Me & blogs I tell ya.
Doesn't matter! I'm here, time for a little update!
So to rewind, the weekend of my birthday was spent in Peloponnese. It's a region in Greece that we explored for our Art History class. There was a little bit too much museum & class for my taste, but to be positive, it is pretty cool to actually go to the places & see the things you're learning about. My favorite was Olympia. Here we learned about the history of the Olympics. We even got to run on the stadium track, which was pretty sweet I must say. Though to me there isn't much more to see than a bunch of ancient rocks, our professor Ann is extremely good at painting the picture for us. She makes it possible for us to imagine what it truly would have been like in the late 700's. I'm really fascinated by that.
Overall, it was a great weekend and birthday. I mean who gets to say they turned 21 in Greece? Just a little reminder of how blessed I am to be able to live here, let alone travel here!
The following week was a more quieter one. Our classes were more demanding and some necessary sleep was caught up on. So just for a few highlights to share with you...
1. For our theology class, we went to our professor's church. He's a Greek Orthodox Priest and is one of my favorite professor's I've ever had. Touring his church was such an awesome experience (this is the theology major in me, obviously). He informed so much about the Orthodoxy practice and gave light to a lot of confusion we had about its meaning. A couple things that I particularly liked were as follows:
- Each time someone enters the church, they light a candle and place it within a elaborate holder. Our professor explained that this is meant to represent Christ bringing light to our sins, which is the wax. As His light finds us, our sins are melted away and His light overtakes us. It also meant to represent a prayer for others or for a life of blessings.
- For communion, they put so much thought and meaning into the preparation. Beforehand, numerous prayers are said over the bread & a stamp is placed on top of the bread, or a seal. Christ, Mary, and the Apostles, Saints, and Prophets are a few examples of some its representations pictured. They also cut the bread in specific order while saying different prayers throughout the whole process.
- Greek Priests don't like to be quiet. Our professor said that they hardly stop praying or reciting Scripture throughout the mass. There usually isn't a quiet moment he said. For example, when they are cutting the communion bread before mass, or putting on their vestments, they never stop reciting Scripture. Pretty cool I'd say.
Beyond that, two nights were spent baking cookies! Now, this is a lot trickier than you think. You try buying ingredients only written in Greek, and then deciphering the instructions! Oh and we don't have measuring utensils so we pretty much guessed everything. Overall, this was a blast & yes, successful. One night we even watched Hercules to top it off! Just wonderful.
I am so thankful for this life. We tend to forget about the little things that happen throughout the week, but that's what adds up to our incredible daily lives. Living in Greece has been such a blessing & I've had way too much fun. These simple things really are everything. Enjoy them, find life in the small things & be thankful!
I'll be writing again soon. Godbless.
Doesn't matter! I'm here, time for a little update!
So to rewind, the weekend of my birthday was spent in Peloponnese. It's a region in Greece that we explored for our Art History class. There was a little bit too much museum & class for my taste, but to be positive, it is pretty cool to actually go to the places & see the things you're learning about. My favorite was Olympia. Here we learned about the history of the Olympics. We even got to run on the stadium track, which was pretty sweet I must say. Though to me there isn't much more to see than a bunch of ancient rocks, our professor Ann is extremely good at painting the picture for us. She makes it possible for us to imagine what it truly would have been like in the late 700's. I'm really fascinated by that.
Overall, it was a great weekend and birthday. I mean who gets to say they turned 21 in Greece? Just a little reminder of how blessed I am to be able to live here, let alone travel here!
The following week was a more quieter one. Our classes were more demanding and some necessary sleep was caught up on. So just for a few highlights to share with you...
1. For our theology class, we went to our professor's church. He's a Greek Orthodox Priest and is one of my favorite professor's I've ever had. Touring his church was such an awesome experience (this is the theology major in me, obviously). He informed so much about the Orthodoxy practice and gave light to a lot of confusion we had about its meaning. A couple things that I particularly liked were as follows:
- Each time someone enters the church, they light a candle and place it within a elaborate holder. Our professor explained that this is meant to represent Christ bringing light to our sins, which is the wax. As His light finds us, our sins are melted away and His light overtakes us. It also meant to represent a prayer for others or for a life of blessings.
- For communion, they put so much thought and meaning into the preparation. Beforehand, numerous prayers are said over the bread & a stamp is placed on top of the bread, or a seal. Christ, Mary, and the Apostles, Saints, and Prophets are a few examples of some its representations pictured. They also cut the bread in specific order while saying different prayers throughout the whole process.
- Greek Priests don't like to be quiet. Our professor said that they hardly stop praying or reciting Scripture throughout the mass. There usually isn't a quiet moment he said. For example, when they are cutting the communion bread before mass, or putting on their vestments, they never stop reciting Scripture. Pretty cool I'd say.
Beyond that, two nights were spent baking cookies! Now, this is a lot trickier than you think. You try buying ingredients only written in Greek, and then deciphering the instructions! Oh and we don't have measuring utensils so we pretty much guessed everything. Overall, this was a blast & yes, successful. One night we even watched Hercules to top it off! Just wonderful.
I am so thankful for this life. We tend to forget about the little things that happen throughout the week, but that's what adds up to our incredible daily lives. Living in Greece has been such a blessing & I've had way too much fun. These simple things really are everything. Enjoy them, find life in the small things & be thankful!
I'll be writing again soon. Godbless.
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