First Impressions

Well it has been over a month and it is flying by faster than I could have imagined. Things fly by fast enough just being at school in Searcy but here it is like you blink and a week goes by. To be honest my first impression of this place made me feel almost as if I were in the middle of no where and in one of the dirtiest places I have ever seen. We are living in Porto Rafti, Greece which is right outside of Athens. There is no waste management here so people just throw their trash anywhere they please. It isn't the prettiest sight at first. As soon as we got here we walked around town and went over to the sea. We are on the coast of the Aegean Sea. You kind of get past the dirtiness of the town once you get over to the coast. It is a beautiful sight. The second day we were here a few of us climbed the mountain right beside the Artemis (the building we live in). Getting up the mountain is somewhat of a challenge but it is more than worth it. It is an amazing view. It felt incredible and you could see for miles. This is when I realized how beautiful this country really is. It also made me see the evidence of God's beauty. Sometimes I take for granted the places I see and the places I have been and even the place that I live. This semester I am really working on realizing what is around me and not taking anything for granted. Being up on that mountain is one of those things that helped me realize that. After that day things really started to fly by. The first trip we made was our tour into Athens. We toured all of the ruins and archaeological sights in Athens. The first place we went was the Acropolis. I never imagined I would be standing in front of these places I had heard and learned about my entire life. The Acropolis is the second highest point in the city and was meant to be seen from anywhere. The Parthenon and the Temple of Erechtheion are located on the Acropolis. After seeing these two things we walked over to Mars Hill. This was my favorite part of the day because this is when it really hit me that these places have such importance in history as well as biblical history. Sitting on top of Aereopogus (Mars Hill) and reading Paul's sermon (Acts 17:16-34) was a feeling I had never experienced before. Actually sitting at the place that Paul was giving his sermon and reading the very sermon he gave is something I will never forget. This isn't the last time this happens on this trip either which is what is making this trip so incredible. The rest of the day we toured Ancient Agora and saw things like the Stoa of Atalos, the Roman Forum and the Temple of Hepheistos. All these places we saw just made me think and wonder what things were like then. These buildings would have been an amazing sight. It has hard to really imagine what things would have been like when Athens is the way it is today. We started classes the third day we were here. Classes aren't bad but it does make us realize we do still have work to do in the midst of everything else we are seeing and doing. Every Sunday we go into Athens for church at 6 PM at the Church of Christ downtown. They have a Greek, Bulgarian, Russian and English service. Even though our group is 99 percent of the English congregation it is still nice being able to go to a familiar place. We can go into Athens whenever we want to but we typically only go early on Sundays before church because we have to use public transportation to get there. Public transportation is becoming a part of every day life here and to be honest I could get used to it. Athens is only about 10-15 minutes away but since we have to use public transportation it takes almost an hour to get in. We take a bus to the metro then ride the metro the rest of the way in. If you know me you know how picky of an eater I am. This trip has really opened my eyes to many new things including food. This might come as a shock but I actually ate my first salad on this trip. I know it sounds crazy but you can ask anyone. My favorite part about the food here are the gyros. You haven't experienced Greece until you experience the gyros. It is basically just chicken, pork or lamb in a pita with a cucumber or mayonnaise sauce and whatever else you wish to put on it. I am on number 20 right now if that tells you anything. The Artemis is an experience in itself. Living with 49 people in the same building seeing everyone all the time can be crazy at times. It is still amazing though getting to know the people I have. The people here are wonderful. I thank God so much for this amazing opportunity and for these people. This is all I will post for now. I will talk about Egypt and our Peloponnese trip on my next post soon. Thank you again for your prayers.