Athens

It's hard to describe how I feel for Athens these days. I miss my friends and bits and pieces of life there, for sure. I miss our group of girls and coffee dates and meeting up on a whim in the evenings for a walk or a glass of wine. I miss our chats and the depth of relationship I was able to create with several people in a short time. There's something about sharing common circumstances in life (being a foreigner, single girl, in Greece, etc.) that forges bonds quickly.

Occasionally when I see friends' photos or hear stories from there, I feel this pang of familiarity and loss. It's strange; I can't say I miss the city, to be honest. I do miss the lifestyle, the feeling of being somewhat familiar with and being "at home" in another culture, and aspects of what life was there for me. But I don't miss the city, the dirtiness, the drug addicts, the brothels, the hardness and apathy and rebellion, feeling of always being a foreigner, the struggle with language. I don't really miss Athens at all.

The funny thing is, I hold so many fond memories and feelings for my time in Greece, but I know that if I went back it wouldn't be the same. A different blend of people, the absence of my fun apartment in my cool neighborhood, different work and social circumstances, and even more unrest and disruption. It will never be the same as it was while I was there. So I guess what I think fondly of is the time, the memories, and the friends and circumstances that came together to make my time there what it was. I'm glad I was there when I was. I like to think I made my little mark and others made theirs on me. :)

Wow, how life changes in a hurry. Life now looks nothing like it did even four months ago. Adjusting to a third culture (where I am SO SO SO thankful they speak English), new people, new job, and soon to be new marriage. It's exciting and feels like a grand adventure is just beginning. So Athens has become another place that I think of when I think of "home" and my friends there are others that I count as close and significant when I think of my important people.

I saw this video on a friend's facebook page a couple months ago. It brings feelings of familiarity and loss, but also of distance. Memories of what was, but knowledge that that isn't my life anymore. And ultimately - fortunately! - contentment and excitement about where I am now. :)

Athens...the Little Great City (I know it's big, sorry)

xronia polla!

We had a "summer birthdays" party yesterday with the bible study girls. It was so hot we were zapped of energy but still managed to eat a lot and chat it up. We haven't all been together in several months, so it was good to catch up!Best quote of the day:
"We should pray for each other."
"I thought this was a birthday party?!"
I feel blessed with good friends here. You need those, when you're trying to survive in the "missionary graveyard" that is Europe ... We reflected on that and other things last night, as we caught up on joys and difficulties and life developments and how things are changing with each one of us. Not sure how much longer we'll all be able to be a regular part of each other's lives, but we're thankful for the time we've been able to be so!

Oh, thank God for free American health care.

View from the hill

When I told my sister yesterday that I fell while running, she laughed at me. Cruel, I know. But she was thinking of that stretch of time a few years ago when I stabbed myself, flipped over my bike handlebars and landed on my head, and Nick broke my rib, and perhaps another incident, all within a month or two. I guess it didn't seem that long ago to her and she still thinks I have a death wish.

Anyway. I did. I was running around Philopappou Hill like usual. It's pretty dry up there now and very rocky, and on a little downhill stretch I tripped and had a long, hard fall. Somehow I ended up with swollen, puffy knees and a thigh (as if I needed more puffiness there!). I staggered all the way home, about 25 minutes, glad that my pants were at least hiding the blood running down my leg, but not so much the dirt that covered over half my body and wouldn't wipe off.

I cleaned it all out with the shower head, and discovered this strange, deep, puncture-like hole in my knee. It's pretty gross. And fascinating; I spent lots of time yesterday gazing into it, trying to figure out why it was there and what was inside. And why it kept oozing. By the time I finished some meetings and was able to concentrate on it, the pharmacies were closed, and the one doctor I knew of nearby refused to speak English to me on the phone (jerk!). I was frustrated that I didn't know a few of the vital words I needed in Greek for that conversation.

Neosporin and bandaids were about all the supplies I had on hand, although after applying I read the Neosporin tube and it said "consult a doctor before use if you have ... deep or puncture wounds..." I wasn't sure I wanted to brave the public hospital just yet, and besides I didn't know which one was open that night, so I just hoped last night that it wouldn't get infected and tried not to let panic set in. :) Did I mention I couldn't walk by last night?

