Day 90

Friday April 18th

The trip started off late as because I had stayed up late trying to get everything prepared and ready for the break I slept through both of my alarms and woke up naturally 5 mins before we had to go. This was kind of nerve-racking, but because I had packed everything up before I went to bed I just had to throw on some clothes and go. When we made it to the airport I realized that I had forgotten to put my Euros in my wallet and was thus S.O.L. I consoled myself by thinking having lots of Euros would be good, especially as the dollar continued to drop. Then I remembered I brought my journal with me, where I had hidden my extra money. So I dug through my pack found my journal and pulled out my money. I was very relieved, and hoped that that was the only thing I might have forgotten.
Egypt Air, despite rumors to the contrary, was actually quite nice and speedy. The food was fine and we were in Athens after about 1 and a half hours of flytime. We got our stuff, found some free maps and took a bus to Downtown Athens.
Things I notice about Athens after the first day:
-Clean Air and Quietness. It is so quiet here, whether we are in the Parks, the Churches, everywhere. The whole city just feels more civilized.
-I noticed a lot more beggars and a lot of these beggars had physical defects. There are plenty of beggars in Cairo, but I think the Egyptian government I think cleans them out, making sure the tourists get sad.
-Grass and plants, and more importantly they are green.
-Monuments that are preserved, rebuilt, and off limits to climbing.
-A lack of trash covering the monuments
-What Cats are too Cairo in number, dogs are to Athens. (perhaps there is a war between the too, just like in the movies)
-Prices suck. Everything is way to expensive
-I have to be extra-secure as apparently pick-pocketing occurs in this country.
-There is porn being sold on the street-corner. This would never happen in Cairo
-Rebellious Youth. They are ones who were the emo-skate clothing, who cause trouble and have generally rejected the future laid out before them. In Cairo, they don't even have a future to reject. It's work or die of hunger. There is no time for self-reflection.