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Year 2 | A Week in Greece #4: MOVING OFFICES AND BUCHAREST

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This week was FULL.

Moving Offices

When I arrived at work on Monday, I discovered that we had received a new participant over the weekend, bringing our total number up to six (in a three bedroom house)!  It was now clearer than ever that we needed to move our offices into our new rented building so that we could convert our current office space into two new bedrooms.  We’re also building a dividing wall in the living room to create a third bedroom.

All of this means that the week was chaos.  We packed up everything and moved it to our new space.  But because we’re moving so quickly, the phone lines aren’t working yet in the new office.  That means that our desks are in one space and our wifi is in another (a 25 minute walk between them, too, so the commute is not simple).  Only the Day Program (that’s me and the two other facilitators) will be working out of the new space next week, and we tried to plan ahead for everything we might need that would require Internet access.

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Speaking of the Day Program, this week felt like I really came into my new role as the coordinator.  I did the intake forms with our newest participant, in which she shares her story (we only ask our participants to relive their trauma once – after the initial forms, they can share or not share the details of what they have gone through at their own discretion).  I also had to do a re-entry interview with a participant who returned to us last week.  And there are several fiscal year reports to do and program rules that I am responsible for creating and enforcing, and ah!  It feels like a lot!

I didn’t quite realize the difference between being a facilitator and being the program coordinator.  Last year, when I had a concern or an idea, I could tell the coordinator and let her decide what to do and when to do it.  Now I’m that person, and while I quite like the position, I feel very drained at the end of a busy day.

Bucharest, Romania

Luckily, there is travel!  Olga and Luciana and I went to Bucharest this weekend.  All of us like to explore new places, but more than that, we share a NEED for travel.  For whatever reason, there is a direct link between my physical and mental presences.  When I am in Athens, I feel responsible for work-related things, past and future.  But when I physically leave, I am able to leave the mental worries behind too.

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So we went to Bucharest for €40 roundtrip, stayed in a cute little hostel downtown, and explored!  The three of us have wonderfully similar travel philosophies (heavy on the coffee shops, bookstores, and silly pictures), which made for a really fun weekend.  It was an especially amazing time to visit Bucharest, because there were hundreds of thousands of protesters flooding the city.  The Romanian government tried to pass a law that would make government corruption legal, but after four days of peaceful protests, it looks like the law won’t be passed!  It feels really cool to have witnessed a historic event like that.

We returned already planning our next trip, so I think that solidifies our weekend as a success.  I feel rested, excited, and ready to go back to work.  I love this life of working hard at something that feels important, and then playing hard by visiting new countries and experiencing new cultures.

Year 2 | A Week in Greece #3: BACK TO GREEK and a VISITING TEAM

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Greek Lessons Part 2

fullsizerenderI re-started my Greek lessons this week!  It turns out that taking five weeks off from all things Greek (by returning to the United States) was very necessary for my brain.  And amazingly, I don’t think I lost any of my vocabulary or grammar!  I’m really grateful for Evangelia – she’s giving me lessons for free twice a week as her way of supporting HD.  And this year, HD paid for my textbook, so I have my own to write in (previously we were all sharing a book and had to write answers in a notebook, which just…didn’t work in my brain very well?).

All this is really great, because I’m using my Greek more to talk with the Greek-speaking participants at HD.  I stayed late with two of them on Friday, and the three of us managed to communicate for over an hour.  Not in anything resembling an intelligent conversation, but we got along and laughed and knew well enough what the other was trying to say.  I know I will eventually reach another plateau of “UGH GREEK,” but I plan to enjoy this period as long as possible.

Visiting Team

img_5276We had a team from the States come to HD for the week to teach us how to knit.  I spent the first day doing it wrong and hating it, and then the second day realizing my mistake and thinking “THIS IS SO EASY (compared to what I was doing).”  I love our Celebration Weeks when we get to hang out with the participants on equal footing – M and D latched onto knitting quickly and left me in the dust, which I think is a valuable thing for them to experience (and me, too).

I was thinking a lot about the nature of the teams that come to us, though.  Our participants are becoming more diverse – three different countries, three different languages, two different races, two different age levels – but our staff and volunteers are pretty universally white, educated, middle- or upper-class women.  I wonder how helpful it is for our women to see privilege, privilege, privilege all the time.

