Living in Greece

A Week in Greece #20: Privileged Americans, HD Breakthrough, Busy Weekend

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Twenty weeks in Greece!  Wow!  That sounds properly impressive.

As far as weeks in Greece go, though, it was a pretty slow one!  Monday was Mallory’s last day here.  She went exploring on her own during the day while I worked, and then we headed downtown for her last Greek meal.  I googled “best places to eat in Athens” and settled on a place called GH Attikos because it said it had a rooftop restaurant.  We left straight after work at 4:00 and got there around 4:30 for a late lunch.  When we arrived, only one other table was full, and the hostess approached.

“What do you want?” she asked.

Confused by the seemingly obvious reply, I said, “…We want to eat.”

“Will you be done before 8?” she asked.

I glanced at my phone.  “Uh, yeah.”

She escorted us to our seat, which had a STUNNING view of the Acropolis.  While we were ooo-ing and ahh-ing, we heard noises that sounded like the kitchen starting up.  We took a closer look at the space around us.  None of the tables had plates or napkins or anything. The people sitting at the other table had been done for a long time and were only chatting.

The restaurant wasn’t open.  But we waltzed in with our American privilege and assumptions, and ordered a full meal that they mercifully supplied.  Sometimes it pays to be ignorant!

Mallory left early Tuesday morning, and I spent the rest of the weekdays soaking up some quality time alone (except for my Greek lesson with Maria on Wednesday night).  This was especially necessary because work has been hard.   Continue reading →

Adventurous, Not Dangerous

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When I die, I want this video playing on my holographic tombstone.

Hahahahaa, I imagine that very few people will find this as hilarious as I do, but one of those people is Mallory, my amazing friend who shares my dumb sense of humor.  I’m so glad she visited and agreed that THIS was the best way to document our adventures.

Enjoy 2 minutes and 20 seconds of the dumbest jokes in the history of idiocy!

A Weekend in the Island of Hydra

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They say a good story uses the “show, don’t tell” policy, so there’s a very good chance that this video, in which Mallory and I walk around talking about being in Hydra without actually showing Hydra, will only be interesting to those who are obligated to love us.

For everyone else, here’s a little show AND tell.

Hydra is an island about two hours from the Athenian port of Piraeus.  I suggested Mallory and I visit it when she came to Greece because a Rick Steve’s guidebook that my Dallas family gave me said it was the best easily visited Greek island.  When I heard that it’s famous for its total lack of cars, I was sold.  I have always wanted to go somewhere without automobiles!

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A Week in Greece #19: HD Celebration Week and Mallory Visits!

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Monday

While I was at the women’s conference, “A” moved into HD.  I use the office for wifi, and she invited me up to see her room and talk on the balcony for a while on Sunday night.  On Monday, we began our first Celebration Week!  Every fifth week, we take time off for our participants to create an art project in the mornings, and fun times in the afternoon.  Francisca and I went to Jumbo with “A” to buy art supplies, and it was really fun to go out on the town together, buying coffee and waiting for buses and lugging shopping bags up the hill.

“A” came over to my house for lunch after class.  I wanted to make eggs (of course) to inaugurate my new kitchen and first oven in Greece, and “A” elevated the meal by making us a nice salad.  I still don’t have dining room chairs, so we sat at the table in my office chair and on a footstool.  It was really nice!  But after that (and especially after a weekend of meeting new people), I spent the rest of the day totally alone.  Lovely.

Tuesday  Continue reading →

How Do You Overcome A Mental Block?

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I have been slowly realizing that my lack of using Greek is something far deeper than, “Oh, I just don’t have time/don’t have as many opportunities to use it.”  It’s actually something far more along the lines of a psychological block.  I get incredibly nervous when I even THINK about using Greek, my brain mentally throws up when I try to formulate a sentence in my head, and I have reverted to only tentatively saying, “Ευχαριστὠ” and ‘Κἀλη μἐρα” on a VERY irregular basis.

