...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.
No comments:
Post a Comment