Αθήνα, Ελλάδα

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my blog! Ok so, I wanted to start a blog (all credit going to Krisit Meldrum-love ya!). I'm still learning how to blog and can't make any guarantees on how often I will update this, or to what you may find interesting on this blog, but it's invitation to share my life and experiences with me! Fermu!

And, what better time to start than today because I'm in Athens, Greece for vacation! I'm here with friends Carol and Elijah, taking a break from teaching and from daily life in Kurdistan, to rejoin the West for a bit and peacefully conquer all of Athen's sites and attractions and restaurants in 5 days!

Today we hiked up to Mars Hill and saw the ruins of the Parthenon and other famous Greek ruins.
This is an amphitheater in the same area, which looks like is still in use today for events. I'm pretty sure this is the place that Paul spoke when he was in Athens. (Check out Acts 17.16) He declared to all the Athenians the unknown God they had statues for ... Jesus!

I really didn't learn too much because it was freezing and we were giving ourselves a self-guided, free tour around the ruins... hmm, so my Greek ruins knowledge is limited to.... the attractions I've enjoyed the most (below).


The dogs. Ok, funny things about Athens, Greece... it's 1/3 tourist and 1/3 stray dogs. There are so many stray dogs... but they are nice and love people, like they've been raised by tourists! So with every group of tourists walking around, you'll see a stray dog trotting along with them, just following them around for scraps of food, but more for some human attention and affection, I think. The tourists love them! Who wouldn't want a cute, mangy dog following you around all over the city. So here's a pick of a tourist petting her canine Greek tour guide.

FOOD!!! Ok, fun new fact about me, I love Greek food! I haven't eaten the Dolmadas yet, but don't worry I will. I have eat Dolma in Greece so I can compare it to Kurdish dolma. But so far I have loved the Feta cheeses, and gyros, and yogurt. Today for lunch we had wraps of gyros chicken, tomatoes, and tzatziki (sauce). Then I turned around and forced myself to choose in ice cream flavor... 1 in 20, wow, how could I choose!? I went with yogurt with honey and walnuts, one scoop. (it's simple and healthier)... lunch for 4 Euros.

Greece is great so far! I'm so thankful to be here, yet I'm still thinkin about you! I'm missing my team, my family, my best friends and my Matt. :)