Living in Greece

Fundraiser | HD T-Shirts and Hoodies!

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Last year I had a lot of success with a t-shirt fundraiser I did with Booster.  This year I wanted to do the same – but more!  What’s the point of autumn if it’s not hoodies, am I right?  This year, I am proud to announce that there are THREE different wearable options that will promote awareness of HD AND help me continue to work there for another year!

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Men’s T-Shirt: $18 + shipping
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Women’s T-Shirt: $18 + shipping
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Hoodie: $28 + shipping

Half of the money spent will go toward making the product, and half will go to me!  All proceeds will help me get one step closer toward my goal of raising $32,000 by November 15th so that I can continue to work with HD for another year!

Visit my Booster site Another Year in Greece today and place an order.  The sale ends October 15th, so do not wait!

A Week in Greece #38: EVERYTHING IS LOOKING UP

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It’s amazing what having time with friends and having renewed interest in work can do to make a girl feel better.

Work

This week we finally had resolution on a major issue that has been in the air for THREE MONTHS.  It was one of those things that affects you in such a subtle way that you don’t even realize it was bothering you until it’s gone.

And in addition to that – we welcomed our fourth participant into HD!!  The story of how she escaped from her trafficker is crazyballs as always, and it is all kinds of rewarding to get to be a part of her life as she chooses health and recovery.  We’re in the first stage where she’s trying to impress us and be especially good, which obviously is easiest, but I’m looking forward to the day when she is comfortable enough with us that she can get assertive.

Augh, this is always the worst, because there is SO MUCH to say, but not in a public forum that will live online forever.  The short story is: work is really great right now.

Greek

Well, I’m still learning.  I’m finally getting comfortable with Evangelia, my Greek teacher, which means when she explains a complicated grammatical issue in Greek, I feel okay saying, “Alright, I’m done.  See you in a couple days!”  Of course, next week is my last week of lessons with her, so.  Just when you get used to a person…

On the plus side, she said that I’m just two or three concepts away from knowing pretty much all of Greek grammar!  Which is great, except that she said my vocabulary needs a lot of building up.  It’s all super true and makes total sense.  Grammar is the stuff I can study and categorize in the safety of my brain.  Vocabulary is nonsense that I have to speak out loud, and that doesn’t happen all that often.

Friends

The week started really well – at church on Sunday, Janet sat beside me, making me feel a lot less like a fly on the wall.  There were three new Americans at the service, so seven of us ex-pats went out to lunch together.  One of the new Americans paid for all of us on the sly.  He’s married with kids and a steady job – I really appreciate when people who have their life together treat those of us who don’t. Continue reading →

My Favorite Greek Hymn

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One of my favorite parts of any worship service is the singing, and this is especially true in a country where the majority of my singing time (while driving) has been removed.  I still love singing in Greek, which is a little weird because I can pronounce things even if I don’t understand what I am singing.

There are a lot of translated American worship songs in the Greek churches, which is a shame, because I don’t particularly like American worship songs.  HOWEVER, there is this one song that I’m a huge fan of, mostly because it’s really powerful and kind of foreign-sounding.  As part of my Greek lesson, my teacher had me actually translate the words, so now I know that I am not accidentally blaspheming while singing.

They’re singing the song a bit too fast for my taste in this video, but you get the idea.  The minor key!!  I am a sucker for minor keys.

Ω, Θεέ αναρωτιέμαι (O God, I wonder)
πώς μπορούσα εγώ να ζήσω (how I could live)
δίχως την αγάπη Σου και τη φροντίδα Σου.  (without your love and your care)
Όμως τώρα Σε γνωρίζω (But now I know)
είμαι εγώ παιδί δικό Σου  (I am your child)
και ποτέ δε θα ‘μαι μόνος (θα είμαι μόνος) (and never will I be alone)
γιατί Εσύ θα ‘σαι κοντά μου. (θα είσαι κοντά μου) (because you will be close to me)
Δόξα, στον Πατέρα (Glory to the Father)

Δόξα και στον Υιό Του (and glory to His Son)

Δόξα στ’ Άγιο Πνεύμα παντοτινά! (Glory to the Holy Spirit always)

A Week in Greece #36: RAMBO JESUS, GOODBYE ROOMMATE, TWO NEW CATS

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I was thinking about what I would write here while walking down the street, and it was literally going to include the words “I just want to be in the United States!!  Cry, cry, whine, whine.”  But then I saw someone I knew walking in the opposite direction!  But…we’ll get there at the end of the week.

