Overview of recent travels through Northern Greece, Turkey, and the Greek Isles:

Sunday, March 15th: Porto Rafti - Kalambaka - Meteora

At 8:00 a.m. we depart from Athens by bus, driving us through the fertile plain of Boeotia, to Kalambaka. Check-in at the Hotel Orfeas. Lunch on your own. In the afternoon we enjoy a spectacular drive up to visit Meteora. Colossal symmetrical grey and reddish boulders, as though pushed upwards from the bowels of mother earth by an invisible hand, sustain breathtaking beautiful monasteries perched precariously high above the ground. They were first built in the 14th century by monks seeking isolation and salvation, accessible only by ropes thrown from above. We will climb through steps built since. They are veritable Byzantine museums exhibiting superb icons, old manuscripts and unique mosaics and frescoes. We visit one monastery. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight at the Hotel.

Monday, March 16th: Kalambaka - Berea - Thessaloniki

Buffet breakfast at the hotel and check-out. At 8:30 a.m. we drive to Berea where the Apostle Paul arrived, and according to his custom went to the synagogue where, to his pleasant surprise, he discovered that these Jews were "more noble" than those he had encountered in Thessalonica. We see the Byzantine mosaic in the monument commemorating his preaching. According to the local tradition, it was at this place where he stood and delivererd his sermons (Acts 17:10-11). We also see the Jewish quarter and the synagogue. Depart for Thessaloniki; upon arrival enjoy a panoramic bus tour of Thessaloniki. Drive to the Hotel Golden Sun for check in. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Tuesday, March 17yh: Thessaloniki - Amphipolis - Philippi - Kavala

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out. At 8:00 a.m. we have a bus panoramic tour of Thessaloniki before leaving. We begin our trip to Philippi passing by the lion statue of Amphipolis (short stop for photos); we also visit the archaelogical site. Afterwards we continue to Philippi, the site wehre the apostle Paul came and worked, establishing a strong church. To this congregation, later he sent his Philippian letter. Of all the churches Paul founded, probably none was a s near and dear to him as the church at Philippi (Acts 16:9-33). We see the river where Lydia is thought to have been baptized, the ruins of a prison where Paul and Sylas had been kept, the Agora, 5th and 6th century Basilica and teh Threater. Philippi was built by Philip 11 of Macedonia on the Via Engatia, the Roman road which ran from Tome to Byzantium. We enjoy a lunch in the park area of Philippi, just outside the theatre. We then continue to Kavala, the ancient port of Neapolis (Acts 16:11). Check-in at the Hotel Oceanis. Dinner and overnight.

Wednesday, March 18th: Kavala - Greek/Turkish Border - Istanbul

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out. Drive to the Greek/Turkish boders (Kipi/Ipsala). Leave our Greek bus and guide at Kipi. Our Turkish bus will ocllect us around nooon and bring us over to Ipsala where we meet our Turkish guide. Lunch on your own en route. Proceed toward Istanbul . Istanbul (original name Constantinople and Byzantium), a most fascinating city, actually rests astride two continents Europe and Asia. It is a city of amalgamation of bazaars, minarets, mosques, churches, palaces, and restaurants catering to every one's taste, museum, customs and twelve million people. Check-in at the Hotel Ipek. Dinner and overnight.

Thursday, March 19th: Istanbul

Breakfast at the hotel. Full day tour including Aghia Sophia, Istanbul Archaeological Museum, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hippodrome, Grand Covered Bazaar or Egyptian Spice Bazaar. If tiem permits drive to Pierre Loti's Cafe to see the Golden Horn. Lunch on your own. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel Ipek.

Friday, March 20th: Istanbul - nYalova - Iznik -Bursa - Canakkale

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out. Take the scheduled ferry-boat across the Sea of Marmara to Yalova, drive to visit Iznik (Nicaea) is known primarliy as the site fo th First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Christian church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of th Empire of Nicaea. It served as the interim capital city of th Byzantine Empire between 1204 and 1261, following the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantiens in 1261. After a stop at a tile factory, continue to Bursa Turkeys 4th city as well as one ofthe most industrialized and culturally charged metropolitan centers in the country. The mausoleums of early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa and the numerous edifices bvuilt thorughout the Ottoman period constitue the city's main landmarks. Lunc on your own, drive to Canakkale for check-in at a hotel. Canakkale lends its name to the narrow Straits of the Dardanelles (in antiquity it was called Hellespont). This narrow passage cocnnects the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Sea of marmara, and further on norht it opens into the Black Sea, southern shores of former USSR. Check-in at the Hotel Anafartalar. Dinner and overnight.

Saturday, March 21st: Canakkale - Troy - PErgamom - Izmir

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out. Drive to Troy actually Truva, is the immortal city of Homer's Iliad and ODyssey, of the legendary Helen of Troy, the Trojan horse: Heinrich Schliemann discovered it in 1871 and it had been rebuilt nine times. We see the various layers, which make up the nine cities. We continue to Pergamom actually called Bergama, is one of the sites of the Seven CHurches of Asia [Rev. 1:11; 2:12]. Here we explore the impressive Acropolis, the steepest theater in the world, the Asklepieion, famous medical centre of classical times, see the Altar of Zeus which is mentioned as the <> in the book of Revelation, th emarble columns of the Temple of Trajan and the Library which was foremost in the world ad was long a rival fo the eequally famous Library of Alexandria in Egypt. Its wealth of volumes was estimated over 200,000. It inspired teh invention of parchment. We also visit the Red Basilica (St. John's Church). Lunch on your own at a local restaurant. Continue to Izmir for check-in at the Princess Hotel in Balcova. Dinner and overnight.

