Just So You Know. . .

I have to put "first" in quotation marks, because Maren's picture is the only one that is technically on the first day of school. Carson and I kept forgetting to take his picture (what's up with that?) so this is him on the 3rd day. The picture of Aubrey is outside his apartment at Wyview in Provo and classes don't even start until Monday. Oh well. Maybe I will take a picture of Gary as he leaves for work on Monday--it's his first day of class too, for this semester anyway.

I have such a great support system in my life. Family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances--I need them all.

I was lucky enough to have lunch with some friends today and it seemed like I was doing all the talking. They insisted it was because they kept asking me questions I needed to answer. Thanks to them for being my friends and listening to me all these years!

If you read my last post (the one I almost didn't publish, 'cuz it seemed like a downer) be sure to read the comments too. I certainly didn't write the entry to get myself validated or praised, but you guys sure helped me feel better. So a big thanks to you!! When I titled the entry, "half empty vs. half full" I was thinking pessimist/optimist, but Darcee gave me a new spin--more like my cup is my blessings. And that cup is truly overflowing.

Gary & I took Aubrey to move down to BYU today. The only time I got sad was right before I got back home and I wondered if he would have anyone to go to the Freshman BBQ with tonight. I felt the same way when I dropped him off at 7th grade (oh so many years ago) and wondered if he'd have anyone to eat lunch with. Just as he was fine back in 7th grade, I'm sure he'll be fine now. But what about Mom?

OK, now I'm getting a little teary eyed. . .

Is it possible to have mental jet lag? I've experienced the slowness of my usual reactions while physically jet lagged, but never just the mental part. This last week I did. After only a day or so to get my body regulated, I thought I was over the jet lag (it's always easier for me to travel west than east anyway). Then I started getting a sore throat which by Sunday had turned into a full blown nasty cold. I could hardly sit up to take tylenol and sudafed, so no church for me. By Tuesday morning I felt much better physically. It wasn't until Thursday morning that I realized that my brain had been on slow mode for a week and I had to get going! I mean, Maren had already had her first day of school, Carson was headed out the door for his first day, I better get with it. I finally came to the conclusion that I was really, finally, over my jet lag--only 8 days later. Whatever.

So I've decided that we're just going to pretend that Monday is the first day of school and I can be prepared with folders, paper, notebooks, etc. I can clean my house today, bake something yummy for an after school treat tomorrow, and all the other things that usually go along with the first day of school. Sorry kids, but it was mental jet lag.

Wow, where does the time go? 15 years ago today you joined our family. You were a big-eyed angry baby that didn't want to sleep--I was so glad when you grew out of that stage and we could be happy together. We've had our ups and downs over the last 15 years, but the last while has definitely been an up. You've matured so much over the last year or so--I'm so proud of who you are becoming. I'm especially glad for the amazing summer you've been able to have--remember it always. It's probably once in a lifetime kind of summer!

Thanks for opening the door for me. Thanks for hauling stuff downstairs for me. Thanks for being so funny. Thanks for being a good friend. Thanks for being such a great son! I love you!

I've come to like this blogging thing. Even though my regular life isn't nearly as exciting (or visually stunning) as the last several weeks have been, I think I will keep this blog going. After all, there just might be some things you need to know. . .

And now for a list of thank you's:

Thanks to all the friends and neighbors who helped us out at home while we were gone. Subs for lessons, trash can duty, lawn mowing, car delivery, plant sitting and more I'm sure I've forgotten about were all done by people we care about. You guys know who you are--you're the best!

Thanks to all the students who came on this Study Abroad adventure. You guys were always positive and willing to go on another "adventure." Thanks for talking to someone your mom's age and especially thanks for talking with and including my kids. You guys are great! Be sure to let us know about the next adventures in your life (mission, graduation, marriage, etc.)

