It's Been a Long Time...

It has been a long time since I've been so excited.

My current excitement comes very close if not surpassing (it is difficult to be objective when comparing such wonderful experiences)...
1. Christmas as a kid
2. My first Pascha
3. Arriving back home in Mayetta, Kansas after years of being away

I leave for Athens, Greece in less than 18 hours and will arrive in about 44 hours. I am looking forward to being with Yiannis in his home country, with his family, spiritual father, and friends. Seeing Athens, Corith, Delphi, the islands, and wherever else we travel will be secondary to simply spending time with him again, though I am sure the environments of the Acropolis and 4th century churches will also play quite a role in the blessings of the trip.

I am learning some about the past century of various political conflicts that have affected Greece. From the Asia Minor Disaster (1922, the German Occupation (1941-44), the Greek Civil War (1945-49), Rule by the Military Junta (1967-74), Turkish Intervention in Cyrus (1974), unfrtunately, there has been a lot of bloodshed in Greece in the past century.

And did you know there are 4 million Greeks outside of Greece and only 10 million Greeks in the country of Greece itself? Fascinating. It sure is a culture that insists on retaining its ethnic identity despite its geographical location.

So, I was warned yesterday by an American-Greek (2nd Generation Greek) not to let the Greeks I meet give me a hard time for being an American. I think it will be curious to see better what their relationship with the West presently is, and how they view me. I have read that the Greek Diaspora into Western lands seems to be very beneficial to their economy economy; Regardless, I am sure I will be the one to learn much from their hospitality.