Food, Glorious Food

 Sept. 29, 2022

French fries in our gyro

This cost us $7 for the souvlaki and gyro

I think I get asked about the food more than anything else.  We have been here almost one month.  We have been rather shy about going places to eat and usually wait until someone invites us or we have someone to eat with.  Today was District Council with our awesome young Elders and Sisters.  We have come to appreciate and love them in a very short time. 

They recite the missionary purpose and Sec. 4 of D&C in Greek.  Most from memory.  How smart is that?  One Elder from Switzerland led us in a great discussion about the importance of journals and what we write in them.  I inserted my experience in the Church History Library with transcribing pioneer journals.  There were a lot of entries about the weather and how far they traveled in a day but few expressed any thoughts or feelings even after one experienced her sisters being trampled on by a stampede.  We wrote in our journals why we were serving a mission, what we have learned so far, and how we felt  about ourselves. It was a great and uplifting activity.  If we write it, we will remember it.   

                                                           We stopped by the bakery. 

                These have ham and cheese in them.  They looked really big before we cut into them. 

Market on Tuesdays

I loved going to market.  I didn't have to read any labels and I recognized what everything was. Kim brought money and he would pay each vendor as I picked out what I wanted.  You could pick up the fruit or veggie and they would throw you a bag to put the produce in.  Then you would put it near the scale and they would weigh it when your turn came.  It was just fun. 

We had a branch social.  This is how they cooked the meat.  I wish I had taken a picture of all the different kinds of salads, etc.  It was so yummy.  The sister missionaries had a game that I remember my kids doing in school: Fruit salad.  The younger kids had fun doing it because the grown ups played it too.  I brought brownies that I made with olive oil.  They turned out great and were all gone quickly. 

Chocolate is expensive and chocolate chips are non existent.  We bought their biggest bag of M&Ms and it was not big.  Maybe that is why Greeks are so much smaller than many in our country. Do you think? 

End of the Line: Last Nation

 I promise you that the English speaking version of the metro at our station said End of the Line: Last Nation.  I heard it several times.  It made me smile.  The crowd however made me sweat.  I told Kim that 6:30 is not a good time to be on the metro.  We were packed like sardines and the air became very thin.  We had just visited METAdrasi on the south side of Athens.  This NGO was started by a woman who started her organization from the ground up and now has several hundred employees.  They help people with Greek, with work skills and started a dormitory for un-accompanied minors but has expanded it to single mothers and their children.  She said one of the biggest needs was interpreters.  Honest interpreters. 

Greek class

The Greek class was in session when we stepped in.  They called out where they were from: Cameroon, Iraq, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Egypt, Philippines, and probably more that I can't remember.  They all waved and thanked us for the things we were supporting that enabled them to have class.  

I picked a pomegranate off the tree in our front court yard.  I just couldn't stand it anymore.  It wasn't ripe but it was still good.  Yipee for cooler weather.  I have switched from summer to winter P.J.'s 

Mars Hill

 Every Saturday the sister missionaries go to Mars Hill to pick up trash.  Mars Hill is significant because of Paul and this past week we celebrated the gospel in Greece for 50 years by the missionaries sharing testimonies at Mars Hill only we had appointments so we will catch that next week when the new missionaries are brought to Mars Hill. 

Elder Bradley from England has only a week and 1/2 left.  He came to Athens to finish out his mission and all the Elders are in quarantine until the end of the week so he is staying with the Reidheads.  Nothing like going out in a blaze of glory.  This is on the way to Mars Hill. 

I just thought this was interesting what they had to entertain families in Greece. 

Sister Reidhead and I paused from picking up glass, cigarette butts, pop and beer cans to pose with Athens behind us.  We are keeping each other sane.  We laugh a lot, a lot!  While we were picking up glass, a few school age children were watching and said "Bravo"  and "Congratulations" to us.  Then a couple from Boston after watching us, picked up glass and put it in our garbage sack.  They had just gotten married and were on their honeymoon.  We visited with a man from Quebec that was there with 20 other people that were going to ride their bikes on Crete.  He spends the winters in Florida.  We told him he needed to bring his bike to Utah to ride all the cool trails there.  We could see his mind considering it.  I spoke a little French and he said I had a good accent.  That is the second time I have been told that.  Life would be much easier if we were in a French or Cantonese speaking country.  Maybe.  Greek is amazingly different and unique.  We are doing duolingo but I fear it is not enough. 