Anyway, to make a long, painful story short, I was asking a friend last night if she would still be my friend if I got gangrene, lost my leg, and ended up begging on the sidewalk in Omonia, and she told me that they had a visiting team with a doctor on it. She works for ITeams' refugee ministry here, and said that this woman had actually done a minor "surgery," as she described it, on her that morning. The prospect of a nice American lady fixing me up sounded almost blissful, minus the pain part, in comparison to some of the other options I have available to me in this country!!!

So this morning, I got up and hopped/staggered/limped to the refugee center, occasionally gasping when I took a wrong step and my leg felt like someone had just shot me in the knee. I waited for the doctor to arrive, and it was like I was at home. She cleaned out my wound, called it "impressive" even, and gave me everything I need - peroxide to clean it out regularly, neosporin (guess it's ok to fill my puncture wound with it), big bandaids, and antibiotics, because it was starting to get infected already.

And I was so thankful for this seemingly simple solution. It was a big deal to me to have it taken care of so easily, when nothing is easy here, the medical system is quite plainly traumatic, and I don't have a grasp of the right terms in the language. I am laid up for a couple of days, but I have plenty of sympathetic attention (hee hee :) and I have enormous amounts of relief to have it taken care of and have everything I needed provided, free, in English, and by a nice Christian lady who wrote "God bless" on my antibiotics bottle. :) SO thankful that God made that easy today.

thinking

random photo of Athens street art to make post more interesting

I am thinking about finally applying for a residence permit when I go to the States in June. I get a headache when I think about all the hoops I will have to jump through: birth certificates, doctors' notes, bank statements, letters from insurance companies, letters from my organization, background check & fingerprints, all translated and notarized, turned in in the States and in Greece, then more doctor's appointments, TB test, lung x-ray... GAH! But, worth it in the end, to not have to leave every 90 days and worry about the small chance of not getting back in or a very large fine??? (????)

I am thinking about my storage unit in Southern California that holds the contents of an apartment, collecting dust and racking up money to keep it there. It's paid through June; what if I got rid of it all? Would I miss it? Would I even want any of that stuff in a few years when/if I do move back to California?

I am thinking about a roommate. We have a girl coming soon for two years from Australia who I met at the prayer summit in Amsterdam last November. I love where I live, I can walk everywhere and I'm 3 minutes from the metro. And I like living alone. But it would save some money and probably give me more space, not to mention company. I'd be very picky about where I lived next, because my location is so great. And I just hate moving and going through the whole process again of finding a place. So I don't know. But I'm thinking about it.

I'm also thinking about the fact that I went to a different church this morning, didn't use the headphones for translation into English, and understood nearly the whole thing. What!!? Either this pastor speaks much more clearly (or uses easier words, or both), or my Greek has improved!! I was listening in sheer amazement the whole time (because I could actually understand most of what I was hearing), and even had a discussion about the sermon afterward with two friends who had their headphones on for the service. Bizarre!!!

And that is enough thinking for a Sunday afternoon. YAAAAAAY for not having any Greek homework to do!!!!!

oh yeah,

I found out this week that I have been officially accepted by my new organization, International Teams. Good to know I passed all my psych tests and I'm not crazy (whew)!

I also seem to have come through this rough patch - slash - month of culture shock. Things are good - extremely busy, but good. (Come to think of it, it's a good thing I didn't have to take those psych tests last month!) Now I am just preparing like mad for the three day seminar I'm teaching in Cyprus later this week, and I have two more weeks of Greek, and then I'm going on a little mini weekend vacation to get the heck out of here relaaaaaax!

Culture Shock: it's finally caught up with me!

I am back home today. As I feared last week, I was greeted by this ... green. Lots of it. My apartment has an eerie green tint on the inside now. I have no idea how long this will be. But given that I live in Greece, where everything takes 30 times longer than in it should and half the time nothing is happening at all, it could be a long time.

Along with my return to Athens is the return of my pissed-off-and-stressed-out-all-the-time mood. (Not ALL the time, just ... frequently.) I have had it for several weeks and have finally identified it: culture shock!