It’s been a hard week, is what I’m trying to say.  Well, now that I’m looking back on the calendar, there were some really great moments too.  I don’t know!  Clearly this is not going to be a well-thought-out blog post.

Okay, so at work, we got our director back, which meant that most staff meetings were in Greek and it was translated to me and Luciana until everyone else realized that it took twice as long to do this and anyway, everyone speaks English.  This somehow set off a really weird set of circumstances where everyone kept trying to make me speak Greek.  I just kind of glared at people, and finally Natasha asked how Greek was going.  “It’s horrible.  I’m taking lessons twice a week and I’m still relearning the things I knew in January.  I feel like an idiot, but I also have zero motivation to put in more effort because when I’m at work, I’m thinking about work, and when I’m not at work, I’m thinking about fundraising, and when I’m not doing either of those things, I’m trying desperately to distract myself with books or movies.  And even hanging out with friends isn’t helpful, because it feels like work!  I like my friends here, but it’s not easy!  Nothing is easy!  So why would I purposefully add one more hard thing to my plate!?!?” In the face of this meltdown (it really happened, I said all of those things), Natasha said, “Oh.  Yeah.  Learning a new language in a new country must be…hard.”

“It is.  Thank you.”

So anyway Continue reading →

Letters Between Friends: MISSION: KEEP TRICIA IN GREECE

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Dear Tricia,

So….I didn’t even realized I missed Thursday until it was SATURDAY!  Like totally missed full days…But I knew exactly what I was going to write you!  SO I’m going to do it ANYWAY…even though it’s Monday.

Back here is the states, so very far away from you, anxiously awaiting your return (or our departure on 10/29…both really) we have been working diligently to try and keep you in Greece…Makes no sense really.  But, being your best friends means I want to make sure dreams come true.  So off to work I go.   Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #35: HD CELEBRATION WEEK, GREEK LESSONS, and a lot of FRIEND MEALS

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This week has got me thinking that a LOT of my mental downswing the past couple months was because everyone was right:  summer in Athens sucks!

Now that people are returning from holidays, life is going back to normal and I’m feeling so much busier and happier.

HD NEWS

We had our fourth Celebration Week, and as always, it was pretty great.  Well, wait, no.  Holy cow, this week has been long!  Monday was chaotic, and everyone had something awful going on in their private lives.  Our schedule was therefore out of whack, but I felt like I got to step into my unofficial counseling shoes and help people talk about the things that were hurting them.  That part, at least, was nice.

But later in the week, we had more fun times together.  “A” always talks about this souvlaki place she loves, so we all went there on Thursday.  The food WAS amazing, but more importantly, it was FUN.  We talked about all sorts of things, laughed a lot, and bonded more as peers.

On Friday, Dina returned to the office after doing fundraising in the States for six weeks.  After the Celebration Week presentations, we all sat around and ate and listened to her stories.  It sounds like a lot of people are getting really excited to partner with HD, which is exciting!  I can’t wait to see where this all goes.

GREEK LESSONS

I’m starting Greek lessons again (I was off for August).  One of Anthi’s friends wanted to offer her services to HD for free, and I’m the only one who took her up on the deal.  She’s a much more structured teacher, which is great, but the first lesson was humiliating.  We basically went back to the very beginning of everything, and although now (after two lessons) I’m catching back up to at least the middle of my old lessons, it’s just.  AGH.  I have so little motivation for learning Greek except for “I feel like I ought to.”  It’s never going to get better unless I can find a better reason to do it.

FRIENDS

The best part!  I’ve discovered that I really like having people stay at my apartment.  This is weird, because I’ve never thought of myself as hospitable, and I’m a terrible hostess.  But I love having a place where people come and go or crash for a couple nights.  I don’t want to take CARE of other people, but I’m happy to let them be in my space.

