My classrooms last week.

It’s a pretty good job.

As a professor of philosophy, religions, classics, and environment, it’s hard to beat a course where we can travel, visit places where food is produced, learn to cook local foods, visit religious sites both ancient and modern, see classical architecture and read ancient texts aloud in the places where they were written.

I’ve been teaching in Greece for twenty years. Over the years I’ve been able to bring every member of my family with me at least once. Each time it is fresh and new. And when I meet old friends: farmers, nuns, historians, entrepreneurs, etc—what a gift it is to embrace them anew.

I first went to Greece for the history.

Then I started returning for the food.

Now I return for the people.

Ancient ruins, including a stone amphitheater, are set against a backdrop of rocky mountains and lush greenery. Delphi, Greece. An ancient stone archway leads to a sunlit pathway with steps surrounded by rustic walls.A tree laden with small, oval orange fruits grows in a lush green, rural setting. Kumquats in my friend’s organic farm near Nauplion. A majestic stone fortress sits atop a rugged, green hillside under a clear blue sky. Nauplion, Greece. Palamidi fortress.