Sunday, March 22nd: Izmir

Breakfast at the hotel. Free day to discover the city at your own. Enjoy Izmire (Smyrna), the third largest city in Turkey and was also one of the sites of the Seven Churches of Asia [Rev. 2:12-17]. She has had a bloody history of trade and warfare. On your own you can see the ancient Agora, ascend to Mt Pagus wehre the Citadel of Lysimachos, commander fo Alexander the Great, was erected in the 4th century BC, we see the Clock Tower and the Bazaar which displays characteristic craft objects. Lunch on your own, Dinner and overnight at the Princess Hotel.

Monday, March 23rd: Izmir - Ephesus - Kusadasi

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out. Drive to ancient city of Ephesus . The Apostle Paul preached to the Ephesians and lived and laboured here for three years, thereafter sending his Ephesian epistle. We tour the spectacular ruins where excavations still continue in this once great an dimportant city, which was founded in the 10th century BC. Walk through history along marble streets lined with wonderful public buildings, among them the Baths of Scholastica, the LIbrary of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the Theater. The enormous in size Temple to the goddess Diana of the Ephesians, one of the Seven Wonders of the then ancient world, was erected in this city. We also visit the archaelological museum, the basilica of John; see the remains of the Temple of Artemis. Lunch on yoru own. Check-in at the Hotel Atinc in downtown Kusadasi, close to the bazaar. Dinner and overnight.

Tuesday, March 24th: Kusadasi - Patmmos, Greece

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out. At 9 a.m. transfer to the port of Kusadasi to embark on the cruise-ship. Check-in, settle down in yoru cabins. Sail at noon for the island of Patmos Greece. Lunch on board. At 4:30 P.M. we arrive at this beautiful mysterious rocky island where the exiled Apostle John wrote of the Book of Revelation. We have our private tour: we drive up to the Monastery of John the Evangelist , wehre we have a wonderful view of the island. We also visit the Grotto fo the Revelation where the heavenly voice of God revealed to John the future of humanity [Rev. 1:12-21]. After some free time for browsing, return to the ship for an evening sailing to Rhodes at 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 25th: Rhodes (Greek National Day)

Breakfast on board. At 7 am we call at Rhodes . This stronghold was built by a Crusading Order, which originated from Palestine, and in older days, it boasted of another achievements of the then known world - The Colossus of Rhodes. Local tradition has it that on his way to Rome; Paul's vessels spent some time here in the small harbour of Lindos (Acts 21:1). We have the whole day free on Rhodes to relaz as it is the Greek National Independence Day (1821) . Lunch on board. In the afternoon stroll around the medieval walled city; enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere from one of the elegant cafes in the marina, do some souvenir shipping. Sail for Heraklion, Crete at 6:00 p.m. Dinner and overnight on board.

Thursday, March 26th: Heraklion Crete - Santorini

Breakfast on board. At 7:00 a.m. we call at Heraklion Crete, (Acts 27:7-13) where our excursion takes us from the lively bustling city to visit the Minoan Palace of Knosses, legendary home of the Minotaur (half bull and half man). Sail for Santorini, at 11:00 a.m. Lunch on board. We drop anchor at 4:30 p.m. Disembarkationby tender-boats, weather permitting. Take a mule or a donkey or the cable-car or walk the 468 steps up to the white-washed town of Thera; perched high on the rim of the ancient volcano, the eruption of which (1600 BC) literally buried a flourishing Bronze Age town which has now been excavated at Akrotiri. Sail for Piraeus at 9:00 p.m. Dinner and overnight on board ship. This is where i disembarked and stayed on Santorini for three nights with Calle, Hailey, and Stephanie

one long day

Richard and I by the Mediterannean!

Blake picked me a flower!!

The ampitheatre seat numbers

At the hippodrome

Aquaducts at Caeasarea Maritime

The excitement arose as the departure for the Athens airport drew nearer and nearer. We left at about 11 p.m. to begin our long anticipated journey. It was unreal, the fact that we were heading to Israel! The trip had been cancelled and then rescheduled and almost cancelled again due to air strikes on the Gaza Strip. I know its for our own good, but the idea of coming to Greece and not going to Israel just about broke everyone's heart. The day we found out we had the opportunity within grasp again, the entire classrom broke out with yelling, dancing, and bodily movements. ha, it was a joyous day, and one of many days i will never forget.

The Athens airport was our first stop. The sign read Tel Aviv, flight 301. That was me. :) I got in line, with all 46 of us, next to the back with Calle and Ben. We ended up just plopping down in the middle of the airport lobby because we had a long wait ahead of us. Our heavily packed sacks made great pillows. I talked with Ben, Calle, and Cody for a long while, and eventually we made our way to the front check in stand. Passport in hand, bags tagged, and a ticket coming my way. i was set, all i had to do was lug my luggage over to the right stand. After the check in process we had an hours worth of time to kill before security so a group of us went wandering. We ended up at an open stand, where typically a person sits at the desk. Cabot got out his music and we all danced to it, and hung out for a good amount of our time. Before we headed through security i bought a new moleskin to journal in, because i haven't been able to find any leather bound journals throughout the parts of Greece i have explored. Security was liek any other, except there were about four of them, you thought you were done, and ready to finally sit down, but nope. there were always more. Time flew by as the excitement was uncontainable and we eventually made it through, and took our seats on the plane. i sat next to molly mccoy. We talked almost the entire 3 hour flight, which was really good. She had teh idea to look up the Biblical places that we were going and read teh Bible story about them prior to our arrival. So we took the time to talk amongst ourselves and i really feel as if it was a God thing. It went deep, talking spiritual, and then emotional, just about the problems we both have in life, and where we are at, and finding out who we are, as an individual. We also talked about hte whole jumping clubs thing. i didn't realize that this had more of an impact on people than i ever would have imagined. i mean, i still love those girls, but i never fully explained it, or wrote them why i did jump. i feel like i should still do that. i really appreaciate the time we had to get to knwo each other. we both agreed that we feel as if we can talk about things and are on the same level, maybe because of the past, and the trail our lives have ridden. it was a blessing to get this all off my chest, becasue i felt, at this time, like i still didn't really know anyone on the trip. the plane started descending and we made our way off the plane to find our luggage. bathrooms was a great stop, but i will never appreciate an american bathroom more than i did after this trip. starting in israel really wasn't bad, but i thought it was at the time. toilet paper will forever be treasured when i know it will accompany me in the stall, without paying for it. we went to get our luggage, and then realized we were at the wrong terminal area. soo we went searchign again and found the right luggage claim. Everyone foudn their bags and we headed to find our bus. Exhaustion was written on all our faces, because most people had not slept on teh plain, and it was now morning, with a full days activities. We seated on the bus, and i sat next to Blake. We were supposed to get breakfast at this local restaurant by the sea but it wasn't open yet. soo the directors decided that we could park the bus and sleep for an hour. i fell right to sleep, but tossed and turned the entire time. these seats were hard to sleep in. i woke up because blake needed to get off the bus. he hadn't slept at all and it was so cramped he just was gonna get off. so i let him out, which was quite a task.

