A Trip of a Lifetime

Traveling has always been a goal in my life, and traveling to Greece topped the places I wanted to see the most. When I got the opportunity to come to Greece on an internship, I was overjoyed, ecstatic, and a little scared. I had never travelled to Europe before, and never by myself. A new place, a new language, and many new experiences. However, being in Greece these past 3 months has taught me so much about Greece, life, and myself.

Alisha (and umbrella) in the theatre at Delphi

When I began my internship in the second week of January I started with accessioning the many newly acquired books and journals, as well as learning what an intern was expected to do, such as hostel laundry. The most important thing, as was stressed to me, was the sandwich making for CIG events - I had never boiled an egg before so when everyone said it all hung on those tasty tuna and egg salad sandwiches, I was terrified! However, after our first event, I was told I passed with flying colours. I also was introduced to the other jobs I would be performing while at the institute. I started on continuing where the last intern had left off in digitizing archives and publications for the future CIG digital archive of our previous fieldwork and excavations.

I also wanted to learn more about the archaeological world while here in Greece, and I can certainly say that through my work digitizing old archaeological papers, as well as attending many lectures on the subject, and meeting many people who work in the field, I feel much more aware of what being an archaeologist really means - and it’s not all beer and darts!

Alisha at Mycenae

However it was not all work and no play! Most of my free time I spent trying to take in as much of Greece as possible. Almost every weekend I was blessed with beautiful weather and was out around the country seeing places like Corinth, Aegina, Meteora and Mycenae. During the week I would wander about Athens and the many treasures it holds. I also had the amazing opportunity to travel with some foreign school programs here to Delphi, as well as many sites on Crete, which I am eternally grateful for. It was very exciting to me to see all these places and things I learned about in school, and to see them in context! Things such as the fact that Greeks were an “acropolis people” didn’t really strike me until I had to climb a fair few of them!

Alisha at Knossos

Seeing this absolutely breathtaking country was something I’ll never forget. Though I’m saying goodbye, I know now it certainly will not be forever. There are so many more places I would like to see, and more people I would like to meet. Three months went by too fast. To the Canadian Institute as well as the University of Waterloo: ευχαριστώ πολύ for this amazing opportunity!

Alisha Adams
University of Waterloo