life

It's crazy how big of an effect three weeks can have on your life. I was expecting (pessimistically) to revert to my old self upon my return to the States, but it's been over five weeks since I've been back and I'm still flying high. And it's not like I haven't been through some things since I've been back that could have pushed me down.

Exhibit #1: After two weeks of volunteering on a construction project for a Christian conference center and a week long Christian conference in Southern California, I totaled my car while driving back up to the bay. The whole experience has been really interesting, and I picked my brain for weeks trying to figure out how/why it happened.

Here's the reenactment of the accident: I was right at the 580-680 interchange, in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I figured it was a good time to drink some water because nothing was really happening on the road, so I picked up a water bottle and unscrewed the cap. Somehow, it slipped out of my hand completely open, and fell on my side of the car drenching the floor of the driver's side. I looked down to assess the damage/retrieve the bottle (didn't want it to stick under the pedals), and when I looked back up, all the cars were stopped. I braked hard (I was only going like 10-15 miles an hour, so I wasn't in danger of getting hurt), but it was too late. I rear ended a silver pickup truck, and we pulled over to the side to assess the REAL damage. It didn't even look like anything happened to the truck, but this is what happened to my car:



Basically, the truck was tall and had a narrow metal bar attached to the bumper. It hit my hood (not the bumper) in the perfectly wrong spot, pushing the engine in a few inches and pulling the rest of the front up. It was a terrible, terrible example of the effects impulse, stress concentrations, and conservation of momentum can have. Sometimes it sucks being an engineer because you can describe these things in technical terms.

The funny thing is that I didn't even get that adrenaline rush when it happened (I wasn't going that fast), and I just started to call on the Lord softly and pray. Apparently, a cop was a few cars behind us, saw it happened, and took care of the exchanging of info for us. He told me not to worry because I have insurance, and my automatic response surprised me: "Yeah, and it's a good opportunity to experience the Lord's supply, too." The cop gave me a funny look (I think he was expecting me to have a nervous breakdown or something), gave me directions back to the freeway, and then took off.

Miraculously, I was able to drive my car home going 50 in the slow lane - the engine was making funny sounds - and during the 30 minute trip, a car in front of me was driving just as slowly and had the license plate "GRACE." That was a sign right there. It was like the Lord was telling me that I can experience His grace, no matter what happens to me. Either that, or some 60 year old Asian lady named Grace got a car for her birthday. I like the first explanation better.

This is the aftermath: AAA came to check out the car, deemed it a total loss, and wrote me a check for $13,481. We still owed $2400 on the car, so I came out with $11,081 (the blue book price of the car is $9000). I spent the last three weeks researching cars, working out insurance issues, and buying a car (which was a really enlightening, but time-consuming experience). These are the major details:

1) No one was injured, and the other vehicle didn't report damage.
2) I used the check from AAA as the down payment on a 2010 Corolla LE. My sister came with me to check out dealerships (thanks Channon!!!), and we got it for $16,800 out the door, including tax and license (Invoice was $16300). We got a better deal on it than on the 2009s that we looked at, and it was an even better deal than my 2005 Corolla S was. It was pretty funny because after we got the offer my sister went outside to call other Toyota dealers in the bay area (we had their phone numbers), and they said that they couldn't beat it and to take the offer. Go Fremont Toyota. The saleslady, Becca, was pretty cool too.

It's actually a really good time to buy a car. Toyota has $1000 rebates for recent college graduates, APRs are really low, and a new law allows you to deduct the sales tax of a new car purchased after February 2009. If you have an old car that gets less than 21 MPG, you can get a $3500-$4500 rebate through the Cash for Clunkers program, too.



A lot of consideration went into the car I chose. I wanted something safe, reliable, with good fuel economy, that I could pay off in three years (in case I decide to go to Europe), and that would be big enough in case I need to transport people/items. I almost got a Yaris because I thought they would be cheaper, but it was only about a $1000 difference in final price.
3) AAA opened up a new policy for me (I was under my parent's plan before), and because I have good grades/safety features on the new car the premium on my new plan is pretty much unchanged from what it was on my parent's plan. It essentially didn't affect my parents or my car insurance plan financially. I do have one point on my record because of the accident, though. It'll be taken off in three years.
4) Most importantly, the experience was not stressful at all. I really have been experiencing the Lord's grace and peace.

Basically, I got a new car for under $7,000, I'm building credit (I took over the car payments), and no one was hurt. Someone shared 1 Peter 1:7 with me, which says "So that the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold, which perishes though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." That's the only way I can explain this experience.