In talking with a number of long-termers, it seems to be true, and I must admit it's caught me by surprise. My first year was easy; perhaps subconsciously I knew I had an out and could go home when it was over. I loved Greece! Things were ridiculous and inconvenient, but I adjusted accordingly. I still love Greece, and have no question that I am supposed to be here, but now every little annoying cultural thing has been so frustrating. Perhaps I know now that this is longer-term; this is my reality now.

So, the impossibility of getting things done (like getting internet - ahhh!), the reality that the language is HARD, the souvlaki advertisements hung on my doorknob every day, the cement walls that I can't drill into to hang a dang mirror, the green tarp wrapped around the apartment building, the garbage strike (or the taxi drivers strike, or the air traffic controllers strike, or the electricity, gas, or farmers strikes) ... this is my LIFE. Before, I found it easy to just roll with the punches. I assume I will get back to that point (soon I hope!), but at the moment, everything just drives me bonkers and one little thing is enough to send me over the edge.

I was actually relaxed on the train today...it turned out to be a pretty good weekend, which I'll share about soon. But as soon as my taxi driver picked up another passenger, refused to drop me off at my house, and charged me extra for the pickup at the train station (where he was already sitting) and for my luggage (which I was holding), I felt that lovely anxious stress again. It didn't help that I yelled at him (didn't help my calm feelings, I mean).

Well, thanks for listening. I'll look forward to two or three more years down the road when I am supposed to finally hit the "adaptation phase" of my cultural adjustment. :)

a few projects

Since I guess I'm going to be staying awhile, I've been putting a bit more effort into decorating my house and otherwise making it feel like home. Until a few weeks ago my entryway had a big box from moving (yes, I moved last April!) and a mattress leaning against the wall. Nothing says "welcome!" like a storage area at the front door! I didn't think to take a before picture, but here is what my entryway is looking like these days:
Still would like something on the wall above the shelf...
The mirror that nearly cost me my sanity (dumb concrete walls!) :In Paris last May I bought some cute & bright postcards that I have been intending to frame and hang. Again, I know it's been awhile, but I finally got around to it, in the office/dining room/uninspiring extra room! (Please ignore the messy desk!)

(Nails are much easier to pound into concrete than drilling screws...)

Not only have I been doing things on the inside, but apparently they are preparing to do something on the outside too! I woke up yesterday to metal being hammered together just feet from my bedroom window. I investigated, and was startled to see a man on a board on the other side of the glass!!! By the end of the day, my entire building was surrounded by scaffolding:
So...it's anyone's guess, but my assumption is that they are repainting. I am mildly afraid that we are going to be wrapped in green tarp (see piles of suspicious green stuff near the bottom of the photo!). There is a building down the street that has been wrapped in the stuff for months!! I thought that one was uninhabited, but sadly I may be proved wrong... :(

I'll be out of Athens for a few days... (have I trained you yet to check the other blog for ministry-related stuff?) we'll see what my building looks like when I come back!

Happy February

Hmm, I need to pay my rent.

Last week was One of Those Weeks. (I'm hoping that this is not extending itself into this week too, although if this morning was any indication, I could be in trouble. For the second day in a row I missed my alarm; I faintly remember pushing snooze at 7:50 and never heard from it again. Proceeded to be a half hour late to Greek class.)

Last week, OoTW, I hated Greece, and Greek, and had a couple of tantrums. Or melt-downs, whichever you prefer. There is also something strange going on as I can't seem to wake up in the mornings and have no energy. My blood test came back with anemia in Cali last month, and I am armed with iron pills...now I just need to remember to take them. Hopefully this is what my problem is. One girl in the office has mono, which is exciting.

I got a tax I.D. number last week = major accomplishment!! I can now officially buy things and have contracts. This works out great for Greece (I can now pay taxes), and only great for me as I can now have things like telephones and internet. :) Yet of course it's not that simple; several days of trying to figure things out and i have a substandard internet connection of my very own in my house (no longer using the neighborhood free wireless that seems to have disappeared last week). Multiple visits to the company office and a few frustrating phone calls later, I may have it figured out. Sometimes you just get so tired of not speaking the language well, not understanding WHY things are the way they are (and they just don't tell you here), and things not working the way they should.

