Sep 2008

HELLO EVERYONE!

WARNING: Make sure you have some time before you sit down to read this!

I’m back! I KNOW you’ve missed hearing from me. I have a lot to say. At least I think I do. If I can remember it all, that is. But first I have a few random things to catch you up on before I regale you with my Mediterranean Island adventures.

Let’s see: 1) The thing I will be most excited about when I get home will being able to flush toilet paper! The plumbing system over here is a little less than desirable. 2) I have issues. Well we’ve know that for years but I have new issues now. Electrical issues. I have managed to blow out 2 converters and right before I left for my cruise I exploded my blow-dryer. There was an element that was a little iffy but I wasn’t too worried until I smelled smoke, looked inside it and it was blazing red. Then it started to spark and spit flames and went out in a blaze of glory! 3) I have been learning how to speak greek which is pretty cool. It’s really neat being able to greet the people you meet in their native language. So if you are reading this in the morning Kalimera; in the evening Kalispera. That’s good morning and good evening. And hello is Ya Su. Of course those aren’t the greek letters but I have a hard enough time trying to figure out what words mean in when they’re written in English.

So… THE CRUISE! This was my first cruise ever. I had to get up at 5:45 to leave. We get up early A LOT here! Something I wasn’t bargaining on but I am becoming a big fan of coffee. We got to the ship and went through customs. There were 4 of us in a VERY tiny room. When they said they would send a wake-up call at 6 and we needed to be in the lounge by 7 we looked at each other and laughed. It’s a REAL good thing our ship didn’t go down like the Titanic because even though I went to lifeboat orientation I still have no clue how to get it on without help. There was a pretty snazzy whistle on it though.

Here are pictures from the start of the cruise and getting settled in:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004367&l=c4ea9&id=1523040053

That evening we landed at our first island, Mykonos. I think this was my favorite island! It was BEAUTIFUL! We wandered around the side streets, window shopping, making our way up to the famous windmills. Another famous thing about the island is the pelican called petros. He has a family and some of them are just plain MEAN! I saw one try to bite a man’s head off. Of course it wasn’t helping that the man was trying to have someone take a picture of it. The other major site at Mykonos was Little Venice. You can see a picture of it in my album. We got back to the ship and I got my first tastes of being waited on hand and foot! I LOVED it! I came back to my room, my clothes were folded, everything was picked up, and my bed was turned down. It was VERY hard to come back to civilization!

Mykonos Pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004368&l=ce857&id=1523040053

Kathleen and I went to the floorshow and had a good time drooling over the photographer. Finally I went back to my room and started bonding with my cruise roommates. We mixed it up a little so we could get to know each other better. At first I was a little hesitant but now I think it was the best thing we could have done. I’ve grown to love Diane, Erica, and Sarah as much as the people I knew coming into the trip. 5:30 am, our wake-up call came and we disembarked into… TURKEY! So far on my trip I have been on 2 continents: Europe and Asia. We stopped at Ephesus. The preservation at the site was AMAZING! I was in awe that I was walking in places we know Paul was, where the letter of Ephesians was written to. The two highlights of that trip for me were: 1) The Library of Ephesus—3rd largest library in the world and 2) the ancient baptistery from the 6th-7th century. The detail in the architecture and the scale was astounding! We stopped by the amphitheater and sang together. I know 1st century Christians probably wouldn’t have been singing in the amphitheater but it was moving all the same. I can imagine Paul speaking out to the masses, preaching the love and truth of God to the world. What I marvel at is how I read through the books of the bible and picture these people skipping from one place to another. Even on our ship the journey seemed endless and I was traveling in “style” or at least comfortably. We had a little bit of time to go shopping in Turkey where I got some BEAUTIFUL hand-made ceramics! Merry Christmas MOM! The vendors there are VERY pushy. You walk down the street and they yell: Verdy Verdy good! Good price! And everyone is a Texas Lady, even if you aren’t from Texas. Cracks me up!

Turkey—Ephesus Pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004369&l=64f27&id=1523040053

Our second stop for the day was at the island of Patmos. On the boat ride to the island the song, Ivory Palaces popped into my head… John saw it descending from heaven, when exile in Patmos he trod. Personally I think John had it pretty good being on that island. It was so peaceful and beautiful. We went to visit the cave where John supposedly received his Revelation. It has now been turned into a church. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures. Legend has it that when God spoke to John, giving him the book of Revelation the ceiling cracked into 3 sections representing the Trinity. The priests allowed us to sing in the cave and it was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had singing. I know there’s no place that makes you closer to God than another but at that moment surrounded by my brothers and sisters in Christ I felt the love of Christ flowing through all of us and surrounding us. From there we marched our way up to the Monastery. It was amazing! They have one of the oldest copies of Mark on display and numerous other manuscripts of the bible. I wanted to ring the bells REALLY bad but I restrained myself.