Exhibit #2: This one isn't as big. The day after I totaled my car, and during my first week back to working full time, I got the flu. I went to work with a fever that whole week, while dealing with new tasks and sorting through the car insurance paperwork. It was like rubbing salt in a cut, but I was still happier that week than I was before I went to Europe.

There are at least two more big things that happened/are happening, but I don't feel like sharing them on my blog because they're about my family members.

I don't think this trip had such a big effect on me merely because I've never traveled far - it's something a lot deeper than that. I know that I will travel a lot more in the future, but this experience will always be special because I've never experienced God being this real to me. Interestingly, the biggest thing I noticed is that I don't really like to drink anymore. I did drink a little twice with my friends after I got back, but nothing major. I haven't told anyone this, but I used to drink by myself at night - not at "alcoholic" levels, but enough to get me to sleep and enough for it not to be normal. Now, all I need is to go to the gym and I can sleep ok. That's a pretty big blessing.

This pretty much brings me back to today. I finally caught up to life (or it caught up with me), and now you know why I've been MIA since I've been back to the bay. And why I have a new ride.

Somewhere over the Atlantic and Then Back Home 6/10/09

Funny thing happened at the airport this morning. As we were checking into our flight an employee came to us and asked us why we came to Athens and where we stayed. We told them we were traveling tourists, visiting the city and other Christians, and that we stayed with some Christians we got in contact with here. When the guy asked us how long we knew them for, we were like, "uh...four days?" When we tried to explain how we got connected with the Reddys, he waved his hand to stop us from speaking, and put stickers on our passports. Uh oh...

After we checked in, we headed over to our gate but the employee looked at our passports and told us to step aside. Soon, they were going through everything in our bags and unfolding our clothes. David and I even got separated and got patted down in separate closed off rooms. I was pretty calm because we didn't have anything incriminating. I'm just glad they stopped short of a body cavity search. Sheesh.

I didn't realize what was going on at the time, but I just realized that the Greek Orthodox church is pretty ubiquitous here, and they probably don't like other Christian groups affecting their dominance. We had no intention of coming as missionaries or anything, but it probably seemed suspicious to them that two Asian guys came to Athens to meet with other Christians. Lesson learned - I'll know how to get through customs more efficiently next time.

We're somewhere over the Atlantic right now, about 5 hours into our 10 hour+ flight. I'm trying not to sleep so that I can adjust to Pacific time when I get back home. Basically, every time the flight attendant walks by I order a hot coffee. I'm glad I saved my headphones from the first flight because the Pink Panther 2 was pretty hilarious (surprisingly!). Paul Blart, not so much.

---

I'm back home now. We ate Chinese fast food during our layover in New York, and then Chris and Frank picked us up from SFO. Then, my mom got me from Berkeley. It's about 1 AM and I'm getting packed to go down to Socal for Rya's, Sean's, and Brandon's graduations. Crazy, huh?

What's crazier is that I'm going to go to the gym in a little bit - I haven't been for over two weeks now and I've convinced myself that I'll have trouble sleeping if I don't go. I should be jetlagged because of the 14 hour time difference, but whatever.

I miss Europe. Sigh...it's only an ocean away.

Isle Be Back 6/9/09

Ok. That was corny. But I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with titles for these posts!

We ate the included breakfast at the hostel this morning, which consisted of cakes, jams, cereal, nutella, and eggs. Two comments: 1) it was a weird combination, but really high in energy. 2) I've noticed that the hard boiled eggs in every country we've visited have been different. The major difference is in the yolks, which have ranged in color from orange to pale yellow. I wonder if it has to do with what you feed the chicken.

After eating, we walked up the street to rent an ATV. We wanted to explore the island, and we didn't want to take a bus or taxi back to the port (we found out that you can pick up ATVs on one side of the island and return them on the other).



I actually haven't driven one since I was 12, but it was pretty easy to pick up - just gas and brake. We dropped by the hostel one last time to pick up our bags, check out, and say bye to John and Maria, the hostel managers. Yesterday, John said something interesting to us - we've gotten to be pretty cool with each other, and while we were talking, he said "I can tell you guys are good people because of something in your faces." As we were checking out, I read a 2 Corinthians 3:18 to him: "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit." We told him that it's not us, but that we've been enjoying the Lord for the past two weeks. He nodded in understanding, and we exchanged contact information with him and Maria. I want to stay in touch. I like knowing people all over the world.