We are saving the Parthenon for November when tourist season is over.  It was so crowded today.  It was also lovely weather.  Hurray for cooler weather.  We were so happy to visit with people that spoke English...real English without an accent that makes you focus so hard and still not get what they are saying.   We are having a branch social today and the sister missionaries were handing out invites to people.  I was quite impressed that they would think to do that.  We will see what happens!

Yellow Brick Road

 It would be so nice if there was an easier way to find the NGOs in downtown Greece.  We are grateful for Google Maps but sometimes they don't work for us.  This week we spent most days riding the metro into downtown Athens and walking around to find the addresses for our appointments.  We are learning to ask what metro stop they would suggest instead of Kim ( totally Kim) trying to navigate the map.  All those mornings walking the hills of Salt Lake City have paid off! 

Lots of hills to navigate

I have found it interesting that most steps are made of marble.  Cement steps are rare. 

I was so impressed with this young lady.  She is the coordinator for an NGO that we hope to partner with.  She started out in Lesvos for what she thought would be a short time and formed a running group.  There was a young refugee that struggled to talk or walk that decided to join the group.  She implied it was from trauma and then told us he ended up running a 10K and speaking was no longer a problem.    The sports organization classes are taught by refugees that have strengths in weight training, yoga, kickboxing, etc.  Every class is full after 4 p.m.  We saw many working out as we arrived in the morning. 

We were treated to dinner by a former Presbyterian minister that works for another NGO.  We were in the heart of downtown across from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  

Parliament building and Tomb of Unknown Soldier

We found a public Water Closet on the square.  Now that's a discovery! It had two women's stall.  Say What?! We enjoyed watching all the tourists from our view in the cafe. 

They brought a little dish of different olives.  I love olives but tried to be polite and not eat them all (4) myself.  No one else ate them and they were taken away.  So sad. 

This was the most delicious salad.  I filled up on it and couldn't eat much after that. 

Birdnest 

My dish was like a shredded wheat nest with chicken and sauce.  It was goodl 

Kim got kabobs.  The yogurt sauce is really nice. There is a big pepper in the middle. 

Steak and fries

Our host got a steak with red slaw.  He ate the whole thing.  It only took about an hour.  

There are a lot of statues.  This one is in the square where we ate.  It is a centaur taking away a woman.  It was hard to get the right angle because of the sun.  It was a good day.  We found the places we needed to and were very grateful for those that are trying to make a difference for the refugees that are in Greece. I just wish the metro was not so loud.  I might be deaf when I finish in two years. 😕

Transportation Strike

 We had 3 appointments in downtown Greece for tomorrow when we found out that there is a transportation strike and most things will be shut down.  It will be interesting.  Today was a great adventure in downtown.  We couldn't find the NGO( Non government organization) we had an appointment with.  They are helping with mental health of the refugees and work in Athens and on the island of Lesvos where there are refugee camps.  We had to call and be rescued.  

Yesterday was the beginning of transfer day and since the Athen Elders have quarantine from covid, we got a missionary coming from Cyprus to Albania.  He spent the night on our couch since our other room is the office.  He was awesome.  We learned a lot about Albania from him and about the mission.  These kids are amazing and so smart.  He was up early this morning doing his exercises on the tile floor.  So obedient.  

Kim was very happy to have a successful parallel parking experience.  It was very tight and he decided after he was all tucked in that the car behind him would have a hard time getting out and he pulled out and found another place to park.  The only reason he could find any place to park at all was because it was near midnight. 

Parking at the Metro

I wasn't going to make any more entries but we had only one appointment in downtown today and so we did a little sightseeing which we haven't had time for before.  We are into our third week being in Greece and it just feels easier.  Hurray. 

Look up above Kim 

No explanation.  That will follow when I learn what we saw.  😉 It was just cool.  

