Post #800

Wow, that is a milestone.

Today I am stuck at home with a stress fractured foot. :( But here is where I was yesterday:I will post more photos very soon. There are also some on Facebook.

Remember when I first moved to Greece and was wondering what new food I would start liking there? I started liking tomatoes after eating them daily for two months in Costa Rica, and watermelon after 6 weeks in Turkey as a regular summer breakfast. I pondered whether it could be cucumbers, which I don't particularly prefer, or coffee, which is just the nastiest taste on the planet.

Well, yesterday Andrew and I had a long drive in the car and I was thinking about food. (Shocking.) It suddenly struck me what new food item I can't get enough of after my two years in Greece:Oh my goodness, I love BEETS!

Who knows how I started eating them in Greece, but the ones I got at the supermarket there were so good, so I started having them in salads, sandwiches, and looking up other new recipes. Admittedly, I don't think I ever didn't like beets, but I just didn't grow up eating them, so I never knew.

Here in Australia, they use "beetroot" in all KINDS of dishes - it's glorious! I can't get yellow mustard in my sandwich at Subway, but I can get beets.

My distaste for cucumbers has softened somewhat; I now eat them in my Greek salads disguised with feta, but I'm sorry to say, we've gotten nowhere with coffee. Blech.

What new food shall it be in Australia? Andrew's vote is capsicum, or peppers, which is a strong taste to me that I just don't like at all, but he loves them. We'll see.

P.S. happy birthday sister!

Dear Supporters,

It has been a really busy year! It's now national vacation time, and as you know, Italy is very close geographically to Greece. Look at your map, they are practically right next to each other. Like an hour flight. So, it follows that it's a pretty cheap flight. Also, if you book really early, you can get all the good Rick Steves' recommendations for the cheapest accommodations in places like Venice and the Cinque Terre.

My point is, THANK YOU for your support, and while you may think that I am taking your money and running off to exotic locations, really I am just taking a (much needed) summer break in Italy for five really cheap days. I know I am a missionary and supposed to live a hard, rustic life, taking days off by going to the local park and bringing my own sandwich, but, I never claimed to be a very good missionary.

Thanks for understanding, and not feeling weird when I post photos later. I've never been to Italy, and thought it might be a good opportunity while I live so close! I have hardly even been to the beach at all this summer, anyway.

:) xo

Nope.

Earlier this week I was thinking, I like Chicago! I'm a city girl...I could probably live here (in the city, not out where I'm staying!) and love it. Seems like a cool city. Today, I made my decision. Nope.

Woke up to cloudy weather. By the time we got on the road at 8am it was beautiful and sunny. Got hotter and hotter and by noon it was scorching (although not by Athens standards). It stayed really hot and I nearly passed out in a non-air conditioned room full of 30 people around 3pm. :) Around 3:30 we headed outside and noticed dark clouds in the distance. We ducked into a grocery store downtown and while inside, the skies opened up. Downpour. Sideways rain. Thunder and lightning.

It was still hot, and the humidity increased like 600% in 20 minutes. Outside, the clouds were dark and angry, with strange formations and an eerie green hue. Tornado clouds, someone said. I have never seen a sky like that before!

We looked down the street and actually saw the wind coming. We were being pelted with torrential rain and saw this wall of stuff, stuff from trees and dirt and whatever, coming our direction. We were not outside for very long! Even after ducking immediately in a door, we were picking things out of our hair and wiping ourselves down.

We waited it out in the ministry building we had been visiting during the day, and finally had to venture home. On the way there were trees down everywhere, traffic lights out, and we passed through a spot that looked like had a "microburst" - a new word for me that I don't mind if I never encounter again! They told us on the first day at the ITeams center where to go in case of a storm, down at the bottom of the stairwells underground...I'm hoping we don't have to do that anytime soon!

By the time we got back to Elgin, the sky was clear and the sun was setting.

The weather here is madness. Unpredictable. Different every day. Different several times a day. Live in the midwest?

Nope.

All glory to God who is able

Current favorite worship song:

"All Glory" - Nikki Fletcher

I found a new trail to run on last night, it goes through some woods and by this house where a man built a castle in his backyard. It nearly caused me to stop running and stare. Well, why not? What's wrong with building a big tall castle in your backyard?

recovering...

My least bad owie. You can see it's faded quite a bit; two days ago it was twice as big as my palm. I don't know how I got a puncture wound on (and possibly destroyed the inside of) my left knee, had both knees swollen like golf balls and all scraped up, AND managed to do this to my right thigh. And all through my pants - which have no holes! Talent.

Return of the dust...

