My moment in Greece

It's is extremely different for me to choose "my" moment in Greece specifically but as i have been sitting around extremely sick for the past day I have come to the conclusion that my moment in Greece was in Rhodes.

When we arrived in Rhodes I knew that I would fall in love with the city immediately. When we arrived at our hotel and I saw the Aegean Ocean just 5 short steps in front of me I was mesmerized. As our five days went on I became very close friends with our waiters at the hotel, Ernest and Ilias. They joked with me and made me happy every morning that I went to breakfast! Also as i previously mentioned in one of my other blogs, I became i guess you could say family with Paulo and Pina two of the cutest Italian people i will ever know. I ate pizza at their shop everyday and enjoyed breaking yet another language barrier with them! The last person I met I knew actually got his name but we call him Kodak Man. We met him while printing a picture at his store and in the end he taught me to see the good in all people.

My moment in Greece was my last day in Rhodes. We went around Rhodes giving the waiters, Paulo and Pina and Kodak man our gifs. I have never felt so sad leaving a place where i had begun to feel at home. But in the end when i look my last walk on the beach, through my tears, I was greeted with a feeling of warmth. I knew that someday I would be back to see these people, and that these were friends that I would never ever forget. They have left permanent foot prints on my soul.

S'agapo,
Alex

My Moment In Greece

My moment in Greece began when I arrived in Rhodes. The moment I saw the water, the deep rich mesmerizing blue, I knew that I would never want to leave this place. Our hotel was right off the beach and I could have spent every second there gazing out at the water. When looking at the water I felt as if my soul was opening up to God, I felt connected to God through the beauty that he had created. How could there be anything less but a powerful and almighty God that had created this beautiful, formidable, and vast water before me? This unfathomable vibrant blue water made me feel not only connected to God and in a state of peaceful content but I was also in a state of wonderment at this absolute beauty before me.

The experiences in Rhodes only got better time went on, which would make it all the more difficult to leave. We would take a treacherous ferry ride to the island of Symi, but all the fear and sickness would be worth the beauty that I would behold. The water would have the same effect on me as it did in Rhodes, only this time I had other wondrous sites to behold has well. When I had climbed to the top of the city it was a breathtaking site full of Greek houses and the hills framing one side while the vast sea framed the other. It was a site to behold. I could only marvel at the beauty that lay before me.

I was again struck by the beauty of the water at Rhodes. It was late at night, the sky was dark, but somehow the still seemed illuminated. There was a lightening storm occurring right before my eyes. I could see the bolts as they hit the water and illuminated the sky. It was such a powerful experience because it was if the water was impenetrable by these powerful bolts. The bolts were persistent but the water could hold its own and was unfazed. It was such a contrast to see the lightening bolts and the water together, these two powerful natures created by God butting heads.

These were my moments in Greece because I felt a connection with the place around me and the God who had created it. These are the most beautiful experiences in life, and makes life worth living for.

My moment in Greece

My most memorable moment in Greece would have to be when we went to the island of Symi and decided to climb to the hilltop to get a panoramic view of the harbor. For some reason Markelle and I decided to wear sundresses and running shoes; true European fashion. Actually it’s not, but I gotcha didn’t I? We wore sundresses because we planned to go swimming and wanted something that could have been taken off really easily; that sounded provocative but it’s not. We wore running shoes for comfort. If you can imagine our outfit it was sundresses, with leggings, a bright cerulean rain shell and running shoes. It was after lunch that we had time to kill so we decided to find our way to the top. We didn’t know the way to the top so we just winged it. After wandering around we made it to the top. We decided to climb up the last portion of the cliff which was a rock face. The only somewhat problematic thing during the climb was the fact that I was wearing a dress that flowed with the wind and let me tell you, it was very windy at the top so I’m basically trying to say that whoever was behind me climbing up had a clear shot of my heiny/buttocks/donk/trunk/etc. The view from the top was amazing! I saw the entire harbor and the entire town down the hill. I also had a clear view of the town that was settled into the hillside. I wandered off on my own, no surprise, and had a little moment of silence and took in the view. It was a feeling that words can’t explain. I sat on the mountain side with my feet dangling over the edge for quite a while until it was time to go back down to head to the ferry. It was one of the funnest days of my life and I’ll always keep the memories made on this day close to my heart.

Stay classy Athens and thanks for stopping by,

Khadijah

My moment in Greece...

