YOLGOT

If any of you do not know the most phenomenal women ever, Arianne Smith, you are truly missing out.  She is an adventurous, godly, friendly, caring, always cares what you have to say, and an all around role model.  She is currently in the Peace Corps right now in Dominica, and doing the world good.  Although I miss her like crazy, I love that modern technology still allows us to stay in contact with one another.  In saying this, I wanted to address some of the questions she asked me that maybe of interest to some of you. 

            Do you enjoy the food?

            I honestly wish I liked the food ten times less than I do.  Coming on this trip I was worried that I would hate everything and had come to terms with the fact that I would be eating bread the whole time I was here.  Our professor asked us to study some menus before we came and I convinced myself that Greek people only ate fish and olives, two of my least favorite foods.  It is almost quite the opposite.  The bread here is extremely hard, one phenomenon that my roommates and I do not understand.  We have hypothesized that it may be due to the freshness of the bread, or the fact that it wont show signs of staleness as fast as soft bread would.  The only thing I have tried here that I have not liked it a dish called dolemades, which is a grape leaf, stuffed with meat and rice.  I have had them both warm and cold and have not cared for them either way.  They have a kind of bitter taste and soggy texture… not my cup of tea.  However every other dish is outstanding!  

The pita station

One of my personal favorites is the chicken or pork pita.  These are a type of greek “fast food”, if you will, that consists of a pita, the meat (which is shaved off of a hunk of meat attached to a metal rod that rotates in side of a light that cooks the outside of the meat), tzasiki sauce (a cucumber flavored yogurt combination that is flavored with garlic), optional tomatoes (I skip over these because I’m not a huge fan on tomatoes), and topped with onions and French fries.  One can purchase this masterpiece for 2 euros and 20 cents.  The chicken pita I had in Rhodes was one of the best things I have ever tasted in my entire life.  I just discovered a chicken pita stand in downtown Athens yesterday, which could be dangerous. On a side note, hummus is unheard of here… just a little fun fact.  When im cooking at home, I usually eat cereal for breakfast, a Panini for lunch (with cheese, pesto spread, and occasionally lunch meat), and pasta for dinner (because I can not understand the instructions to cook anything else).  Tonight we are having a “family dinner” so we will see what kind of delicious food that will produce.  We might attempt to make nutella cookies using a recipe from pinterest.

            Are the people friendly?

            It depends what your definition of friendly is.  Greek people are interesting.  Once you know them and earn their loyalty and trust, you are in their circle of friendship forever.  However, getting in that circle is a difficult task, one that is rare and unknown by many visitors.  They stare a lot here.  It is not meant to be creepy or mean but it can be kind of awkward at first, especially being an American.  For example, a couple of my friends and I went to a local bar/hangout for teens in our neighborhood of Athens to watch the Greece v. Germany soccer game.  Do not get too excited, I didn’t drink.  The looks we got from the locals made many of us really uncomfortable. I don’t think they realize that in our culture staring is weird and not really acceptable.  We tend to shift our gaze when someone else catches or stare, but the Greeks look at you like you have a third eye.  I just have to remind myself that it’s a cultural thing though.  Once you look past the cultural and language barrier, people are really sweet.  I went into down town Athens yesterday and as I was wondering around, I found myself in a jewelry store.  They have this really unique design here that is both a symbol of Greece and good luck/health.  Some of the rings I was looking at ranged from 16- 20 euros but didn’t seem to be made of the best material. 

My ring :)

As I was browsing in the store, I came across a beautiful ring, tried it on, and fell in love.  I looked at the price tag and saw that it was 58 euros.  The owner of the store came over, after helping a customer, looked me in the eye and said, “ You look like a nice young lady.  I was a student once myself and I understand what you are going through.  Let me make you a deal, 28 euros”.  I was so excited! Obviously I bought the ring! Its beautiful in my eyes and the hospitality of the man made it that much more special. 

            I’ve saved the most difficult question for last: “what’s the best part?”

            As you can imagine, this is a hard question to answer.  Honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, I am going to have to say it is the friendships I have made with the people on this trip.  Friendship, as a word, does not do our bond justice.  I have moved to a different country with these people, lived in close quarters with them, experienced things beyond explanation, and connected on a whole new level with them, and surprisingly, do not want to punch them in the throat.  It is hard to find a group of people so spontaneous and willing as the 20 or so people on this trip.  I never imagined learning so much from people my age, but trust me, I have.  It is crazy to see how kids my age are able to “leave cool at the door” so to speak, and have a dance party in the lobby with out a care in the world of what others think of them as they pass by.  Its hard knowing that soon this trip will just be a memory, a story I will tell my friends and family, an experience that will never be forgotten.  As elementary as it sounds, our quote for this trip has been YOLGO, a modified version of the ever-popular YOLO, meaning You Only Live in Greece Once. 

The closest thing I have to a group picture
(Sorry, I think you've already seen this one)

This acronym may seem insignificant to you all who read this in the comfort of your own home, but for us, honors students of UNF, (some) lovers of Jesus, sons and daughters of parents in different walks of life, sisters and brothers of kids back home, kids from different backgrounds, it is what keeps us going everyday.  This little phrase is what keeps us laughing, exploring, strong, experimenting, absorbing, immersing, digging deeper, loving harder, and living fuller. It is the motivation we need to wake up at 6:00 in the morning to walk around God’s creation in the blistering heat on our “weekends”.  It is what holds us together and what separates this group from any other I have been a part of.  So, if I had to put this relationship we share into a phrase it would be YOLGOT, because it explains it all, we are all living here, in Greece, a once in a life time experience that we all get to share Together. 

YOLGOT: You Only Live in Greece Once, Together.  There’s a quote that my sorority sisters put on a shirt that applies perfectly to this occasion, that I have modified a little: “You only live in Greece once, but when you live like us, once is enough.”