Patmos Pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004370&l=0e0c3&id=1523040053

So second night… This was GREEK NIGHT! Everyone wore some form of blue and white. We got really fond of yelling OPA! I think we drove everyone on that boat insane. We all went to the show after dinner and watched the dances of Greece. One of my favorite things about Greece is their passion for life. Their vitality flows through their music! This night was especially a fun night because there was a STORM! I have a bad since of balance to begin with and the boat rocking was not helping any. There were a bunch of us sitting in the Disco lounge on bar stools and I was laughing especially hard and went off backwards into the floor. The second time around I fell forward on an especially big wave and took a couple people with me. So this time there was someone on top of me and I was tangled up in the stools. The bar tenders cut me off the drinks I was NOT drinking. I now know what it must feel like to be drunk and all I have to say is—It’s a good thing I don’t!

Next morning… ANOTHER early morning and I wanted to kill the phone when it rang! We went to the island of Crete to see the Archeological remains of Konosko. This is where the minotar legend came from and the first civilization of Greece, the Minoans, originated. It was raining and it was slightly miserable. Crete was a little disappointing and I think my least favorite place. I had seen lots of pictures in the text book of the original ruins and when we got there they had rebuilt large portions of it and it didn’t feel as “authentic.”

Crete Pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004373&l=4748a&id=1523040053

The second half of the day was spent in the beautiful island of santorini. The town is position on top of the island. There are 3 forms of transportation that will get you to the top: 1) Cable Car 2) Walk 600 STEEP steps up to the top or 3) Ride a donkey! I’ll give you 3 guesses which one I picked. First 2 don’t count. If you’ve already looked at the pictures you aren’t allowed to guess! Alright do you have your answer? Obviously it’s not the steps. I RODE a donkey! On a greek island! It was SO exciting! But me being the dumb blonde I am wore a dress. I really wanted to ride side saddle but they wouldn’t let me. Two thoughts went through my head on the way up other than don’t flash anyone and don’t fall off! 1) This give new meaning to stubborn as a mule and I thought of Baalam and the donkey every time mine stopped and wouldn’t go again. I think mine was in love with Kathleen’s donkey because it did the EXACT same thing hers did and slammed me up against hers all the way up! They are messy, stinky animals! So we FINALLY get to the top and realize that all the blue roofs we’ve seen so many pictures of are on another part of the island we don’t have time to go see! But there is 1 blue dome. We hiked ALL OVER that island trying to get a picture of it. I finally bought myself something on this excursion. Matching necklace and earrings made from pumice from the active volcano on the island and a beautiful black and gold greek dress. You can see pictures of it in the Formal Night album. It was a little see-through so I wore a tank-top and leggings. Mom—Job for you when I get home: I need a liner sewn into it. I don’t know how many of you have seen sisterhood of the traveling pants but one of the girls goes to Greece and finds a cute boy named Kostos. So we’ve all been looking for our own Kostos. We found a couple and took pictures of them I posted one of them. They knew I was taking the picture but what made it really funny was that they started following us. Some of guys got greek shirts and I have to say they were looking pretty good1

Santorini Pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004374&l=989ac&id=1523040053

Last night on the cruise was Captain’s Night or formal night. We all dressed up and everyone looked fantastic. I got a little brave and wore my Greek dress. We had a mini-photo shoot around the boat. Out of at least 50 pictures we took I think I kept about 4 of them. Lol That night we didn’t have a curfew and we all got together in the “theater” on the boat and sang. This is what I love SO much about this group and Harding that we’re college students without a curfew and instead of going crazy we gather together to encourage each other and praise God!

Formal Pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004375&l=a1b6d&id=1523040053

So now I’m back “home”! Feels weird to call a hotel in Athens, Greece home but after all the moving around I’ve done in the past year I have become a firm believer in home is where your stuff is! I have uploaded who knows how many hundreds of photos so you better enjoy them! What I really wish now more than anything is that I could “get off the boat!” The room keeps rocking. I went to take a nap today and had to resort to the hammock so I could get to sleep. Well I’m sure I’ve forgotten some things but I think I remembered all the highlights. If I think of something later I’ll be sure to let you know!

You all get brownie points if you read the whole thing!

I love all of you and pray that God watches over you and blesses you!

Love, Rebecca

I have officially seen ALL of Athens. I mean quite literally. OK... Maybe not quite all but it sure felt like it. We had to be on the bus at 8 that morning which was a bit of a struggle having only gotten 4 hours of sleep the night before. I woke up at 2 and couldn't go back to sleep till about 5.