The African dust has returned! I remember this from last year, when thick brown dust from the Sahara blows right up into Greece and hangs like smoke in the air. Yesterday morning on the roof of my Greek school we watched the dust clouds blowing in, covering the clear blue skies. Today you wouldn't know it's a sunny day; it looks overcast and reminds me of the smoke we had during Southern California fire season!

This is from California a couple years ago, when Kristin and I were moving out of our apartment before I moved to Greece:Athens looks pretty much the same today (it's a little thicker than that right now actually), except instead of a smoky smell we are breathing in dust. I just discovered there is even a website to check the dust forecast - as you can see we are pretty well covered!

You can't hang your clothes outside to dry and you can't wear white or you come home wearing brown. And I won't tell you what you get when you blow your nose! :)

Sunday!

What a GLORIOUS sunny warm day. I sat outside at a cafe for 5.5 hours with some friends. I was supposed to be working, but who wants to work on a day like this? (Don't worry, I am working now - this is why I am blogging instead of doing my financial report.) Is this really November, when I am sitting outside in short sleeves and sunglasses, drinking tea and then raki and then tea again?

Helping to teach a volunteer training tomorrow night on how to start conversations with girls, crisis counseling, and caring for ourselves - I can't remember which part I am supposed to teach, actually, so I suppose it really is time to get working. :) It's been a productive weekend, though; I am crossing things off my long list left and right. I'm hoping to be as stress-free and enjoyable as possible during my last 9ish days here. I'm also super excited for Thanksgiving - we have a great night planned with friends and all the traditional fixings. I think it's my favorite holiday and I'm so excited for it every year (which means I'm usually disappointed, but I guess that's ok since it's part of my expectations). :)

oh, this makes me laugh so hard

Smooth Criminal, Saudi style :)

here we go...

We're breaking 40 degrees this week...that's over 100, and counting. Quite normal to have 120+ on a daily basis for the better part of the summer. Woo! Bring it on!

(Yeah, not really, not at all. I don't have AC in my house.)

What can I post about without having to think too hard?

Ah! I'll tell some of the places I want to go - dream vacations, if you will.

1. Croatia:

Dubrovnik
Split

2. Morocco

Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakesh

Camel ride into the desert

Ouarzazate

3. Thailand
Oh, I guess I've already been there.

4. Petra, Jordan

5. Peru
Macchu Pichu

6. Namibia Desert

Ok, that will probably never happen, but it looks so cool...

Of course I need to go to Italy while I'm here, and a few other places in Europe. Not sure how much of that will happen on my salary, but I can dream, right? :)

to hold you over...

Ok, so I am slowly putting this house together. Nothing is completely done, but the living room is the most done, and it's where I spend all my time. And it doesn't fit in my camera. So here's a bit of it. For now. More later.
(That's a couch, with a back, that folds down into a bed, so feel free come and try it out!)

WOOHOOO! :)

I have some exciting news...I'll tell you tomorrow. ;)

Janell arrived safely, she slept until noon today while I had my Greek lesson, so hopefully the jetlag will not get the best of her. We're about to go have lunch down by the sea someplace and be lazy today. There is a strike today (schools, airport, transportation, etc.), so our mobility is a little limited, but it's a beautiful warm day and there is plenty to do.

Yia sas!

Super.

Here.

Happy International Women's Day

It really is. Free public transportation was awarded to all women in Athens and many other Greek cities today.

Spent the day in nearby Halkida at a seminar/forum thing on women's issues - trafficking, domestic violence, etc. At the restaurant we ate lunch at, it took a half hour to get a menu, another 45 minutes to get our food, which came out with at least a half hour separating the first dish and the last one, and then we had to ask three times for our bill. It was fine; we were seated right next to the sea and it was a beautiful day. But why the slow service?

The women had the day off! :)

I guess I should write something... (a general update for you)

Hurray for a social life, because I have one. :)

Went out with some American girls last night, and some Greek ones tonight. Soon I may actually know the cool places to hang out in Athens, besides my house! There are some fun areas I have known about, so it's great to have people to go hang out there with.

My knee is doing much better, thank you for asking! When I got home from Thailand, I was in so much pain I couldn't walk. I hopped around my apartment for a couple days (until the best day of my life at the hospital). I don't know what exactly happened to it, although I that pain has come and gone ever since I arrived in Greece (though not for that long). But after ten days of anti-inflammatories, I haven't felt it. I can still feel my knee; sometimes it kind of locks, or feels like it pops out of place but then back again, but none of that really bad pain. So I'm happy about that. I'm faithfully doing my exercises at the gym to strengthen the muscles. :) But I am really missing running.

What else would you like to know? (I can't remember all the things you've been asking.) Ask away, if you like...

too much time on the internet...

Two things going around on Facebook have for some reason moved me to try them. First, this "imaginary band" thing - so many people have done them and I think they're so cool!

