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!

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.