Who were the mysterious Blues Brothers at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece??

“I’m not leaving the Acropolis until we get a photo with those Blues Brothers!” I declared to my companions from our Greece Teacher Tour.

We were standing next to the 2,500-year-old Parthenon (the “Most Perfect Building Ever Created”) under the radiant sun in Athens… but I couldn’t take my eyes off of the five men dressed in spiffy black suits who were milling around like typical tourists.

“Why do you think they’re wearing those costumes?” I asked, aching to know. “Is it something religious? Are they secret service? Are they a Men in Black anti-alien brigade? What are they DOING here?”

“Quit wondering and let’s find out!” my fellow Boston teacher, Jen exclaimed. With that, she strode towards the men.

These men in costumes brought us so much random joy.

“Wait!” I called out. “What if they’re dangerous???”

Jen returned thirty seconds later with the five men trailing obediently behind her.

“They’ve agreed to pose for photographs with us!” she proclaimed.

“Indeed,” said one of the chaps in a refined British accent.

“Who ARE you?” I breathed in awe.

“Oh,” said another gent with a voice like a famous London actor, “we always do this costume thing when we travel. We just fancy touring the world in Blues Brothers costumes. That’s all.”

“That is AWESOME,” I sighed.

At first we thought there were only four Blues Brothers, but more kept coming.

“Do you perform at weddings?” my coworker, Cathy, asked jokingly.

“Yes, sometimes,” the men replied quite seriously.

At that point, I was so overwhelmed with the joy of randomness that I yanked everyone out in front of the Parthenon to start snapping photos. The results adorn this article.

I doubt even the Oracle of Delphi could have predicted that a highlight of our entire Greece tour would be frolicking with five men dressed as the Blues Brothers at the Parthenon.

Help us track down these costumed men so we can thank them for being great!

But here is the heartbreak: In the haze of our exultation, I neglected to give my business card to these men before we descended the Acropolis. This means that I now have no way of contacting them to say THANK YOU for making us smile.

So, dear readers, here is your challenge: Help me track down and contact this gaggle of gentlemen who travel the world wearing Blues Brothers costumes. They can’t be that hard to find if they really always tour in those outfits, right? Put out the inquiry through your social networks, and let’s what we find! And to sweeten the deal: a mystery reward shall go to the person who succeeds in finding these fellows! Let the games begin.

Traditional Greek dancing with traditional fluffy white Man Skirts.

Traditional Greek dance consists of men in fluffy white skirts spinning and jumping. And it’s great!

On our last day in beautiful Nafplio, Greece, our Greece teacher travel tour nestled into a golden-lit family restaurant for a traditional dance performance. Hoo boy!

While the two female Greek dancers maintained a stately dignity throughout, the male dancer duo went wild. Did the fluffy white skirts bring out their inner male dancing beasts???

UP went the arms of the two male dancers, swirling and intertwining as they hurled forward then backward, then around in a frenzied circle, dragging the two women hither and thither with ecstatic abandon.

“Oh my,” the Greek ladies seemed to be gasping through their frozen half smiles.

Wild Greek dancing means the Man Skirts lift to show Man Tights!

“Ahhh!” a fellow Boston teacher squealed, “look at that man move!”

Indeed, I looked up just in time to see the more rotund of the two men leaping into the air, landing into a half split, flipping upside-down, then lifting his smaller counterpart aloft.

“WOOSH!” went the fluffy white Man Skirts as they flipped upward to expose an eyeful of white Man Tights. (“Mights?”)

“Eeeiii!” screamed my Boston coworker.

“Tee hee!” I replied.

As the dancers thumped towards us with their pom-pom-toed booties and yanked us onto the dance floor for the next hour, I suddenly got really happy. Sometimes I forget: I love to dance, and the wilder the dance is, the happier I get!

As I pranced around, my mind flashed through memories of other parts of the world, and this question surfaced: Why are Americans so afraid of dance?

A "dancing intermission" during a school event in Ghana, West Africa.

Have you ever noticed that the hips of Americans are basically cemented into immobility due to a lifetime lack of dancing?

Travel down to Latin America and people can gyrate on command, but at a recent Boston Zumba class I attended, the instructor was forced to devote a third of the class just to practicing rump circles. “Creeeaak!” groaned our rigid hip tendons. We just couldn’t move them, because we rarely do.