But then…how else is someone going to come volunteer with us if they aren’t privileged?  Not everyone can take a week off of work and afford to fly to Greece.  I don’t think there is an easy answer here, but it’s something I want to keep thinking about.

Friends

I didn’t do a lot socially this week – I worked late a couple nights, and I was especially drained from being Happy and Hospitable for our team.  Rosie came over one night, and we discovered a mutual interest in anime and Korean dramas.  She said she wanted to read something fluffy, and I hesitantly offered, “Have you tried…fanfiction?” and she said, “Oh, yes, of course,” and I leaped for joy.  Nerdy kindred spirits.

Speaking of nerdy kindred spirits, I went over to Luciana and Giorgos’s another evening to play Zelda: Twilight Princess.  We passed the controller between us, all taking turns and pointing out suggestions to each other, and it was so fun!

This will come into play more next week, but…I’m going to Romania!  Luciana and I were trying to go to Bredvoort (Netherlands) but tickets were too expensive.  I half-heartedly checked Ryanair for cheap tickets to anywhere and noticed €20 tickets (each way) to Bucharest.  “Do you want to go?” I asked Luciana and Olga.  They immediately wrote back yes, and I bought our tickets.  Within 30 minutes, I’d made weekend plans to visit Romania with two friends!  This is exactly the sort of European lifestyle I want.

Self-Care During This Political Chaos

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I almost always feel alone in my beliefs.  I’m too conservative for my liberal friends and too liberal for my conservative friends, but for one reason or another, I typically have more conservative friends than liberal ones.  A lot of the time, this doesn’t cause conflict, because although our politics differ, many of our goals and values are the same.  But the inauguration of the United States’s newest president is not ‘a lot of the time.’  So it is unfortunate that I currently find myself surrounded by conservative friends when all I want is to complain and cry and grieve that a racist, sexist, lying narcissist has been elected into my country’s highest office.  What’s a girl to do to take care of herself?

  • Snuggle with my cat; many faceplants into soft furry sides have occurred these past three days.
  • Watch A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, and remember that with intelligence, passion, and ingenuity, all sorts of horrible things can be endured.
  • Drink a class of wine, eat a piece of chocolate, and remember that good things exist.
  • Walk outside in the crisp air while listening to podcasts about God, feminism and/or Harry Potter.
  • Scroll through endless photos of women’s marches around the world and get excited about the fact that many a young girls’ career in politics is beginning today.
  • Talk to my female roommate and female friends about theology, about philosophy, and about psychology.
  • Write a message of gratitude to my brother, to my male friends, and to male celebrities who show support for women by joining in marches that do not benefit their exact experiences.
  • Get involved, by writing postcards to my senators so that my voice will be heard.  Too long I’ve tried to avoid being involved in politics, and look what happened.  Everyone needs to speak up, during elections and in between.  That means you too, dear readers, even if you are going to write in the exact opposite of my requests.

I’ve been sad the last couple days, but also inspired.  I feel alone, but in truth, millions of women all around the world marched to make their voices, and the voices of those who could not publicly join them, heard.  I stand with many brave, smart, sassy, angry, passionate, happy women who are going to change history.  This is going to be great.  Let’s not give up or shut up – we are blessed to live in a country that allows us freedom of speech, so for the first time in my life, I’m going to take advantage of that.  Tammy and Richard, I am so excited to write to you!

Year 2 | A Week in Greece #2: CANCELLED DUE TO SICKNESS

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I had such good intentions for this first full week in Greece.  I was headed back to work, and I had something planned for every night!  And then I caught this weird flu/cold bug that’s been going around Athens.

I spent all day Sunday and Monday in bed.  This illness was especially untimely because of jet lag.  I couldn’t sleep at night, and I found it all too easy to sleep until 5:00 p.m.  Nightmare.

By Tuesday I felt well enough to go to work, both because I wanted to and because I knew I had to break my sleep cycle.  It was WONDERFUL.  I got to meet our newest participants, I got caught up on everything from the past month, and I got to go to a bunch of meetings.  I love meetings, is that odd?

After work, I met Kendra for coffee to catch up.  She’s leaving Greece permanently-ish (the -ish is mostly wishful thinking) in August, so I was able to give her “how to take care of yourself while adjusting to the States” advice.  Then I bragged about how with DayQuil and NyQuil I had conquered my sickness in two days, and oh how sad that you are still sick with yours two weeks later.

