July 10th, 2010

Kalispera (Good Afternoon)!

My Goodness!  I don’t know where to even begin to recap all of this past week’s activities.   I think the last thing I left you with in my previous e-mail was that we were voluntarily being stung by Farm School bees and tasting their delicious honey.  We continued our stay at the Farm School by learning how to drive a tractor, touring the campus, meeting President Kanellis, and partaking of a brand new opportunity called, “Gods and Goddesses in Greek Village Life” led by our drama teacher Arian Kotsi. You’ll see some of the exercises the students acted out in the photos online!

On July 4th we headed to Mikro Dasos for our village blessing.  Luke Hamel, Marcel Abi-Esber, and Tyler Gaw gave speeches on behalf of all our participants to the villagers thanking them for opening their houses and hearts to us (in Greek!).  After a hugely successful village blessing where the participants were able to impress the villagers with their newly learned Greek dance steps, traditional folk songs, and singing to them the “Electric Avenue”, we started bright and early the next day on our work project.  I’m extremely impressed with how quickly we’ve moved through our project, showing how great their ability is to work as a group both efficiently and energetically! We’ve laid the base of our amphitheater, created the stage, beautified the dance floor, painted the surrounding walls and fencing, and have begun the sketch of a mural.  The mural was Mary Lempres’ idea, our resident artist, she has taken the input of everybody from the group and we’ll start painting next week.  Pictures are soon to come after its completion.

In the evenings, after working hours and siesta we’ve had ample time to get to know our village, celebrate birthdays, play games, relax, and become acquainted with our surroundings. Olivia Ryding and Emily Thompson both turned 17 during our village stay, and couldn’t imagine a more beautiful setting to do so! Of course we’re always stuffed to the brim, but what would Greek Summer be without all the delicious food?  On the second night in the village a soccer game ensued, the residents versus Greek Summer.  It was a close game, ending with the resident Greeks winning, but it was a great bonding and introduction to our new abodes. We also had the chance to visit a nearby winery that operates 100% organically and we had a picnic at the Axios River, which is only a 2 mile walk from Mikro Dasos and a very important river and estuary for the entire region of Macedonia.  We’re returning to the village on Tuesday evening after a few different excursions to Edessa, Vergina, a Mt. Athos boat tour, and Lakkia to finish our tile making for the worksite.  I’ll be in contact after we return next Sunday to share with you all of the week’s adventures!

I don’t know how I can impart on you how wonderful, respectful, inquisitive, motivated and excited all of your children are and how grateful I am to be working with them as one of the leaders through this summer’s odyssey.  Thank you.