What a waste of our bodies to keep them immobile, when they really just want to MOVE!

We love your style and flair, traditional Greek dancers!

And what about dance in schools? Dancing brings people joy (once we get over any imbedded cultural fear), so why keep that joy from children?

In the small town in Ghana, West Africa where I taught for three months, all school events had a dancing intermission: a mid-way break where music poured forth and both students and teachers rocked out!

I thank the Greek dancers in their skirts for helping me wonder: Would the students in the Boston school where I teach enjoy having a dancing intermission every now and then??? 

Want to read another article about a country where men wear a fashion that Americans see as female? Click here to read about naked man-belly shirts in China!

We decided to get our hands on those oranges on our last morning in Nafplio, as a heavenly pit-stop on our bus travel back to Athens.

Walk with me now as we pull into the orchard, climb off the bus, scamper past the goats, and revel in the glorious green, orange, blue, and gold of picking fruit in Greece! Oh, and keep your eyes out for some kittens…

And that was our delicious day in Nafplio, the most delightful town in Greece that we toured. Who would have thought that picking fruit would be a highlight of our Greece teacher tour? I’m now adding this as a budget travel secret: For an inexpensive and awesome day activity, find a farm or orchard to cavort around! Fresh air plus fresh fruit equals fantastic-ness.

This was our heavenly breakfast view in Nafplion, Greece. WOW.

“Why are we staying longer in Nafplio than in the other towns in Greece?” we on the Greece Teacher Travel Tour asked our guide, Mara.

Mara smiled knowingly. “You will understand once we arrive,” she replied.

Oh, we soon understood all right. Pictures do far, far more justice to Nafplio than words, so restrain yourself from licking the screen as I walk you through the hills, oceanside, and delicious architecture of this stunning Greek town.

This church is so gleaming white against the cobalt sky that I want to hug it!

We had a phenomenal writing workshop in the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies led by famed writer, Sarah Ellis. If you look closely you can see drawings on my notepad!

There's a majestic fortress overlooking Nafplio from a hill. You can climb it if you're brave!

Here is the central town square of Nafplio. Charming! Note the Italian influence on the architecture.

Cafes and palm trees line the walkway as it stretches along the ocean. See the cruise ship in the distance?

The colorful stores and restaurants of Nafplio beckon for you to enter. And we did.

As the sun set, I snapped so many photos, my fingers hurt!

This was the staircase up the hill led to our hotel. It helps to be in shape in Nafplio! See the graffiti? Greece has a lot of it, which is upsetting, but in rare cases it looks almost artistic.

Should I wear my hair like this to my upcoming wedding??? Joke, joke...

This is the view from the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Nafplio. Hmm... Why do you think they picked the location for their building? Well done, Harvard.

So what do you think? Would YOU like to visit Nafplio??
For more Greece Teacher Tour articles, click here!

The Edcamp Unconference schedule being created!

Everything I know about learning has shifted.

Today I attended my first UnConference: EdCamp Boston 2012, and it was a day-long revelation. To explain what happened today, let me awkwardly interview myself.

Q: What the heck is an UnConference?

A: In an UnConference, a bunch of like-minded people get together at an appointed venue and time. In the case of EdCamp Boston, 400 folks interested in Education converged on a gloriously sunny day at the Microsoft NERD center. (Yes, it is really called “The NERD.”)

There are no official speakers. Instead, the conference launches in the morning with anyone who wants to present a workshop writing their proposal onto a giant sticky note and slapping it into a massive schedule posted on a wall.

An UnConference must take place in a venue with many different rooms or nooks so that several workshops can take place simultaneously. At EdCamp Boston 2012, there were 15 presentation spaces and seven time slots to sign up for.

The central meeting area which launched and concluded EdCamp Boston.

After everyone who wants to present has posted their workshop proposal, conference volunteers copy the schedule on a communal online Google Spreadsheet. (Click here for the completed schedule for EdCamp Boston 2012.) Participants can then walk in and out of any workshops they desire. “Vote with your feet!” urged one of the organizers. “If a workshop doesn’t match what you’re seeking, walk out and find one that does!”