Anyway we picked up our tour guide and the first thing out of the guy's mouth's was... She's HOT! Is she married. Unfortunately for them she was. But they all paid very good attention through out the day. We started out at the Olympic Stadium which was built back in 1896 to host the first modern Olympic Games. It was built on the exact same location as the Ancient Stadium. From there we headed to the Acropolis. Saw the Parthenon and NUMEROUS other temples. I think I'm beginning to understand what they said when we would get VERY sick of temples by the end of the semester. The Parthenon was AMAZING! I've seen pictures and read about it all my life but to see it in person was... words fail me. Which is a rare occasion! Then we went to Mars Hill which was pretty cool. It's amazing to think that we were sitting where Paul and others from the bible sat, walked, and lived.

FINALLY... I think it was about 1 or 2 we got to head out for lunch. As we walked through the bustling streets of Athens for the first time I really felt like I wasn't a tourist, more a part of their culture. There are shops everywhere and vendors with items laid out on sheets. As soon as the police come around they yank up their wares and make a run for it. I felt a little sorry for our waiter because every time he turned around we needed more water. It was incredibly hot, muggy, humid and all around slightly miserable. Usually the breeze helps to keep things cool but there wasn't one of course! Yes mom I wore sunscreen. No sunburn

From there we walked some more to see the Roman Agora, then to see the Ancient Agora, a couple other temples, and finally the Agora Museum. By this time I think we were all about ready to fall over. Not only were our feet hurting but our hands were hurting too because we had to take notes over everything. We have these journals which we call our MoleSkines in which we write notes about everything we go to see-- Justifying the education value of it I guess and then write Journal entries about the place. We were given free time and told to meet back at the Starbucks. I think we all just stayed there. Ryan Anne-- You wouldn't do well over here with your coffee addiction. Mine was about 8 US dollars. But I forked it over anyway because this was an EMERGENCY. We all went to church together. The services are offered in 4 different languages, starting at the beginning of the day. English is the last and almost identical to our services back at home. I may go to a greek one for fun sometime. We ended the evening with lots of laughs and more good memories. It's amazing to watch how close everyone has grown over the past couple days.

Unless something really interesting happens or I post another album of pictures I probably won't write again until I get back from my cruise this weekend. We will be going to Turkey, Cyprus, and a bunch other islands.

Here's the link for the pictures from my Athens Tour yesterday. There are 2 albums. Enjoy
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004314&l=ab0b3&id=1523040053

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004315&l=6460e&id=1523040053

God Bless!

Love, Rebecca

Well I've been here for 3 days and I'm growing more in love with this place everyday. It will be hard to come home. I guess I'll have to managesomehow

Yesterday we lounged around, relaxing, catching up on some much needed rest. I went swimming in the Aegean Sea which was AMAZING! How many people can say they've done that? Show of hands? Just kidding. A whole bunch of us walked down to the peninsula and jumped in off the rocks. I'm not the strongest swimmer in the world but the water is so salty that it's hard to sink. You can just sit there and bob along in the water. Floating on your back was NEVER easier!

Quick story about my shower... It's AWFUL! There's a bath tub and the shower head is on a hose and should be attached to the wall but it's come off. I'm trying to take a shower my first night here and get covered in plaster. I can't fix it so I have to hold this tiny shower head in one hand and wash my hair with the other. In the mean time I might as well have a water hose. I think it would have better water pressure. Where the shower head is supposed to attach is a little messed up so some water comes out in the right place but the rest sprays out all over the place and soaks everything. So yeah... GREAT experience. Oh and PS... Be VERY glad for the plumbing in the US. We cannot put our toilet paper in the toilets over here because it will back EVERYTHING up. Good times! Lol

It's a unique feeling living with 40 people and seeing them all the time. I've loved every minute of it so far. It reminds me in some ways how it must have been to live at Hogwarts. Being on a small campus you still see lots of people but it's a completely different feeling here.

Today we started class. Yes I KNOW... on SATURDAY! Haha. But since we actually only go to formal class for 36 days we have to grab a day whenever we can. But before you get TOO jealous I have a TON of reading to do in a very short amount of time. Luckily we take all of our tests before we travel anywhere.

