Hi! My name is Riley Rottinghaus and I just finished a two week study abroad experience in Greece! This program was focused on public health and social work which was very cool to learn about as a pre-nursing student! We went to Athens, Larissa, Meteora, Epidavros and Aegina island and got to see so many beautiful things! Seeing the Parthenon was one of my favorite parts of this program as it was amazing to see this rich history with my own eyes. Meteora was also so incredibly beautiful and I still can’t believe how all the beautiful monasteries were built.

I got to know an amazing group of people as we learned all about public health in Greece. We visited sites such as the Victoria Community Center, a building that houses many nonprofit services for refugees in Greece, the Theseus and Animus Rehabilitation centers that help patients recover after injury, multiple sites of the Hellenic Red Cross which helps provide services for refugees, The University General Hospital of Larissa which is a public hospital along with many other sites. I learned so much about the refugee crisis in Greece and got to see so many of the amazing organizations and services provided. However, this issue is very large and the services can be difficult to attain and I learned so much about this complex issue on this program.

While we learned a lot about public health and social work, we also had a lot of fun exploring Greece. One of my favorite things we did was a cooking class where we got to learn how to make many of the classic and delicious Greek dishes such as chicken souvlaki, Greek salad and tzatziki. It was amazing to learn more about the food in Greece as this is such a large part of their culture. It was also so amazing to visit the beach and all the beautiful historic sites this country has to offer. This experience was so amazing, and it was hard to leave such a beautiful country. I took so much away from this program and deeply enjoyed learning about public health and social work in Greece along with the rich culture this country has to offer!

---

Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: Culture, Public Health and Social Service: Greece