Our day ended with a 50-minute “Smackdown” in which anyone could get up and present anything for 2 minutes to the entire 400-person audience!

Q: Did you present anything during EdCamp Boston 2012, Lillie?

A: Why, thanks for asking, Lillie! Indeed, I did. In the first slot, I ran a workshop on Global Education: Ways for teachers to travel cheap or free (with or without students), and methods of “Cyber-Traveling” without leaving home through online GlobalEd resources.

The view from the NERD Center is beautiful. And I ran into my high school ELA teacher at EdCamp!

Next, I called a meetup for Education folks who run websites, and we launched a new online discussion group for Education Bloggers. Third, I ran a simulation of the BoomWriter.com online writing competition site. Finally, during the Smackdown, I shared 7 of my favorite Education sites, including FreeTech4Teachers.com, TurnItIn.com, and GlobalEducation.ning.com. So many ideas and resources exchanged today!

Can you tell how enjoyable UnConference learning is?

Q: What were the people like?

A: It was absolutely INSPIRATIONAL to interact all day with such brilliant, fun, fascinating educators.

Q: How has this altered your understanding of learning?

A: This UnConference was one of the most effective Professional Development and learning structures I’ve ever seen, because it is so democratic, participatory, and stimulating.

There’s nothing like having CHOICE and VOICE to make you pay attention and care!

Word is that several schools and districts (and even some individual classrooms) are adopting the UnConference model for learning…

Readers, what do you think of this UnConference idea? Have you ever been to one? Would you like to?

1. Greek Salad: Feta, tomato, cucumber, onion, and olive oil.

The ancient Greek gods did a lot of eating of their children.

Zeus ate Athena’s pregnant mother, only to have his daughter spring out of his head once Hephaestus split it open with an axe.

Cronus ate his first five children until his wife tricked him by switching a tasty rock for baby Zeus.

Inspired by the ravenous appetites of the Greek gods, on this teacher tour of Greece, we have been eating like monsters.

Only, instead of infants, we have been eating amazing Greek food! The freshness and deliciousness of the cuisine here thrills us.

Here is a tour of just a few Greek culinary delights which we adore.

Flaky, flavorful Spinach Pie. Scrumptious!

1. Right above, you will see Greek Salad.

At home in America, tomatoes and cucumbers are kind of lame.

They’re soggy, water-flavored, and free at Subway to add to sandwiches because no one really cares about them.

In Greece, however, these foods make a salad bursting with joy!

2. To your right, gaze at Spinach Pie.

Our tour guide, Mara, explained that every town has a different recipe for this dish, but they are all delicious!

The Spinach Pie we indulged in today had a light-as-wind crust which melted in our mouths with a delicate, “Crunch!” that led into the zing of moist spinach and feta.

Tzatziki Sauce: Yogurt, cucumber, garlic, salt, and olive oil.

Yum!

3. To the left, let your eyes be soothed by the Tzatziki Sauce.

Tzatziki has been served at every meal we have eaten here, and adds a cooling, refreshing smoothness to food.

My coworker who is also on this trip insists that it’s both easy and delicious to make Tzatziki at home, and we may need to learn how to, we’ve so gotten in the habit of eating it.

Whenever we try to order anything at a restaurant, the waiter unfailingly reprimands:

“You want Tzatziki, too, RIGHT??”

It’s almost a threat. But clearly, there’s a reason it’s so ubiquitous: Tzatziki is good!

Gigantes: Massive and "soft as a sheep brain" beans!

4. To the right, check out Gigantes: Giant White Beans!

“You MUST try them,” gushed our Greek co-tour-er, Gilda. “They are soft as a sheep’s brain!”

“WHAT?!” I gasped, aghast. “Sheep brain?!?!”

“Yes,” smiled Gilda serenely. “In Greece we enjoy eating sheep brain, and it is very soft and delicious.”

Gigantes are giant beans, not brains, but whatever you desire to compare them to, they are fluffy and great!

This post could go on and on about the other foods we’ve loved having in our mouths and tummies this week in Greece.

We ate lunch today under the palm trees, sun, and ACROPOLIS!

But for now, let’s turn our eyes from our plates of luscious food to the location of the restaurant in which we ate lunch today.

