Psychiko/Halandri Double Feature

Two days into the first full week. The seventh graders have finally taken their placement exams to figure out if they'll be in EFL (English as a Foreign Language), ESL (Second), or ENL (Native). I've got the graded grammar sections with me -- my first official teacherly duty -- and now we're only waiting on their compositions. But, since they haven't actually been placed yet, their classes haven't started. We've been watching films during most of the middle school class periods and discussing them to a small extent. Essentially filler until the smaller classes are determined. 

Other notes on the school. So, the Hellenic-American Educational Foundation is actually two schools on one campus. If both are Ivy League (everyone's favorite standard for discussing educational grandeur), Athens College is Harvard or Yale and Psychiko is Brown or Columbia. A.C. was founded decades earlier (1925 to Psychiko's 1980) and sort of tastes like it: a bit stale, dusty, and nearly all the teachers are closing in on retirement. Classic prestigious institution. Psychiko has a more innovative philosophy and a somewhat more relaxed classroom dynamic. I'm glad to have been placed in Psychiko. As for the teachers there: they've hired a lot of new people this year and when I say people what I mean (with no exceptions to my knowledge) is beautiful women in their early 30s. This is apparently nothing new according to a friend who did the program a few years ago.  Maybe the Greek teaching demographic just happens to be gorgeous? Maybe. 

Back in our neighborhood, Halandri, Erin and I have continued our explorations for nice coffee shops, restaurants and really any place that can offer a few hours of air conditioning in the afternoon. Halandri is a northeastern suburb of Athens, but not suburban at all by American standards (at least not those I've known). The streets are bustling and beeping until midnight, there are shops, great places to eat -- mostly Greek food (it is possible to get sick of gyros, by the way) -- and even its fair share of Athens' notorious stray dogs. We're still on the hunt for an English language bookstore and Indian food, but maybe we'll find them this weekend. 

In other news: all of the fellows were cleared for a day off to go to Crete for a long weekend at the end of October. Sevi, another of the fellows, has a cousin who's getting married and we've all been invited. Greek wedding! Something to look forward to.

Offer still stands on the snail mail, I've been annoying the mailroom guy daily. All I need is an address. 

Love.