Luciana came over at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday night rather than drive all the way to the other side of Athens that late.  We stayed up a couple hours talking about feminism and literature: two of my favorite sleepover topics!

Natasha came at 11:00 p.m. on Friday night (she flew in late) and stayed for two nights.  She is scared of Hans Harrison, so I gave her my room and slept on the couch.  That is where Hans Harrison often sleeps, so I woke up in the middle of the night to him settling down heavily across my neck.  It was uncomfortable but so cute, so I let him stay.

But before that, I went out to dinner with Kendra to celebrate her recent engagement.  We talked for hours and hours, and I’m so glad to have an American friend in Greece.  We talked about how there are these concentric circles of walls between ourselves and other people, and it’s such a slow, exhausting process to take them down.  One of the walls is between ourselves and people from other countries, so being with Kendra means one less wall to take down.  It’s nice.

On Saturday, I met Maria and her husband John for lunch.  Just two Greeks and an American eating Persian food while discussing their recent trips to Sweden and Slovenia!  I like having couple-friends, and I like that Maria can be both my Greek teacher (when I’m not taking free lessons) AND a friend.

On Saturday night, the Holargos girls (me, Tatiana, Natasha) wandered the neighborhood to find somewhere to eat.  We wound up at a creperie, where we each got savery crepes before splitting a crepe with CHOCOLATE, BOUGATSA CREAM, and CRUMBLED COOKIES.  Omg.

And then on Sunday, I actually went to church!  Woo hoo!  I still sat by myself, but afterwards there were many more people there that I knew, returned from summer holidays.  Bible study is starting up this next Wednesday, so hopefully I can deepen some relationships and feel more at home at church.  We will see!

The Benefits of Fundraising

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It’s easy to complain about fundraising; after all, it is very awkward and stressful.  But the past couple days have been really encouraging for me, and I remembered something important.

I chose this.

I have a lot of contacts with a mission organization that pays its missionaries.  I could have tried to work with them (and I actually did serve through them when I spent five months in Senegal), but I decided that I would rather raise my own funds.  Why would I possibly choose to make my life more difficult?

  1. Fundraising keeps me humble.
    There is nothing quite like saying, “The only way I can do this thing I want to do is if you’ll help me,” to create humility.  I go through much of life believing that I am in control and that I only need to rely upon myself.  It is good for my ego to have to rely upon other people.
  2. Fundraising inspires me to be grateful.
    If humility means giving control of your life to someone else, then WOW does it feel great when they take care of you.  Although I can definitely be a self-centered asshole at times, it really helps when I stop and think, “This person worked hard to make money.  They could spend that money on clothes, vacations, or a new phone.  They could buy BOOKS with that money, but instead they are giving some of it to me.”  And that never fails to fill me with a wave of incredible gratitude.
  3. Fundraising gives me opportunities to draw close to people.
    In addition to the closeness that comes from asking for help, there is a second closeness that fundraising provides.  I recently started praying through the list of people who donated to me last year.  Not praying that they would give again, but just, attempting to dig into those humble and grateful postures where I bring people before God and ask him to bless them.  This does wonders for my heart, and I find myself madly in love with dozens of people after these times of prayer.
  4. Fundraising gifts me with opportunities of people drawing close to me.
    This is actually my favorite part of fundraising.  I am a needy person, and I so love when people send me messages.  I guess opening myself up and admitting that I need help financially reminds people that I also need help emotionally and spiritually.  One of the best parts of this is when someone I haven’t talked to in a long time reaches out, and my heart just absolutely overflows.

Humans are needy creatures.  We cannot survive on our own without the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual support of others.  Fundraising helps me admit that I have needs, and (revelation I had while in counseling) when I open up about my needs…they get met!  So whether you’re in a position to need fundraising or not, I encourage each of you to get vulnerable with someone trustworthy and tell them one of your needs.

With that in mind, if you’d like to make a donation to help me stay in Athens, Greece and continue working in a safe house for women who have been sexually exploited and trafficked, click below!