Before we took off on the ATV, Maria ran to a neighbor's store and bought us big shells from the island to remember them by. It was pretty sweet. We took a group picture together, did the Greek two cheek kiss thing, and then sped away.



For the next 4 hours, we drove through the island



and then around the coast, stopping at nice beaches to swim or climb on rocks. It was pretty awesome.













The best place we went to was on the northwest corner of Aegina - the water was warm and as transparent as glass, the sand was white and soft, and there were no waves (the other islands block big waves from hitting Aegina). It was a huge aquamarine swimming pool, and when you opened your eyes under water you could see out for miles. That's how clean it was. I have a new beach standard - Hawaii, you've been demoted.



We got to Aegina Marina at 2 PM to return the ATV, and then went to a small restaurant to eat. Guess what we ate? Gyros! I think we've eaten 10 during our stay in Greece, and I can tell you that I probably won't eat them for a while when I go back home. It was a pretty good deal, though. Two gyros and a soda for 6 euros.

At 3:30 PM we got on the ferry back to Piraeus, and watched a guy feeding seagulls all the way back. It was pretty cool. He would toss bits of bread up, and the seagulls would keep up with the ferry (which was going at a pretty good pace), catching the bread out of the air.



I should have put on more sunblock because I was wearing a tank and got pretty sunburned on my shoulders. Oh well. I'm pretty tan now :)

After we got to Piraeus, we metroed and walked back to the Reddy's flat for a quick shower (we were still salty from swimming in the sea), and then headed back out to get some packaged desserts and candy to take back (it was too hard to find any souveniers worth buying - everything was so cheap and fragile, and I didn't want to stuff it in my backpack). The foil wrapped baklavas were supposed to be decent, so I got a bag to bring home. I hope they make it back ok.

When we went back to the Reddy's, we helped them bring some old furniture down to the street (they had just recently moved). What's interesting here is that there aren't any thrift stores so people just leave their old things - furniture, clothes, etc... - in the street for other people to take (from what I heard, Albanians make up the bulk of the lower class here).

It was pretty funny because we brought a table down, and when we went up to bring the sideboard down, the table was already gone. Someone must have been watching us from their window or something. They left the sideboard until we came back down with the drawers.

Michael made us some bomb nachos for dinner, but I could only eat a little bit because of the cheese. We talked about things we could pray for for the saints in Athens and the political situation here. It was pretty chill, just eating and talking. At one point, David put a piece of melon on Sophia's plate, which she, apparently, didn't like. Her reaction was pretty hilarious. She didn't cry, but just got this sad expression on her face, walked over to her dad, and sat on his lap with her head buried in his chest. We eventually figured out what was wrong, so David took the melon off and everything was ok.

Aliki and Thomas came home from visiting her father in Gizi, and we chatted and took a family picture before Aliki put Thomas and Sophia to bed. Then, Aliki gave us a bag of Greek pistachios to take home. They're the national nut here, and taste different than the ones in the states - they're not as dense, and have a pretty distinct flavor when roasted.

Michael and Aliki just went to bed, and we're getting ready to fly home tomorrow. We have to take the metro to Syntagma Square, then the X95 bus back to Athens International Airport. After a four hour layover in New York, we'll be flying back to SFO where Chris is going to pick us up. I'm sad to leave, but excited to see my graduating friends.

I'm really surprised I kept this journal thing going for the whole trip. Everything happened so quickly, but at least I have a record of the important things. I'll put these notes in my blog when I get back home.

I just realized how crazy it is that I fly back tomorrow, and the next afternoon I'm driving down to socal. Gotta keep going - life's too short!

THINGS I ATE IN EUROPE THAT I WANT TO MAKE WHEN I GO HOME:

*Bread with olive oil and pesto/sundried tomato dip (At Ace's in London)
*Baklava - (Various places in Greece) - success!
*Macarons - (In Paris)
*Seafood - (Various places in Greece)
*Gyros - (Various places in Greece) - I might wait a while before I tackle this one...
*Pasta with olive oil, basil, tomatoes, salt, and pepper (Rome) - success!

Leaving, on a Ferry Boat 6/8/09

We woke up at 6 AM as planned, and then walked to the metro to take the train to Piraeus Port. This is the major port that has ferries to the isles.