Covid

 18 Sept. 2022  I see postings with Halloween and fall decor.  It will be interesting to see what they do here in Greece.  We were told that they have Halloween without the candy.  Say what?  It doesn't feel like fall here.  It is still hot; we are still sweating a lot and there are no fall leaves anywhere to be seen. 

I hung our clothes out on the line and only lost one clothes pin below.  The clothes dry much quicker outside and it doesn't heat up the house.  Our washing machine, bless it's heart is so small that I am constantly washing so that I don't have to spend the day getting it done.

We went grocery shopping and I looked for a bigger container of cottage cheese.  This was the biggest size I could find and it was twice the price of a larger size in the states.  Maybe no one really likes cottage cheese.  They do like yogurt because there is a very large selection and bigger sizes!

It is stressful to me to shop.  It is hard to read the labels even with the google translator.  I just grab things that look good ....I am the one that reads and compares and have thrown that out the window.  Just get it over with!

We found a park that seems quite popular.  It had a church on the corner and music blaring from a canopy in the park.  People are sitting under awnings and visiting as the evening cools.  Our friends, the Reidheads, the other missionary couple in Athens, met us at this park and we ate at Chicken Storys.  It was like Chick Filet and had a wonderful Water Closet!!!  Can I hear a hallelujah?

Today is Sunday.  We had more visitors again than members.  It was great to greet them and we had almost an entire row from Alaska.  I bet they loved the weather.  The speakers were Greeks that moved to England and came to Greece for a vacay.  They shared their conversion story.  It felt so good to visit with people that speak English.

  We visited with a young man from Wyoming.  He was going to be a foreign exchange student to Ireland and something happened so they sent him to Greece and he has been working with young boys that got separated from their families. Most are from Africa.  He said it wasn't anything he thought it would be or planned on but he has a great attitude.  He was absolutely amazing to listen to the things he has done. 

He is going to be the best missionary ever when he graduates.  He hurried home from our apartment after dinner because there was a fireside he wanted to catch. Did he want us to walk him to the metro since he hasn't ever been in our part of Athens?  No, he was sure he could find it.  

I would like to be as brave.  I think sometimes ...what was God thinking when he sent us here? 

Hopefully, we will know by the end of our mission. 

Oh, we bought a clock and it didn't work and we wanted to exchange it for one that worked and it took forever but we did it and brought it home and it tells military time.  I can figure it out but it takes a while.  The young missionaries were all together in one apartment because an apartment was being painted.  One Elder got Covid and they are all quarantined.  The sisters in our district are too.  FYI.

My Life

There is a beautiful church that we hear ring the bell at different times in our neighborhood.  We decided today to explore it on the way to getting a clock since we have already burned the two we brought.  It was so interesting and beautiful.  

We found that there were many inside and the priests were singing very Greek sounding songs.  We watched from the outside since the doors were open and people were coming and going.  I would love to learn more and hope that we will.  

I have yet to go up or down stairs in Athens that are not circular.  I am told it takes less space. 

These are the stairs we climb every day to our apartment.  It does have an elevator but I am not fond of elevators anymore. 

I thought the street lights were interesting.  They are just strung down the middle of the road.  How would you like to parallel park on these roads? 

We went to visit a potential project in the heart of Athens.  We had to walk quite a ways from the metro to find it.  We did a lot of walking that day.   There are not many parks where we have been so we decided to explore one after our meeting.  We saw this statue that is Athena, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason.    The parks are very different from what we are used to and it had the first public restroom we have seen in our 1 1/2 weeks of traveling. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XAd5KAgKUq5nVgDS8

This is a bright spot in the day.  The children started school this week and it is at the end of our street.  I think they don't have have air conditioning because all the windows are open and maybe that is why they begin later in the summer.  Every day we hear lovely Greek music when the children are at recess.  This is from my balcony.  

The Barbers before us were so kind to stock the kitchen.  It is peach season in my yard at home and so I had to make cobbler with the canned peaches so I could enjoy peaches.  I think they have them here but I am still shy about shopping much.  They call things out in Greek and it is a little crazy still for me.   It was so good that I think you might want the recipe.

