As promised, I am here to write about the rest of last week. I'm sure you all are shocked :).
Last week on Tuesday evening, a group of us went and did something that ended up being a little different than we thought, but a wonderful different. Kate found a free yoga class offered at a place called White Elephant Studio, which just so happened to be near our apartment. It also was free, which is a definite plus for someone who is coming to realize how expensive it is to buy your own groceries. Since it was a yoga studio, we were anticipating some intense yoga right? It was scheduled to go from 8 to 10, so we were like wow, that's a whole lot of yoga! Well, we ended up not doing any yoga, which was disappointing, BUT, we ended up doing something else that was much needed: meditation. There were a few others there besides us, so it was very enjoyable talking to the locals. There was one lady there who grew up in Greece, but went to Luther College in Iowa for college! That was craaaaazy. We spent the first hour getting to know the people, which I really liked. We were instructed to sit across from someone we didn't know very well and discuss 5 things we love and 5 things we hate. So I sat across from a Greek man who was very timid, but eventually warmed up to me the more we talked. One thing that we both noticed is that it was much easier for us to come up with 5 things we love, and very difficult for us to come up with 5 things we hate. We decided that this meant we were very blessed. He then talked to me about how he was moving from Athens soon to Saudi Arabia because of his job. Even though he told me he didn't like Athens much, he was still very sad to be leaving his family and girlfriend. I told him that it was hard for me to be away from home right now too, but then proceeded to tell him about all of the opportunities and learning I was doing here. I told him to enjoy the experience to the max, because it won't be there forever. And his family and girlfriend would be there when he got back. Being apart can never change how much someone means to you or how much they care about you. It was amazing how much I could relate to a Greek man in his 30s! He seemed to feel better about things after I talked to him. After chatting, we then proceeded to learn how to meditate. This was my first time doing so, and I loved it. It was very relaxing, cleared the mind right up, and helped you learn how to breathe properly. After meditating, the leader told us about the organization she is from, which is called the Art of Living. It is an international organization that does service projects and teaches people about meditation, yoga, and eliminating stress. One thing that she talked to us about that stuck with me were 5 points for you to live a happy life, which I will share:
1. Opposite values are complementary
2. Accept people and situations the way they are
3. Don't be the football of other peoples' emotions
4. Don't see intention behind others' mistakes
5. Live in the present moment
These little bits of advice I will keep for the rest of my life...they are words to live by for sure.
In Luverne, MN they have a drive-in movie theater that I usually go to during the summer with my family. Well, on Thursday night I got a little piece of home because we went to an outdoor movie theater right in Athens! Before hand, we went to a restaurant right across the street and I shared some Greece specialties with a couple friends. We had fried cheese, spinach pie, and grilled lamb chops...very, very good! The outdoor movie was also wonderful - sitting in a lawnchair, the Acropolis looming on the right, and the city of Athens surrounding. We saw the movie One Day, which was very well done, but also very sad. Afterwards, we had a nice escort of dogs walk us home again. Naturally, we consisted of a big group of girls (since One Day might be considered a chick flick) and the dogs are very protective of girls. There was a guy riding by us on a bike, and the dogs bolted up to him, barking like crazy, and nipping at his heels. Luckily he thought it was funny.
On Friday night, we hiked up a place called Lycabettus Hill. When you are in the city looking up at the hill, it looks like it would take hours to climb, but from our apartment it took 40 minutes! It is so high up though, way higher than the Acropolis. We could see the entire city from the top - even though we were out of breath from all of the stairs and the climb, it was so worth it! We timed it perfectly, leaving around 7 to see the sunset at the top. Then we waited for awhile at the top, because as it got dark, the entire city lit up...it was so pretty! If you are ever in Athens, climb this hill, totally worth it and free!
On Saturday, we took a day trip to Aegina. We left on a ferry in the morning, and arrived in the city around 10. We then saw another temple - the Temple of Aphaea. It gave us another beautiful view of the ocean, and another amazingly old ruin to see. This temple was built in 570 BC, destroyed in a fire, and then rebuilt in 510 BC. After the temple, we were free to explore the city. This place is exactly how one would picture Greece - beautiful blue-green water, boats, streets of shops and restaurants, and churches. We enjoyed simply walking around and exploring the city, going to the beach for a swim to cool off, and then having gelato while sitting on the dock by the boats. On the ferry back, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. It was the worst day ever ;).
