athens, Rome, the strike here, and an update on classes coming shortly, I hope! Eek, that list is longer than I thought it was...), I thought I'd share with you all a few of the things I miss most from America, and that I think I'll miss from here(people excluded, of course).

Top Ten Things I Miss From America, in no particular order
1. Grocery stores (or stores in general) that are open on Sunday and holidays
2. Spices and Hot Sauce... things are improving on the spice front, but hot sauce seems to be a lost cause.
3. Watching the news (even though I never do this at home).
4. Canned beans and tofu.
5. Going home for dinner
6. Georgetown professors
7. Readily available recycling
8. Being able to read the ingredients at the grocery store
9. Reliable trash pickup, electricity, and public transportation service (more on this in the strike section)
10. Eavesdropping on conversations when out in public!

Top Ten Things I'll Miss From Greece, also in no particular order
1. Greek dairy products... mmm, yogurt and REAL feta cheese!
2. Two euro chicken "salad" sandwiches from the bakery
3. Sitting at a cafe sipping one drink for 2 hours.
4. Amazing house wines at reasonable prices
5. Going to the laiki (weekly fresh fruit and vegetable market).
6. Traveling almost every weekend to some amazing historical site.
7. Walking past Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Zeus, the Acropolis, and the old Olympic Stadium on a regular basis.
8. Fresh baked bread from the bakery, and living on top of a Greek-style mini-mart (which means LOTS of fresh fruits and veggies, and trashbags)
9. Olive spread
10. Cheap public transportation

Hmm... lots of those are food related... guess you know where my priorities are now!

In the next week, I have a midterm, an essay, my honors thesis application, course registration, and summer internship applications due, so no promises on rapid updates. So sorry! As a teaser, Rome over Easter weekend was amazing, but VERY soggy.