I was told, before the trip, that this month would go by so fast. While it is unbelievable that it is already January 30th, I don't feel as though time went by fast. As I've already mentioned in previous blogs, my sense of time has been a bit skewed since my arrival in Greece due to my lack of cellphone. I would go as far as to say I had absolutely no sense of time while in Greece and this was the greatest blessing. I am sad to leave and, again, in disbelief that our departure home is so soon but I do not feel cheated. I do not feel as though it went by too fast. Everything about this trip was perfect, even the "time" spent here.
So how do I capture a moment of Greece when it's all been so seamless to me? How does one pinpoint an experience without the aid of time?

Remember this? We're going to go full circle here. Brace yourself!
In the exhaustion of travel and the sickness that threatened to (and eventually) took over my body, it hadn't really hit me that we'd landed in Greece. If you recall it took the Acropolis of Athens (pictured above) for reality to hit me. Greece. I remember the feeling of the smile that appeared on my face, automatic and sincere. Despite my lack of sleep and my body's unwillingness to do anything but sleep, I was ecstatic to be standing in Greece, so close to the Parthenon.
Ironically, it wasn't until this last Saturday that we saw the Acropolis of Athens up close. After everything else we'd been through, it wasn't until then that I confronted, head on, the origin of my acceptance of Greece as a reality. This is what I saw, through sleepless eyes, that made everything feel so real. Twenty-one days later, there I was.

It's hard to define this trip in one moment. Although the Acropolis of Athens might be the closest I'll get, there's so much to tell! I saw ruins (and never got tired of seeing them!), I spoke to the locals, I ate the food, and loved every minute. If that wasn't enough, I made new friends along the way. All of these treasured moments in Greece wouldn't have been the same without them. No matter who I was hanging out with in this amazing group of people, I was having fun. Everyone brought something unique to the experience. When we arrive back in Washington I will still think of them as my Greece friends. There's a bond there that will remain as long as we keep it in our hearts.

I cannot call this trip a moment. I cannot say that the title of this blog is accurate in any sense. This was a life experience, this was a soul searching quest, this was a month of laughter and awe. To call any part of it a mere "moment" would be a lie and a dishonor to the experience.
This was a month's worth of journeys, adventures, meals, stairs, recovery, inspiration, and falling in love with everything Greek. And I will never forget it.
<3Christine

My Moment in Greece: Going from Lost to Found

Getting lost allowed me to be found.

Although there are hundreds of memories from my time here in Greece that I will never forget, there is one memory that stands out as my favorite.

As mentioned in a previous blog, on the second day of our trip we got lost in one of the sketchier parts of Athens after the majority of our group, including our tour guide/professor left us when we stayed too long in a store.

In that moment, I was completely lost. I was stranded in a foreign city, unable to speak their language, with four girls who I didn't know at all.

I had a decision to make. Would I allow hysteria to take over our group, or would I set the example by calmly leading these people I didn't know? I'm happy to say I chose the latter.

In that moment I stepped into a leadership role and assumed responsibility for the safety and direction of my peers. Although I had no idea where we were, or how to get back to our group (whose location was unknown since we didn't know the net stop on our Athenian tour) I had confidence in my ability to lead these four young ladies to safety in a calm and collected manner, despite our surroundings.

It sounds like a hyper-masculine cliche, but I was never scared. Even when I observed the frightened state some of my peers were in, I was unwaivered.

The reason I mention the above paragraph is not to stroke my ego, but to show how I've grown.

I have never been a man who flaunted excessive braun or bravado. I don't hunt, I do not possess the ability to grow a respectable beard, and I hate scary movies, because they scare me. Why people enjoy them still baffles me.

So for me, the moment when we finally found our classmates and professor was a powerful personal triumph. To be able to lead in the face of extreme adversity and emerge victorious gave me confidence in my abilities, and myself.

This moment gave me confidence from the onset of our trip that I would be able to overcome whatever adversity that might come my way. It has freed me from the fear of the unknown that we encounter daily being here in a foreign land.

Yet this new confidence comes not from myself or my abilities, since I am flawed. My confidence comes from my faith in God, and my relationship with my Savior.

When I realized the group I was in was lost, I started praying. Throughout the time we were away from our big group, I prayed. The verse that came to me during that time was the passage from Psalm 23,

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil. Your rod and Your staff they comfort me."

As I repeated this passage over and over I felt a wave of peace and confidence wash over me.

Thus I was never afraid not because I have no fear, but because I knew I wasn't walking alone.