See, maybe this is why I haven't been blogging - it all comes out disjointed and rambly. Here's hoping last week is over and this week is better, my brain retains ridiculous Greek grammatical nuances, and my internet works. And in the meantime please don't forget the other blog (seriously, just check it regularly so I don't have to keep reminding you. I try to write at least once a week).

ta ta

bitter bitter long-john and face mask cold

I'm wearing sweats, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece, a scarf, swaddled in a blanket, and sitting in front of the heater. And that is inside my house.

It seems I can't be bothered to blog these days. It's been nice, so please don't hold it against me. I'm sure I'll be back eventually. I am still thinking and writing over here, mostly out of obligation, but at least that keeps me motivated.

I did start Greek school today - Level 4! Oh, I was nervous. But the three hour class this morning that I will repeat three times a week for the next couple of months was actually fun. We had a conversation on Greek politics and political history. And by conversation, I mean that we (the three students in the class) nodded and mm-hmmed a lot while the teacher spoke. At least we can understand. Spitting out the words when you have a thought to share is a whole different story. Part of our homework is to prepare for a discussion on the economic crisis for Wednesday. I can't even carry on a conversation about that in English.

Ok, bye now. See you on the other blog, and sometime here again too, I'm sure.

That end of the year post...it was a doozy!

It's been quite a year, and who wouldn't want to reminisce about it? ;) Let's begin this obligatory post with December of '08, just because that seems to be when all the fun began. It's like a 13-month year in review. Kind of like a 16-month calendar, which makes no sense either.

December 2008 ~ the month I moved to Greece. It was a day later than intended, because of an air traffic controller's strike, but I made it. I moved into a tiny room below a family with three cute little boys in Piraeus and celebrated Christmas with my new Greek friends. This is where the photo in my banner came from, a five minute walk from that house.

January 2009 ~ lots of adjusting! Had visitors from Talbot and spent a day with them at Corinth - so good to see familiar faces. Later in the month I left for Thailand to visit a couple of anti-trafficking & prostitution ministries. That was such a great trip on so many levels, from being with a great group of women from the US, to learning so much from the ministries we visited.

February 2009 ~ kicked off with a solo trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Can't say I'd recommend that as an on-your-own travel destination, but still learned a lot and visited another ministry there. Started making friends in Athens, taught the first Greek Hands That Heal course in Thessaloniki, and was traumatized by the Greek health care system! This month I also started volunteering on outreach with Nea Zoi.

March 2009 ~ Just the general hum-drum of trying to settle into a new place. A bit of loneliness and discouragement, boredom, language difficulties, and cultural frustrations. I was growing frustrated with where I lived outside of Athens and not having much community around me. Did have a lovely day trip to the island of Hydra - my first Greek island. :)

April 2009 ~ This was a crazy month. I still remember, and I'm not sure I would ever choose to repeat it! Except the part where Janell came to visit! And the part where I got my own apartment in a great neighborhood in Athens...except for the moving and delivery nightmares surrounding Easter. Anyway - we kept busy: first a quick trip to Istanbul for a visa trip for me, then a couple of days on Santorini which were not restful in the least. :) I was so thankful to have her visit for a few weeks! April was also Easter week, in which the whole country shuts down and I skipped town again like any good Athenian for a couple days in Crete. Ok, so April was a bit of a nightmare.

May 2009 ~ But May was worse. For some reason, this was by far my worst month of the year. A number of things happened with family/friends, or at home, or to me in Athens, etc. etc. to make this a really difficult, lonely, and depressing month. I did get to go to France for an anti-trafficking conference and a weekend in Paris (paid for by a supporter - thank you!). I also made some friends at the gym :) and start spending more time with one of the girls we were working with. We also started teaching Hands That Heal for a second time, this time in Athens.

June 2009 ~ Recovering from May (this took several months). Took a visa trip to Albania.

July 2009 ~ I enjoyed summer in Athens. Lots of swimming in the sea, turning 30, making friends, and of course, Sakis. We did some intense street outreaches in July which were pretty exhausting, and I started a three week intensive language course. (I guess it was an intense month!)

August 2009 ~ Vacation month! Athens shut down and we were left in this "ghost town" of a city. I finished up my intensive language course and spent 5 days in Cyprus, learning about trafficking and trying to rest there. (Ha ha - what is rest?)

