First Weekend in Athens

Saturday, Sean and I headed out to Athens to see the sights of the city. We started on the train (metro) and got about 4 stops down before they herded us off the metro and onto the waiting buses. Apparently, they are working on the metro, so if you want to get anywhere effectively, you'd better figure out the bus system. Well Sean and I don't know the system, so 2 hours later, we finally found someone to help us figure out how to get to the Acropolis.


We got to the Acropolis and started the trek up to the top. Along the way, we passed the theatre of an ancient Greek god, whose name I can't remember. But apparently this theatre seats a few thousand people and plays are still performed in it today. I might try to go see a play there before my time in Greece is up.

The following pictures are of the Parthenon and the view of Athens from the top. It's cool because you can look down from the look-out point at the top of the Acropolis and see down into Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Zeus. I also included a picture of a Greek native napping in the sun at the top of the Acropolis.






After we climbed down from the Acropolis we headed over to the arch and temple to get some closer shots. Seriously, I don't understand how these things were built. They are ginormous are made of marble so they weigh a metric ton! Those Greeks were so talented!



I also took Sean to the Plaka (plah-kuh), which is like the big touristy/street market area of Athens. It's full of all kinds of wonderful goodness. And then I took him to Ermou (heir-moo) Street. We got to Ermou Street after the shops had closed, but the street vendors were out in full force. There are certain areas where they have permission to hawk their wares (aka knock-offs), but Ermou Street is not one of those places. If they are selling in an area where they are not supposed to be, and the police come, the police can confiscate all their stuff. So they spread their wares out on blankets, that way, when they see the police coming, they can fold it all up in the blanket and take off running. This is actually quite entertaining to watch.

Anyway, Sean stopped to look at some some belts and wallets so I was looking at a watch, but mostly just waiting for Sean to hurry up with his bargaining. When my vendor realized I wasn't going to buy anything, he engaged in the following dialogue with me:

Vendor: So where are you from?
Me: The States
V: Oh, do you know acorn?
Me: Like the little nut?
V: Yeah, acorn.
Me: Sure I know what an acorn is.
V: He's from my country.
Me: The acorn, the little nut from trees???
V: No, acorn, the singer.
Me: OH, Akon, the pop artist, yeah I know him, well not personally, but I know who he is...?
V: He's from--names some S country that I still have no idea what it was--, that's my country.
Me: Oh, cool?! So did you know him?
V: --laughs--Oh no. So is he (pointing at Sean) your boyfriend?
Me: Nope, he's my coworker.
V: So, do you have a boyfriend?
Me: No...?
V: Why not?
Me: Umm, if I knew why I didn't have one, don't you think I would have one?
V: Well, if it's no problem, could I have your number? If you want to?
Me: I don't really want to, but thanks.
V: Well let me give you mine, if it's no problem and you can call me Friday if you want, it's no problem.
Me: Sure, that would work.
V: 694-141-3118, Casilas is my name. Call me Friday, don't forget.

So I got his phone number and his name; he got no phone number, no name, I didn't buy a watch and I'm definitely going to forget to call him Friday. Huh.

Sunday, I headed to church. I didn't have anyone's contact info, and I had decided it would be fun to surprise everyone at the church, since they didn't know I was coming back. Turns out, I have the WORST timing every when it comes to surprising. When I was here last year, church started at 11, so I got to church at about 10:50. This year, church starts at 10, so yeah, I was late... Last year, I tried to surprise my family by coming home a few days earlier. I surprised them alright. My flight was delayed coming back into the States so instead of getting home in time for Thanksgiving dinner, I got home at 2:00 a.m. Moral of the story, I'm not surprising anyone anymore.

So anyway, Crossroads Church of Athens has a very diverse congregation. There are actually very few Greeks at the church, and a lot of Filipinos, Africans, Indians and South Americans. A lot of these people work in-home for their employers and so only have from noon Saturday til 8 a.m. Monday of their own time, so Sundays are a pretty special day to them. So each Sunday they have a morning service for everyone in the congregation. Then following the regular service, a different nationality holds their own service in their native tongue. They rotate Sundays and this Sunday it was the Filipinos' service. One of my good friends in the church, Bea (Bay-uh), is Filipino. So I stayed for the service and she tried to translate for me, but gave up after a while. I recorded a video of them singing. The song loosely translates to say,
"I am happy, are you happy?
We are happy when we're in God's presence."



After the service, they also had a baby dedication, which is where they pray over the new baby and parents for protection and for a good life for the family and baby. Anyway, they had this little girl come up and sing while the parents and family were gathering around the newborn. I recorded a little bit of the girl singing. Not gonna lie, I kind of teared up a little bit and found myself wanting a baby, but then the moment passed and I decided that I'd rather just have plants, isn't that right, Amy? P.S. I've been waiting for the recording to upload for over an hour, and it hasn't uploaded, so you guys don't get to tear up.

And that pretty much sums up my week and weekend.