Athens

Wow it's hard to believe that this trip is nearly over! I thought our excursion to Europe would never come! And now that is has the temptation is to start talking about home and summer and how we all will have to readjust to the US. Those will all work out somehow and right now all of us are trying to stay focused on the present. And as far as presents go, Athens is a pretty sweet one!

We all made it onto the bus at 2:15am to leave Nazareth and get to the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Leaving Israel was a bit of a hassle, but no one was scarred too horribly. (it wasn't really that bad.) Our flight to Athens was short and mostly full of sleep. I loved watching the Mediterranean give way to the landscape of Greece. This truly is a beautiful land!

Our days here are very nice and relaxed and I think we all greatly appreciate that. Both days have been run in similar fashion. We all meet at 8:45 to go to a site (the Aeropogus, the Olympic Stadium) for a lecture from our leader for an hour or so. Those lectures always focus on Paul and the changing church as Paul travels through these lands and are always hilarious because our leader is so enthusiastic! Then we are all given a worksheet to fill out by 6:00. It involves traveling to a bunch of famous sites and reflecting on a scripture passage or some other thoughts. Through this we have all pretty well learned the downtown area of Athens and have seen most of the famous sites. At 6:00 we discuss our findings and share our insights. The evening is then free to eat and do whatever until the process starts again.

I'm pretty sure that everyone's first meal in Athens was adamantly not kosher. I had pork and it was mixed with cheese. None of us have had pork of any kind for 3 months and meat cannot be mixed with cheese. I have had ham or pork or bacon every meal since and it's lovely.

Let's see, the Acropolis. The scaffolding was a bit disappointing, but it is awesome to imagine that hill in its prime! The Parthenon is apparently being reconstructed or something after a piece was removed and replaced. It has reminded all of us of the temples we saw in Egypt, mostly Karnak and Luxor. I wish we all could enjoy these sites for what they are instead of doing constant comparisons, but I suppose that is the nature of a trip like this.

We've seen the ancient Agora and a church dedicated to Paul and the Temple of Hephestus and the Tower of the Winds. We've also discussed how the Christian church was influenced by the Athenian senate and how our democracy was started here in Athens. Basically, we've been amazed at how much those stoics thought about as they stood around trying to perfect life. Unfortunately, life still isn't perfect even in Athens.

This morning was the commencement of the first ever Christian Movement Olympic Games. I'm sure it'll be surprising to hear that the only people who qualified were 30 students from the USA. Needless to say, we swept the podium. It was only one team event involving running across a square to answer questions about stuff we've learned the last week. We actually got a few spectators! Winners got a laurel wreath and my team was far from winning. Too much fun!

Well, my time is about up. I have to go share my insight of today with the rest of the group. First though, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, APRIL!!! I'm sad I can't be there to celebrate with you, but at least I could share port of my day with you. Have a most excellent day today, sister!

Only 11 days left.