September 2009 ~ Things slowly begin to start up again in Athens after a month off in August. I watched the city fill up again and come back to life. We started regular outreaches again and began to plan for the third Hands That Heal class. I was sick, questioning the meaning of life (my life in particular), and trying to figure out what exactly I was doing in Greece.

October 2009 ~ Still sick, started Hands That Heal with a great turnout, had a weekend away with our friend who had left prostitution, and escaped with a few friends for a weekend to Meteora. There were rumblings inside and outside of me about my future in Greece and what that could look like. Lots of prayers and tears and questions. :)

November 2009 ~ My trip to Amsterdam, where it all began to come together for me to make the move to join International Teams. Also had probably the best visa trip ever to Jordan, courtesy of Andrea. :) Had a great Thanksgiving with neighborhood friends and realized that Athens has begun to feel like home.

December 2009 ~ And here I find myself back in the States, for Ramesh's wedding and the holidays. It has been a whirlwind - not relaxing by any means!!! It's good to be with family and friends, though, and I am realizing that I will be sadder than I expected when it's time to head back to Athens in mid-January. But I think I'll be ready.

So what a crazy year! Ten countries, I counted; lots of work, lots of learning, lots of amazing opportunities, and lots of processing yet to be done. Maybe I'll actually get to rest and think when I get back to Greece. ;) It's fun to look back over this year with thankfulness and a strange sense of awe, and I am really excited for what's to come with International Teams. So, stay tuned, I guess. :) And happy New Year!

Important information about your flight...

I just got my email for my Athens-LAX flight...that is on WEDNESDAY. I can't believe it's close enough to get the email! I have just one full day left in Athens. I am excited to see friends and family and also a little sentimental about leaving my friends here for six weeks. Neither of these feelings is overwhelming - it just is what it is. What will be weirder, I know, is coming back to Athens after being "home" for six weeks. Never done that before. Now I know I will be here probably at least two more years, and unlike the last time I came here, I know exactly what I am coming back to. Yet, I also will be reminded for six weeks just what I am missing - in a way of comparison to Athens that I was never able to do before living here.

Most people tell me that it's going to suck when it's time to leave to come back, and that the first few days back will be tough, but as I start to see my friends here and settle back in all will be fine again. It helps knowing I have nothing material to go back to - no house, no car, no real place that I belong. I belong here in my apartment in Athens, for now.

What a long way I've come in a year! I arrived with no friends, no house of my own, no language, no sense of this city or my place or the culture. What a difference a year makes! :)

it is still my favorite holiday!

My first pumpkin pie = success! Andrea (staying with me for a few weeks post-Jordan) was the Potato Queen. We are quite a Thanksgiving combo -- fabulous green beans (I'm a good recipe-follower), mashed and sweet potatoes, and the pie. It wouldn't have been Thanksgiving without us... :)
We had five Americans, three Greeks, two Brits, one Canadian and one Greek Australian. It was a great time with friends and fabulous food!

really??

I have managed to top off my fabulous week with a bad cold and a mildly sprained ankle. That's what I get for trying to get some fresh air. That makes my second sprained ankle since moving to Athens - almost laughable, especially if you've ever been here and seen the sidewalks (and I use the term "sidewalks" loosely). Have I ever sprained anything before moving to Greece? That would be a no.

I had in mind to tell you about all the other interesting things that you can observe in public here (see previous post re: shooting up in public) that take place in other locales but not quite on the public scale that occurs here. Examples: peeing, nose picking, making out... but I'll save the apparent lack of need/desire for privacy here for another post.

One interesting note - I was actually able to make it out to a neighborhood art exhibit last night with some friends that is located around the neighborhoods we work in. Sprinkled throughout the brothels, etc. were old buildings full of abstract art - a real estate company is buying up these decrepit old homes and commercial buildings and turning them into art galleries in an attempt to make the neighborhood more artsy and attractive. We took the opportunity as unassuming "tourists" to snap some photos of brothels, too :) which is what the one above is.

redefining safety

I watched the movie The Soloist last night. It takes place largely on Skid Row in LA. I have been there so many times, during the day and night, yet the intensity of the place in the movie still surprised me. I have forgotten. It's not the same here.

