I am so glad that we grabbed Alexa from our home on our way to the Salt Lake Headquarters mission. My favorite thing to listen to is KSL radio. It keeps me connected to home. It is just weird because about the time it starts to gets dark here, we are hearing the traffic report for the morning commute in Salt Lake.
Today as we sat in the metro headed again to downtown Athens, I thought how strange my life had become. Nothing prepared me for this new lifestyle. I'm supposed to be enjoying the golden years. Instead I am doing things that are very stressful and hard for me. There are so many things I could have done differently if I had known that I would be in Greece doing Humanitarian projects. Seriously.
We were sitting in the metro when it suddenly stopped and the lights turned off. There we sat in the dark in dead silence except for a man that was slowly walking through the cars, yelling in Greek. He had a paper cup and sign. This happens regularly ....an older woman, a young child, etc. I looked at the younger man sitting across from me and asked him if he spoke English. He replied a quick yes. I asked what was happening and he explained. I think. He might as well have been talking Greek. I thought to myself that he probably did not excel in English in school and politely thanked him when he stopped. We never found out what it was but we were late for our appointment.
We were meeting with a newly formed NGO that is helping unaccompanied youth find help. We listened to the stories of sex trafficking, others taking the youth and getting them to sell drugs to survive, etc. We were shown a very dark, dirty apartment with the windows out, that she pointed out were places the youth were forced to go to because they didn't know where to go for help.
Then we went to another place close by that helps take care of those that find themselves alone and pregnant. They provide consultation, products like diapers and formula and mid wives to help deliver and teach child care. It was very uplifting to hear how they help so many women and build a community where they feel safe.
I feel like the money we give to these different NGOs to support their organization needs to be thought through so carefully. This is money that members of our church donate. That is a heavy responsibility. I don't want to get to heaven and find out that we didn't do our homework and there were so many more worthy projects that we overlooked. Money is not my thing.
I just sat on the way home thinking how did I ever end up here. Why didn't I have experience to help me understand so many complex issues. Why do I have to learn Greek. Why does Greek have to have a different alphabet. Why do I have to go grocery shopping and figure out every single thing and what it has in it. Why does driving in the car have to be so scary. Then I thought about sitting on the park bench watching all the pigeons fly back and forth and land on the statue or the many interesting people that walked past us or how fun it is to walk the streets of Athens, Greece and recognize how amazing it is.
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