We were in Athens, Greece, under a sun umbrella, under a palm tree, under the sapphire blue sky and golden sun, gazing up at…

…the Parthenon high atop the ancient Greek Acropolis!!!!!

Odds are, we enjoyed our meal far more than Zeus liked his baby Athena sandwich.

Flexing with a fellow Boston teacher at the original site of the Olympics in Olympia, Greece!

I never realized the sheer amount of nudity in the ancient Olympic Games until our teacher tour of Olympia, Greece this week.

At the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece!

“The ancient Greek Olympic Games took place from 776 B.C.E. to 394 C.E.,” our guide, Mara, explained. “The athletes were all men, and they were all… NAKED. They were also covered in oil.”

“Whoa!” gasped one teacher traveler, aghast. “Were the spectators nude, too?”

“Well,” Mara laughed, “Funny story. The only people allowed to attend and watch the Olympic Games were men, and the first years of the games, they could be clothed. However, one day a woman snuck into the stands, dressed as a man, to watch her son compete. The child actually WON, and his disguised mother got so excited, she started jumping up and down– and accidentally revealed her woman parts! She was thrown out, and from then on, all the spectators had to be naked, too.”

Our teacher tour group, huddled in the magic rain by Olympia's flowers.

That’s a lot of naked people!

Let the record show: when we toured the ancient Olympic site in Olympia, Greece this week, we were not naked.

This was fortunate because it was chilly and raining, and also because I prefer to wear clothes when on a teacher travel tour. Just a silly preference.

I initially griped about the rainy weather when we descended from the bus, but it actually turned out to be for the best. The rain created magic. April’s billowing purple flowers popped out among the rain-brightened emerald trees, and mist evoked the mysterious realm of the gods. See the photos for proof!

Mara shows a picture of the AMAZING 40-foot Zeus statue that used to fill the Temple of Zeus in Olympia!

“Why did the Olympic games begin?” asked Mara. “Legend is that a king asked the Oracle of Delphi how to bring peace to his constantly-warring realm, and the Oracle replied that he must create the Olympic Games. That way men might compete in an athletic way, rather than slashing each other to death.”

Indeed, this is sage advice. When you compete in sports alongside someone, even if they may look or act different from you, you gain respect for their abilities.

To further push the Olympics as a vehicle for peace and cross-cultural understanding, athletes were required to live and eat together for the time leading up to the games. Word is that sampling each other’s strange foods built intercultural understanding! That’s how I roll, anyway.

Jen in the remains of the Temple of Zeus, wearing a student's hat that he asked her to photograph in famous Greek sites.

We teachers had our own personal Mini-Olympics during our Olympia tour. I’ve been lifting mad weights at home as part of my Wedding Arms Workout (can I please get a shout-out from some reader, somewhere in the world, on the buff condition of my arm muscles?!) and thus in a lull during our tour, I did twenty push-ups off a 2,700-year-old stone. A security officer with a giant umbrella stared at me the whole time.

“Jeez,” murmured fellow Boston teacher, Jen, “I thought he’d try to stop you or something, but I guess these rocks are made for using athletically.”

Then we emerged onto the first ever Olympic race track! It looked like a giant brown puddle. And we raced in it! If you count who in our group got to the far end first, I guess I lost, but if you count who got back to the original finish line, thus completing the loop, I totally dominated! Either way, it was a lot further than it looked, and I still have mud splashes along my jacket back and pants rump.

Love the great teacher companionship, fresh air, and exercise.

At the end of our tour, we all suddenly noticed that many of us entered this trip with colds and flus, but after a week in Greece, our health is now awesome! We gazed around at the purple flowers, green trees, and misty fresh air. We stretched our sore muscles, which have been exercised from a week straight of full-day walking tours, and realized, the Greeks had it right: It IS healthy and essential for humans to embrace exercise and the outdoors! We just don’t need to be naked and oiled up to do it.

My coworker and I are so excited to be in Delphi, Greece!

What actually happened during the hundreds of years between 720 B.C.E. and 395 A.D. when ancient Greeks consulted the Oracle of Delphi? Who was this magical woman named Pythia whose advice changed history?

In our teacher group walking tour of Delphi, we learned shocking facts to explain the history of the Oracle.

