Monday

Natasha moved in!  Technically she moved in Sunday, but I’ll talk about it all here.  It’s so nice to have a roommate, especially one who speaks English as their native language.  On Sunday night we talked and talked, and I showed her around the neighborhood.  On Monday I left work for a while to take her to the laiki – street market – that we have in the area every week.  She would whisper to me, “Listen to what they say,” when the sellers gave the price, and it was super weird to be in a position of knowledge.  Sometimes knowledge.  Good enough knowledge!

Anthi took me to Jumbo after work (the Greek version of Walmart), and I bought a bunch of kitten supplies!!  Kendra texted me that she petted my little stray kitten, so hopefully within a week or so, it will be person-friendly enough to be caught.  I’ve been reading up on how to domesticate a wild kitten, and I’m super excited.  Also nervous, because he or she is a little beat up, BUT.  My theology of animals demands that I give love where it is needed, not where it is convenient.  I’ve been brainstorming names.  I cannot wait to have a little bundle of fur in my home again!

Tuesday

Tuesday was stressful!  I got up early to finish some work before work actually began, because I spent the day going back and forth to my house as minor construction projects got finished.  The day got considerably less stressful when some Texan college boys came to HD, and I commandeered them into helping me move a bed and construct a garment rack for Natasha.

I love boys!  I love American boys!  I love their dumb need to impress, to tease each other for their mistakes, to laugh at my jokes.  I love when they smile up at me before intentionally making a mistake, and I love bonding over things we miss in America.

Flirting.  That’s what I mean.  I love flirting.  Continue reading →

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 →

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 →

Sunday

You 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 →

Homesick

This week I’ve been more homesick than usual.  It started last Saturday when I was riding an escalator out of the Agia Paraskevi metro station, and these bright blue lights made lines on the walls…and all I could think about was the Rave movie theater in Peoria, and that was it!  The rest of my day was shaded in sadness.

Luckily, the homesickness doesn’t feel overwhelming, mostly because I can definitely see why it’s here.  There’s the usual: I keep making new friends, and I just want some OLD friends.  And also: whenever life starts swinging toward summer, I miss Woodland and the constant events, playtimes, and trips with My Group of People.  But mostly there’s this:  I’m moving next week!  And as wonderful as that is, it is a change, and my emotions usually react to change by sulking.   Continue reading →

A New Friend

Luciana is the second Day Program volunteer.  Normally she will work just one day a week, but since our first week was abnormal, she’s been coming more often.  She’s from Brazil, she’s athletic, and she’s studied sociology, counseling, and social anthropology. She’s engaged to a Greek guy even though she’s a year younger than me, and she’s lived in Brazil, Portugal, and Northern Ireland.

Early in the week, we both stayed late to do some work, and I “kindly” told her “helpful” things that were really just me bragging about how I had been there longer than her and knew more than she did.  I went to the bathroom, realized what I was doing, and came back into the office.

“Hey, if I’m ever being obnoxious, it’s because I’m intimidated by you,” I said.  “Before you came, I had a very specific role that no one else in the office could fill.  But your talents  overlap mine, and I’m worried that you will replace me.”

Just like that, the jealousy went away.  Speaking our grossest feelings has an amazing ability to dissipate them.   Continue reading →

WHAT A WEEK.  It feels like everything in the world happened, but unlike last week, I felt really good about everything.  So much happened, but I still managed to find time to read two books, play an enormous amount of Civilization V (I’m obviously playing as Greece and I’m conquering everyone), and binge-watch season 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Sunday

Argyris and Dina took me to a church plant, but we showed up an hour late.  That was fine by me since their Translation Headphones were mostly screechy and I couldn’t understand most of the sermon anyway.  I have resigned myself to the fact that the majority of my spiritual teaching will come from podcasts…so I’ve been listening to all of Mike Stroh’s sermons at TFC!  He’s my friend and he’s so talented!

After the service, we went to Dina’s sister’s place.  It was a family meal, since their aunt and uncle are visiting from Chicago (actually, this 80-year-old couple went from Chicago to Boston to Chicago to Uganda to Greece…#lifegoals!).  There was an enormous amount of good food.  For being a socially anxious person, I mostly don’t mind just randomly crashing other people’s parties.  Probably because of the food.   Continue reading →