What an Experience

Image sleeping four hours for the past three nights and waking up at a time when, in the states, you would normally be fast asleep. You drag your exhausted body out of a foreign bed in a strange, new place, needing that extra dose of caffeine just to jump-start the day. Then, you open your eyes and realize where you are.

In order to understand what we are all experiencing, I will explain what today was like for the twenty-nine of us. We left the hotel today at 7:00 am (that would be 12:00 am for you in the US), traveling about thirty minutes to a port where an enormous ferryboat was waiting to carry us out to sea. After getting very little sleep in the past few days, we were battling our drooping eyelids, to say the least. However, within the first hour of sailing, we watched as dolphins crashed beside the boat into the waves, and pelicans surrounded the top deck. The day began with excitement and just kept getting better.

We traveled to three islands off of the coast of Athens—Poros, Hydra and the Aegina. My favorite moment happened in Hydra, an island overflowing with white buildings, cobblestone streets, and vibrant people. A handful of us leapt off of the barge with the intention of trekking through the hilly terrain to a small, white church set apart from the city, yet we barely made it halfway, before deciding we had bitten off more than we could chew. We must have climbed about a half a mile of steep, white washed stairs, through the narrow streets and residential avenues before turning around and heading back toward the blue-green coast. The contrast between the white cement buildings, colorful shutters and doors, and the foliage of the bougainvillea and lemon trees that flowed over the walls and cobblestone overwhelmed the senses. I wish I could describe the setting that surrounded us and the culture that seeped out into the streets from the cafes and local markets, but I could not do it justice with words. Though we never made it to the church, we did manage to find the ocean, diving into the refreshing salt water from the rocks surrounding the bay, enjoying every second.

The history that this proud place holds is relevant in every moment we spend here. As we all learn, we are forming friendships and bonds with each other and our wonderful leaders, Beth Ann and Robbie. More importantly, in the short period of time I have been in Greece, I have seen a true testament to humanity. In a country plagued by economic crisis, there is still integrity and elegance to be found. We constantly see the unfortunate images of the riots that occurred last week, but, in the United States, we do not see the everyday lives that these people live or the power this land has on its people.

We have been here for a little over eighty hours, yet it feels like it has been weeks. I feel as though I’ve known some of the people in our group for years not days, and we have already done and seen so much. What an experience… and it is only just beginning.

Annie Herndon