Arrived in Athens!

Well, I arrived last night, and already it feels like I've been here a lifetime. We've packed in our time here in Athens, going out to dinner and walking around a bit last night, and then waking up early this morning (not on purpose, my internal clock is very messed up) and walking around more. I should invest in a step counter because there's been so much walking and exploring today!
The locals are pretty nice. I say "Calimera" which means "good morning" to them, and they smile and respond with the same thing, or something else that I don't understand. The lady at the Gelato shop (yes, I found a gelato shop on the first day here...I would right) was extremely friendly, and I was serenaded by a cute old man playing acoustic guitar, and he dedicated a song to me, and I played a song for him.
Everywhere you look there's another beautiful view, another angle that wasn't the same as the one before.
Already I've taken about 200 photos.
We explored the Acropolis, and the Parthenon. The construction of it is absolutely incredible, and I felt so small in comparison. There is scaffolding all along the side though, apparently it only took them 15 years to make, but our professor said that the scaffolding has been up for 25 years at least...in the process of simply restoring it. Already I'm soaking in so much history, and absolutely loving it.
The narrow streets are filled with poorly parked cars, fast carefree motorcycles, and little cars that you can hear in the surrounding streets but are never really sure where they are or where they're coming from. There are stray dogs and cats EVERYWHERE. Just lying in the sun and sleeping. And there are little kids that play accordions for money on the street too. Melts my heart and takes everything in me not to give every Euro I have to them.
Tomorrow we take the ferry to Paros! I am beyond excited to see where I will be living for the next 3 months, and explore yet another new place. Still hasn't sunk in that I'm here, with people I just met, far away from home and everything I knew. The distractions here help keep me from missing anything too much. This trip has already been more than I could imagine, I feel like I'm living someone else's life.
Can't wait for the rest of the adventures!
Thanks for all the encouragement, and especially to those who wrote me letters on the plane! They made me smile and just cemented that this journey is what I'm supposed to be doing right now.