On Wednesday I woke up feeling like death again.  I did go to work, where I talked so much that I lost my voice.  I did not go to Bible study that night, and slept all evening instead.

On Thursday I felt better!  Wow, it’s like there is a direct correlation between sleeping for massive amounts of time and feeling healthier.  I went to work and taught my favorite class, Self-Esteem.  We talked about the different categories of negative people in life.  Our newest participant said that she has a lot of Two-Faced people in her life, people who seem nice and friendly but who actually want to use her.  I pointed out that it must be hard to be at HD, because hey, we’re all acting nice and friendly, but why should she trust us?  She looked away, smiled, and said yes.  It is overwhelming, sometimes, to realize how much we ask of these women, and how easily it is to hurt them again.  They are so much stronger and more resilient than I will ever be, and I hope so much that my dumb selfishnesses will not hurt them more than my shaky love might heal them.

Since I was riding high, I went to book club with my friends.  We planned it back in December when a bunch of us went to a bazaar to buy cheap books and realized we all wanted to be in a book club.  Of course, because it is Greece, it took an hour for everyone to arrive (including one person getting lost, one rescue mission, and one car stalling in the middle of the road blocking twenty angry motorists).  Then we ordered food, spilled wine on a white tablecloth, Googled how to get it out with salt, and anyway it was 10:00 p.m. before we got to the actual book (Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton) part of the book club.

Surprise, surprise, my late night cost me big!  When I showed up to work on Friday, one of the participants told me in Greek, “You look horrible!”  It was both encouraging and discouraging that I understood her.  Luckily my coworker came to my rescue and volunteered to take my period later in the day, so I went home early and slept all day after cancelling my plans to see Rogue One (I am never going to see Rogue One, apparently).

On Saturday, Olga made me – oh wait.  I haven’t talked about Olga, my roommate!  She’s awesome.  For instance, she made me soup on Saturday for lunch, and when she came to tell me it was ready and found me asleep at 2:00 p.m., she waited another 45 minutes so she could eat with me.  She’d set up an adorable table setting and everything, it was so wonderful.

I cancelled more plans for Saturday night, but then Tatiana and Natasha (former roommates) came over.  We all talked for a couple hours, and when it got to be 10 I kicked them out because I was sleepy, but then Olga and I sat on the kitchen floor and discussed the theology of animal souls (my favorite topic, I cannot resist it!).  I have decided that this is a good friendship test:  if you have fun sitting on cold linoleum with them, probably they are a pretty good sort of person.

That was my week: high expectations rarely met.  But I’m so glad to be back, and I hope next week involves fewer sore throats and less sleeping.

Year 2 | A Week in Greece #1: I’M BACK

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Technically I haven’t been in Greece for a full week; just 48 hours.  But it already feels worth documenting, so here we go.

After three flights and nearly 24 hours of traveling, I arrived in Athens at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.  Anthi picked me up, and as she drove me home, she filled me in on some more HD news.  Cool fact:  our newest participant is Muslim, so she doesn’t eat pork.  As mentioned in my last post, I’ve decided to give up pork this year!  Hopefully we can bond over this and find some food solidarity.

As I was unpacking, Anthi offered to pick up some groceries for me.  I requested cereal and milk for the moment, and she came back with that plus eggs “because I know you love eggs.”

My newest roommate Olga moved in on January 3rd, but she was at a friend’s house when I got home.  I was asleep by the time she came home, and now she’s spending the weekend at the Bible College, so I have yet to actually see her.  I’m excited to be housemates, but it was nice to have the house to myself for my first weekend back.

On Friday, I was SO PRODUCTIVE.  I did all the things I hate most:  paid a bill at the post office, walked down to Cosmote to ask about wifi plans, started a Word document of all the Greek vocabulary I learned last year, and…huh.  I promise it felt like a lot.

I went over to Rosie’s that afternoon to meet up with her, Kendra, and Danielle.  I felt closest to them during my time away, because we are all part of a “Parents of Furry Kids” Viber chat where we shared pictures of our cats for the last six weeks.  I also was reunited with Hans Harrison, who is SO massive compared to Rory.

Luciana and Giorgos came to pick up me and HH (so good to see them again!), and once again we dream-teamed the cat trapping.  Unfortunately, Hans Harrison seems to have associated Giorgos’s voice with trauma, because he hides whenever they’re around.  They stayed at my house for a while so we could all catch up.  They were hugely understanding of all my many feelings, and when I told them that due to visa issues I would be staying until at least April 2018, Luciana suggested, “So you’ve decided to live here long term?”

