Just a quick note today.

Slept in until 11 today. I needed it.

Almira and I ran to the market just down the street. Picked up some apricots and carrots. My Greek needs a lot of work, so I did everything as a mute, but they worked with me. I'll be back every Wednesday if I can!

We then made our way to our team leader's flat across Athens via metro. We had a business meeting (which I actually enjoyed) and mapped out the plans for the next two months. There will be a group of people here from Egypt and California in that time, so planning gets even more tricky. We'll also be having a special day of activities for the children and another one for the women. I'm excited to plan for that. We also had to decide when we would be giving food away at tea house and when we would have a grocery give away.

We then ate...baked potatoes, salad and cake and then prayed with one another. I should take time to explain who is all on the team, but I'm realizing that might take a long time, so hopefully I'll be able to give you insights as the time goes on. In short, many of the long-term missionaries are from the US (California, Illinois, New Jersey) plus a couple of women from Canada, one Albanian (who jokes he's from the United Nations) with a few Greeks sprinkled in. We all work at the ARC and get help from Christian refugees (who are lifesavers when it comes to translating!).

I'm getting more used to the city, but I'm realizing that Athens is much like every other city in the US (pollution, poverty, stray dogs, ugh, the dogs...). This is especially difficult for the refugees and makes things discouraging for my team members who have been here for quite a while. Please pray for their continued perseverance among the chaos of this city. Also pray for my roommate Almira as she will be going in tomorrow morning to apply for an extension on her visa so she can stay at work at the ARC (Athens Refugee Center, the building for ITeams Athens/Helping Hands, the official name of this Greek charity).

Tomorrow will be a time that women come in to take showers. I'm excited to chat more with them and see the kids again! :)

I hope everything is well there. I hear it's pretty rainy back in Iowa...I won't mention how beautiful the weather is here....