Subway and Soft Bread! Hallelujah!

What a beautiful day today! The sun was shining, gentle breeze-- such a stark contrast to last week's weather. The unpredictability kind of reminds me of good 'ol Arkansas. We headed for Athens, dressed in skirts, t-shirts and light jackets and for once didn't feel out of place. The Greek people, however, are still bundled up with scarves and leather jackets. They still look at us like we're crazy, but part of me wanted to smile and point up at the sun. When we got into Athens, a few of us went to eat at Subway. I thought that maybe it would be Subway + stone bread, but when the lady pulled out bread resembling ours I wanted to climb over the glass and give her a hug. I usually go for the 6 inch bread, but celebrating this momentous occasion I got a foot long of that scrumptious goodness. That was a fresh start to the afternoon-- I now understand their little "Eat Fresh" logo. Stick a kid in a hard bread country for over a month and that is eatin' fresh!

We looked around for a little while and then headed to church. Church tonight was special to me for two reasons. Isn't it exciting when a preacher reads a scripture you've heard your whole life and it suddenly comes to you in this new light? Dino read the passage where Paul talks about running the race that is before you-- he talked about how important games and competitions were back then and how it was such a proper analogy to make during that time period. After going to Olympia and Corinth, it all made sense. After seeing how much they put into their stadiums and their competitions (they were, after all, in honor of their gods) it made sense that Paul would compare the Christian life to a race. And isn't it neat that after all these years that same analogy fits us today? We put so much time and effort into athletic competitions-- shouldn't we also strive to complete the most important race of our lives?

I also enjoyed church tonight because we had some visitors. There was a younger gentlemen from Connecticut (it was so good to meet another American outside of the group!), a Greek man who just came back from New Jersey and a man from Iraq. (The guy from Iraq was a translator for the American army). I enjoyed talking to each of them and getting to know a little bit about them. The guy from Connecticut was really nice and from what I gathered, he is just kind of "chillin" in Greece-- not here for study or anything in particular. Oh to be able to do that! I hope they come back because most of the time, we are the majority of the church.

We came back tonight and had leftovers like we always do on Sunday nights-- it is my least favorite food night because we all have to fight over 3 microwaves! A tough school week awaits me tomorrow-- test after test. I'm trying to keep my cool and view the long weekend ahead. I think we have decided to go to the island of Zende. (I think that's what it's called!) I don't have a lot of details at this point, but Jake has done some research and it is apparently a beautiful place. He found a postcard of it today while we were shopping and it was great-- he says the weather forecast is nice too. He's supposed to call Aristotle Travel and get some price estimates and information. I'll keep you updated on if it works out! :-) Some people are going as far as Russia, but I don't have $400 just lyin' around. Some are going skiing, but I don't have ski gear nor the patience to fall a hundred times while the pros dart around me. Haha.

All my love!