first off, it was pitch black. second, the floors were covered with people sprawled out. there was no wehre for me to step. ben was seated across and up a row from me and he woke up, so i just climbed on top of him. he held me from falling while blake made his way out. then cody wanted through, so i couldn't get back to my seat. he sat in my seat for me to go by, which wan't going to work, but somehow we maneuvered a way aroudn the mess. a yell from the front woke most of the rest of the bus up, as blake stepped on someone. ha, what a night. the bus started rollin about ten minutes later and we went to get breakfast. everyone had that tired look on their face as we walked through the doors to get food. anything, just something to eat.

well, jk. i got the story wrong. we had a few stops before breakfast. it was about 4 am now, after the bus started rolling. we then went to the aquaducts in caesarea maritime. we had about ten minutes there, which was not enough time. we climbed up on the actual aquaducts and i had some trouble getting up, and down, as well as many of the girls. no worries though, richard caught me and broke my fall. calle got some fun pictures of us jumping off part of the aquaduct, but i don't have those pictures yet. the directors rushed us back to the bus and we haeded onward with our tour of Caesarea, once capital of the Roman province, to see the Roman and Crusader remains and the harbour from which Apostle Paul was taken prisoner to Rome. We stayed here for quite a while. i ended up straying from the group with a bunch of people. we got talked to about it later, but cabot, calle, blake, molly and i took more time at the places as we went through them. we caught up with everyone after they were already seated on the bus. we didn't realize they had made their way back.

now we made it to the restaurant. as i was entering i could hear the girls started whispering in front. as i got closer i knew what was going on. there was a table of young israeli men who had the same idea we did. breakfast, at the same restaurant. they were all very good looking. this woke us up right away. one of the girls was trying to get a picture so we stood in front of them so they could zoom in and get th back picture. ha... crack me up. i just wanted FOOD! which, the food was different. this wa the first of many cultural experiences with food. there was a lot of fish and seafood, with different sauces, yogurts, or cheeses. im stil not entirely sure what there was and what i ate. i got a huge bowl of cereal that looked similar to kellogs frosted flakes, minus the frosted. and then tehre was like chocolate muffin cake looking things that i indulged in. and some fruit. and bread. i went to get some drink, and was unsure of what the ooptions were. there were four different types of brown powder, all a different shade. i jsut wanted coffee, or hot chocolate, which ended up being two of them. they weren't bad, but my favorite was teh chocolate powder in milk. it didn't mix well with just cold milk but it still tasted good. after breakfast, mark and i went for a walk down on the beach as people were finishing up. we stood at the sea and just walked around. it was good to be in the open breeze after all the time on the bus, and the night ride on the plane. it was a moment to relax, but was quickly stripped as we hear people holler over that it was time to leave. soooo back to the bus it was.

We continued on to Herod's Palace and the Hippodrome. We walked in, past the gates and found ourselves at the Hippodrome first. The Roman Hippodrome is in Caesarea Maritime, next to the Mediterranaean Sea.

Caesarea Maritima ("by the Sea") is located on the shore in the center of Israel, in the middle between Haifa and Tel-Aviv. It is the site of one of the most important cities in the Roman World, the Roman capital of the province of Judea at the time of Jesus, and a Crusader fortress along the road from Acre to Jerusalem. Today, Caesarea is a large and interesting national park which a great place to visit while exploring the Holy Land.

History of the place:
Initially, Caesarea was a Phoenician site in the Persian period (6 to 3rd C BC). The Phoenicians, the maritime merchants of the ancient world, used the natural bays and the nearby rivers in order to establish a port, one of many ports that they set up along the shore stretching from Tyre down to Gaza. The city flourished at the Greek period. Later, in the Roman period, King Herod created it into one of the largest cities in the Roman World, and called it after his patron, Augustus Caesar. The site was an important Roman city, and played an important role in the history of Ancient Israel. It later decayed after the Arab conquest, and returned to glory with the Crusaders. After their retreat the city was left in ruins, and its stones were reused in buildings throughout the region.

