“Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are.”
--Bridget Willard
Being in Athens for a few days was wonderful! It was nice to know where I was going and to have some sense of independence from the group, which was lacking at times during our week of travel. I was able to have some space to myself if I needed it, which I had missed.
We had one glorious free day in Athens before returning to class. We walked around and experienced some of the city life. We also made it to the farmer’s market in our neighborhood. It is sad that most of the students in this class won’t be able to experience Athens the same way that I did. I feel like I have a slight understanding of the city, but I can’t imagine that they have enough time to even see parts of the city. Not all of them like Athens, and I feel like more people dislike Athens now than in my first class. I don’t know if this is related to the other sites we have seen, the people in the class, or the lack of time in Athens.
The next two days we visited the National Archaeological Museum in the morning and the Agora in the afternoon. The first day of the National Museum, we thought the museum opened earlier than it did. I remember waiting on the steps for the museum to open last class, but forgot about that until we showed up at the museum the first day. We wasted an hour and a half waiting for the museum to open, which turned out to be good, since one of the students was mistaken about where we were supposed to meet.
Our second day at the museum happened to be a Sunday. I went to mass the earliest I have done in longer than I can remember. I was at the church in time for 7:30 am mass, and I am very proud of myself. I actually went to bed earlier than normal and woke up. I was so impressed with myself. Everyone else didn’t have to arrive at the museum until 9:30, so I felt like I was making a significant sacrifice for God. Church has been a source of alone time in the past, so I enjoy going to church just to ensure that I can spend some time without being surrounded by 19 other students. I did some hard core bathroom changing into and out of a skirt twice, so that I could see another church that I happened across later in the day.
After church, I stopped by Syntagma Square at 8:30. When I first got there, there were only two people in front of Parliament looking at the guards, but they left shortly. Parliament was really quiet for a solid five or ten minutes while I was eating my breakfast. By the time I was done, a tour bus had shown up and Parliament was back to its busy self. Watching the abrupt change from a peaceful morning to a tourist zoo made me appreciate how much the Athenians put up with us.
I was able to see my stele again; in the first class, I had to write two papers about this stele. It was nice to see him again after so long. The Archaeological Museum has literally room upon room of stele. The Athenians did not allow any type of individual monument or sculpture with the exception of grave stele, so it makes sense that so many stele were constructed. Seeing all of these monuments, which I know are only a miniscule sample of the grave stele that were preserved, made me think about everyone who has died.
Death is part of life. People have been dying for thousands of years and will continue dying. It is inevitable. That doesn’t make the loss of a soul any easier. Each and every soul is valuable. Each of these souls was mourned in some way, and someone missed them. Someone loved the deceased enough to build them a grave marker. So every single one of these stele represent not only a life and a soul but also a period of mourning. I know that I am projecting a little of our culture onto that of the Ancient Greeks in assuming that there was mourning associated with death, but I feel that it is only natural to miss anyone who has permanently left this world.
On my way back from the National Archaeological Museum, I stopped into the Numismatic Museum. I walk by it every time I go to mass or to the museum, so I have passed it countless times. The decorations inside the building are phenomenal. It is so grand and beautiful; the colors and the paintings inside look perfect and contain some very interesting scenes. There are also more coins than I ever knew existed inside this museum, and the differences in the systems of money were striking.
Unrelatedly, I cooked dinner while we were in Athens a few times. On one particular night, I showed off some of my mad skill by burning (very badly) a grilled cheese. I think the heat was up too high and I wasn’t paying attention and the next thing I knew, there was some smoke in the kitchen. It actually tasted pretty good but looked miserable. I only wished I had cooked the other side a little more. It only took about 24 hours to clear the burnt parts of the bread off of the pan. No big deal.
We got to the ferry incredibly early today. We were in our rooms almost 2 hours before the ferry departed, which meant that we had a LOT of time to kill. Either way, I am much happier with this ferry than the last one. When we returned from Santorini a month ago, the ferry ride was absolutely miserable. It was cold, and I had nothing to cover myself with. I woke up every couple hours thinking that I would never be comfortable again or fall asleep again. I was exhausted when I got back to Athens. Nothing really worked out very well for me during that trip, and I crawled into bed for a solid 3 hours of sleep when we entered our apartment. This time, we have cabins and beds. I am warm and dry and have plenty clothes to change into if need be. I do feel bad for all of the people I see sleeping on the chairs; I know how uncomfortable it can be, and I hope that they are able to enjoy their night a little better than I did.
I just had an old man walk by and say something to me in Greek. In response, I had to say “I don’t understand” (phonetically “then catalaveno.”) He made a sort of pecking motion; I think he may have been complimenting my typing abilities.
I also found a little room off the reception area labeled the church. It is this cute little room with a wall (and a sanctuary behind the wall) and the typical Greek decorations around. It really reminds me of a small chapel, like one we might have at Kairos (although with some slightly different iconography). This would be the place to really experience God’s time, since Kairos does come from the Greek language.
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