After looking around to find a booth that sold ferry tickets (it was still a holiday), we ended up being about half an hour for the early ferry, so we went into a cafe, got some pastries, and chilled at the ferry gate. I got a big donut, which was breadier than the ones in the U.S. David got this donut that looked like a cactus and was covered in syrup. It was one of those things that you eat, but the whole time you're eating it you're like, "why am I still eating this?"



We finally got on the ferry around 9, and went to the upper deck to see the view and get some fresh air. As soon as the boat left the port, it was amazing to see how blue the water got.



Piraeus was understandably dirty, but I've never seen bluer water than the water on the way to Aegina. Also, the ferries here are more like cruises - they have lounges and a bar on the bottom deck. It's pretty nice for how much the tickets are.





It was only an hour to the island, so we took a cat nap and read/soaked in the sun. Once we got to Aegina, we found out that our hostel was on the other side of the island at Aghia Marina, so we took a taxi to get there (the wasn't going to leave for another two hours). I totally crashed on the taxi ride over, but the driver was pretty chill. It ended up being a pretty expensive ride - 14 euros vs. a 2 euro bus ride.

Once we got to Aghia Marina, we circled around for a bit trying to find the hostel. Unlike our Paris experience, though, this was during the daytime and we were on the coast with some spectacular views of the sea. It was actually pretty good because we got a chance to scope out our corner of the island and look at some good places we wanted to eat at.



Arriving at Hotel Rachel, we were happy to discover that it was only a one minute downhill walk to the "best beach on Aegina." I thought the manager, John, was just trying to sell the place, but the beach is pretty nice.

Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready so we left our backpacks behind the desk and went out for our legit seafood lunch. We got a seafood plate for two, which came with Haddock, Dorade (two types of fish), prawns, calamari, and four small fish. It was fresh and oh so good:



About 20 minutes later, it was gone and we were happy:



Too bad they don't have Dorade in the States. That was my favorite thing on the plate.

We walked back and our rooms were ready, so we dropped off our stuff, changed, and went to the beach. We swam for three hours, leaving only because the tide was coming in and clouding up the water. We laid on the sand for a little, buried some water bees, and found some pretty cool shells.



Aghia Marina is nice and peaceful, but we found out that the area is pretty small and consists mostly of tourist shops, grocery stores, hostels, and small restaurants. After swimming, we decided to head back to Aegina Marina the other side of the island to see what was up.

One crazy bus ride in the hills, and we were there. The bus ride was pretty insane (and now we know why it was so cheap) - basically, the buses here drive wrecklessly on narrow, winding two-lane roads on the side of a hill, swerving around curves and going off road if another bus comes by. The bus driver kinda looked like Otto from "The Simpsons," too.

Aegina Marina was just a large scale version of Aghia Marina, but we were craving grilled octopus so we ordered a small order (really good and not rubbery!):



While we were waiting for the octopus, we walked by a man in an alleyway with a kid (looked about four years old) lying inert across his lap. The kid was emaciated, and I felt like death when I saw him. It was even worse that the man looked completely defeated. As we walked passed and kept going, I had this strong feeling that I had to do something so I went into a store and got water for the man and milk for the kid - we were in a touristy area so there wasn't much else. But when we went back, they were gone! I felt sick, but I guess there's nothing I could have really done. I hope they're alright.

After we ate, we took the bus back to Aghia Marina. On the way to the bus we met a fascinating Greek lady named Kataryna, who we recognized because we saw her swimming near us at the beach earlier in the day (we were the furthest people out). She's over 40, but still seems young. She told us she loves to travel, and I think that's why she retained her youth. I really think that traveling = fountain of youth.

Interestingly, while we were talking to her the conversation turned to God (again...this keeps happening), and she talked about how the major religion here is the Greek Orthodox Church. The way she described it sounded pretty similar to Roman Catholocism, and although she said that she didn't follow the Orthodox church she said that sometimes she thought about God. One striking thing she said was that "all people are seeking something." I wish I had my bible on me because I could have shared Ecclesiastes 3:11 with her: "God placed eternity in man's heart."

When we got back to Aghia Marina, we went out to get gyros for dinner (again...this keeps happening). We ate them on the balcony of our room, and talked. It was pretty nice until the people in the room next to us started to smoke off of their balcony, so we went out to go get some drinks and fruit at the grocery store.

A funny thing happened when we came out of the store: Three little girls were playing at the storefront (it was family-owned), and they tried to speak to us in broken English. One pointed at us and said, "Jackie Chan?" to which the other one said "Beautiful Jackie Chans!" after we laughed at the first girl. I guess they never see Asian people out here. I like how the kids aren't shy here. People love kids in Greece, and we've even seen old people on buses get up to give their seats to children. It's really sweet.