We explored the Hippodrome first, and Wallid, our guide, gave us a history about it. We visited the amphitheater and were not the only group there. As Wallid told us the historical background of the place, I noticed that there were about five other groups spread out among the seats. I have no idea who these people were or where they were from, just that they were experiencing this place in its entirety as I was. As we were finishing up, one of the groups started singing in English, and we joined them. It was beautiful. Powerful. We don’t even know these people, but we can bond through a song, and the lyrics. Worship to a Savior. The Savior. I just love how passion for one thing can connect people in ways that are indescribably. And I love how I have the freedom to worship God. This was where Herod’s Palace was. He was the one who tried to kill all the babies so that Jesus would not remain alive, and I am in his palace, worshiping the one he tried to destroy. God is wonderful. :)

After our worship sesh, we roamed and meandered our way to the waters edge. Wallid talked to us yet again, and then we had about 40 minutes free time. I spent most of my time taking photos and dipping my feet in the water. Everyone was just excited to be in Israel, at the Mediterranean Sea, and a chance for free time. We would not be gettin much of a taste of any free time during our adventures.

We all had to rush back to the bus because the entire group had lost track of the time, and we had lots to do for the rest of the day. So we jogged back and were on our way. Next up on the schedule was to visit Mt Carmel.This site was not exactly what I expected. I mean, I know that we went to the tourist attraction site with the outlook to the city, but in my mind I have a different picture. This is the place where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. If I could go back in time this would be one of the items on my list of things to view. This event is fond in 1 Kings 18. Elijah seems so calm. He tells the people to make a sacrifice to their god, Baal, the altar is prepared and is accepted if the god sends fire upon it. They spent the entire day leaping, calling and cutting themselves to bleed to their Baal. But, as the day carried on, no sign of the god had been made. Then Elijah prepared an altar for the Lord God of Israel to accept. He had an abundant amount of water brought to soak the wood and place of the sacrifice. [4 pitchers x 3] As soon as he called upon God, fire was sent from heaven and consumed the altar. I cannot imagine how I would be able to handle this site. GOD sending FIRE from HEAVEN. It came out of literally nowhere. This takes faith, and Elijah is a great example of a fearless leader of God.

The site, as i previously stated, was too touristy for me, at least where our group went. We went up some stairs and were on a small platform outlooking the city. Here we experienced another session of knowledge from Wallid. (who is GREAT by the way! the best travel quide ever!! so knowledgable, and willing to share, and i got an opportunity to get to know him on a personal basis later, and it changed my life.) It was freezing up at the top and Ben gave me his jacket. The boys on our trip are too nice!

Well we made our little treck back down and then went inside the little chapel that was there. Here we sang praise songs to the Lord. I LOVE LOVE LOVE singing in tightly enclosed stone buildings. The sound just reverberates off the walls, and echos, and like, ahhh its just so great. You have to experience it to know what im talking about. i tried to capture it on my video camera and got some of it to cherish for days to come.

And then, it was back to the bus! There was a surprise for each of us, waiting on our seats. A bright yellow aristotle travel cap. ha... they were great. i still have mine. We left Haifa via the Carmel viewing Druze Village, and then went on to visit Mt. Precipice. We pulled up and five of us girls and a few guys had to use the bathroom, in a major way. We went the opposite way as teh group and went searching. Nothing was found and the guys left us. So, we went around a corner, and luckily someone had some kleenex's. So, the five of us girls let go as we faced the city of Tiberias. Definately a bonding experience. ha, and then we hurried to catch up with the group. We made it to the peak of the mountain and overlooked the city. BEAUTIFUL! the sky had cleared up some from earlier and you could see as far as your eyes could take you. it was here that i met some israeli boys. they pointed out where they lived, you could see their farm. They spoke pretty good english too. And then we had to leave, and go back to the bus.

We continued to Nazareth and saw the oldest Church of the Annunciation with Mary's Well. And then we went to the Nazareth Village. This was a walk through a small museum, and then an outside tour with a setup of old days, where you could watch a shephard with his sheep, and then a lady making a rug. This was not one of my favorite sites, but it did make for some good pictures. It might have been because this day was never ending, and my body was about to shutdown. After the village, we finally headed to our hotel in Tiberias. There was a continental dinner, which we soon found out was normal at hotels. The chicken was bomb! sooo great! and there was an assortment of too much food to try everything. The soup was really good as well, and the humus! wow! I indulged and then was ready for an early sleep. Oh! and there were a bunch of Nigerians staying with us! I made some new friends!

