Personal

Looking Back on 2016 | OVERVIEW

Trish1 Comment

One of my bucket list goals was to live in Europe for at least six months, and 2016 was the year I made that a reality.  Because of the connection I made with Dina twelve years ago, she invited me to join her in launching HD, a non-profit safe house and recovery program for women who have been sexually assaulted and trafficked in Athens, Greece.  It was one of the most amazing years of my life, both because I got to use my talents to do meaningful work and because I stretched myself enormously in adapting to a foreign culture.  Honestly, right now I still feel pretty burnt out by it all, but I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world.  Which is good, since I’m going to keep living in Athens and working with HD throughout 2017 (but we’ll get there in a future blog post)!

I could go through a blow-by-blow of what happened in 2016, but instead, I’m going to base this post upon the five resolutions I made a year ago.

1|  Say yes to more things that scare me.  

I think I did all right on this one, although I did not anticipate how “things that scare me” would grow to include “walking down the street to buy pet food.”  Things got rough for a while.  (Let me clarify, that wasn’t scary because of facts, but because of my brain.)  Overall, this whole year was scary!  Although I love traveling, the process of making a foreign country your home takes SO much effort, and it required almost constant “yes”s to work opportunities, friendships, and responsibilities.

2|  Focus on health.

Balancing #1, I think I did a GREAT job in letting myself say “no” to things.  I knew before I moved to Greece that my personal inclination is to do everything and be perfect to everyone around me.  But I said no to a ministry opportunity, and when leaving my apartment felt impossible, I let myself cancel plans and then form new ones when I was feeling less empty.

I also got physically healthy.  Thanks to lots of walking and a country that makes eating healthy an easy priority, I lost weight and gained endurance.  Until a bunch of friends visited in October and November, and then I came home to the States for the holidays, anyway.  But health isn’t a one-time goal – there’s always next year to keep going!

3|  Learn enough Greek to go shopping, navigate public transportation, and carry on basic conversations.

Wow!  I’m so glad I set the bar low on this one.  I can definitely shop, navigate public transportation, and carry on basic conversations in Greek.  I can even carry on medium conversations in Greek, although my brain gets tired very quickly, and usually only with people who make me feel safe.

4|  Visit at least five countries during the year.

I did this too, though there will be an entire blog post on travel tomorrow!

5|  Decide what I’ll be doing in 2017, and where.

Yup, did that too!  I’m going to be staying in Athens and continuing to work with HD.  Now if only I knew what I’ll be doing in 2018…but I never seem to know much beyond a year from now.

A Short Break

Trish2 Comments

I was going to start this post with something like, “I’ve been home for three weeks, but I am still incapable of anything creative,” and then I paused to double check my timeline.  It has not been three weeks.  It has only been a week and a half.  I think this says a lot about my tendency to expect too much of myself.

I’m still so mentally exhausted.  And socially exhausted.  Which is a real curse, because there are so many people in Illinois (including my awesome friend Michal Ann, who flew here for a few days to see me while I’m stateside), and I genuinely do want to see them.  But I feel so empty, and it takes so much energy just to cash checks at a drive-through bank, let alone spend extended periods of time with people, let alone write creative blog posts.

But I’m (slowly) working on a year-end review, much like the end of 2015.  So although there won’t be new content this week, expect daily posts beginning next Monday!  And here are some pictures of Michal and I being idiots, to tide everyone over.

img_5736

A Week in France #48: DEBRIEF IN LILLE

TrishLeave a comment

I put this off, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do “A Week in” review if I spent it in a country other than Greece.  But last week I spent five days in Lille, France for a debriefing time with my sending organization, and I think it’s significant enough to talk about publicly.