Another thing that surprised me is how crazy the work hours are here on the island. It was after 11 when we went to the store, so we asked the owner what time he starts in the morning. "7 AM," he said. The hostel managers, John and Maria, who we've gotten to be good friends with, have similar hours (they own a shop attached to the lobby). Even though they work all day, people here seem happier. I wonder what makes life here different from the States. Maybe it's the lack of traffic or the proximity to nice beaches. Whatever it is, I would love to live here some day.



When we got back to the hostel, it was still nice out so we walked to the beach to watch the moon rise.



It was calm, and eerily peaceful. We watched eddies created by schools of fish, which disturbed the dark water under the moonlight. Then we walked along the coast as the tide rose, putting the island to sleep.

We realized that it was getting late, so we went to the hostel, showered off, and soon I was out like a light. It's pretty weird, but I've gotten some of my best nights of sleep and worst nights of sleep on this trip.

I have to say that it was an awesome day.

Sunday Morning 6/7/09

...Rain is falling. Just kidding! It's the second day of the heat wave and it reached over 100 degrees here today.

The Lord's Table meeting ("Sunday Service") in Athens was pretty interesting. We met in Luke and Lily's house (in Acts, the saints met from "house to house"), started at 10:30 AM, sang a few hymns, and then had the table (broke bread, drank the wine - Luke 22:19-20). This might be slightly inappropriate, but the wine was pretty good :) .



Usually the meetings we have start at 10 and go straight until noon, but here we took a break at noon to have some refreshments. The cookies were awesome, and I ate a whole bunch of cherries before someone told me that the ones here can give you diarrhea if you eat too many. Great.

The prophesying meeting (not foretelling the future, but speaking from the Bible) began at 1, and I realized that it's getting easier and easier for me to speak. I think it might be partly due to the fact that multiple languages are spoken in the meetings here (in Athens, Greek, English, Mandarin, and Russian are represented), which requires translation. For the speaker, this gives you a little bit of time between sentences to recollect your thoughts.

At 2, we ate lunch together, potluck style. The food was bomb - someone made rice, and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I saw the cooker on the table. There were also boiled prawns, octopus, pork, beef (spicy!), and bread with a delicious eggplant spread. We stuffed our faces and then headed back to the Reddy's flat around 3.



It was pretty hot by this time because of the head wave in Athens, so we walked to the metro to take the tram to the beach. Unfortunately, other people had the same brilliant idea so it was a pretty long and crowded ride. We took the Reddy's advice - "The further you go, the better the beaches are" - and were some of the last people off of the tram. The beach we went to was ok (along Possidonos Rd), but one part was really dirty. It was pretty funny because on the marina/boating side, there were fish and crabs in the murky water, and over a dividing wall was a colorful pebble beach with relatively clear water.



We swam a bit because the clear water close to shore was really cool and inviting, but once we got further out, it became green and murky. I always creep myself out when I swim in murky water because I imagine that a shark or something is swimming under me (cue the "Jaws" music).



We decided to head back to shore because we didn't feel secure enough to leave my backpack on the sand unattended to. Our passports were in the bag - we've been carrying them around because we don't want any three hour jail tours. It was still warm, so we just laid on the beach and chilled. It's been pretty nice not to spend our entire days walking.

On the way back to the Reddy's we picked up some dessert, which was a challenge because it was a holiday (Election Day) and most stores were closed. We eventually found an open bakery, so we picked up some baklavas and tarts.

It was pretty awesome to discover that they had dinner ready for us when we got back! They were out helping someone move, but they left a tomato stew, roast chicken, salad, and potatoes in the fridge. It as sooooo good.

After our second awesome meal of the day (or 4th, if you count the little snacks), we went to Luke and Lily's to book the hostel for our night on Aegina, the isle closest to Athens. Luke and Lily are the closest people we know who have internet - it's a commodity that isn't as available here as it is in the States. We found a pretty good deal on a hostel: 14 euros a person for a private room with two double beds, a bathroom, and breakfast. Hotel Rachel, we'll be seeing you tomorrow.

Luke wasn't feeling well, so we left early and walked back to the Reddy's. They were home, so we talked about the recent election and Greek government over dessert:



From bottom right, counterclockwise, that's a baklava roll, banana chocolate pastry, walnut shortbread, and I dunno what (big square chocolate cream-filled baklava?). That big chocolate covered thing was actually one piece, but we cut it into fours.