“I’m open to another two years or something.”

“No, like, long term.  Forever!”

“Hahahahhaa, commitment scares me, please stop.”

They left late, and I fell asleep not long after.  Unfortunately, I woke up at 5 am (jet lag!!), which caused Hans Harrison to run around, thinking I was getting up.  He tried to chew on his new collar and got his lower jaw stuck in the thing, causing me major panic as I tried to reach him under the bed and unsnap it as he gagged.  When I got it off of him, he practically burrowed himself into my skin as thanks, reminding me of that Aesop’s fable about a lion with a thorn in its paw.

I couldn’t go back to sleep for ages, and when I did, my alarm went off not long after.  I hit snooze for TWO HOURS and finally got up at 10:30 am.  I really hate jet lag.  Luckily, I did all the boring errands and all the fun friend-seeing yesterday, so I’m going to be as lazy as necessary today!

It’s really good to be back.  It’s really good to feel like I’m returning home – to my own apartment and to people who already know and love me.  What a difference this is compared to last year!

2017 New Year’s Resolutions

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I like the idea of resolutions, and as was pointed out by my friend yesterday, starting a new year on a Sunday feels all kinds of right when it comes to introducing new habits into your life.  A couple days ago I mentioned that one goal for this year was to travel somewhere alone, but I have two new habits that I also want to throw into the mix.

  1. Read the entire Bible using the NLT One Year Chronological Bible

    I bought this ages ago and read through it, though not in a year.  I love the translation being slightly off what I grew up on (NIV) and the way the pages are set up.  It all lends toward making the Bible feel more like a story rather than an instruction manual.  I’m two days in, and already I’ve been struck by how God, as revealed in the creation narrative, is creative, patient, and regenerating.  Which makes me think that as people created in his image, we also ought to be creative, patient, and regenerating.  It’s also fun to read it through my new lens of “this is probably poetry more than history” because I’ve got to tell you, it makes a lot more sense that way.

  2. Give up pork

    I’ve been flirting with the idea of becoming a vegetarian for a couple months now.  I just felt like it was weird that I love animals so much but don’t do any kind of reflection on how often I eat them.  I don’t actually think there’s anything morally wrong with eating animals, but I do want to be intentional about it and not just take it for granted.  Anyway, that’s a whole other conversation.

    I wound up realizing that there’s no way I can be a vegetarian because I barely know how to cook and feed myself in a healthy way, and I have no drive to cultivate culinary creativity.  I would wind up eating only power bars and candy and dying of whatever that causes.

    So my compromise is this:  no pork products!  Partly this is because someone told me pigs feel things more than other animals we eat, but mostly this is because I want to learn how to navigate the awkwardness of have food restrictions.  I want to sacrifice in a tiny way, and we’ll see what happens.

I’m always interested in stretching myself and trying new things.  The start of a new year is an excellent time to kick off those goals, though there’s no reason January 23rd couldn’t also be that day for you.

Or if you just, I dunno, want to stay the same forever, then I guess that’s cool too.  Ugh, that sounds like death, it is NOT for me.

Off to read the Bible and avoid pig meat!

Looking Back on 2016 | LOOKING FORWARD

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I’m heading back to Athens, Greece in 2017!  I will continue to volunteer at HD, though in time I’ve been away, we already have another participant and our first baby.  Things should continue to be interesting and challenging at work, which is exactly how I like it.  On the social end of things, it will be so nice to return to my own apartment and my own cat, to grow already existing friendships instead of creating new ones from scratch.

One of the strange things about moving to a new city is how long the process of finding friends really is.  It’s easy to meet new people, but sometimes you don’t realize that you don’t click until a month or two in, and sometimes you immediately click but your schedules never match up.  It takes time to find the people who will be a consistent, fun, and supportive presence in your life.  Luckily, I did most of that work last year, so I get to reap the rewards and jump right back into hanging out with Luciana, Giorgos, Kendra, and Rosie.

Most of my goals for next year are the same as last:  keep learning Greek, keep traveling, keep figuring out what to do next year.  The fact that I am kind of reliving my year makes me want to die, though, so here are some new goals.  Never be stagnant!