My favorite moment in Greece was the day that I walked with God. The day He took me from being lost, to being truly found.

~Z

My Moment In Greece

Before I came to Greece I was a decently happy person with a pretty good direction in life. One thing I didn't like about myself was my inability to see past the mistakes people have made to see their inner good. It was difficult for me to trust people even from the start because I assumed people were innately selfish (to a degree) and though people often try to hide this through polite conversation, I figured as soon as things got tough, I would see a true side of people. Philosophically speaking, this is pessimism, the belief that people are not innately good, nor are they a tabula rasa (blank slate) in which the world shapes them in every way. 


This is not the most fulfilling way to look at the world or to look at life. I wanted to be able to immediately see the good in people, to share pleasant stories and know that my audience is not simply nodding their head to appease me, but thoroughly enjoying our time together. This is what Greece brought me the most. Even more touching than all the beautiful places I saw, the curriculum we covered in class, and the fun experiences, none will affect me more than the people I met in Rhodes. 


Rhodes is a pretty big island in the Mediterranean off the coast of southern Greece. We spent a week here as a class and within a few hours, I had already met the most incredible people. One couple, Pina and Paulo, run an Italian restaurant in the "portico of hunger"-basically a street with a bunch of quick food places. The couple spoke only a few words of English, even less Greek as they were full Italian. After days of having lunch there, we were able to communicate without words, we hugged, and they began to treat us with free desserts (made just for us). 


When a few of us decided that we wanted to give them a gift, we went to a Kodak store to print a photo that we had taken with the couple. The man that ran the photo booth, whose name we never got (we call him Kodak Man), was one of the most incredible people I have ever met (my eyes are tearing up already). He gave us the photo for free, which was the least of the kindnesses he offered us. More than this, he gave us advice on life, on love, on family, on academics and on friendship. We ended up standing there with this man for almost an hour listening to him speak about his three children (all with PhDs who study in the States), his wife, his love for life and his passions. He was one of those people who touch you so profoundly, so deeply and so immediately that you will always remember him and reflect on his advice for the rest of your life. 


What Pina, Paulo and Kodak Man gave me was the greatest gift of this trip. They restored in me the belief that people are innately good, that even when a person does a bad thing, they are victim of poor circumstances, of temptation, of evil but are not, themselves, evil. Listening to any old person try to tell me this would not have made the same impact. It was the way in which he spoke (with perfect English), the passion he put into his words and his effort to entertain us that really made his point resonate in me. Pina and Paulo may not have been able to speak to us in words, but our relationship grew so much in a matter of days. They gave us their address and asked us to write to them and let them know how we are doing (at least I think that was what they asked!). They have a daughter who speaks English (she was out of town), so she will be able to help translate our messages. 

Paulo and Pina

My moment in Greece was when we were giving the gifts (chocolates and signed cards) to Pina/Paulo and Kodak Man-this is when I realized the impact these three people had on my life and I knew this was one of the reasons I made this trip. 

My Moment in Greece - Refusing to Accept it as Such

This photograph is of a clock tower near our ferry landing in Symi; I’ve noticed that clock towers are one of the numerous motifs that pop in most everyones photos, alongside pictures of doors, empty paths, chandeliers, and others. Its interesting that our obsession with time (I’d be the first to concede that I have a problem) yields the construction of these towers that everyone can see, as if knowing the time is equal in importance to being reminded of God or something like that (I’m thinking of the comparably tall minarets we observed in Rhodes).

Likewise, the photograph alone is a reminder for our concern with capturing time, freezing it in such a way so we can go back and relive it. There’s an irony of taking a picture of a clock, or any other contraption that regulates time; the action is a way of stopping reality, however the subject matter in the photo reminds you that seconds, minutes, and hours continue to tick away. 

But that’s enough of that. One of my biggest realizations on this trip, although it is something that I am still working on, is that I don’t need to continue being afraid of the moment when a good time (such as this moment) ends. I am not suggesting that pictures, blog entries, or any other means of reliving our experience is unimportant, however I’ve come to understand that what matters more is if I am enjoying myself in the present. And photographs and journaling contribute to this understanding, as going back and reflecting on our journeys will inspire happiness at that moment as well. In this sense, I need not worry about time, but rather about making the time I have unforgettable.       

My moment in Greece sure felt like one (and it will never be forgotten), yet it was coupled with a (practically) never-ending feeling of happiness and amazement. Consequently, although I will most likely shed a tear before we leave, who could ask for more?