We went to see the Temple of Poseidon today. My mother is very concerned that she sent me to a christian school to go see pagan temples. It was amazing! We think of these people as backwards sometimes or at least not being as intelligent as us and here they have constructed these structures that have been standing longer than our country has been in existence. I was really hoping for some better sunset pictures but the fog was so thick that it made taking pictures a little difficult. The Athenians used to go to the temple of Poseidon before they set out to sea to ask for protection. Very close by you could see the remains of a temple to Athena. We also heard the story about how the Aegean Sea got it's name. The Athenians used to have to send 6 girls and 6 boys to the Island of Crete to feed the Minotaur. So King Aegean's son said he would go and kill the Minotaur. The king said he would let him go on 1 condition. If it was good news change the sails to white, if bad keep them as black. The son killed the minotaur but forgot to change the sails so the King jumped from the temple into the sea, killing himself. I know, GREAT story!

On the way back we were on a real small windy road and our tour bus went head to head with another. It took us forever to navigate around the other bus and cars and get down... Good times. At least there was no wreck and no one got hurt but all we can see is the tour bus going over the mountain.

So go check out my pictures!
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004292&l=c67ea&id=1523040053

Enjoy!

I'm going on a 3 day cruise next weekend! I'm sure I'll have pictures and more to write before then but def. be on the watch out for more after next Sunday!

Love, Rebecca

I'm FINALLY HERE! And I never want to fly again. Well at least for a little while. I have been up over 30 hours and gotten maybe about 3 hours of sleep during this time. As soon as I finish this I'm going to go take a shower and go to BED! I don't think a word has ever sounded so sweet.

So here's what's been going on. Sat by really interesting people on all of my flights. First flight I sat by the guy who owns the Real-Estate Company Keller Williams. Second flight I sat next to a guy from Denmark and on the final flight I sat next to a guy from Norway. All very nice.

Detroit has a really cool airport with an awesome tunnel between concourses. The walls are made out of panels that change colors in time to music. Hope no one who needs to go through it has epilepsy.

I got my first stamp in my passport in Amsterdam! VERY COOL! We finally reached Athens around 1:45, spent a long time trying to get our luggage. It took about 20-30 minutes to reach our hotel and as if we weren't tired enough they have all our room assignments posted in Greek! I got to ride the elevator up to my floor which is a good thing because it's 3 floors up. NOTE: The elevator door does not open automatically like it does in the US. So I rode it up and back down again and had to ask how you get it to open. I was looking for a button and they were all labeled in Greek. Ahhh! The hotel rooms are nice but it's the first floor common area and the outside that are absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Click on my picture link to see some pictures of the hotel.

Our cook made an amazing dinner, giving us the chance to sample some traditional Greek dishes. We had something that is very similar to hamburgers only the center is stuffed with cheese. Then we took a mini-walking tour of Porto Rafti. We went down to the harbor which is said to be one of the most beautiful harbors in all of Greece. I have learned 2 things since I have been in Greece: 1) Pedestrians have NO right of way and at most intersections there are no stop-signs, lights or anything so it's everyone for themselves. 2) There are stray dogs everywhere! They like to bark at all the cars and I'm surprised they aren't lying hit on the side of the road.

Alright... Here is the link to my pictures. I'll have captions explaining what they are as soon as possible but for tonight I can't even see straight.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004280&l=529a1&id=1523040053

NO Mom I didn't proof read this. Sorry!

-- Rebecca

Note: I took care of signing everyone up who had expressed an interest in getting my blog. I finally found a blog that wasn't going to make you sign up for your own to read mine so yeah for that! Hope everyone enjoys reading my blog while I'm over in Greece!

I woke up this morning and my first thought was... OH MY GOODNESS! I'm leaving the country! TOMORROW!
Needless to say this has been an interesting week. Between my superior avoidance skills in packing and being a case of nerves my mother may be glad to get me out of the house. As she's fond of saying, anything she says at this point is wrong. I think at one point I even said that I didn't want to go. Pure nerves. So nobody volunteer for my spot! Not going to happen!

I will leave my house at around 5 a.m. Yes that does say a.m. For those of you who have been around me early in the morning or had the misfortune to wake me up from a nap you will understand why this is such a big deal. For the rest of you... Let's just leave it at: I like my sleep. My flight from Austin leaves at 8:30. I'll get to Detroit sometime around noon. I leave for the next leg of my journey around 5:30 and arrive in Amsterdam 8 hours later. Then we leave for Greece and finally arrive in Athens at 1:45 pm Thursday.

Here a map of my "flight plan":

My address overseas incase anyone needs it is:
Rebecca Miller
Harding University
37 Klm Leof. Porto Rafti
P.O. Box 268 Markopoulo
19003 Attiki
Greece

MAKE SURE to put enough postage to send it by airmail otherwise it goes by boat and who knows when or if I'll get it!
Hopefully I'll have pictures up and be writing about my adventures in Greece by the end of the week. Keep me in your prayers and thanks for taking the time to keep up me.

Love, Rebecca