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A Week in Greece #34: ELIZABETH LEAVES :(

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I have so loved having Elizabeth here!  She is one of my very best friends, and on top of that, we have extremely similar living/traveling habits.  For instance, our decision to take a 9-hour ferry from Crete to Athens instead of a 50-minute flight turned out to be pretty disastrous.  We left port at 9:00 p.m., and the entire boat turned into a chaotic mass of people scrambling to find a chair, bench, or piece of floor to call their own.  The majority of the trip consisted of trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in while the lights were fully on, then being woken up at 5:30 a.m. to stand for an hour before they let us off.  BUT, after admitting to each other that this was not a great decision, we both agreed that it was an adventure worth having and we were glad we’d experienced it.  It’s nice to have a friend like that.

It was also nice that Elizabeth did all the Athens touristy things on her own!  I went back to work this week, and while I was at meetings or doing lesson planning, Elizabeth went to the Acropolis and various museums.  It felt great to not have to take care of her, and I was grateful for the opportunity to avoid paying to see the Parthenon for a fourth time.

Instead, we spent evenings watching movies.  We had both prepared feminist masterpieces to share with the other: I wanted her to see Magic Mike XXL and she wanted me to see Ex Machina).  One night we went to IKEA, Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #33: ELIZABETH ARRIVES

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August is tourist season, and I’ve been so happy to host visitors taking advantage of their summer holidays-first my mom and now one of my closest friends (Elizabeth co-writes the Let’s Talk  About series with me). 

But before Elizabeth came on Friday, I had a normal workweek.  Not much to report there, necessarily. Two staff members are out on holidays, and we’re just about finished with our summer schedule. That means slowly getting ready for the return of our official classes (thank God) and me working on fundraising things (I’m up to about $4,000 out of $32,000!)
What a good time to self-promote! Donate online today at www.gemission.org/donate! 

The main interesting thing this week was all the skype conversations I had with strangers and old friends.  An unexpected theme arose from these conversations where I was reminded of my primary interest in ministering to ministers, and thinking about how that might play out someday in missionary member care or a retreat center or who knows! It’s really fun to see how I am accumulating experiences and developing skills that will lead me on a hopping path to new opportunities. 

I’ve been feeling a lot lately, just how much I love my life. I’ve frequently wondered if I would be happy if I died suddenly and soon, and…yes! I feel like I am living life to my fullest. I’m taking advantage of opportunities that come up, I am giving to the world the best of myself, and I am constantly learning and growing and transforming. I feel so content (in the midst of fear and wanderlust and anger) knowing that I’m living the life I want to live. I’m so lucky. 


That pickiness only increased on Friday morning when Elizabeth arrived! She is my kindred spirit and my mental soul mate, and so far we are having so much fun together. We went to Heraklion, Crete for the weekend because we’re both massive history nerds, and last night we stayed up until 1:00 drinking wine and eating cheese and talking about the freedom that comes from actually believing in God’s grace. Today we spent hours at the museum full of the most amazing Minoan artifacts, and we’ve been eating great Greek food to stay energized. Also napping. Right now is nap time, so as soon as I post this…zzz. 

A Week in Greece #32: MOM LEAVES

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I’m back with weekly recaps!  Hyper-observant readers of my blog might notice that Weeks #30 and #31 don’t exist, the former because I forgot and the latter because it was actually A Week in Slovenia.

Mom and I finished up our vacation on Monday. In some ways it was hard to return – being in Slovenia rekindled my wanderlust in a big way, planting visions of new jobs in new European countries in my brain.  This is unfortunate, since I literally just committed to staying in Greece for another year.  But it’s also pretty standard, since my reaction to any kind of commitment is usually “JUST KIDDING OMG THIS IS SCARY.” Most commitments, anyway.  The great thing about returning was getting back to my cat-shaped cuddle-monster, Hans Harrison.

On Tuesday, my mom and I did a lot of shopping, both practical and fun.  We went to the mall, an hour-long journey that got us thinking about the differences of city and country travel Continue reading →