From the Archaeological Museum at Delphi.

I left the apartment at 8:30 for my 9:30 Comparative class.

We started class in the seminar room at 9:30. At about 9:45 there was a knock at the door. A professor told me he had class in the room at 10. We gathered our things, and I suggested that since there were so few (three students and me) that we could just go downstairs and have class in the coffee shop. Professor Sorogas's assistant (a grad student) suggested we use his office, which we did and it was fine.

Late night in Delphi.

Stelios (the department chair) was very upset. He wasn't angry with me, but with the professor who interrupted my class. He apologized and assured me (in a loud voice) that it would never happen again. I told him it wasn't a big deal and he nearly screamed that it was a big deal, and that his faculty needs to be more professional; that my use of the room had been arranged properly and evidently the guy who wanted in there at 10 didn't do what he should have.

My documentary students - all Greek - told me they didn't get PowerPoint in most of their classes. The Austrian, Polish and Portuguese student all said it was pretty normal. I can't generalize based on that sample, but it is an observation.

Sunset on the beach - about 200 yards from the apartment (it's not an eclipse - that's just the blogging camera).

Class went well. Afterwards I met Kim and Nicole and we went to the National Historical Museum. The museum does not cover Ancient Greece, but rather begins in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople. It seemed especially focused on oppression by the Ottomans and the centuries of conflict.

Portraits of war heroes at the museum.

After the museum we walked, got some street food (souvlaki) and went back to the apartment. I then left at 7 to make an 8 p.m. board meeting of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Program. They do a lot of educational philanthropy, including supporting Fulbright. Of the scholars in Greece this year, they selected me as the one they would support. That means their donation to Fulbright this year was earmarked to support my grant. They had a ceremony in January when they handed out their grants, but I wasn't here, so they handed me my certificate tonight. I am officially awarded the Alpha Medal of Scholastic Excellence. Yes, the certificate will hang in my office and I will proudly add a line to my resume.

Implements of war - dozens of cases filled.

One of the gentlemen I met tonight at the AHEPA meeting actually spent a year at Ball State in the 1970s. He had gotten a graduate degree in NY and still had funding remaining. He ended up in Indy, so he decided to take a year's classes in marketing. He told me he had a Turkish professor, who I assume to have been Kumcu. It's a good think I always carry a little Ball State souvenir with me - I was able to give him a pen.

I didn't know the term "figurehead" referred to the carved wooden heads on the prows of ships. This one represents Aries and is made to look like Alexander.

The museum is actually housed in what used to be the Greek Parliament building. Here's the main chamber.