I've officially been abroad for two weeks. Two weeks of good food, great friends, and countless new memories. How I became lucky enough to experience this is beyond me, but I am so thankful.
Throughout the last week, classes have really began to kick in with homework flowing and project deadlines being set. The class structure is very different than what I am more familiar. The professors here never actually "lecture," as they are firm believers in discussion as it is more engaging and can broaden our learning experience. Although I enjoy all my classes, my favorite thus far is my Animal Wellness class. Our professor, Dr. Vergos, is a very intelligent man that has an appreciation for agriculture across the world and plenty of firsthand experiences in operations all over. He also is a HUGE coffee lover and doesn't mind sharing a pot of coffee with us, which I appreciate immensely. The agriculture industry here is very, very different than that of the United States. Everything back home is so much more advanced and with ample resources. Everything here is. . . small, scarce, and much more primitive. I will admit that it's difficult joining in during discussion as I'm so accustomed to high production agriculture where the number one goal is producing the highest quality product and as much of it possible with the least amount of input possible. Not that this is not a goal here, but with the resources available (or lack there of) it isn't as easily attainable. The average dairy here is profiting 4-500€ per cow per lactation. If a hoof trimmer were to be called out, the visit alone would be roughly 200€, even if it were for only treating one cow. The moment the hoof trimmer is called, the producer's profit on that cow is split in half, leaving them in hopes that they don't have any future issues. Nutrition here is also completely different with many feedstuffs, even including corn or soybean products, being very limited. For dairies to feed a ration similar to that of dairies in the United States could never be feasible, both cost and resource wise.
It is extremely interesting learning about the other forms of animal agriculture here though, as there are many sheep and goat producers throughout the country, even many nomadic producers! Cattle for the most part, are just overall too much for farmers, so smaller species are much more practical. There are countless "local breeds" that through years of natural selection are well versed with the terrain and feed sources available. Many of these local breeds are also dual purpose, meaning they can be used for both meat and dairy, which is very beneficial for producers.
Despite all the time I've spent in the classroom and working on assignments, I have also had time for some fun stuff! Luckily, I was fortunate to find someone that enjoys shopping just as much as I do, so we went on an all day shopping trip downtown as neither of us had class that day. Cameron and I visited countless stores and shops, scoring some awesome finds. Even mainstream franchises like Nike and Polo had way different merchandise that I've never seen in the United States! It was incredible! I definitely spent way more than I should have, but that'll happen. Friday night was also an adventure as we all went out for the night for the first time! Greeks are much different than Americans and typically don't "start" their nights until late, like midnight late, and go until 6 in the morning. We definitely couldn't keep up with that and only stayed out for a few hours before we all had to call it a night. It was exhausting and probably not something I'd ever do again, but at least I can now say I did!
To say I'm missing home is an understatement. Although it's always stressful, exhausting, and not always fun, I really miss working out in the fields. Except for getting yelled at over the radio, fellow grain cart drivers, you know what I mean. I also miss Iowa State and all my friends, but I know we'll have plenty of fun when I'm back! Hopefully week three goes by quickly as we are going to Rome for the weekend! Almost all of us are going on this trip so it should be a great time, I'm hoping to visit Vatican City and see some of the Roman Ruins. Then the next weekend. . . we leave for a week in Santorini and Crete! We're still on the planning and coordinating stage of that trip but I have no doubt it'll be anything short of amazing!
Stay tuned!
Andrea