billy bobs bootcamp and apparel

typical morning yet again. the routine has begun to set in just in time for our departure to the peloponnese. WE LEAVE TOMORROW! which means i have a lot of catching up to do on my blog. i still have not blogged about israel or egypt.. but to begin i will start with saturday. classes commenced and lunch was to be set up. and we had potatoes. :) yum. i love me some good potatoes, mashed of course. i indulged in probably too much food, and then got to look forward to cleaning it up. i finished eating early enough to have some free time before lunch crew cleanup and emily helped me practice the piano again. aladdin's a whole new world. i can play double handed the first few lines, but its a little off beat, because im still slow. kinda like "I can show you ........................ theworld. . . . .............. ... . . . Shiiiiiiiiiiiinng shimmering splendor. . . . . . tell me .. .. princess.. now when...... did... you last.... let . . . .your . . . . heart . ... ... decide... " you get the picture. but its really great fun. then i went up to get my paycheck for the last two weeks! i love pay day! :) this was my first paycheck with breakfast and lunch crew so it was better than any of the others. :) annnd roman and i decided to talk to the B about getting the artemis a soccer ball, and were very successful in our persuasion. so i headed to start cleaning up lunch and roman went to get a ball before the stores closed. in porto rafti, most all stores close from 3 - 5 in the afternoon. lunch was kinda messy today, and there were lots of pots and pans. its difficult because i clean them by hand, and there is no such thing as spray on pan grease. that easy clena up stuff so it doesn't stick. ohhhh no. you wish!! if i would have known i would have brought some with me specifically for her to use. lol... but i get some good strong arm muscles scrubbin. well, i was almost through with my chores when roman comes bursting in and is like "fofi will be here in five minutes to pick us up. will you be ready?" i was like ummmm really? well i still haven't finished!! bahhh... so i started going as fast as i could while maintaining a precise cleaning job. of course i didn't finish, and neither did calle, but the other girls were like just go we got ya! soo we ran upstairs and changed as fast as possible and then headed to fofi's car out front. demetri was with her, her six year old son, and he was rapping,. haha... hes such a cutie. he is always dancing and singing. the next "step up" doesn't need to look any further. i foudn their next dancer. and what a perfect setting... greece. well anyway we drove to the fields as fofi gave the tour again for the newcomers who hadnt been down the port this far. calle, roman and i from the day prioor, and then hunter and eric. as we drove past the field no one was on it, wonderful!! so we drove and made the circle that portrayed all the other courts and the mud bath. when we got back fofi dropped us off and we walked to the fields. as we were jumping up tthrough the broken gate a team, yes a fully clothed with JERSEYS team walks onto the field. . . . my spirits fell. really? lol... so roman went to go try and figure out what was going on. they didnt' speak much english but it was a friendly game, which we realized later as another team walked out to fill the full court. sooo we made our way out of the field and contemplated what to do. we had two kites with us and it was rediculously windy sooo we got them out and put the tents together. they lifted right into the open sky without a problem and we were unaware of the fun that was about to occur. they were trick kites. soon the sky was carrying two kites, one orange and one blue. hunter and calle kicked it off and got them going. the wind was at its prime and it was a perfect day, minus the chill rolling off the top of the open waters. we were flying kites on the beach. it reminds me of a beach off the homer spit, very rocky. and not warm. ha... anyway we flew kites for over an hour, each taking turns. sometimes you could hear the sound of material cutting through bursts of air as it whipped towards the ground and suddenly shot back up. there were also a few mishaps. and maybe... a few pieces of broken plastic. the kites collided.... with each other, and more frequently with the ground. but who knew what a thrill it was to fly kites!! we ended up having to put one away because the teflon strap broke, and we didn't have any extra string with us to fix it. sooo a few of us went over to watch the soccer game. we got up on the cement blocks surrounding the gated field. it seemed like they were high schoolers with just a scrimmage to another school. but they weren't bad, they were pretty legit. we watched for quite a while and then we saw someone in the distance.... Mark?! of yes... and of course it was confirmed when we saw copper run straight at us, tail wagging at an american prize of five more students. well, some of us call him copper, some call him buddy, and htere was a third name. we got into a disagreement about this and then mark made it to the group. we were all surprised, because he had headed at us from the opposite direction of our residence. and its a 55 minute walk back to the hotel. he had just gone out for the day and had climbed the mountain that was to our right. the base wasn't too far off in the distance, but it was a good hike thats for sure. so mark joiined us. this made me remember, wheres richard? he was going to run to the fields and meet us there to play some soccer, and it had been like an hour and a half since we had left. hmm... how sucky would that be if he ran all the way here and saw the game and then ran back. we were on the beach side of the courts, and not the road side. well either way there was nothing we could do. we started playing some soccer on the rocky path, just juggling and the such. some people were still flying kites. and ther was this pole that some of us attempted to walk across. and then the game ended! :) yay! soooo we took that field and made it our own. the beautiful turf beneath my feet felt wonderful. i wish i would have brought some real soccer shoes to greece, if i had known we had the luxury of turf. and then richars showed up!! he had left later than we thought and it only took him 45 minutes to run to the end of the poitn and then back around the port all the way to the fields. so he joined us and our numbers were up to 7. we spent a good time on the fields just messing around, shooting, crossing, playin some one v one. and then crossbar. i hit the crossbar on like hte fourth shot and got to shoot at the line of 6 butts on the goal. but i missed. lol. we had two soccer balls, cause we had borrowed blakes, and then the one that mr b had gotten for us. mine has disappeared. i leave it in the common room because everyone uses it and somehow it has disappeared. sadly... :( i loved my olympiakos ball. and it was a pretty penny. so we will see if it turns up. if not i might have to go buy a new one. well we kept playing and then started out walk back to the artemis. it was very chilly by now, and we were getting hungry. the clock was drawing near to 6. we walked along the beach and hit a point where not all of us could cross... hah. funny story. and then we saw this place that was open, called, well it was in greek but how it sounds is thothena. calle and i wanted to stop and richard stopped with us. we got some caramel hot chocolate like drink, and ohhh was it amazing! and warm. it was great to have for our chilly walk back. soo it was just the three of us then. we talked all along the way, and eventually made it back to the artemis. it was getting later and there was no dinner tonight. well, leftovers, but there wasn't much left by the time we got back. dinner was long past. soo we went scrounging aroudn for the breakfast stuff, and got some honey nut cherios. :) they were delish! roman wanted to do billy.. i forget what the second name is, so i always call it billy bobs bootcamp. hah...its such an older workout movie, and like, they dress rediculous! sooo we decided to do that too. calle and i wore long spandex pulled up way too high, with shirts tucked in. and i wore a ponytail like my dad used to do for me when i was younger. flat on top of my head, but pushed off to one side. and then calle and i put a massive amount of bright blush on, and we were ready to go, shirts tied around our waist. we met roman in the comp lab, with shorts pulled up too high for comfort with a tucked in white v neck. his long hair was pushed up with a headband on, not in the proper position. ha...so we went searchign for richard, who was downstairs watching an extra credit movie. he came to join us and pulled the shorts up and did a funky thing with his shirt. and we took mass amounts of pictures. ha... group and individuals. and then we began our joke of a workout. ohhh but it was no joke. it lasted for about an hour and was super hard! i could not do all of some of the workouts, like the pushups. and then, we didnt' have the bungee cord things for some tae bo stuff, so we did it without, and we ALL STILL FELT THE WORKOUT! imagine if we had the cords! ha... for real. it was intense. and we had been making fun of it, but we got a great workout all the same. and had a memorable time all the while, with our outdated style and willingness to embarass ourselves, prancing around while working out. nine o clock had already rolled around, and tea time had begun. the movie was STILL going! and we had planned on watching harry potter around 930 as a large group. so calle, roman and eric and i went to the computer lab. eric helped me transfer pictures to cd's, becasue i had filled some memory cards and my computer is running out of space. he went down when harry potter started and the rest of us remained, and mark joined us, as well as hunter. some great stories were told. and then calle and i went to go watch harry potter. we made it just in time for the first activity in the triwizard tournament. and we got wonderful seats, right in the front, two comfy chairs. hunger hit again so we went searchin through the back room. and there was the cereal that we had ran out of!! so i took one and put it in my sweatshirt and then we went to go get our favorite breakfast yogurt and mixed it with honey. we were about done and were gonna head back to the movie but our director wlaked around the corner so we sprinted into the kitchen unseen and went the back way. fortunately the elevator is around the corner and we got in as we heard him coming down the last few stairs and went up. uncaught. they don't like it when you eat out of the scheduled times. sooo we savored our delights, and stashed our box of cereal for a later time. then we headed back down for the movie, with the company of blankets, because our hotel is freezing. as soon as i sat down i was like man, i want somethin to drink, and so i got up to get some and calle was like me too! so i got her some water and ran into roman. he was gonna make a hot drink and set the water heater on, which sounded better than water. i was like can you make me some too?! so roman made me a surprise, tea. he joined us at the movie and i got a cup of tea that i had never tried before, but it was good! i fell asleep during the movie and woke up as the ending scene faded into the credits. to my right, calle was passed out. bah...we had been wanting to watch this movie for liek two weeks but had never had the time and then we both sleep through it. and my tea was cold. but itw as still good. so we went up to the room, tlaked for a bit, and then went to sleep, setting no alarms, because we had nowhere to be in the morning! :) it was a day of rest.

