"Once one embraces the newness of travel, one becomes better acquainted with cities, unmasking its treasures, flaws, and---if lucky---contradictions."

After my first semester of graduate school at the European Institute, I found myself seduced by Mediterranean studies and Greece in particular. Although I intended to study British politics and culture, I spent hours researching the Parthenon marbles and reading novels from all corners of the jagged sea. I had never been to this world that I stumbled upon, and I did not want the sights and sounds of Greece to be mere images in textbooks and place settings in novels. So, like the grand tourists before me, I journeyed to Athens in my chariot: a rickety aisle seat on American Airlines.

In my seven days, I entered the most extraordinary whirlwind. In addition to guided tours of noteworthy museums, ruins, and archives, I bemoaned the fate of my "son" on stage, pounded clay into an elegant mug, and swam in the warm waters of Egina. Not only was I a student of this historical city, frequenting sights from antiquity, but I was an observer of modern Athens, witnessing its graffitied walls, political ephemera, and complicated relationship with tourists. (Once you discover that multiple Greek eateries claim to "make the best gyro," you know it is time to circumvent the tourist snares.) With this constant stream of new information, I never wanted to leave the whirlwind. Even as I sift through my memories, I long to return, hoping to run around the narrow streets while avoiding the slippery white street tiles.

On a final note, I will say this. When one ventures abroad, one must surrender to discomfort. Language, local geography, and even door locks, all utterly forgettable symbols of familiarity, become a task to master. Once one embraces the newness of travel, one becomes better acquainted with cities, unmasking its treasures, flaws, and—if lucky—contradictions. It is okay to not know at first. Cluelessness, despite its unflattering reputation, is crucial for learning about unfamiliar lands. I can only hope that I take this lesson and apply it beyond the gates of 116th street.