That’s Greek to me!

This idiom does not reflect at all what the participants in the Erasmus+ LLTA and meeting that took place in Athens at the end of March experienced: youngsters and adults from Navalcarnero (Spain), London (England), Prague (Czech Republic), and Turin (Italy) met their Athenian peers in the most idyllic setting – under the magnificent shade of the Acropolis.

For five days we mingled with Greek culture and people, ate a lot of aubergine and feta cheese (when in Greece, do as the Greeks do…, or was it the other great civilization?), and experienced all four seasons in a week as we even had snow, rain, and sun all on the same day. But let’s focus on what matters: what did we do while our stay in Athens?

Monday was the beginning of the great adventure: while two people from each country met for the transnational meeting that had been arranged, the participants and those accompanying them attended the LTTA. During the meeting, many decisions were discussed regarding the organization and planning of the project, roles were assigned, and goals were checked. Moreover, dates were finally set for each remaining training and transnational meeting, mostly focussing on the organization of those in London as that was the next destination. What a productive day!

In the meantime, our participants had an introductory workshop, in which we got to know better the rest of the participants. Various ice-breaker activities were done, as well as each person had the chance to introduce themselves and the place they came from. Then, in the afternoon, after having a snack, everybody went sightseeing around the city, enjoying the views of the Acropolis until Zeus decided to throw some thunderbolts and sent everybody inside for the evening.

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On Tuesday, some more Greek ancient culture was waiting for the participants, in this case Greek theatre: we learnt about Oedipus and his interesting family history, and we gave voice to some of his children in a multicultural mix.

Later on, we got to know another very Greek trait: they like their food, and that means abundance. Those who asked for a chicken breast and ended up facing almost a whole chicken had it difficult to get to their next destination: the National Museum of Contemporary Art. The final opinions on what had been seen in there were greatly varied, but we all reached the same conclusion: those pieces made us feel – better or worse, yes – but they had achieved their goal. Yet, this conversation could not happen till later that evening at the hotel, as Zeus got moody again and the way back to the hotel was an adventure fit for Odysseus. 

On Wednesday, the well-known group The Speakers proved how important body language is, not only in theatre but real life too. Body posture and gestures were discussed, giving practical examples, and letting the participants express themselves and analyse how they felt speaking in public, and what their peers’ body language told them about how they were feeling when facing an audience.

On that day, some people decided to try the whole chicken again for lunch, but once again the chicken was the winner in that fight. With a full stomach, we headed to Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, where we could visit its roof-gardens and some art exhibitions that were shown inside.

Despite all these wonderful activities, the most enjoyable for most of us was on Thursday and Friday. We welcomed the Greek actress Nikoletta Vlavianou, who trained us to become birds in our own adaptations of Aristophanes’ Greek comedy The Birds. 

We came up with our own tweets, singing in a chorus; and our own flying movements that were used in the creation of four short tragedies, which were in the end mixed to create a performance that ended up with loads of confetti and a very cute bird badge for each of the participants.

Moreover, 25^th March is Greek Independence Day, so on Friday we also had the chance to see all army forces marching the streets, some fighter aircrafts flying above our heads, and some music bands parading around the city.

Finally, the weather had decided to shine on us for those two days, so the afternoon plans were also greatly enjoyed such as going for a nice walk on Filopappou Hill and watching a beautiful sunset from up there. There could have not been a better end to our Athenian adventure.