finding the chef within...

Today was a normal day. I had two tests today, one in Bible and then in Greek. Everyday this week i have had at least one test per day. Luckily, this was the last of them, so i had a chance to relax. After classes Roman, Blake, Calle and i went out to find some soccer fields we had heard about. Fofi said it was a pretty good distance down the road so she gave us a ride. There were many different courts, some for basketball, soccer, tennis, and a playground. She chauffered us around a little bit and showed us the surrounding area and then dropped us off for our adventures. The field was very nice, made of turf, regulation size. We got out the soccer ball and started kicking it around. Fofi had sent me with a tinfoil full of chicken, and we ate that before we started playing. It was delish!! She knows me too well to send me somewhere without food. Im always in the kitchen with her! sooo i munched a little bit and then went to join Blake and Roman. Calle enjoyed the bit of sunshine and read some twilight. A few minutes in, some kids showed up. They spoke english and started up a convo. They were dressed a little different and turns out they are sailors. They sail everyday. There were about 6 or 8 of them, id say around 13 years of age. They joined us for a little bit and then headed off to their lessons. We continued to play for another hour or two and then headed back in order to make it back for lunch. We weren't really sure how long it would take, so we gave ourselves a good amount of time. We walked along the coast, and watched the waves of the Aegean crash at our feet. The beach was very rocky, not exactly what i had imaged, but still breath taking! i was on the beach in greece! the sea was not how it is anywhere in the states. the variety of color is a failure to describe. the colors range from the clearest blue to a deep shade that pulls you in, longing for you to never look away. gorgeous. i think i just found my new running path. it took us a total of 55 minutes to maneuver our way back to the artemis. we made it just in time for lunch, everyone was seated and ready to chow down. and guess what... more of fofi's fine cooking! the chicken was the best chicken i had ever had. annnnnd then... i had lunch duty. i really love my job here. its kinda gross, cleaning up all the food but then again, its nice to have something to do. and i love the girls i work with; calle, danielle, amanda and mary b. annnd as soon as i finished i started cooking dinner with fofi. this is the second night i have prepared dinner with her, and it was breakfast for dinner. we made mass amounts of food. i think we wetn through about 8 dozen eggs, preparing omelets, french toast and other assortments. bacon, hashbrown salad... and the like. my cutting skills have improved in a major way, but maybe its just because the knives are super sharp! and then the bacon. ummm say ouch one more time. we had a flat stove top with about 45 - 50 pieces of bacon frying at a time. trying to reach the back ones to flip were like walking on hot coals, waiting for the burn to come. haha... but it was a great experience. i work with a master chef, and i get to wear a sweet chefs shirt. oh yea! love it! it took a total of about 3 hours to prepare enough food for all 46 of us, but i loved every minute of it. after dinner i watched part of the mummy with richard, and then emily started teaching me how to play the piano. im learning a whole new world from aladdin,, using both hands. definately just diving right in to the art of becoming a pianist. i would love to learn how to play the piano. i think i might invest in it this summer. we shall see. if not, emily said she would give me lessons at school and there are pianos open for practice 24/7. she said she would bring her beginners books with her back to school in the fall. ican't wait! another success of a wonderful day in athens! im gonna go finish that movie now! miss all you who are following the blog! love you!