1. Ethylene gas in the nose. The Oracle of Delphi was actually several different women from the village below. They were normal gals who took turns climbing the mountain to don the Oracle outfit and breathe some holy smoke from a tripod vase before answering questions of visitors.

But here’s the thing: modern Geologists recently realized that there are fissures in the Earth at Delphi that emit Ethylene gas, so when the ladies inhaled the output, they became drugged!!! Hence their speaking in tongues when asked a question. Drugged Oracles! (Don’t believe me? Read this New York Times article!).

How beautiful is the site of the legendary Oracle of Delphi?!

2. Spies of Delphi. When the Oracle replied to questions, she did so in ecstatic, magical gibberish, and thus had to be “translated” by a male priest.

Now, our guide explained that these priests were actually like a giant network of spies, in that they had eyes and ears all around the land; they knew what was going on in the world, and hence could give solid advice. While the drugged Oracle screeched on, the priest could write whatever he wanted. Generally, what they wanted was to give wise advice that would maintain the peace (and thus keep Delphi safe), so the information from espionage was key in creating this.

Our guide, Mara, shows what Delphi looked like at its height.

3. Subterfuge by animals. Sometimes an important person would come to Delphi to ask a question, but the spies needed more time to gather information for a sufficient answer, so they would use a trick to buy more time.

Here’s how: People coming to ask the Oracle questions were expected to bring animals to sacrifice. A priest would sprinkle water on the animal, and if it shook its woolly head upon receiving the droplets, the visitor could proceed to the Oracle. If, however, the animal didn’t react, the pilgrim had to turn around and come back to try again later. How did the priests buy time for certain people, while allowing others to pass? They dripped cold water when they wanted the animal to react, and warm water when they didn’t!

One of the most famous sculptures at Delphi, now in the museum.

4. Ambiguity in answers. Students of Greek myth and legend know that the advice of the Oracle was usually cryptic. Any Horoscope writer knows this is smart, because if things go wrong for you from a prediction, it’s your fault for misinterpreting the advice, not the Oracle’s!

Here’s a legendary example from 560 B.C.E.: “If you cross the river, a great empire will fall,” the Oracle told Croesus, King of Lydia. Being hubristic, the king assumed the doomed empire would be the Persians’, and crossed the water. He lost, and it was his own empire that fell! But you can’t blame the Oracle for a misinterpreted clue.

5. Overall great advice. Whatever the Oracle said, visitors to Delphi would still leave with extra wisdom if they read the writing on the walls. According to our guide, on the walls of Delphi’s structures were etched the following life lessons:

The team that found Delphi's ruins. Can you imagine?!

• Know thyself

• Everything in moderation

• Harmony in difference

Visitors who took the time to mull over these lessons would think twice about doing something rash like going to war.

6. Slaves to freedom. In ancient Greece, nearly anyone could become a slave with a little bad luck. According to our guide, even Plato was briefly enslaved after a shipwreck, and his kids had to buy back his freedom. What does this have to do with Delphi? On the stone walls of the Temple of Apollo on Delphi’s mountain, freed slaves of antiquity carved their names. “That way,” said our guide, “it was literally written in stone that they were freed, and no one could say they weren’t!” This shows a powerful element of ancient Greek democracy: because everyone was expected to adhere to written laws, it obligated the government to provide education and literacy for its citizens!

One of the belly-button sculptures, also symbolizing Zeus.

7. Delphi as the navel. The legend is that Zeus sent two birds around the world in opposite directions, and the place where they met was the center of everything: Delphi… hence, it is known as the “belly-button of the world.” Small domed rock statues around the mountain symbolize this.

8. Buried treasure. After the Oracle stopped being used, a town was built on top of the site in Delphi, and it wasn’t until 1893 that archaeologists even realized the massive piece of history under the houses! After an earthquake forced the townspeople to move, time was ripe for excavation.

How lucky we are that this remarkable site was found, and that its secrets are slowly being revealed! Can you IMAGINE being that first person who dug down and found the first relic?!

How magical to touch the site of the Oracle of Delphi!

A huge shout-out to Greece for doing such a lovely and respectful job of preserving the magic of the ancient site of Delphi. Well done!

Want to read more about our teacher curriculum tour of Greece? Click here!