Sunday morning, we attended an authentic Greek Orthodox Mass. We needed to observe for our Theology class, because we have a paper due this week on our experience. It was interesting to say the least. The church we went to was being remodeled, so they had mass over in this small chapel like thing. The priest didn't face the congregation, and almost the entire mass was chanted in Greek. I had no idea what was going on. Writing the paper will be interesting :).
Well, now we are officially up to date! I will try to blog more often as we do more things. Hoping that all is well at home! Thanks again to the talents of Jennifer Simonton for the pictures within this blog :).
Peace and Blessings,
Laura
Last week on Tuesday evening, a group of us went and did something that ended up being a little different than we thought, but a wonderful different. Kate found a free yoga class offered at a place called White Elephant Studio, which just so happened to be near our apartment. It also was free, which is a definite plus for someone who is coming to realize how expensive it is to buy your own groceries. Since it was a yoga studio, we were anticipating some intense yoga right? It was scheduled to go from 8 to 10, so we were like wow, that's a whole lot of yoga! Well, we ended up not doing any yoga, which was disappointing, BUT, we ended up doing something else that was much needed: meditation. There were a few others there besides us, so it was very enjoyable talking to the locals. There was one lady there who grew up in Greece, but went to Luther College in Iowa for college! That was craaaaazy. We spent the first hour getting to know the people, which I really liked. We were instructed to sit across from someone we didn't know very well and discuss 5 things we love and 5 things we hate. So I sat across from a Greek man who was very timid, but eventually warmed up to me the more we talked. One thing that we both noticed is that it was much easier for us to come up with 5 things we love, and very difficult for us to come up with 5 things we hate. We decided that this meant we were very blessed. He then talked to me about how he was moving from Athens soon to Saudi Arabia because of his job. Even though he told me he didn't like Athens much, he was still very sad to be leaving his family and girlfriend. I told him that it was hard for me to be away from home right now too, but then proceeded to tell him about all of the opportunities and learning I was doing here. I told him to enjoy the experience to the max, because it won't be there forever. And his family and girlfriend would be there when he got back. Being apart can never change how much someone means to you or how much they care about you. It was amazing how much I could relate to a Greek man in his 30s! He seemed to feel better about things after I talked to him. After chatting, we then proceeded to learn how to meditate. This was my first time doing so, and I loved it. It was very relaxing, cleared the mind right up, and helped you learn how to breathe properly. After meditating, the leader told us about the organization she is from, which is called the Art of Living. It is an international organization that does service projects and teaches people about meditation, yoga, and eliminating stress. One thing that she talked to us about that stuck with me were 5 points for you to live a happy life, which I will share:
1. Opposite values are complementary
2. Accept people and situations the way they are
3. Don't be the football of other peoples' emotions
4. Don't see intention behind others' mistakes
5. Live in the present moment
These little bits of advice I will keep for the rest of my life...they are words to live by for sure.
In Luverne, MN they have a drive-in movie theater that I usually go to during the summer with my family. Well, on Thursday night I got a little piece of home because we went to an outdoor movie theater right in Athens! Before hand, we went to a restaurant right across the street and I shared some Greece specialties with a couple friends. We had fried cheese, spinach pie, and grilled lamb chops...very, very good! The outdoor movie was also wonderful - sitting in a lawnchair, the Acropolis looming on the right, and the city of Athens surrounding. We saw the movie One Day, which was very well done, but also very sad. Afterwards, we had a nice escort of dogs walk us home again. Naturally, we consisted of a big group of girls (since One Day might be considered a chick flick) and the dogs are very protective of girls. There was a guy riding by us on a bike, and the dogs bolted up to him, barking like crazy, and nipping at his heels. Luckily he thought it was funny.
On Friday night, we hiked up a place called Lycabettus Hill. When you are in the city looking up at the hill, it looks like it would take hours to climb, but from our apartment it took 40 minutes! It is so high up though, way higher than the Acropolis. We could see the entire city from the top - even though we were out of breath from all of the stairs and the climb, it was so worth it! We timed it perfectly, leaving around 7 to see the sunset at the top. Then we waited for awhile at the top, because as it got dark, the entire city lit up...it was so pretty! If you are ever in Athens, climb this hill, totally worth it and free!
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| The city |
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| Our attempt to make CSB :) |
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| Some of the group posing on some of the ruins |
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| The port |
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| The ocean |
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| The incredible sunset |
Well, now we are officially up to date! I will try to blog more often as we do more things. Hoping that all is well at home! Thanks again to the talents of Jennifer Simonton for the pictures within this blog :).
Peace and Blessings,
Laura
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