Thanks to the other faculty director, Richard Holzapfel. Your knowledge is amazing and I really enjoyed listening to you talk about the New Testament. Thanks for doing so much for the program and for taking the majority of the late night phone calls. Thanks to your wife, Jeni, for being so kind and listening to my whining. Thanks for the example of packing light--next time I'll do better!

Thanks to my kids for being amazing. You guys showed so much maturity it made me happy. I was worried about being cooped up in a tiny apartment, but we made it work without too many problems thanks to you guys. Thanks for listening to all the lectures, guides, & students and learning from them. I'm so glad we could have this opportunity as a family. You three are great!!

And most especially, thanks to Gary for everything. Thanks for being so smart and being able to share your knowledge with others. Thanks for having patience with everyone--especially me. I was probably the whiniest & wimpiest person on the the whole Study Abroad trip. Thanks for taking our family along on this grand adventure. Thanks for helping me to stretch and grow by giving me situations out of my comfort zone--and being there to help me through them. When we met 27 years ago this month, I had no idea what was in store for us, but what a ride it has been!

I am only going to say that it's never a good idea to plan on the London Tube running on time.

Gary, Aubrey & Carson went into the city after we had checked in at the airport Wednesday morning and only made it back with a couple of minutes to spare. I was pretty much a basket case--poor Maren was trying to comfort me while I was nearly sobbing. But they got on the plane and we all finally made it home to Salt Lake City International Airport. We got in our car (that our good friend Cheryl had driven to the long-term parking for us a couple of days before), and drove home.

From the time we left the hotel in Athens to the time we stepped in our door in American Fork it had been 52 hours. Enough said.

We got up at 4:30 am on Tuesday to be ready for the taxi ride to the airport. We actually had to call two taxis, because all the taxis in Athens only hold 4 people. We could have taken the bus, but decided with all of us and our luggage, it would be worth it to spring for the taxis. They showed up on time (10 minutes early actually), we made good time getting to the airport, and the check-in lines at 6:15 weren't too bad. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 8:15 am. About 7:45 an announcement was made that there would be a 30 minute delay. A little bit later an announcement was made that our flight will have an additional 45 minute delay. We still think we're fine--our layover in London is 4 hours. When the captain came out and started to tell us what's wrong with the plane and that they're waiting for the mechanic to see if the part is in the airport, I started to get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Sure enough, within a few minutes the flight was announced as cancelled. We had to pick up our luggage and go stand in line at the British Airways service desk. We got in line with 5 students who were on our flight and prepared to wait our turn.

Well, 5.5 hours later (yes, you read that right--5.5 hours) it was nearly our turn. There was a slight problem with a couple of Greek women who kept going up to the desk and demanding they be taken care of, even after the BA workers told them they needed to wait until all of those in line had been helped. There was lots of loud yelling in Greek (rivaled a couple of exchanges we had seen in Italy)--at one point I thought it might turn into some kind of riot. We were finally given the chance to try to get our flight rescheduled. BUT because BYU travel had booked us on 3 different airlines, BA could only get us to London later that night and put us in a hotel. They sent us over to the Delta desk where we were for another hour. Why? Because Delta couldn't find the middle leg of our trip. We contacted BYU travel emergency number (thank goodness my cell phone was working--but those phone calls cost us nearly $50). After much back and forth between the agents at the Delta desk, BYU travel, supervisors, and who knows who else, BYU bought us new tickets for Wednesday from London to Salt Lake, via Dallas, on American Airlines. We had just enough time to eat before boarding the BA flight to London. I had spent 7 hours standing in line in the Athens airport and I just wanted to get out of there.

Monday was our last day in Athens. We spent it seeing a few more sites, shopping and eating (read about it here), but soon it was nearing evening. The boys wanted to hike to the top of Mt. Lycabettus, but Maren & I were just too tired. We split up-- the girls to buy breakfast food and pack, the boys to hike. Mt. Lycabettus is the highest point in Athens (277 metres/908 feet above sea level) and can be seen from all over the city. Here they are at sunset at the top of the hill.



