Woke up crazy early. Took the metro with Nick (also working with Accenture). Then got to Kiffisia (area Accenture is in). NONE of the taxi drivers knew how to get there. So a five minute distance took 20 minutes and we had to keep calling our HR contact for help. Got there, signed papers, were given laptops/cases. Then we met the CEO (Yale alum, nephew is a current student). Talked to him for about fifteen minutes. Then we were given our assignments- I was sent to work at Vodafone. Nick went to Eurobank.
The Vodafone building is crazy- it’s actually a complex of like five or six buildings. There’s really intense security- you need a badge (I have to swipe to get through the entry, into my building, onto my floor). You have to put your bags through a scanner too. Came up. I got assigned to work with a woman Tanya- she’s a manager early 30s, just had a kid a few months ago. She’s really nice- very surprised that I wasn’t a computer science major though. That day I was starving and we ate really late (lunch at 3ish- she bought me a sandwich which was nice- there’s a café downstairs where I eat everyday- usually a sandwich sometimes food from home). She assigned me about 800 pages of ‘familiarize yourself reading.’ It was extremely stressful because I didn’t know how to get to and from the Vodafone building where I now work. I was also absolutely exhausted- dad assured me it would be a short introductory day but instead I had a legit work day. Had to take a taxi home and got home a little after 8. Super tiring day for having gone to bed so late- wasn’t expecting to dive straight in. We cooked I think pesto pasta with tuna and green beans that night- it was surprisingly delicious. Our key ingredients in almost every dish are chili flakes and garlic.
from the trusty moleskin: apparently it took 2 hours to get to work. (*i like that my memory for food is the best- we did in fact have the pesto pasta the first day).
Transportation saga: figuring out how to get there was HELL. I was pretty comfortable with the metro- there’s a station a little over 10 minutes away from our apartment. The closest station is about 40 minutes from where I work though. I tried walking that once- was a pain- definitely can't do that in the greek summer in my suit with my laptop. Online the bus/trolley routes are not finished. Also they aren’t translated into English or even by location- it tell you what bus stops are on a line but not where those stops are- they’re just random names. I was too awkward (of course) to get in touch with mom’s friend Sarita, but finally did. She was able to find out which buses/trolley s take me there. Now I pick up the number 10 right at the stadium and it stops directly in front of Vodafone which is really nice- only about 20-30 minutes ride. It usually comes to the stadium around 8:50 am. I usually have to wait 10-20 minutes to go back. In the mornings the trolley is SUPER CROWDED- really gross bc people are chubby, sweaty, and generally don’t use deodorant- or at least not as much as they should. Also standing and being pushed while carrying my tote and lap top case is annoying- I like my personal space. Also tragic are the strikes. There are so many strikes- average of one a week (some don’t have any some weeks multiple). If it’s just for metro then the buses become ridiculously crowded. General strikes are a pain too- a lot of people like even doctors, lawyers, and air traffic take off but not me! A general strike means I have to take a taxi which also sucks. It’s really hard to get a taxi those days (takes me 10-20 minutes of running after them).
Taxis are very confusing. First of all they can take multiple passengers with different destinations- but you don’t’ share the cost with the other passengers. This leads to many stops. This also means a taxi just slows down rather than stops to ask you where you are going because they may not be able to pick you up (if they have another passenger). Also- ohi means no. but it a) sounds like ok b) the gesture isn’t shaking your head but it’s a nod kind of like a ‘sup nod. Ne means yes- which sounds like no. So running beside a taxi for 20 minutes I get really confused with the ohi’s versus the ne’s.
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