Anyway, we're planning to sleep early tonight - we want to wake up at 6 (6 hours of sleep...) to take a ferry to Aegina. I'm really looking forward to the crystal clear warm water, soft sand, great seafood, and most importantly, no sharks!

Sigh...the sad thing is that once we get back from the island, we pretty much have to just pack, go to sleep, and head out the next morning for the airport to catch the plane back home.

I'm not going to think about it anymore. I have a feeling that Aegina is going to be awesome.

My Big Fat Greek Day 6/6/09

Today was long and tiring, but pretty fun!

We had an awesome breakfast at the Reddy's of cereal (which I discovered is really expensive here), cheese pies, eggs, waffles, and German and Greek sausages. The cheese pies looked really good, but I didn't want to risk eating one and suffering the dire consequences during our hike up to the Acropolis/around other ruins.

A short bus ride took us back to Syntagma Square, where we saw another tomb of an unknown soldier (#3), that was being guarded by two guards with funny shoes. One of the features of this site is a massive flock of pigeons - tourists can buy bags of feed for one euro, and have these dirty beasts perch on their arms, hands, head, or whatever. Or for the more mischieveous soul, you can toss the feed into unsuspecting groups of children for a few seconds of entertainment.



I wasn't really in the mood to contract any bird diseases, but Michael bought a couple bags of feed and soon enough we were covered in pigeons. And soon enough, a group of school kids was screaming because Michael tossed a lot of feed toward their feet. What an awesome guy.



We took pictures with the guards after the pigeon experience, and found out that you CANNOT raise your hands in pictures with them (the other guard started to raise his gun) and you CANNOT throw pigeon feed at them. We didn't do this, but I'm pretty sure you can get shot for doing it.



After this little bit of fun, we split with the Reddy's who were taking Thomas and Sophie for a little park adventure, and headed to the Plaka. This is a giant marketplace that attracts tourists who want to buy souveniers. I'm still having trouble finding anything worth getting, so chances are that a lot of my friends and relatives are going to be disappointed when I come home. I have a bunch of pictures/stories to tell you though! Isn't that more worth it?

Unsuccessful at finding anything to buy, or George Nikopolis, for that matter, we headed up to the Acropolis. It was pretty hard to find at first (the theme of the day) because we walked up a hill that had an awesome view of the city, but unfortunately, a dead end.



By talking to another group of returning Australian tourists, we finally found the ticket booth (it was really hot today - 100 degrees). Student rates = 1/2 off = 6 euros to visit 6 major sites in Athens. And unlike Rome, you don't need to be a EU citizen.

We walked up the hill, saw the theatre of Dionysis (crazy wine god), and then through some ruins and pillars to the Parthenon. It's an amazing sight, even with the scaffolding around it for the reconstruction of one of the sides. We chilled up here for a little bit, taking in the breathtaking views, and started going back after we ran out of water. Luckily, we filled up our waterbottles before the trip because it was hot up there and there wasn't much shade.



On the way back, we climbed the Areopagus, a rock from which the Apostle Paul preached in Acts 17.



Then we walked to the Ancient Agora, the marketplace. It's amazing to see the history here; there are biblical sites and ruins of stores where pottery was actually sold. You can actually see the influence cultures that existed 2000 years ago have on our lives today, in terms of government, religion, architecture, and lifestyle. Gives you something to think about.

Going out the other side of the Agora led us to the Monastiraki Markets, where we got cheap 3 euro gyros (it was around 2 in the afternoon, and we had been walking all day). Luckily, I glanced up at the right time because I saw a sign for Aphrodite, the jewelry store at which George works (it's not in the Plaka, Mario!). We walked in and asked for George, but he was out for the day. Stratos, the other owner, recognized the name of my coworker when I mentioned it, and treated us like family when we told him how we found the store. He offered to buy us frappes (whipped coffee), gave us a 40% discount (the jewelry there was still way out of my budget), and told us to come back if we needed any help. He even gave us his business card and told us to call him if we ran into any trouble. I swear, I'm making friends all over the world and it feels pretty cool.



Per the recommendation of my other coworker, Matt, I ordered ouzo at a bar nearby Aphrodite, which is a licorice flavored Greek liquor. It's clear when it's warm, but when you add ice to it, it turns a milky white color. I didn't like it at first, but it slowly grew on me. I don't know if I'd order it again, though. It was pretty expensive at 4 euros for a small cup.