The Acropolis is on the right, towards the bottom

In Italy, we hardly ate any meat, except for prosciutto & salami. We could have had meat at the restaurants, but it was very expensive. I made chicken for dinner one night, but it was even expensive at the store. We decided when we got home we would be hitting the new Texas Roadhouse in AF. But then we went to Greece where we ate lots of meat--mostly pork. It was all yummy, but I began to crave a big American salad bar! We did have Greek salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, olive oil, oregano and feta cheese) many times and I did order a spinach salad at one restaurant and at another I had stuffed peppers and tomatoes. We also had souvlaki a couple of times, but our favorite, hands down, Greek food item was the gyro. They are SO YUMMY! I always thought they were prepared with lamb, and maybe they used to be, but all the ones we saw were pork. You could also get chicken ones (which I usually did). They were delicious and inexpensive (always less than 2 euro each). They come with the meat, tzatziki, tomatoes, & onions all wrapped in pita bread--but not pocket pitas. Thick, soft, delicious Greek pita. Mmm, mmm good. We discovered that we all like tzatziki and greek yogurt with greek honey drizzled on it and most of us like baklava. There are so many different kinds--I guess if we had been there longer we maybe would have tried more of them (kind of like gelato in Italy). So we have learned that our family not only likes Italian food but we also like Greek food. Maybe we'll make it up to Salt Lake next month for the Greek Festival??

We visited a few more ancient Greek sites while in Athens including the Temple of Zeus, Kerameikos (a cemetery), the Temple of Hephaestes, and an agora (marketplace).

We ended our day with a play at the ancient Greek theater in Epidaurus. The play was The Trojan Women by Euripedes. It was performed with modern staging (not a hit with us or the students) in a beautiful setting (a big hit with everyone). This theater was built in the 4th century BC and is amazing for its acoustics. It seats about 15,000 people and the play was performed without microphones. We did get rained on just as we were getting out of the bus, but that just added to the adventure!

Sorry this isn't my picture--ours were much too dark so I found a really nicel one online. But you get the idea, right? The seats, the trees, the stage--all of it made for a wonderful setting.

I've still got lots to blog about Greece and our nightmare trip home--so keep on checking for more posts.

Once a year, on the night of the full moon in August, the Acropolis is opened to the public for free. The stairs are lit (but not the buildings) so you can see your way up and down. The people turn out by the thousands. I know this because we went Thursday night, along with what seemed like the rest of Athens! I wasn’t too excited to climb the hill and all the stairs again, but went along anyway. Once again, it was worth it. The night views were very pretty. And the full moon peeking out behind the Parthenon was definitely a sight to be remembered. Thanks kids for wanting to go and for being patient enough with me as I slowly made my way to the top.

Wow this place is huge!! Tons of displays, you could spend all day here and not really be able to absorb all this museum has to offer. There are collections of Neolithic art, Cycladic art (I find this stuff fascinating), Mycenaean art, Geometric art, Archaic art, Classical Sculpture, Hellenistic Sculpture (including some famous Greek bronzes), an Egyptian collection, and a huge collection of pottery (think Grecian vases).

We stopped for the night in the small village of Delphi (pronounced with a long i, like in kite). We stayed in a nice little hotel with a lovely view. After a group dinner in town, we all pretty much just crashed—the ferry ride made for a long day/night/day. On Tuesday morning we were refreshed and ready to go to the ancient site of Delphi. “According to legend, when Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the world their paths crossed in the sky above Delphi, establishing the site as the centre of the earth” (Eyewitness Travel, Greece). The signs for the town say it is the navel of the earth—we even saw the rock that was used to signify this. Well, the rock in the museum is a Roman copy of the one the Greeks used. The rock on the site is just a place marker. Delphi was also the site of the Oracle where people could go to ask questions of the priestess (think of the story of Oedipus).

First we visited the Sanctuary of Apollo. These are the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, treasury houses, altars, theater, stadium, etc. You know, ancient Greek stuff.