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Arrival to Greece went without any major incidents with the exception of some visa problems which were taken care the following day ( 5 May.) The course started officially on the 5th after a good day of rest and recovery from jet-lag.

We have had an intense series of visits to the nearby archaeological sites: 6 May, Kolonna (ancient Aegina), 7 May, Paleochora (abandonned Byzantine city), and today 9 May, to the Sanctuary of Aphaia. Yesterday was a day dedicated to discussions and lectures. Aliki introduced the cultural and philosophical context of ancient Greece through a lucid and very engaging lecture. She, incidentally, thanks to her excellent organizational skills, keeps all of us on our toes.

Six members of the group (Melisa Audet, Emily Bedard, Marie-Eve Ross, Allison Holden, Diana Anderson and Catherine Mezey) presented very moving performances in which they delivered their their thematic mythological narratives.

We will be visiting Athens for the first time tomorrow. Our tour will include the Athenian Agora, the Acropolis, the theater of Dyonisius and the Odeon, as well as the Acropolis and Agora Museums. It will be a full day.

Another two days have gone since the last report. Time flies in Greece. The past two days have been full of activities which included a trip to Athens and today the return to Paleochora to measure and survey an old Byzantine monastery lost in the island's hinterland. Andrea Kennedy and Lily Lau presented, in a very engaging way, their themes and chosen myths yesterday. Lily chose as background the magnificent Acropolis and the Agora. Andrea performed in the Aeropagus, the place where so many Athenian citizens spoke to a large audience.

Today, Thursday 11 May, we went to Paleochora to record and survey the Monastery of the Lord. We enjoyed a magnificent morning that included clouds and couple of drops, nothing strong that would interrupt our work.

There will be two presentations and the submission of project proposals tonight at 6:00 p.m. Tomorrow, we will return to Athens to visit the National and the Cycladic Museums and to tour Lycabettus Hill and the Stadium.

Four days have gone since we last posted news:... lack of internet cafes. We left Aegina on the 13th of May (Saturday) to begin our exploration of central Greece and the Peloponese. On Saturday we visited the Osios Lukas Monastery and arrived to Delphi in the evening. Sunday was dedicated to the visit of the site and a wonderful hike to the Phaedriades. This morning we left Delphi early. We arrived to Meteora in the afternoon in time to hike to the Agia Trias Monastery and to meet father John, the mythical figure of the place,who, upon departure, gave us his blessing and some Loukoumi for our travel.

Heather Smith, Cory Chen, and Katrina Legarza made quite enticing presentations today using as background the surrounding Meteora landscape. Previous presentations--alluring as well-- were made by Rand Abbas in Delphi, Yulia Nedecheva in the city of Delphi, and prior to all this Carmen Lee presenting her topic using as background the landscape of Osios Lukas.

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 16th of May, will be dedicated to visits to two monasteries in the morning, followed in the afternoon by a hike to the abandoned monastery of Ipandou. On Wednesday morning we will be leaving for the city of Ioaninna, the capital of Epirus, where we will spend the night and prepare to visit, the following morning, the oldest sanctuary in Greece: Dodoni.

Today, Tuesday 16 May 2000, we started early with visits to two monasteries: Roussanon and Varlaam. In the afternoon, we hiked to the abandoned monastery of Ipandou. On our way back Andrea Putkaris and Ilana Altman invited us to place our offerings to specific divinities and gods in a place which they chose along the path. It was a moving re-enactment of ancient ritual that allowed them to present their themes to us against a background, which as usual in Greece, was truly spectacular. Tomorrow we will be leaving for Ioninna very early. The moral of the whole group is very high.

It is Thursday evening, 18 May. We arrived to Olympia this afternoon after a long ride from Ioninna. Yesterday we visited Dodoni. To our disappointment most of the site is off limits to visitors who, for instance, cannot access the theatre but only look at it from outside or at best from the proskenion. Tourism is taking its toll. Soon, monuments will be only accessible via virtual reality.

Yesterday in Metzovo,on our way to Ioninna from Meteora, Jurek Elzanowski and Ariane Truong made an interesting presentaion using Metzovo's laberynthian streets as their vehicle to enact the ancient myths of Ariane and Can-Cerberus.

This evening, after a copious dinner, Bryan Scott and Sam Samour made their presentations. Each one invited the audience to participate in the unveiling of their themes (Pan and Apollo respectively.)

We will be visiting the sanctuary of Olympia tomorrow. Aliki will be in charge of leading the tour of the site and museum. We will be leaving for Mani sometime after noon. We expect to be in the remote region near Aeropolis by late afternoon when will begin our three day breaK---very well deserved!.

There are no internet facilities in the area where we will be staying so the postings will continue in about three to four days.

We are back to the internet world!!!! We arrived in Nauplion this evening after four memorable days in Limeni, Mani. Orlando Barone and Louis Huang made lively presentations of their themes on Saturday using as their backstage the impressive cliffs and architecture of Limeni Village. Yesterday, on the initiative of Caterina Legarza, we had the opportunity of participating in a talent contest. Talents on display included: a percussion trio, a re-invented tragedy acted by seven of our members, a "hold your breath" competition proposed and won by Brian Scott--there were several paricipants but he hold his breath fr 2 minutes and 15 seconds-- individual performances by Catherine Mezey and Cory Chen. Also an the improv trio of Orlando, Brian and Jurek.The evening was closed by an extraordnary display of synchronized swimming in the sea by Marie-Eve Ross, Katrina Legarza, and Allison Holden. Tomorrow we will start visits to Palamidi Castle in the morning and Epidaurus in the afternoon folowed on Thursday by visits to the Mycenean sites of Tyrins, Mycenae, and the Argive Heraion.