What happened!?  You might remember that at one time, I was writing hilarious letters to fictional girlfriends in Greek.  Looking back, I can only conclude that taking the second level of Greek classes right after the first was a very dumb decision.  I was struggling that first month, and I just barely survived.  I needed a break, but after one short weekend, I was back in class, and everything immediately fell apart.   Continue reading →

I Went to a Greek Women’s Conference about Joy

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Two of my co-workers are on a committee that creates a yearly inter-denominational conference for Greek Christian women.  When they invited me to join them by saying, “It’s at a resort by the beach, and the cost of €100 includes two nights in a 4-star hotel plus six buffet gourmet meals,” it was very easy to say yes.

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Dina drove me to Euboea, a massive island near Athens, and we got to the resort hours before the 200+ women who were attending the three-day conference.  Due to poor planning on the part of the resort, about half of us had to spend the first night at a nearby sister-hotel.  Dina dropped me off there while she worked, and I had virtually AN ENTIRE HOTEL to myself for five hours.  It was AMAZING.

Later that first night, the buses full of women arrived.   Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #18: Settling In, Captain America, Weekend Adventure

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Settling In

Moving never ends!  On the one hand, I have been incredibly blessed.  My bed, refrigerator, oven, dining room table, and washing machine were all donated.  I’m pretty sure a bed for the second bedroom will be given in the next couple weeks.  BUT.  Even with the big things donated, there are so many little purchases that go into furnishing a home, and while spending money on cute appliances was fun at first, I am TIRED of watching money leak out of my bank account.  And I still need living room furniture and rugs and dining room chairs.  *sigh*

But also – it’s so fun!  The one thing I have not tired of buying is plants – which are slowly taking over my bathroom, to my great enjoyment.  And I have some little projects in place, which is nice.  And it’s so encouraging to have people helping me out (with furniture, with installing, etc etc).  But also it’s so hard to rely on other people!  It’s super weird to move into a new house and not have a car for last-minute store runs or not have a tool box to figure things out on my own.  AND I’m feeling some weird homesickness that’s manifesting in “WHAT is going on with this oven!?  Why is it different from what I’m used to??”

It’s a roller coaster.  Bottom line: I love my home, I hate the process of making it my home.

Captain America  Continue reading →

Apartment Decoration Goals

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I am horrible at decorating, but I’m excellent at saying, “Ooo, yes!” to pictures of rooms online.  Now that I have an apartment of my own to furnish and decorate, I’ve been spending a lot of time doing just that.

I have very little money and I don’t like DIY projects, so I’m doomed to staring wistfully at my computer screen while my own walls stay bare and white.  BUT.  I thought I would share some pictures of what I WANT my apartment to be if I had the money, talent, and motivation to make it happen.

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THIS BATHROOM.  I love plants, I love green, I love that if your shower sprays everywhere, you can just pretend you meant to be watering your plans.  Bonus: this idea is actually feasible.  I think I have it in me to buy both pots and plants and set them on every available surface.  Aahhh, my heart feels happy just thinking about it.  Stepping into the bathroom like you’re stepping into a garden.  *sigh*   Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #17: MOVING WEEK!

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Sunday

13138834_853384190892_3221903881934835706_nYou may or may not remember that when we left off in last week’s A Week in Greece, I was spending the night at Kendra’s apartment after a midnight Easter service.  Her cat cuddled with me through part of the night, which sent me into paroxysms of joy.  When I move into my own apartment, I am probably almost definitely going to get a cat.  THEY ARE SO GREAT.  Speaking of apartments and cats, I spent Sunday morning doing the dishes from our party the night before (Kendra left early in the morning and kindly let me, a stranger, sleep in).  I’d offered to do the dishes in thanks for her hospitality, and it is a sign of how desperately I miss having a home that I thoroughly enjoyed the mundane household chore.  Plus, the cat kept following me around and flopping down at my feet, so – enjoyable!

I met up with Rosie, Damaris, and Mercy around 1:00 p.m.  Most of the city was shut down for Easter, so we walked to the center where a few places were open for tourists.  Restaurants were roasting the traditional Easter lamb on a spit in the middle of the road, and we commented at one, “But these won’t be ready for a while.”  The opportunistic host at the next-door restaurant called, “Ours is done!” and sure enough, their spit was empty.  We ate a delicious lunch and continued to get to know one another.  I really like them!  I want to be in their friend group.   Continue reading →