I met our newest participant in HD on Sunday. As (I think) I mentioned before, she is literally right off the streets, and agggghhhh I want to tell her story so badly, but I won’t. Because it’s her story to tell or not tell, and I won’t violate her privacy so publicly. Even though I am a selfish person who wants to very badly.
Anyway, she only speaks Romanian, but she painted my nails on Sunday and it was nice.
Then I met up with Natasha, and we hung out downtown for a few hours, eating souvlaki, having coffee with Irini, and buying Greek sandals. I actually took some pictures, which is why the header is actually unique again this week!
Aaaaand, that was the last time I was social!
I’m dying.
I mean, it’s actually been a really exciting week, but totally draining, on top of me already feeling very drained. Having a new woman in the program has been both wonderful and a challenge. The translating transition has gone pretty smoothly, actually, with me speaking in English then waiting as two translators speak in Greek and Romanian. But…it takes up so much brain power to pause my sentences, to remember where I was and where I want to go. It takes a lot of effort to stay engaged and stay patient. And by the end of every day I am just DONE. So I go home, read and watch YouTube videos, and fall asleep.
Oh, but one other exciting thing. Dina is gone on vacation this week, so I led the 12 Steps with the girls on Wednesday morning. I don’t really know how to do that, so instead I just kind of counseled, and we had SUCH good conversations on trust. It was SO GOOD to stretch my counseling muscles, and when Francisca later said, “I thought teaching the psychology classes was like counseling for you?” I didn’t realize how obviously it’s not. There’s something so great about letting the other person lead the conversation, about listening for cues or discrepancies, about watching their face light up as you catch on the emotion behind the statement, and the intimacy created from allowing someone to share the uglier sides of themselves without judgment.
It’s also totally draining, especially counseling in a group, especially counseling via translator.
This week = great and/or draining!
Hopefully this weekend will be relaxing. I’m going four hours north to a missions conference to represent HD with Anthi. (Actually I went there yesterday – I wrote this on Friday.) It’s supposedly very near Mount Olympus, and I want SO BADLY to see it/go there. When I told Anthi of this dream, she said, “Why??” and I yelled back, “BECAUSE THE GODS LIVED THERE.” It’s continually strange to me that I, an American, am super more invested in Greek mythology than most Greeks.
Oh, but relaxing. I mean, hopefully. I’m getting there in a car with three Greeks, and I assume most of it will be in Greek, and conferences in general are this strange mix of BEST and WORST, because you’re somewhere gorgeous but I never feel more like an outsider.
I’m tired of feeling like an outsider.
UGHHHHHHHH, okay, bye, I’m going to suck things up and be happy again!
(That’s healthy, right?)
(It is, temporarily, in order to survive, but don’t worry, I’ll scream at the ocean this weekend if I need to.)
It Is Trish 