I am deciding that a blog is work. I have not really wanted to write but I am anyway.
On Kim's 70th birthday, he got up and went running. I, on the other hand figured it was his birthday so I slept in. He came back early and said he could barely walk. He had pulled something on the back of his leg. He was in pain. Plans to celebrate his birthday were cancelled and instead he got an appointment with a physical therapist. We were grounded for two weeks as he took care of his injury. It was so hard. Every day was a Let Me Out day. It was Ground Hog Day for two weeks.
Then our German Office people came to spend the week with us to meet our NGO's and talk about the projects. Hurray. Kim's leg was better and we went on a one day cruise to three islands. It was the beginning of a heat wave here in Athens and we would sweat and walk. We drank a lot of water. I have never drunk so much water. We had appointments in the middle of the day. We would ride the metro and then walk. I didn't die. It wasn't so bad after all. It was a blessing after so many days of sitting in front of the computer trying to be productive.
On Saturday, we attended our first baptism in the Athens building since we have been here . Hannah is the daughter of one of our American families. It was a wonderful event. That evening we had Institute and then Game Night.
Bulgaria/ Greece Mission Leaders: Our new mission president, wife and daughter came to our apartment for dinner after church with the Assistants to the President. It was a great opportunity to get to know them better. Then we drove them all to the airport.
We had one last preparation day before transfers so we had Christmas in July for our activity.
We picked a name, bought gifts for them and wrapped them in very creative ways. Then we wrote notes to them and talked about our favorite Christmas traditions. The next day, we were busy taking people and picking up people from the airport for transfers. It is always hard to say goodbye when you have just settled in as a group.
Today we had appointments with NGOs downtown. It is still a heat wave but knowing that I had already done heat and walking, I bravely made my way to the metro. We had three appointments in three different metro areas. The bus took too long at one place so we walked and got there 10 minutes late and sweaty.
One place we went was the center that the refugees register in Greece. It was pretty amazing to see people from many countries sitting patiently in the hot summer day, waiting their turn to speak with someone. We met about 20 interpreters from places and languages I have never heard of. I need to study my geography! We were grateful for the opportunity to see the beginning of applying for asylum that we have heard about since arriving.
July has been a mixed bag of events. Slow then busy. I like busy much more than slow. I like Greece's winter more than summer. I like being a missionary more days now than not. It may seem really cool to be in such an amazing place and I know we are so blessed and that the Lord loves effort. That doesn't mean it will be easy. I have given up on learning Greek but Kim is working so hard to study each day. One last thing. The Greek women dye their hair. You will see very few white haired ladies. They love color on their head and on their nails. There is no shortage of nail salons, hair salons, bakeries with gelato, cafes, and pigeons. Life is good.
