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On Wednesday our optional excursion to Nipos, Crete. Located about 1.5 hours from our hotel in the mountains of Crete. We visited such a quaint little village far away from tourism and filled only with locals,we were fortunate to be invited to be involved in such a ‘real’ Greek experience.
Students and staff quickly donned their aprons and washed their hands, it was time to start making our dinner, one course at a time. All of our students were highly engaged in learning how to prepare Gemista (stuffed vegetables) and Dolmades (stuffed vine leaves). Students prepared a feast for all of us but this was only one course. Next students prepared Greek salad, or the Crete version of the Greek salad. To go with some fresh bread students made Tzatziki from scratch, it was fun seeing students realize how much water is in cucumbers when they were asked to squeeze their grated cucumber to get all the water out of them.
While waiting for our stuffed vegetables to bake, students sat to eat our salad and taste our fresh Tzatziki. Students were all smiles while tasting the food they prepared themselves. Lots of laughs and stories were shared at our big family table overlooking the Crete mountain landscape. After eating students became distracted by a horse and then a farmer asked us if we would like to see one of his sheep’s sheered. Everyone had their phone out to witness this while the farmer helped that sheep get a little cooler by removing its thick coat of hair. The farmer continued to show us how to milk this sheep too. Students were shocked and engaged while the farmer quickly filled up a large bowl with milk. One of our students, Brooks, volunteered to milk the sheep himself. Brooks, you did a great job!
After all this excitement we sat down for our main course which was chicken and potatoes as well as an eggplant dish for our vegetarians. Dessert was prepared by the students, cheese pie dipped in honey. Everyone was stuffed for the ride back to the hotel.
This experience is not something students will soon forget and I imagine they will be telling the story of this day for the rest of their lives!
Jason – Program Manager