behind the piercing eyes of starvation

today was a great day. after the usual class and work out i went into athens with a group of about ten to work at the soup kitchen for the homeleess. my heard broke. as i walked in there were at least a hundred people crowded in a small room. i made my way up the next set of stairs to the area where the actual kitchen was. here, we were given instructions and put into different groups. i worked with tills and em and a few other people i was not yet aquainted to. we made our way down a winding rickety staircase, that was part of a backstage theatre type and started the night. i was to take bowls of soup and give them to the the hands that belonged to the piercing, starving eyes. i wish my words could fully illuminate the emotions wihthin. these people were longing for foood, and enjoyed the comfort of a warm building. for me, this was any other day, just a day where i could reach out and serve. but for them, this was the one day of the week they were guaranteed one meal. i had just come from the busy streets of athens and had indulged in a few different types of crescents, like it was no big deal. it made me feel so selfish. the only difference between me and the starving people is where i was born. what family i was born into, and the opportunities that arose since my birht. and you can tell who is really starving. some poeple were scraping their bowls with their slice of braed, yearning for it to fullfill. i will never forget the sight of a young man helping a child eat. they were a few of the last ones there, and the poor little child started crying because they had to elave. fortunately the cups were plastic, so the elder poured the remaining soup into the bowl and then picked up the child to leave. he seemed a little embarrassed as he did this, but it was the only way for him to feed this kid. my heart just reachees out for these people, and makes me want to help. annnnnd all im doing is handing them soup. the night went on, and a count of over three hundred people came through the soup kitchen. OVER 300 poeople who were in need of food. wow. there was another lady there, who only spoke greek. i had a translater nearby and i got her name. it was shamime. she had a few children and she wanted me to hold them so that she could take a picture. im nto really sure why, but she was so excited. i wish i could have carried a converstaion with her, she could not have been much older that i am. sometimes i just wish i could hear peoples stories. behind each face, there is something deeper, something more than just a few words. a life, and the journey it has carried.

classes are getting harder! we had quizzes today, but thankfully our memory verse was a church song i memorized a long time ago. galatians 2:20-21. i have been crucified with Christ nevertheless i live, its not i, but Christ who liveth in me, and the life which i now live by flesh, i live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave his life for me. ... and then verse 21. i think today was the first day that i didn't nod off in class. our classes are an hour and a half long. we are all crammed into one room, and there is no air conditioner or air circulation. therefore i fall asleep. .. greek class is my favorite class of all time, hands down. our teacher, Vicki, speaks english and is always cracking the class up with jokes and such. today we talked about dipthongs, mainly ones that begin with eu, which makes an f sound. good and easy. we ahd a quiz in this class as well, the first ten letters of the greek alphabet.

after classes and lunch i went to hike the mountain again with hunter, richard, justin and danielle. as we climbed the streets, we took a detour and wanted to head for the rocks. This meant we were to walk through someones yard. Easy enouhg until their dogs went crazy and gave away our position! but no worries, nothing out of the ordinary happened and we were on our way. we decided we were up for rock climbing, not hiking. that was the plan, and boy did we get what we asked for. we had an abundant amount of cliffs, lacking ropes, harnesses or any type of equipment. i think that it was the scariest moment of my life, hanging from a cliff about 30 feet in the air, and trusting the strength of my arms with no great holds. it was all mind over matter and then the ability to make yourself go through with it. hunter was motivating me all the way. he was gonna sacrifice his shoulder to catch my fall if i indeed did fall. i need to go back and take pictures doing this. rock climbing i think is my new passion. after we owned the first major climb, we came to a new one with less holds and straight up. danielle, hunter and i were like heck no! but hunter and richard went in for the tackle. i thoguht they were kidding, but... about forty minutes later or so they climbed over the ledge and reached the top. meanwhile, danielle, hunter and i were having a little chit chat at the top. it was great fun... many interesting topics arose. the thorns, relationships, and the such. hahaha....

danielle and i gave up waiting for the boys becasue we heard a scream up that mountain that could only have belonged to our dearly loved molly mccoy. we reached the top of the first moutnain and saw them so we headed over on over. they were on their way down so we decided to descend the mountain as a group. it was now molly, danielle, tillie, liz and i. on our way down we ran back into the boys, who were halfway up a new rock formation that looked pretty dangerous. we snapped a few photos and decided to meet them back at the artemis.

coming down a mountain has always been tricky for me. i have this tendency, i like to blame on gravity, to fall all the time. it just happens. and it doesn't feel so great when you are trying to decide in a matter of seconds if you should hold on to some thorns, fall on your booty, or just see where the fall takes you. what to sacrifice. speaking of sacrifices, the idea of jesus and a crown full of thorns came up as we walked down. it hurts when i brush up against them, barely touch them, and it really hurts when you have to walk through them. Jesus, on the other hand, had no such luck. he was forced to wear a crown of thorns, and im sure they didn't just slightly set it on his head. It must have been more gruesome than that. Beign in Greece has made my relationship with God see new levels.

After we found our way back down to the streets of porto rafti, we headed back for the hotel, just in time for dinner. i took a quick shower and then went to join the dinner table. justin and i went next door to get dinner at goodys, which consisted of fries and a soda. it was delicious! and surprisingly we filled up! there we so many fries! and then....GREEK DANCING!

there was a lady who came in to give the greek culture class lessons on greek dancing, but eveyrone was allowed to participate. i decided to check it out, as everyone did, and joined the circle. justin and i decided that if one of us stayed then the other had to too. soo we stood next to each other in line and checked out the grecian dancing. it didnt seem to bad so we stayed. i was between hunter and justin. we had to hold hands and do a step that had 7 beats to the right and then we did a little left then back right. the steps continually got harder. at one point we did one where we put out hands up and went forward and back, rocking like a boat in a hugh circle and hunter kept throwing me in the air like you do to a little kid. he got justin in on it and my feet lost site of the ground. it was great watching everyone else dance... a few people we couldn't help but laugh at. im sure people were laughing just as hard at us because we were making fools of ourselves. it was great fun though. i liked the one where you had to sit down and then kick back up. hunter kept saying HOP, ha. i guess you kinda had to be ther eto understand all the little jokes and stuff. after the cirlce dancing we had to partner dance. justin and i were partners and you had to do this elbow thing and make a window and then hop in a little circle. and then you have to let go and the girl puts her hands behind her and hops while the boy puts his hands on his hips and does the same hop step. this resembles a story of how two lovers want to be together but are not allowed, so when they dance by themselves they are like look i did not do anything, i am innocent. but then they dance togehter, which gives the story like romeo and juliet ish. the dance was called sousa! or somthing like that.