It immediately reminded me of one of the things traveling does for me, an anxious person:  throw me into a worst-case scenario and then help me realize that there are solutions even for the things I fear most.  So on Monday, I flew into Paris.  The airport shut down for 20 minutes because of an unattended bag, and instead of making me feel nervous, it made me more confident in an airport’s dedication to keeping people safe.  But that’s not the worst-case scenario.   Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #47: MY LAST WEEK THIS YEAR

TrishLeave a comment

It’s crazy to think that this might have been my last week in Athens, full stop.  I’m so glad I decided to stay another year – I’m happy to postpone this depressing possibility for later!

I actually tried to give myself a lot of downtime this week, knowing that I would be mentally exhausted.  Work went much better than I assumed; we had a lot of meetings to prepare for the next month (and we’ve already scheduled three meetings for the first week I return) but the day to day work wasn’t overwhelming.  It was actually pretty fun!  On Thursday, we went to Jumbo to buy Christmas decorations, and on Friday, we put up HD’s first Christmas tree!  We all wore silly Christmas hats, sang to American and Greek Christmas songs, and ate a lot of cookies as we put up ornaments and lights.  One woman had been sick all week, but she came in specially on Friday to say goodbye to me, which was very sweet! 

Outside of work, I mostly did things on Wednesday (the ceremony for the texts of terror in the Bible, described in an earlier post) and the Revelation Bible study that this week went until midnight.  Then I had a massively busy weekend!
It started on Friday, when Olga called and asked if she could stop by.  When she got to my apartment, she asked if she could spend the night and had a bag already packed, hahaha.  We stayed up talking and catching up, and then on Saturday morning we both left.  I went to meet up with Dina and Argyris for brunch at a super fancy restaurant in Kiffisia.  They ordered way too much food and forced me to eat more than I could handle, and they showered me with compliments and made me feel really great about coming back to HD next year.

They dropped me off at my house at 2:00 p.m., half an hour before Luciana and Giorgos came over to transport Hans Harrison to his holiday destination.  Unfortunately, HH remembered the trauma of the cat carrier, and he mauled my arm in desperation.  As soon as I would stop shoving him at the case, he would curl up in my lap in trust, which was a very effective way to make me want to stop forcing him in.  Luckily, Giorgos and I teamed up and wrapped him in a blanket to stop his legs flailing and got him in the carrier.

img_5444

Because they transported HH, they got to meet Rosie, and my plan to start combining my friend groups began (just before I leave, perfect)!  They left, and then Rosie and I met up with Kendra and headed to Mercy’s Christmas party.  There was an enormous amount of sweets and drinks and games, and I was super grateful that I got to do a Christmas party in Athens before leaving.

img_5451

I spent the night at Rosie’s, both because of the convenience of staying downtown, and because Hans Harrison was there and I wanted to be with him as long as possible.  In the morning, we met up with a bunch of friends to skip church and go to the Anglican Bazaar, which had loads of really nice used books for 50 cents each.  It was cutthroat, with little old ladies elbowing us out of the way, and me using my long arms to snatch books from over people’s shoulders.  I came away with eleven books for 5.50 euro, though, so it was totally worth it!

img_5447

We headed to 2nd Church for the women’s meeting where Kendra was speaking.  There was a massive lunch first, and she spoke about Leah, the unwanted sister, and how in both secular and church cultures, women are so often made to feel less-than.  She did an amazing job, and women opened up about their stories a bit, and it was just very lovely.

After that, we went back to Rosie’s to hang out for a bit.  I cuddled with Hans Harrison one last time, and then I came back to my house at 6:00 p.m. to clean and pack.  I’m mostly done with that now, so I’ve just got to wait until about 10:00 when Luciana is going to come over and say goodbye, go to sleep, and then wake up early to head to France!

Five days in France for debriefing, then I’m back in the States for a month!  Honestly, right now I’m not excited.  I’ve been having so much fun here, both at work and socially, and I feel like I’m finally starting to find that group of friends that I can call to do anything/everything.  It sucks to leave all of that!  But I know that when I get home I’ll remember all the amazing people there and it’ll be okay.

A Week in Greece #46: THANKSGIVING, STRESS SICKNESS, and BUSY WEEKEND

TrishLeave a comment

This week was full of highs and lows, but I ended on a high so this will sound optimistic.