My Imaginary Band

1. Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”

or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go to "Random quotations"

or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3. Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”

or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days

Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use photoshop, picassa, or similar to put it all together.

5. Post it with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in. (Whatever. Mine is above. And yes, it said "woman's" with an A.)

...

And second, this one makes me laugh, I got some really great ones:

.

Kelsey needs...

Rules: Type in your first name and the word needs in quotes ("Your name needs”) into your favorite search engine and see what comes up. List the first 10 sentences that make sense and then tag some of your friends!

1. Kelsey needs to stop being a mat for everyone to walk on.

2. Kelsey needs to quit throwing kids into the stands--this isn't WWF

3. Kelsey needs to find a way to trust her heart to the handsome psychiatrist.

4. Kelsey needs to find a home that will treat her like the little princess she is. (Amen!)

5. Kelsey needs more CAMERA TIME!

6. Kelsey needs some sleep.

7. Kelsey NEEDS anger management...NOW!

8. My Kelsey needs a lot of prayer!

9. Kelsey needs work in the area of social skills. (haha)

and, saving the best for last:

10. Kelsey needs to be in a mental institution...she was trying to kill the ducks at the park....while making extremely annoying duck noises.

Runner up: Kelsey needs a new pair of Pampers - [hers] stink - and maybe a pacifier.

Now, I must go. I have A LOT of important things to do.

home is where my bed is.

I seem to have hit a wall of exhaustion this week, so I haven't been doing much except sleeping, studying for what I'm teaching this coming weekend, sitting in coffee shops with Kiki, and marveling at the self-admitted lack of commitment in this culture. :) Best that I don't get started on that one, not this week.

Being here makes me miss home. As in, America. I felt the same in Thailand. I guess traveling always makes one think of home, and when I think of "home," I still think of the good old West Coast.

I have meetings all day tomorrow (which is today, now), trying to understand and work with dynamics and perspectives that I wasn't expecting. It is SO COLD here, and I have also developed a cold, as I did in Thailand. Those weather changes are brutal! 26 of the last 34 days on the road...also brutal. I am missing my bed. My Athens bed. :)

misc. notes and a prayer request

I am so much more interested in blogging than, say, studying Greek or preparing for this training I am supposed to be doing in Thessaloniki starting on Friday night.

A few things:

~I updated on the ministry blog, so instead of my duplicating it on this one, go check it out here. Lots of thoughts and plans and why, despite my 80-year-old knee, I am feeling quite excited and encouraged these days!

~I was watching our Nuthouse video yesterday, and I think we should all revisit it together and remember the former life in California that is still so very near and dear to my heart (and the beloved former roommate). So hard to say goodbye, indeed.

~I have been planning to direct you to Grace's blog, a girl on my Thailand team, so you could read her hilarious accounts of our trip. You can (and should) still read those entries on her blog, but now perhaps you can keep in her prayer as well as she has been admitted to the hospital with a large tumor in her chest. Her sister is writing updates on her (Grace's) blog, "frogg files."

~My last point about snow in Thessaloniki this weekend seems a little trivial after that...

stuck...

is how I sometimes feel here. I can't really go anywhere that isn't on the bus or metro line. Today I bought a printer/scanner/copier thing so that I can finally scan and send my receipts to LTF and it didn't work. I spent two hours chatting online with HP support. That was a LONG walk home with a heavy box this morning...tomorrow I get to do it again, and hope they take it back at the store. Oh, how I miss my car.

I am trying to make an appointment with a doctor for my knee. Except it's far, and you have to go in rather than calling. So I am dependent on someone with a car (in this case Voula) to either take me - only to make the appointment! - or make me one herself, which she said she'd do if she got over there tomorrow.

I think if I had a car here I would be gone every weekend, at least for the day, to explore some of the sights around here. I could also buy more at the grocery store than I can carry with two hands on a ten minute walk. I could get to church in 15 minutes instead of the 45-50 minute walk/metro commute.

Tonight I feel grumbly, about this dumb machine and having to walk a half hour again tomorrow with it in my arms, not trusting the people at the store to even exchange it or take it back, and if they do, a half hour back with another one. Sigh.

That is all for my one-allowed-per-year complaining blog. There are bigger problems in the world, yes. Except that, also, my bank card was declined yesterday when I tried to get money out, because apparently they forgot I am in Greece or something. :-/ That is all.

Never thought I'd say this...

...but I am actually missing preservatives right now!!

It's so great they don't put as many preservatives in food here, the food is so fresh, it's so much better for you, blah blah blah. I bought a whole bunch of fresh pita bread FOUR DAYS AGO and I just discovered mold through the whole stack. UGH!

I wonder what you're eating in your food, you over there in the States!?!?