Artemis Festivites!

Hello everyone!

Since I've posted last I've just been making a real effort to get out and just DO things! The Metro has been on strike all week, so Athens has been out of the question, but it's still been a good week!

On Sunday we had more of a lazy day and then went to church in Glyfada. We attempted to sing in Greek, even though all of the sheets were in Greek so we had no idea where we were! I now am to the point where I can read Greek! I have no idea of what any of it actually means, but I sure can pronounce it :).

On Monday after classes a few of us decided to go check out a close town called Markopoulo, the busses run there and there is a really cute downtown area, so we decided to see what was there! Apparently, stores are closed on Mondays, but it was a lot of fun to be out and about and see what there is. This picture is an old train station that we found and explore for a little bit! It was a lot of fun, if not also kind of creepy! We didn't really do much for the rest of the night, but I'm excited to go back to Markopoulo when all of the shops are open!

Tuesday I was absolutely exhausted, so after lunch and classes I took a pretty long nap :), I made up for my laziness by going on a run down to the beach and back with Angela. We then came back did some homework and ate dinner. After dinner we all walked down to the beach and had a bonfire! I was absolutely freezing so I hopped a ride back with Steven (the HUG assistant) and then just did homework and enjoyed a calm evening.

Yesterday was a fun day! A few girls and I went to the Athens mall, and it is HUGE. There's like, four stories. Due to some transportation difficulties it took us an hour and a half to get there for about an hour of shopping, but it was still fun :). On the way back we had to run from the mall to the suburban to our transfer to our next bus, it was INSANE! I still don't know how we got back in time for dinner, but somehow we managed. Last night was when the real fun began. Victoria, one of the girls in my group had her heart set on going to a fashion show in Glyfada, but her ticket fell threw. Mark came up with the wonderful idea to have our own little fashion show! We all dressed up in ridiculous/cool/greek/whatever we had outfits and had our own little catwalk. It was so much fun! It was just one of those things that really makes you appreciate the group that we have here. Everyone just really does care for one another, I am truly blessed to not just be here, but to be here with the group that I am.

Here's a picture of me and Victoria :).

I love you all so much :). On Sunday we leave for ISRAEL!! I am so excited!

Egypt update: We don't have to decide until two weeks before we are scheduled to leave on March 14, but from everything that I am hearing it seems like there is no way we'll be able to go there. That is super disappointing, but I'm just trying to look at all of the positives. The directors are planning a trip to Turkey if in fact we can't go with our original Egypt plans. I'll keep you updated! Please keep praying for the whole situation!