[ impressions of athens : pt. II ]

   Athens wasn't all doom and gloom, to be sure. It may have seemed like that in my last post about my outreach there, which you can read here.

   On the contrary, Athens was quite the bright and exciting hub of culture. From the old to the new, times had left their mark. Most impressive of all was seeing the ancient remnants such as the Acropolis.

   Ohmygoodness it was so exciting to see the Acropolis. Even just standing on Mars Hill, where Paul preached, overlooking one side of the vast expanse of Athens -- just, wow. It was quite the perspective.


my [best] friend, Kamilla, and I overlooking the city.

   The food was delicious. The music was an experience in itself. The people were warm. They were friendly. And they were loving. They laughed often, seemingly joking much of the time. Of course I had no idea what they were talking about. It sounded to me like they were speaking in tongues. The weather was hot -- stifling at times. Waking up in the middle of the night with waterfalls of sweat.

   Walking down the street, you'd come across all kinds of smells, both good and bad. Street vendors that would come up to you, holding some contraption that helped put your thread through the needle [clever, actually], speaking with thick Middle Eastern accents.

   The architecture was a strange mixture of old and new, of dirty and clean. Walking through the city was difficult at times because everything tended to look much alike. I managed to judge different areas by the graffiti and other odd things.

   .. well it worked.

   Glorious gyros with french fries, chicken, lettuce, mayo sauce -- all wrapped up in a pita. Then combine that with great company, joined around a table late at night after an evening of worship, preaching, etc.

   Or, eating amazing souvlaki at the beach while gathered with the boys and others that help at the center, hearing stories, testimonies, thankfulness.. Just great.

   I'm not sure what is was. Maybe it was the general feeling of family that was around the center, or just the overall friendliness of the people. Something about it was warm and inviting.

   From being totally surprised and blessed by free tickets into the Acropolis and spending the day laughing and soaking everything in with two good friends, to standing up in front of people preaching and performing dramas -- I think I not only managed to experience a fair amount of the culture, but even the people itself.

   The colors. The smells. The history. The architecture. The people. The laughter.

   Two weeks of a wonderful experience and many memories.