Nauplion: Kelly

We arrived in Nauplion after a long day of driving and climbing up the Acrocorinth. The town is very different from Athens. It was definitely a lot smaller of a city and was much more authentically, or maybe typically, Greek. The area was more residential and I saw many houses, schools, churches, and little local businesses as I jogged around the neighborhood. It is on the coast, so the town had a very easy, laid back feel. It seemed as if it was also a place where Athenians vacationed to get away from the bustle of Athens, which can probably get extremely draining. There was much less English used in Nauplion. I found myself unable to communicate with the locals, which was almost scary because there was no way to get my words across. It was so shocking because I rely on speaking so much everyday, and it was hard to not be able to do that in Nauplion. Also, I have never been outside of the United States, so I have never dealt with this. It made me realize how hard it must be
for immigrants to come to America knowing little or no English and trying to start new lives with their families. The language barrier must be so hard to overcome. At dinner, a couple danced for us. They did traditional Greek dances, which were entertaining, especially since America does not really have a cultural dance. They were really trying to get us involved and include us in their culture. After dinner, we went for a walk to see the fortress, which most Peloponnesian cities seemed to have. It was lit up and looked very magestic and ominous. It definitely seemed to be guarding the city. When we went out, we definitely noticed a few differences than going out in America. The bars were all in a row, and all of them had blaring techno music playing. It was hard to talk to people, but people didn't dance either. Everyone was just kind of bobbing their heads. There were not many women out, and even when there were women, it seemed as if they had boyfriends or husbands. This might show that it is not culturally normal for a group of single women to go out to the bars together. Also we noticed that the Greeks do not get ridiculously drunk like some people do in America. This shows the different drinking cultures between America and Greece.