While sipping the ouzo, I bought two more paintings of Santorini (a beautiful Greek Isle), and we walked to Hadrian's Arch and the temple of Olympian Zeus (HUGE). What's interesting about these ruins is that they're monstrous, but some of the pillars fell/were knocked down. You have to wonder what force did it, and it makes you realize that nothing built by people lasts forever.



The last thing we wanted to see (we still had some tickets to sites from the original ticket we bought at the Acropolis) was Keramikos, which was reachable by metro. And a walk through a ghost town that seemed like it was probably thriving when the Olympics were held in Athens recently. A benefit of this is that there weren't too many tourists at this site, and nothing was really fenced off. Unlike Ostia Antica, however, we got yelled at for climbing on things and going into certain areas. Eventually, the worker got tired of chasing us out of areas, and started following us around so we wouldn't do anything worth yelling for.



One of the cool and unexpected things about these ruins is the amount of wildlife - there are stray cats and tortoises roaming the site, and they're not afraid of humans. It's unreal.



We left, probably to the relief of that worker, and passed by Hadrian's Library while trying to find the metro. At this point all the ruins that we saw started to look the same, but we wanted to use our tickets and snap a few pictures to prove that we were there. We were in and out in 10 minutes, and then took the metro to Evangelismos station. If you know Athens geography at all, you probably realize that we had no plan today because we bounced around the city and weren't efficient at all. It's not such a bad thing, though. I'm realizing the plusses to living life without plans.



Katie, one of our friends from Berkeley who is taking Greek here over summer, called us after we got to Evangelismos and we took the 608 bus to meet her at her dorm. We picked up some gyros (I'm starting to get sick of them haha), and took them over to Ron and Julean's house to eat.

Ron and Julean are believers who lived in Washington, and then moved to Athens to serve the Lord. It's interesting because we've met a lot of people in Europe who have done that, and you can really see how the Lord and faith supply them.

We sat around on their balcony after we ate (it was a warm, quiet night), and a young street performer walked by two stories below their flat, playing an accordion. Ron and Julean told us how they lowered their change to the young man in a cup with a bit of string, and we contemplated doing it tonight, but Katie took our change and ran it down to the guy instead. He waved up to us in appreciation, and then continued down the road to bless the other residents with his calm and slightly haunting melody. People here are really cool, and I love the culture in Greece.

Reminded because we all were handling the coins, Ron told us about the back of the two euro Greek coin, which has eerie biblical implications. If you read Revelation 13:1-2 and 17:1-6, it talks about a woman riding a beast, which typifies the Antichrist (the number of the beast is 666). The Antichrist comes out of the sea, which is the Mediterranean. This is a picture of the Greek two euro coin:



Where is Greece? In the Mediterranean. You can take it as a creepy coincidence, but I'm taking it as a sign of the end times and as a motivation to keep pursuing the Lord. Seriously. The people choosing the design could have used anything to represent their country - The Parthenon, Zeus, olive branches, anything - but they chose this.

It was getting late, so we left Ron and Julean's place and visited Tony and Tina Sapounakis with Katie. Tony, another believer, graduated from Cal in 2005 and moved to Athens to study here. He's pretty good friends with another brother we know from Cal, and he connected us with the Reddy family. Sadly, he's moving back to the states in two days, which is why we didn't stay with him here. We talked to him while he was packing up some things, and he recommended that in our few days remaining here we go to one of the isles. After doing a quick bit of research on his laptop, we decided to go to Aegina - it's an hour ride away by ferry, tickets are 18 euros round trip, and the hostel is only 28 euros a night for a private room with two double beds and a bathroom. I can't wait.

We took the bus back home so Tony and Tina could finish packing, took cold showers (it's still pretty hot and it's supposed to get even hotter tomorrow), and washed our clothes.

I'm falling asleep while jotting this down, but reallllly happy :)

I can cross it off the list 6/5/09

I've wanted to go to Greece since 6th grade, and I can finally cross it off my lifetime to-do list.

At the same time, it's crazy to realize how quickly this Eurotrip went by. I've always said that I like to travel (without having any travel experiences other than Canada or Mexico), and now I know for sure.

We had our first minor snafu at the airport this morning: It seemed like we had plenty of time because we arrived an hour and a half before departure, but we got pretty close to missing our flight because our bags were too big. This was the first time that happened!