Thursday nights we start outreach at 11. I walk there alone, to some of the worst parts of Athens. I have walked home alone from the center square at 2 or 3 am. Yet I don't really think twice about it. Athens is different from LA. Tonight on my way to the outreach center I saw the customary drug deals, the guys who are totally strung out shooting up right on the sidewalk, the bazillions of refugees in the streets, the girls at work. I suddenly realized how my perception of danger or being unsafe has changed.

Athens is not a dangerous place. Ok, it would not be shocking if I were mugged, or if someone broke into my apartment. Petty crime has risen with the poor economy and the increase of refugees and immigrants. But violent crime is so rare. It's almost unheard of here. In this way, my self is safer than my stuff. So I can walk alone at night (being smart, of course - it's not like I choose the darkest alleys or the worst areas and walk into them at 3 in the morning) without much fear. Seeing Skid Row in this movie last night made me realize how different things would be elsewhere. My perception of safety will need to be readjusted when I leave here. Maybe it will just naturally readjust in a different environment with different levels or definitions of danger.

In LA, it's not uncommon for people to hurt others. Here in Athens, it's more common for people to hurt themselves.

bad habits

A few bad habits I have picked up since living overseas:

1. Speaking Greek in English (ex. "I like shrimps" or "I am bored to do that.")
2. Calling my country "America"
3. Staying up SO LATE (partly because the culture and work are late night things, but also because everyone at home is awake during my night for skype, IM, etc.)
4. Eating the same things because walking to the grocery store and carrying the bags all the way home is such a pain
5. Hoarding plastic bags (the Greeks do this and now so do I...for garbage bags, carrying things, etc.)

:)

I am so lucky!

There is a demolition going on a few floors above me. How do I know? Because of this:And because they started working around 6:30 am, throwing all their pieces of junk (including but not limited to: doors, windows, pieces of wall, cupboards, drawers, countertops) down into this dumpster. Which happens to be right outside my bedroom window.

Score! A free alarm clock, AND a great view!!

impressed for once!

Sunday morning I got up as usual, got ready, went to church...on the way home I ran into some friends from the neighborhood at one of the cafes and stayed for a drink and lunch afterward. By the time I got home it was 4:30 and I was scrambling to go out again for my 5:00 coffee with another friend (life is hard). :)

I had to check something on my computer and noticed the outlet wasn't working. Great. My Greek teacher's (Voula) husband (Elias) is an electrician, who had come when I first moved in and fixed all the non-functioning outlets; they are old, so I supposed one had stopped working. I tried another. It didn't work either. Uh oh...I tried the light switch...nothing. I went to my electrical box but none of the fuses had popped up, but none of the lights in the house worked. To my dismay, the lights in the hallway outside the house worked just fine...it was only my house. :( Somehow, given that I live in Greece, I was not surprised. (Is that bad??)

I called Voula who asked Elias what was going on. He had me check the fuses and then decided it was a problem with the company. She told me where I could find the number on my latest bill (which I had made sure I paid!) and I called a few times before I got through. The guy spoke no English, but I was able to tell him I had no electricity and where I lived. He said he would call me back. That is never a good sign! I settled in for the long haul, rescheduling my coffee date, planning what I would do that evening for light and possibly the next morning for a shower, and fretting that he wrote down my number wrong.

Nearly 30 minutes later, the guy called back. I had no idea what he was telling me. Somehow I figured out that the electric guy was outside the door of my building! Thanking him, and in a bit of shock that they were already here, I hung up and ran down to let the guy in. I showed him the electrical boxes in the basement, and he called me over to show me what was wrong. A simple button that he pushed back in. "Off, on, off, on," he said, pushing it in and out.

A half hour and I had my power back! I almost fainted in disbelief. I found out that the number for outages operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is crazy for a country that takes every other day off for a holiday and closes early on the other days. :) And they actually followed up and showed up at my house in a timely manner! Holy electric company! I was floored.

