If this is Tuesday, it must be Greece.

I think Greece is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few!



We left Budapest on Sunday, June 22nd and landed in Greece to a bright sun and sizzling heat. However, temperatures this year in Greece are in the low 90's, which is an improvement over the 110 degrees we had this time last year when we were here for the South AGM! We are here for the Annual General Meeting of the South Europe Field. Basically, the same thing as last week but with different people.



During the day Glenn and I had several appointments with families to see how they were "hangin' in there" as part of our counseling ministry. In addition, Glenn led a two-session seminar and worked with some of the folks on upcoming events and I met with some moms concerning educational issues. The first couple of days in Greece were relaxing and almost like a mini-vacation but as the week progressed, our schedule got fuller and fuller.



We are actually staying in a really, REALLY nice resort hotel on an island off the coast of Athens. We did find time to go to the mainland (Athens) one evening for a meal with the folks from our missionary orientation. Just like last year, we hopped on a ferry boat and enjoyed the beautiful scenery from the waters of the Agean Sea.


An evening "cruise" on the ferry boat

Breathtaking scenery!

We couldn't read a word! It's Greek to us!

Hilly narrow streets

Doritos! For real???

While walking through the streets along the coast in Athens, we saw this Doritos truck and figured Doritos must be around there somewhere! We actually found them in a little "kiosk" right near the truck, along with OREOS! Wow! We paid an insane amount for the Doritos, but we ate every crumb and licked the spices from our fingers to get every bit of enjoyment for our money! It is weird to me the random things that we can find in the different countries. Why Doritos in Greece? Why Hellmans mayonaise in Czech Republic?

Houses up the hillside

One-third of the hotel pool

Even though Glenn and I never got in the pool (would you believe we were working all the time???), it was very relaxing to have this view off our balcony and to sit under a beach umbrella on a lounge chair in the evenings and visit with the other families there once the sun started going down. We really were blessed with wonderful accomodations with air conditioning to cool us off from the high temperatures! We are refreshed!!

We left the hotel on Friday morning at 7:00 am and boarded a bus that would take us back to the airport where we caught an 11:30 am flight to Finland! This was more than a discount airline! We did not get any drinks, meal or even peanuts!! No movie, no offer of a magazine or newspaper, or anything! Fortunately, they did have bathrooms. When we arrived in Finland, it was about 4:00 pm. The bus driver that had been hired to pick up those of us flying in from Greece (that is-those of us that have regional responsibilities and attending all 5 AGM's) allowed us to stop outside Helsinki at a gas station with a restaurant to allow us to get something to eat! We hadn't eaten since about 9:00 that morning when we arrived at the Athens airport, so we were just a little hungary. (Oops, I mean hungry.)

Glenn entertains our busload with some strummin'

The bus ride from Helsinki out to the "retreat" center was a little over 4 hours. We are here for the Annual General Meeting of our folks that work in the Baltic countries. This is the third of our five AGM's.

I was struck by how clean and modern Finland is! Additionally, Helsinki and the countryside through which we drove looks more like America than any other country I've been in. The houses are very similar to ours in America with their slanted roofs, manicured lawns, and carports!

There are also lots of large lakes with clear water! By the way, the temperature here in Finland is a stark contrast from that in Greece. As we disembarked from the plane in Helsinki, we were met by a cold blast of air that was very different from the sticky heat we'd just left in Athens! The temperatures are in the 60's!

There are actually quite a few contrasts to our time in Athens. We are staying at an evangelical retreat center in the village of Kiponniemi. "Retreat" means "rustic".

Cile's cabin with 5 other women

Instead of a huge air conditioned conference room, we worship in this tent on benches without backs. Kind of reminds me of the Israelites as they moved their tents from place to place. Even though the seating is not particularly comfortable, the music and fellowship is awesome!!! It is also good to see folks we haven't seen since last year.

Dining hall

The group here is smaller than the other two AGM's so we will be able to actually spend some quality time with just about every family here, which is a good thing! The misquitos are pretty ferocious but we came prepared with repellent and plug-ins to chase away the swarming critters. The food is delicious, as they are able to make it more "homestyle". They even fixed us homemade cinnamon rolls for our afternoon snack.

Peaceful, isn't it?

One thing we are really enjoying is the fact that the sun never goes down! It is daylight 24 hours a day at this time of year. It is interesting. Sometime in the middle of the morning, one of my cabin mates had to get up to go to the bathroom, and yes, she had to hike to the bathhouse... but she said that she could tell the sun was "down" but still had no trouble seeing how to get there. I almost want to stay up all night just to see what it looks like when the sun goes down. Almost.

Well, we are here until Thursday, July 3rd, at which point we return to Budapest. We'll have a few days to unpack, do laundry and clean house before Chris, Kate, Kari and Jonathan (in no particular order!) arrive on July 8th! We are counting down the days!!!

We'll be in touch when we get back to town, unless the misquitos carry us away!!!