Karesma

My first weekend in Αθήνα was definitely one for the record books! Friday started off with a trip to the Temple of Poseidon. It was about an hour bus trip to the town of Sounio. It was on top of this hill that overlooked the sea, which is very suiting being that Poseidon is the god of the sea. The temples are still just so unreal! It looks as if they have always been there (which I guess they almost have...), like they grew out of the ground like a tree. It just blows me away when I actually stop to think that human hands built such an amazing structure. But not just any structure, a huge one that was made out of marble, which is NOT light! I really do not know how they did it! I can't even imagine what their starting point was to do such a thing! Crazy! But it was cool to see the finished product, and I was surprised with how much of the temple was still preserved!

Not that Friday wasn't exciting enough, but the fact that there was an free Akon concert at the new olympic stadium definitely topped it off! I mean I don't even like Akon, but the fact that it was IN GREECE, made it worth it! It was so much fun! There were a few Greek bands that opened for him and I loved how in between their Greek songs they would just throw in an American song or two. Songs like Hot and Cold, Just Dance and Get Low are very popular here. Who would have thought.... But while we were there we decided to befriend some Albanians who loved to dance, so what were we doing all night, dancing the the Albanian kid who's name was Elvis, doesn't get much better than that!

But in fact it does get better.... the next day me, Kristen, Callie and Melissa decided to go down to the city center, Syntagma, and go to the flea market. First of all Kristen and I each bought a traditional Greek cook book, let me tell you, I felt so adult buying a cook book! I will get really good at some of the most popular recipes and cook for all you guys when I get back to the states, we will have some real Greek food! But anyways down at the flea market we walked in to this store with a bunch of Christian icons and stuff. The owner was super friendly and started telling us his testimony. It was amazing seeing someone have so much passion for the Lord. His story was incredible! He was apparently the guy that every girls brother would want to kill (that is how he described himself). It wasn't until a motorcycle accident that left him in a coma, that he decided he needed to turn his life around. And he did. He truly is so passionate about the Lord and his faith, he was so willing to share it with us, not only through his stories, but with the objects in his store. He had some beautiful crosses! And as it turns out they are made out of olive bark from Mt. Olives where Jesus went to fast! SO COOL! And also within the cross are rose petals, marble, dirt and incense from the tomb of Jesus. Apparently, our new friend travels to Jerusalem often and gets merchandise for his store there. But his trips are so much more than just to re stalk shelves, its for spiritual purposes. I guess he is going back to Jerusalem in October, and he invited us along! It would be so amazing to go to Jerusalem. To experience all of that on a spiritual level, oh my gosh, I cannot express how amazing that would be! If I get the chance I would love to go there, even if its on my own.

Apparently our theme for this weekend was to make new friends, because that is exactly what we did. Kristen, Callie, Melissa and I gained three (slightly older... like mid 50's) new friends. For one of our classes we were suppose to go to a cafe and observe. We were taking notes as we were doing this and the three gentlemen sitting next to us asked what we were doing. We explained to assignment to them and they were super interested. They loved the fact that we were trying to understand Greek society. We sat talking, asking questions about life in Greece for about an hour. Then the men invited us out to dinner so that we could continue the conversation and ask more questions. I know what your thinking... SKETCH!!! But you have to remember that the Greeks take part in "karesma." They truly pride themselves in their hospitality, in taking in outsiders, especially foreigners. That is what being Greek is all about- hospitality. So we decided to take them up on their offer. They took us to a very very popular restaurant in Syntagma and it was delicious! They called it a kabob, but it was nothing like a kabob. It was really neat though because we got to experience this idea of karasma first hand. This idea of treating or gifting one another. They were so excited to be answering our questions about Greece and we learned so much from them! And heck we even got a free meal! Can't go wrong there!

The Greek culture really does amaze me though. Their willingness to take you in is just astonishing. They truly do show such hospitality to everyone! There is so much pride in saying that you are Greek, and now I know why. One of the sayings here is "we are people." So simple, but I really like it. We are all people. We all have to go through this crazy life, so lets do it together.