This year I want to travel solo.  There are often deals on Ryanair that offer flights for only €10 each way, but I pass them by because I can’t find anyone willing to spontaneously go on a weekend trip.  Why waste the opportunity?  And honestly, the more I think about it, the more fun it sounds to wander Budapest on my own.

Hm.  That’s honestly the only new thing I can think of.  Maybe I would want to join a dance class or something?  One of those ridiculous hipster dance classes that focuses on body positivity that Luciana told me about.  Or self-defense!  I don’t know, and probably I wouldn’t spend money on something like that, but I’ll keep my eyes open.

Other than those things, I really am just going to focus on: keep learning Greek.  Keep trying to figure out what the next step is.  Keep enjoying where I am while I’m there.

Bring it, 2017!

Looking Back on 2016 | FAVORITE POSTS

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These are the ten most popular posts on ItIsTrish in 2016 (though they were not necessarily written this year):

  1. INFJ Personality Type (6,938 views)
  2. Embracing My Identity as an INFJ Chameleon (1,473 views)
  3. No Slut Shaming in Hamilton (805 views)
  4. INFJ Complexities (725)
  5. Online Dating as an INFJ (aka Tinder Update) (687 views)
  6. Harry Potter Challenge – Days 16-20 (358 views)
  7. Personality Test: Color, Animal, Nature (320 views)
  8. Find Out Why You’re Single with Myers-Briggs! (310 views)
  9. How I Got Tickets to See Hamilton on Broadway (301 views)
  10. My LIFE as an INFJ (270 views)

Based on those statistics, you’d think I was only an INFJ site.  But no, this is a far less cohesive place than that!  In the interest of diversity, here are ten of my favorite posts from 2016:

  1. Captain America: Civil War REVIEW
  2. A Weekend in Berlin
  3. Let’s Talk About…Hot Men Throughout the Decades (and part 2)
  4. Should Christians Cuss?
  5. Ilvermorny and Eaglecrest:  Sorted into American Wizarding Schools
  6. The Doubting Christian’s Starter Pack
  7. One Night Visiting the Streets
  8. Game Rec:  The Beginner’s Guide
  9. Cross-Stitchable Hamilton Quotes
  10. Self-Hatred, Legalism, and Grace, Grace, Grace

Looking Back on 2016 | BOOKS

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My Six Favorite Books of 2016

(I read them in 2016; they were not necessarily published in 2016)

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All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

The nature and causes of mental illnesses is explored in this unique, beautiful love story between two teenagers.  Do not read in public if you have an ugly crying face!

The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman

A perfectionistic young woman stops trying to please everyone else and travels throughout Ireland, Australia, and South America.  It was relevant to my life.

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire by Lars Brownsworth

Yes, this is a non-fiction book about the Byzantine Empire.  But if you are even slightly interested in history, this is SUCH an engrossing story.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

A retelling of The Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective that is unreliable, clever, and socially scathing.

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik (review not up yet)

A Pride and Prejudice retelling starring a Muslim girl in England – it’s actually different enough from the source material to be worth reading!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

A stand-alone fantasy novel that has intensely original worldbuilding and a slow burn of a romance that doesn’t supercede our heroine’s character development.

What were some of your favorite books that you read this year?

Looking Back on 2016 | TRAVEL

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As usual, I judge the success of my years by how much traveling I manage to get in.  Here’s a quick rundown!

Outside Greece

  • I met up with Kaitlyn in Berlin, Germany for a weekend in March.
  • I met up with Roy and Idil in Cappadocia, Turkey in June.
  • I went on a roadtrip throughout Slovenia and visited Venice and Bologna, Italy with my mom in August.
  • I went to my organization’s debrief in Lille, France in December.

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Inside Greece

  • I went to three Greek conferences this year: one near Corinth, one on Evvia, and one near Katerini.
  • I visited Sounio and Nafplio with Anthi.
  • I went to Meteora with Sarah in October.

Greek Islands

  • I visited Aegina with Jenna in March.
  • I spent a weekend in Hydra with Mallory in May.
  • I spent a weekend in Crete with Elizabeth in October.
  • I spent a weekend in Santorini with Lindsay and Emily in November.

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Traveling is my happy place, and it was especially good fortune that during one of the most stressful years of my life, I was surrounded by an enormous amount of cheap, beautiful, diverse weekend destinations.  Here’s hoping that traveling doesn’t feel quite so necessary next year, but that I’ll still get to hit up several amazing places!