Today, Wednesday 24 May, we started the day climbing the 899 steps to Palamidi Fortress (1711-14). We spent the morning sketching in this extraordinary example of military architecture. The afternoon was dedicated to a visit to the Sanctuary of Aesclepius in Epidaurus. Tomorrow we will begin the exploration of Mycenean sites. The spirits continue high despite that our present hotel does not match the one in Mani.

Today's activities included three visits to Mycenean and Classical sites: Tyrins, Mycenae, and at the Argive Heraion respectively. Jordan Chiang and David Tseng made their presentations using Muycenae's cistern as the stage set. Quite silent and dark...moving as well. Panayotis Leventis, who is beginning work on his PhD with Ricardo in September, drove from Athens and accompanied us all day. He will be lecturing on city design in Athens on Thursday, 1 June, upon our return from Santorini

We made it too late to Argos after Mycenae so we were able to see the theatre from the distance. It seems that the archaeological department finally was able to get funds to create a controlled entrance (8:30-3:30 daily). Dissapointing but at least we know know that the site is being taken care of. We made it back to Nauplion for a swim and some internet cafe activity. Tomorrow we are off to Santorini on the evening ferry "Dionysios." During the day we will be visiting Corinth and Perahora--this last, a little visited site...but impressive.

Our trip to Santorini, via Corinth was relatively unincidental except for a detour to the Argos hospital and archaeological site. Man-Kam sprained her ankle slipping down the cistern at Mycenae. She has a small cast, but apart from that she is in great form. The doctor's prognosis was positive since there was no fracture. She should be back on her two feet by the end of the course next week. We have been carrying her on our backs--Aliki, Jurek, Katrina's,....my own, to the sites without much problem since she is very light. We had 14 two-berth cabins in the ferry, a small luxury that made our trip more comfortable since we were able to slee--more or les--during the 10 hour trip to Santorini.

Today, Sunday 28 May, we visited the new museum in Fira: "a weeping place" given its extraordinary collection of objects found at Akrotiri. It was the perfect introduction to the Akrotiri archaeological site which we visited subsequently. Unfortunately the site is being revamped--that is, its modern protective roof--and the circuit is shorter that it used to be. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Red Beach, a wonderful isolated beach near Akrotiri. A small scare there was caused by two small boulders that came off the cliff's wall unexpectedly to land a few feet from our group. First time I have ever witnessed this type of phenomenon from such a short distance. No one was hurt fortunately. Tomorrow we will visit Archea Thira, a site that requires a lot of energy for its visit since it has to be reached after a steep climb. Until then....

Tuesday, 30 May 2000. We are off to hike to Ancient Thira. Interneting between bus change. Had a rest day yesterday to allow the group to catch up in their sketches and writing. We will start our final crits this afternoon.....

Friday, 2 June 2000. We climbed to Thira, swam in the black beach and returned to Oia without major problems. Wednesday was dedicated to catch up on writing, sketching and ....laundry. We sailed to Pireas at 7 in the evening, began crits in the ferry. They lasted until 12:00 when due to physical exhaustion we decided to continue the process in Aegina. We arrived to Pireas at 4:30 a.m. and had to wait for the Aegina ferry until 7:30 a.m. We finally made it to Aegina during mid-morning. In the afternoon Panos Leventis came to the island and gave us a very interesting lecture on his work on the Third Plateia of Athens. The project comprises the re-structuring --in a contemporary manner-- of an entire urban sector on the area around the Thesion to implement in Athens a project which should have been realized when the two other squares, Omonia and Sindagma, were completed in the last century. After his lecture, Panos bacame our guest critic in the final leg of the crits which had begun in the ferry. This crit marked the end of the course. Tomorrow Saturday we had planned a trip to Hydra that will be cancelled due to turbulent weather conditions in the Aegean Sea. The forecast calls for force 9 in the Beaufort scale, in other words very strong winds and high seas.

On a good note: Aliki played doctor today and removed Man-Kam's cast. She will be able to set her right foot on Greek soil again. Ilana Altman who suffered a mild case of allergy to insect bites and Rand Abbas a case of mild sun overexposure, both in Santorini, have recuperated well.

It is Saturday 3 June 2000. At noon today everybody submitted their sketch-books, photographs, and course thematic syntheses. The course has arrived at its end. Tonight we will be dining together, as a group, for the last time in Greece. Tomorrow, several of the class members will be departing in the evening. We will go to the airport where we will have to camp due to the uncomfortable departure time: 6:00 a.m., which means that we have to be there by about 3:00 a.m. The rest will be departing from Aegina on Monday.

It will be difficult to say our good-byes since friendships have been cemented and the extraordinary "spirit du corps" which characterized this year's 28 member group will be finally split. However, it is time to now to pack and begin our individual journeys carrying with us some extraordinary memories of enchanted landscapes, clear deep waters, welcoming hosts, supportive friends, and powerful architectural ensembles. All together the SCG2000 has been a memorable experience!!!!

Sunday has arrived. For practical purposes the Summer Course in Greece 2000 has finished. 17 of us will be leaving for various destinations tonight followed tomorrow by the rest of the group.

Last evening was truly memorable as we all gathered for our farewell dinner. The group presented Aliki and me with wonderful gifts that we will always cherish. The presentation of the gifts took place after a wonderful farewell-synthesis-thank-you song composed and interpreted choraly by the members of the group--soon to be posted. Zoso, our Aegetinetan hotel host prepared three cakes for three of our members whose birthdays fall around these days (Allison, Rand, and Urek). Thousands of photos were taken. They were complemented by unavoidable tears.

As those in charge of this course, Aliki and I want to express once more our gratitude to this exceptional group of individuals who made this journey possible.