Peach Cobbler

Melt 6 T butter in baking pan

In bowl mix 1 C flour, 1 C sugar, 2 t baking powder and ¼ t salt

Add ¾ C milk and stir until combined. Spread over melted butter in baking pan.

Pour 15 oz. can of peaches over top.  Don’t stir.  Sprinkle cinnamon on top. 

Bake 350 degrees for 40 min.  

So good.

When we you last on an escalator that you could push the shopping cart? This was one of the bigger grocery stores we went to. 

This hangs on the wall over my desk.  I like to look at it.  I think it was a paint by number.  It is awesome.  It is a good reminder to me that Nephi didn't have it easy.  He was always adjusting, rethinking, and moving forward. 

This is not particularly inspiring.  It has been an adventure to find our way around and to meet so many organizations that are trying to help those that have been displaced.  There was the sweetest young mother trying to learn Greek ( from Iraq) and she was so grateful for the help.  She told our group that dropped in on her lesson that she would cook for all of us and to please come!

It has been a hard change from life as I knew it.  I think the language is a big part of it.  I try to remember the names of metro stops but it is like they change on me each time.  Everything is so very different.   I am very grateful to have such a smart companion. I try to feed him well.  So like Nephi, I will go and do!

It's a Small World, After All

It was not very busy at the metro early on Sunday morning.  We heard bells ringing at 8:50 a.m.  We wondered what the significance was.  They sounded beautiful.  We have a car but chose to walk to the metro and get more familiar with finding our way around.  If you look up at the station we are arriving at, you might understand the challenge it is to connect the name of the station with what we hear.  We have gotten off on the wrong station several times but eventually we figure it out.  We got turned around driving the car home from the church yesterday and the metro seemed a better bet in finding our way. 

We arrived at the church with few minutes to spare. The contrast between this church and the Salt Lake City Headquarters chapel is stark.  

 

Today we found  a counselor in our branch presidency was our son's companion in Taiwan.  I made the connection as our RS teacher was talking to a sister from Hong Kong.  She mentioned she served in Taiwan.  It was the same mission as McKay's with the same mission president.  As I visited with her, I found out that she works in the embassy as a liaison for Greece and US with China.  Her husband works for DC embassy remotely here in Greece.  

I met Tawna that is from Kiev.  She fled the Ukraine and ended up in the Netherlands.  She was visiting Greece with her mother on a vacation.  She is a waitress and was happy to be in the Netherlands because she said she was too old to be a waitress in Kiev ...they only want young girls.  She was a RM that served in Russia.  

There was a young mother from Texas.  She was staying with a friend 2 hours outside of Athens.  She got her three little boys up at 6 am to ride two different buses and the metro to get to church.  She home schools the boys and wanted to bring the Parthenon to life for them so she came to Greece.  

I can hear "It's a Small World". 

Our European Area Director came this week from Germany.  He took us to visit many organizations that serve the refugees, migrant, and asylum seekers.  Do you know the difference? 

 Refugees are people in a specific predicament which calls for safeguards.  Asylum seekers and refugees lack the protection of their own country.  We went to many different organizations that are serving the refugees that come from Syria, Iraq, Africa, Ukraine and many other places.  

This center is run from the Jesuit church.  It was an old building and very warm.  There were many contrasts between organizations...those that have and have not. All wanting to help those in need.  We will be meeting with more organizations this week as we get oriented.  We have been invited to come and serve as time allows.  We are hoping to do that.  Most are in the heart of Athens.  I have tried to take each new thing one at a time and not get overwhelmed.  Shopping was a challenge as we took Google translate and tried to figure out what we really wanted. 

The young missionaries have been wonderful to chauffer, instruct, explain, etc. all that they have learned.  It has been very tender to me as I reflect on my own children as they served their missions in all parts of the world.  A little child shall lead them seems so appropriate.  They have been a huge blessing as we get our bearings. 

Here is to a new week, new adventures, new places to visit and a growing dependence on the Lord to guide us.  We have always wanted to serve a mission together and as hard as it has been to adapt and change, we feel so blessed to work together to accomplish what we hope the Lord had in mind when He called us here.