On Tuesday, Dina and Argyris invited Luciana, Giorgos, and I over to their house for dinner after work.  Dina had prepared a feast, and then we all sat around their living room drinking coffee and watching YouTube videos of places we’ve traveled to.  It was a really fun combination of people, and I liked getting to hang out with Dina and Argyris without it being work related.  We used to do a lot more of that earlier this year when I lived at the Bible college, but now I’m so far away it rarely happens.

On the way home, I felt my throat getting sore, and by Wednesday I knew I had a cold.  Bad timing, because we celebrated Thanksgiving at HD on Wednesday.  I threw all my remaining energy into having a good time, and it was actually a really awesome day!   Continue reading →

A Short History of Thanksgiving

Trish2 Comments

We celebrated Thanksgiving at HD today:  seven Greeks, one Romanian, one Brazilian, and one American.  Since I was the only one who knew what the holiday was all about, they asked me to prepare a short history of Thanksgiving to share with them.  As a US citizen living in Europe, I am acutely aware of how the United States is often perceived as boorish, backwards, and power-hungry.  I am simultaneously proud of and ashamed of my heritage, and I hope this summary of Thanksgiving accurately represents the best and worst of what the United States is capable.

In 1620, a ship called the Mayflower left England.  On it were 102 people, called Pilgrims, who were looking for a new land where they could have religious freedom and own their own property.  After 66 days at sea, they landed in North America and established a new home called Plymouth.

More than half of those 102 people died during their first winter.  But when spring arrived, a Native American named Squanto came to them speaking English.  He had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery.  He managed to escape London and return to his homeland in North America.  Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, catch fish, and avoid poisonous plants.  He also helped them establish an alliance with the Wampanoag tribe nearby.

In November of 1621, the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest was successful.  To celebrate, they invited their Wampanoag allies to join them in a three day feast.  Although this was the first Thanksgiving celebrated, the day did not become official until Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday 200 years later in 1863.  This was during the Civil War, and he hoped it would encourage all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

It’s important to know that, although this day began with the alliance between Pilgrims and Native Americans, we very quickly forced them off their land, massacred their people, and forced them to live in reservations on some of the worst land in our country.  In the United States, we are good at ignoring our crimes in favor of celebrating our own successes.  Hopefully our continued remembrance of Thanksgiving will remind us to be thankful for what we have while still fighting to ally ourselves with people who are different from us.

A Week in Greece #44: MALL OUTING AND THE ATHENS MARATHON

TrishLeave a comment

I’m late writing about last week, but until yesterday there was very little to write about.  I was in full post-friend-visit mode, which means I spent almost all of the time I wasn’t working watching Battlestar Galactica with my cat.  It was me at my sad introvert best.  There are really only two things worth mentioning, but they are two pretty great things!

On Tuesday, we were supposed to go out on a boat with all the HD staff and participants.  But weather was bad, so we went to the mall instead.  I honestly think this turned out to be a better idea!  We went bowling together, and it was really fun to be silly and competitive and supportive.  Everyone but four of us left after that, at which point we all got lunch together.  Then we went to a sweet shop and bought a bunch of different kinds of things to share.  We wandered the mall and shopped together.

I spent most of my time with our Greek-speaking participant, because neither of us are hugely into shopping.  Using our broken language communication, I held her stuff and gave her feedback as she tried things on.  It was really fun, and a good opportunity to struggle through communication instead of relying on a translator.

It was also a great experience because this particular participant struggles with anxiety.  She doesn’t go out shopping a lot, and things like going to the register alone stressed her out.  I found this out later, because our broken communication is not that nuanced.  But that turned out to be great!  Since the only two staff there spoke mostly English, she had to kind of suck it up and do things on her own….and she did!  Non-consumerist therapy at the mall, who knew.