after greek dancing the teacher put music on and we just danced in a big circle. someone would go in the middle and do a move and everyone would join in and people just took thier turns. it was a lot of fun. i think the jewells disapproved because it was cut off pretty quickly and interupted with ice cream.

as we were eating our ice cream, somewhere out of the blue, pomegranites showed up. i love pommies!! hunter, stephanie., justin and i were trying to eat it and decided to go hide with our pomegranites to eat them. we ended up being chased by some of our friends and locked ourselves in the classroom so they coudlnt' get us. and then we devoured the pomegranites. it made such a mess but was completely worht it.

the night kind of calmed down after this. i went outside to play some soccer with cabot and seth, becasue i bought an awesome soccer ball in athens the previous day. that was fun and then i came up to the computer lab to blog and talked to a few freinds online. :) another successful fun day in greece! i love it here! sometimes it makes me not want to live in america. but i love it there too... i could be happy anywhere!

no, i dont speak greek

well today was full of many adventures. after lunch, and a rush through lunch duty chores i went to athens with seth, justin and richard. They were nice enough to wait for me to finish my job before we left for the big city, where greek is spoken and we are the stupid americans who come to a country without knowing how to speak their language. i dont' think i will ever do that again. languages should be learned before heading to the country. step one. hah.

so we went to the bus station right outside of the artemis and waited...and waited. and then we saw the orange bus...but it was on the other side of the road. while we were waiting, richard sat down on the bench. his hair is about as long as mine, and he went to flip it out of his face cause it was really windy today. little did he know that there was a pole right behind him. i was startled by a loud sound. seth, justin, and i could not stop laughing. man down, how? flipping his hair! tee hee... i love that kid! so thirty minutes later, it arrived. we were unsure how the bus system worked but we hopped on anyways. one person was driving while another came around after you sat down and figured out your fares. of course, this is hard, unless they speak english, (or the conversation involves one of the five greek words i know). luckily this nice gentleman knew english and told us that this bus went all the way to athens and that we didn't have to take the train. so i took a seat next to richard and we were on our way! we played on our itouchs for awhile, the penquin game is great! and then three of the four of us fell asleep. i was quickly awakened by the shrill sound of a vehicle laying down the horn. this sign, we were definately in athens. people here do not hesitate to use the horn. maybe this is because the lanes are one lane, but wide enough to make 2 and 1/2. therefore, cars make their own lanes and pass whenever and honk when you are in their way. being the fact that we were a gigantic bus, we were always in the way. and thank goodness for seth somehow finding his way around. we got off at a place called ethniki aymna. or something like that, and then headed down an elevator to the metro.

i love the metro. i wish that america had more of them, at least wherever im living. they are such a great idea, underground, out of the way, fast and easy. and cheap. we got on and made our way to downtown athens and then hit the streets. we found a strip where many shops were and wandered through. and, even though i was the only girl, i was not the only shopper. :) these boys know how to shop. or at least spend time in a store. we were at this one shirt shop forever because they were looking for shirts. i found a pretty sweet soccer ball and got it. it has the greek olympic sign on it, and some greek. its puma, and red. perfect. i also foudn a good gift for my dad... but im not gonna say what it is because it will spoil the surprise. and then i got myself a little bracelet. i tried on some shoes and they were really cute, and nothing like you could get in the states, but it kinda cut the circulation off of my big toe. therefore i did not get them. the man said the leather would stretch and im sure it will, i just have a hard time breaking shoes in.

we all got pretty hungry about this time so we went searching for the gyros shop we ate at the last time we were in athens. we kinda got lost and it was getting dark. we found some creepy allyways and turned around a few times and then found ourselves on an alley that had very nice restaurants and karaoke or bands. nto really sure. anyways we ended up making it to the lower key restaurants and found a gyros store much like the one we had previously visited so we just ate there. we ate in the middle of the alley circle way and while we were eating three people came sprinting by! followed by a cop. they knocked somethin down as they were running and dogs were barking. i think there were kids who had stolen something. still not really sure. it was quite interesting though.

after our tasty food was gone we went walking some more. we got a little further and made it to a place we recognized, but by then we were getting tired and had to leave to in order to cathc the last bus ride back to porto rafti. we had 45 minutes until that bus would leave us in an unknown city, with an unknown language, and no cell service. creeepy! but no worries, i was with people who knew what they were doing. and we had maps. :) so we got into the metro station and as we arrived at our stop, the lights of the tram went off and came to a halt for the night. we had caught the last train. how perfect. and then we had to stand outside and wait for the bus. it was beginning to sprinkle and the wind was picking up so it started to get chilly. i pulled out my soccer ball and we started playing with it while we waited but that wasn't really a great idea. so we stopped. and looked for our bus. at one point we saw one that we thought said rafiti. so we asked the lady getting on if it went ot porto rafti and we thought she said yes...but really it didn't. so we were standing on it like oh okay adn turned to get off. but the doors were shut and the bus started moving!! eek! the lady was nice though and realized what was going on and hollered up to the bus driver in greek that we needed off and they let us off right there. that was nice. so then we waited some more and caught the right bus. the ORANGE one. :) never will go wrong if you just wait for the orange bus. so we hopped on there and road back. we stopped at markopelo first and then got on another bus. this way was much shroter becasue it didn't make stops every minute or so. then seth, justin and i had second dinner cause we were hungry again. :)