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 →

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.

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 →

This week was all over the place, so we’re going to go day by day.

SUNDAY

After the service, there was a church lunch at Cosmovision.  In the sanctuary, I found myself with a couple other ex-pats saying, “Are you going?” “I dunno, are you?” “I guess.”  “I guess I will too, then.”  This level of enthusiasm continued throughout the entire experience.

I don’t blame the Greek church for doing Greek things, but it does make me wonder why they are so keen on ex-pats joining in.  It’s funny, the little things that make you feel like an outsider.  We arrived early and chose to sit by the windows for the view.  Someone came by to tell us that they were going to close the windows soon, and we were all basically a shrug emoji.  It turned out they were closing the windows because the old people like to sit without a breeze, so soon we were surrounded by all the oldest members of the church who, coincidentally, are the ones least likely to speak English.

Before the food was even served, I leaned over to Mercy and said, “I’m ready to go home.”  “Me too,” she agreed, and then we tried to eat our feelings of loneliness with lots of rice, potatoes, and bread.

It got a little better two hours later when I found Dawn and Kendra, ex-pats that I am friendlier with, and we kind of rolled our eyes at each other at all the Greek in-jokes and anyway, it was super nice to get home after FOUR HOURS of introvert hell.

MONDAY Continue reading →