Mind the Gap

Today was a strange day in several ways. Because I'm going to bed so late, I'm waking up at noon. I hate this. Today we started with the same ridiculously large breakfast (that also happens to consist of the same 5 items every morning). After breakfast we learned how to make stuffed grape leaves and stuffed tomatoes and peppers. It was actually really fun and something that I hope will stick with me the rest of my life.

In the afternoon we left the apartment to go downtown to participate in the March for Jesus. Now, this is something that I would not do back home, but as Tony and Elle are very important members of the church and missionary leadership in Athens, we were required to attend. It was fine I guess. It was mostly in Greek and it was pretty much what I expected it to be. However, despite how lame I feel like these things can be, it was genuinely nice to experience people's expression of their religious beliefs in a foreign country. I was actually amazed that they were able to pull this march off, too, as European areas tend not to be so outwardly and publicly religious and the march interrupted traffic for nearly two hours in some of Athen's busiest areas. Furthermore, the concert that followed took place in one of Athen's busiest and most touristed squares. I was impressed at the level of exposure the event received today.

I'll leave out a lot of this because it has more to do with religion than with traveling. And this blog isn't about airing out my religious beliefs. I'll close the March for Jesus description by relating this. Geoff's grandfather was basically the most important man in this century to further the cause of religion in Greece outside of the Orthodox church. In some circles he's revered as sort of the Martin Luther (not King, Jr.) of Greece. So his family is well respected in the church system here. Because of this connection, Geoff was afforded the opportunity of performing today in Monastiraki square. This piazza is at the base of the mountain where the Acropolis sits. So Geoffrey performed with the Parthenon as his backdrop. It was pretty unbelievable.

I'm going to close with this story. If you've ever traveled to London and ridden the tube (subway), you've probably heard the recorded voice warning, "Please mind the gap!" In other words, it's telling you to watch your step because there's a space between the ledge and the subway and you don't want to get your foot stuck in it. Most of the time you look at this and wonder how it could be remotely possible that someone could get their foot stuck in this space. Even though some are nearly a foot wide, it just doesn't seem realistic. Well, tonight we were trying to get back home from downtown Athens at about half past midnight. We walked into the metro station and realized that the train that was loading at that moment was probably the last one for the night. If we missed it, we would have to take a cab that probably would have cost 40 to 60 Euros. With that in mind, we rushed to make it to the train before the doors closed on us. Out of nowhere, Geoff's uncle Tony (a short Greek man in his probably mid to late 60's) somehow missed the train floor and fell into the gap with both legs and barely caught himself with his arms and elbows. I was completely shocked. We couldn't believe what had just happened. It's not one of those point-and-laugh moments either. If the engineer didn't see Tony, the doors might close on him and break something. Worst case scenario would probably have been Tony misses catching himself, the subway driver (unaware of what had happened) drives on, and Tony dies. It was scary. It took us a while to get past that.

Anyway, that was my day and my night. We have church tomorrow, and a bunch of young people are coming over after church. I suspect Elle will continue trying to get me to make an offer of marriage to one of the girls. Well, I'll post again when I can.