The other noteworthy event was on Sunday.  Kendra ran in the Athens Marathon Continue reading →

My Second Tattoo

Trish2 Comments

Last week, while Lindsay and Emily visited me, we all got individual tattoos together!  We were all agreed that the act of getting a tattoo should be meaningful in addition to the meaningfulness of the tattoo itself.  I’m really glad that my second tattoo will forever remind me of my time spent in Greece and of the fact that I have amazing friends who visited me here.

img_5039

Which one is mine?  Quotation marks on my right wrist.  Wrist placement is my favorite, because I want to see whatever I’ve decided to etch onto my flesh for all time.  I already have “Courage, dear heart” on my left wrist, so this was valuable real estate.  In fact, I already knew that this was the next tattoo I wanted three years ago, but I waited to make sure I wouldn’t change my mind.

There are two main reasons I decided to get a tattoo of empty quotation marks.

I first came up with the idea while I was getting my Master’s in Counseling.  I spent most of those three years internalizing the idea that it is better to be silent and supportive than to speak.  I love to give advice and there is a part of me that wants nothing more than to control everyone around me…but someone who does that is a bad counselor and a dangerous friend!

Empty quotation marks reminds me to slow down, to listen first and choose my words carefully.  They remind me that meaningful connections from from shutting up and letting other people have a voice.

This tattoo took on added meaning when I moved to Greece and began learning to speak Greek.  I struggled (and continue to struggle) with communicating in a foreign language.  Not necessarily because it is hard, but because stumbling through half-sentences hits me at the core of who I am.  I pride myself on my ability to communicate well with words.  It is one of the things I love best about myself.  Having that taken away felt like my own self-worth was in jeopardy.

Empty quotation marks reminds me that even when I don’t have words, I have worth.  They remind me that my ability to communicate is a gift, but it is not my defining quality.  I am still me without my words.

img_5275

This is not a good “show off your tattoo” picture – I’ve got janky nail polish, a cat scratch, and a hairband indentation – but this is how my wrist will look on a regular basis, so oh well!

 

A Week in Greece #43: EMILY AND LINDSAY VISIT

TrishLeave a comment

What an awesome week!  My two besties, Lindsay and Emily, came on Sunday and left on Sunday, which means that this is the perfect forum to discuss all the amazing things we did together.

In general, there was a lot of eating and drinking and talking.  In particular, I had such a good time being with people who know me at a deep level.  I was just talking to Anthi an hour ago about how hard it can be to spend time with family and friends from your childhood because they see you as the person you used to be.  I feel really lucky because Emily and Lindsay knew teenage self-conscious and self-righteous Tricia, but they’ve somehow allowed me to grow up and treat me as the person I have become.  It’s the perfect comforting relationship, and I’m really grateful for both of them.

img_5056

I’m also grateful for our mutual agreement on what constitutes a good time.  For instance, on Tuesday, we listened through the entire Hamilton soundtrack while cutting each other’s hair in my living room.  And any time someone suggested that we not do the thing we had planned on doing…everyone else said YES MORE SWEATPANTS TIME.  I love my socially lazy friends.  Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #42: CHURCH FAMILY AND PUMPKIN CARVING

TrishLeave a comment

Whoops, I almost forgot to post this week’s A Week in Greece, which would be a shame because a lot happened!

Last Sunday, I went to church with an OM volunteer, and there is something so nice about walking in with someone instead of alone.  After the service, she left, but I had like, three conversations with different groups of people, at which point I realized, IT HAPPENED.  I have people at this church.  The day got even better when Kendra and I went out to lunch at a brunch place nearby.  I haven’t had brunch in ten months, and wow.  Wow.  It was so good, both the food and the conversation.

On Tuesday, Mercy came to my part of town.  Everything usually happens downtown, which means metro-ing places, and I am just too lazy for that!  So instead of asking “what do you want to do?” I just straight up suggested she come to the awesome park/coffee shop near my house.  She did, and it was great.

I am super blanking on things.  Work was mostly fine this week…oh yeah!   Continue reading →