Mine was over the weight limit, but the checker decided that the size was fine and let me through. David's bag, on the other hand had to get checked in. By the time we got through the scanners, it was 5 minutes before departure. Luckily, the flight was delayed 20 minutes so we made it. Thank you, God.

The flight was pretty uneventful. Interestingly, it seems like the flights from west to east take shorter than the other direction because you go with the wind or something. Even though the flight was delayed, we still made it to Athens on time. I hope the flight home doesn't take super long. This is a picture of a lonely cloud over a lonely isle. I thought it was pretty cool:



After arriving in Athens (the airport was recently constructed/remodeled which is why flights in and out of Athens are expensive), we hopped on the X95 bus to Syntagma Square, where we were going to meet the family we were staying with. It was pretty nice to be in a place where there weren't as many pickpockets. People left their luggage on the bus unattended and without locks, which was a good sign.

Still, we found out that due to the upcoming elections in Athens, there were a lot of political protests/terrorist threats. Apparently, right now cops will pull over anyone who doesn't look European, and they can hold you for up to three hours without reason if you don't have a passport on you. Your golden ticket is to have a U.S. passport because the cops know that the economy of Greece is boosted by tourism. So I guess I'm going everywhere with my passport here.

It's interesting how the symbols we see in our calc and physics class are the letters of an actual language. I've known that in the back of my head, but it's weird to see it used as an alphabet here. It's actually pretty useful to know the names of the letters because then you can sound out the words of locations. THAT was pretty helpful on the bus ride. Neither of us knows any Greek.



When we got to Syntagma, Michael and Luke picked us up and I found out that Michael was roommates with someone in my small group back home. It's really funny how we're all connected - it's 6 degrees of separation in the world and 2 degrees of separation in the church.

We dropped our bags off at Michael's flat, met his family, and headed out to our first Greek dinner.



Michael reminds me of someone I know back home (more in demeanor than appearance), which is pretty comforting. Aliki, his wife, is witty, super nice, and fascinating. Her father was in the British Secret Service or something along those lines (bad memory!), and she moved a lot growing up. She can speak English, French, German, Cantonese, and Greek, and has that characteristic British charm. For some reason she reminds me of Evie from The Mummy. They both have great, warm personalities.



Their kids are pretty cute, too. Thomas, 6, wasn't shy at all when he met us, which is a huge plus. He climbed on us when we were sitting on the couch, and told us jokes. He's pretty brilliant, too - he's levels ahead of his grade in math, and he plays chess and backgammon like a pro. This kid's going to go far.



Sophia (AKA Fifi, Soph, Sophie, or Sis) took a while to warm up to us, but soon enough, she was playing doctor with us. It's pretty cute because they both have British accents and speak proper English. Sophie, for instance, says "My Thomas" when refering to her older brother. She's three.



A quick 10 minute walk from the flat took us to a small Greek restaurant that served fast food. I ordered my first gyro, which was really filling. They put french fries in them, which is pretty tasty. I'd take one over a big mac anyday. The meat plates and stuffed tomatoes were delicious too. I love cultures that know how to eat, and I know I'm really going to like it here. This is a side note, but the sweets here are supposed to be unparalleled. I have to try real baklava when I'm here - when you say it, the emphasis is on the LA, and there are a bunch of different types! I'm not a dessert person, but I'm pretty excited.



The dinner conversation was pretty interesting because Michael and Aliki told us how they met in London, and we told them how it was like being raised Christian, and all the things the Lord had to do to bring us to where we were today. It was the first time I told people about some major experiences I had during college, and I'm surprised that I felt comfortable enough to tell them. Just like in Germany, they felt like family from the moment I met them.



We got gelato after dinner and then went to a grocery/toy store to pick up some stuff. The Reddy's (that's Michael and Aliki's last name) needed clothes for the kids, and we got some goggles for swimming in the sea (I keep wanting to say "ocean," but technically it is the sea). I'm really looking forward to this. I've heard the isles are amazing, and I really miss the beach. The one we visited outside of Rome was just OK.

Plus, there are no dangerous sharks here! I read that on wiki, and additionally, the waters are warm and calm, and clear and blue. Jealous?

I'm exhausted, but pretty excited to go visit the Plaka and Acropolis tomorrow. One of my coworker's friends has a jewelry shop in the Plaka (they work with the U.S. Embassy and sold jewelry to Hillary Clinton when she visited Athens), and he gave me the contact info to find his friend. I'm going to try my best to locate the guy, whose name is George Nikopolis. Having little missions like this is pretty cool.