This morning I told Voula what happened, and she affirmed the round-the-clock hours of the company. But when I told her that the guy had shown me the button to push in the basement, she frowned. "That is against the law," she said, "only electricians can get into those boxes!" She shook her head with that "I can't believe these people" look that I use at least twice a day in this country. I knew there would be something "Greek" about the situation, ha. But at least I got my power back. Each little occasion like this makes me feel like I am getting the full Greek experience. What's next? I can take it. :)

Βαριέμαι να διαβάσω Ελληνικά!

Here are some photos of the place that has been consuming most of my life of late:

My classroom...
The courtyard of the Athens Centre...
View from the roof (yes that is the Acropolis)...
Most of my class in the kitchen, cutting up fruit to eat with yogurt, yum! We have German guy, Canadian guy, my fellow American, Slovenian girl (and a Russian girl who is missing from the picture), and my teacher Rosa on the right...
Rosa put on the scarf just for this picture. She is a little crazy, there's no way around it. Some might say "eccentric." But she's a great teacher. :)I'm not going to lie, I am really ready for this course to be over. Three more days!

enough for one day

This morning I had a trail of ants in my kitchen, from the counter to an obscure corner on the floor where there were hundreds of them swarming some tiny decomposing thing. :( I sprayed the living daylights out of the ants and my whole kitchen before I had to rush off to my Greek class, leaving a trail of black dots behind.

This afternoon I was putting dishes away and bumped the drying rack off my counter. At least 5 (as far as I could count) glasses were on it...and are no more. I swept the broken glass up with the ant bodies.

Tonight a huge cockroach joined me in the kitchen. I chased it behind the stove, and as I was washing dishes noticed it scampering around right in between my feet and freaked out. I tried stomping on it and inadvertently chased it into my bedroom. We played hide and seek for awhile while I finished my dishes in a cold sweat before I finally scared it out from under my bed and smashed it 14 or 15 times and then sprayed the whole floor with disinfectant.

I am ready for bed now. (Too bad I have 4 million pages to complete in my Greek workbook.)

rainy day ramblings

Ok, it was just hot and sticky and sunny when I walked home from the market with heavy bags 20 minutes ago (sweating all the way), but the skies just opened up with this downpour that we have going on right now. I love it - cleaning the sticky, heavy air that has been building up. I opened my windows for a blast of cool rainy breeze and got hot wet dirty air instead. Yesss.

Anyway. Outreach last night. I wrote a little bit here about the police sweeps we've been having in Athens. We've been finding the girls out a lot later now, and late last week when we hit the streets expecting them to be empty we found multitudes of them and were overwhelmed. Last night we were a bit more prepared. They work around 11pm to 5am every day. I talked with a girl from Nigeria who has been here for a month only. I introduced myself, poured her some iced tea, and she said, "So, what's up?!" We chatted for about 20 minutes - it was great. Usually they are closed off and when they do feel like talking, you are still competing with the men walking and driving by checking them out, and all their other friends that are there with them. The police had just come by, so the girls were just starting to trickle out from doorways and back alleys again and we had some time to chat before the carloads of men started coming by again. Happy for the contact, sad for her dead-end circumstances and unhappiness with what she has found herself doing in Greece.

I realized last night as I watched a guy shoot up near Omonia that not only can I tell you where to get the best souvlaki in town, but I can point out the best places for drugs and sex in Athens as well. Hopefully the first balances out the latter...!

I also have realized that this has not negatively affected my view of men (thankfully), except for those we actually see interacting with the girls. Those ones I look down on severely, and don't mind letting them know it when they try and talk to me. That I need to work on.

One other strange thing - I have lived in my apartment for over two months now and I still wake up several times a week in the middle of the night with no idea where I am or how I got there (and no - not a result of drinking). The best was when I thought I was in London with a conference or tour group, forgot to adjust my clock for the time change, and had no idea what time or where our group was meeting in the morning. The other night I woke up and thought I was someplace else, with other friends sleeping in the same room. What in the world is wrong with me?! If this says anything about the quality of sleep I am getting, it would go a long way in explaining why I am so tired all the time (as would my lack of regular sleep schedule). :)

The rain is over now and it is sunny again. You'd never know we just had a torrential downpour except for the now-trecherously slippery uneven marble sidewalks that will be claiming a number of tourists (and locals) in the next hour or so.