Three years ago, when I first came to Greece, I immediately fell in love
with the culture, food, and the language... as well as their ancient
history (that is a given). Since then, I’ve tried to find any reason I
could to go back. I have done field schools, but that did not seem
enough. I emailed some of my professors from when I was at Wilfrid
Laurier, and found out that the institute had an opening for an
internship. I grasped that chance and you could say I jumped on the next
plane out of Canada, I was so excited. The moment I arrived (a day late
because of snowy weather cancelling flights) it felt like I was back
home. My internship in Athens has been as fulfilling as I imagined. It
is not all work and no play, actually, it’s very much the opposite.
During the week day I was leading the inventory of the library while
Matt, the other intern from Waterloo University, was the social media
guru, otherwise we’d be out exploring what Athens had to offer.
The inventory of the books in the library was needed to be done for many
reasons. It’s been a few years since one has been completed, so this
gave us a chance to clear out any duplicates, check the condition of the
older books, and locate any that were MIA. The inventory had two
separate processes, one for monographs and the other for periodicals.
The inventory was also done for the big move! The Canadian Institute’s
new building is in the process of improvements to house the library and
the archives. As an intern I also did a number of tasks, such as
delivering books, became master builder of Ikea furniture, and prepared
delicious treats for lectures held. I was able to attend many lectures
and open meetings throughout my stay. It is always fun to dress up, make
connections in the archaeology world, visit other foreign schools, and
of course enjoy glasses of free wine.
A goal of mine while staying in Athens was to work on my Greek (speaking
and reading). I took my time to practice learning and working on basic
phrases and numbers to get by at the grocery stores, restaurants,
museums and sites. I seemed to have mastered my numbers at the Farmers
market which I went to every Friday. The
Laiki Agora (Λαϊκή
αγορά) was overwhelming to the senses. I became almost awestruck taking
in the bright colours of the fresh fruit and veg, the smell of flowers
in the air, tasting the sweetest honey, and hearing shouts of the of
the farmers yell their prices. Tuesdays were saved for the Red Lion.
These nights we walk over to the pub and socialize, enjoy a beer and
play many rounds of darts with people from other foreign institutes.
I’d have to say my favourite part of my experience in Athens was the
weekend get-away. Travelling to wondrous ancient sites and museums was
the topping on the cake. In this I was not alone. Other interns from the
Swedish, Norwegian, British and American institutes became my travel
buddies. I’d say my most memorable weekend outing was the trip to Cape
Sounio. The sunsets at the ancient Temple of Poseidon (Ακρωτήριο Σουνιο)
are as gorgeous as they are famous. Standing here on this hill top you
feel the power of the ocean that surrounds the cape and hill top temple
dedicated to the God of the Sea.
In other spare time, you’d find us out wining and dining. We loved to
check out local taverns with delicious Greek cuisine and abundance of
delicious red wine (you can probably tell by now that Dionysus would be
my patron god). I am now skilled at navigating and travelling the metro,
and can proudly say I’m starting to memorize the streets of this
growing city like the back of my hand. There are always many more
stories to share about my time working at the Canadian Institute and my
traveling adventures around the country with amazing sites to see, but
you’ll have to ask me. I am very grateful at this privilege and time
here to expand the knowledge and interest of ancient/modern Greek
culture and its archaeological history.
Katy Lamb
Wilfrid Laurier University Intern, Spring 2018
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