Quick Update

woah.

Last night, I finally finished the monumental blog below and headed out for some chow and maybe to go watch Indiana Jones to kill time.

Instead, I ran into an American that I'd seen earlier in the day at a museum. He introduced himself as a professor at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary in Boston. I was playing it pretty casual, trying to figure out what this guy wanted, but as we walked and talked we progressively wound our way into deeper and more interesting conversations. The heavy stuff. Not just god and fate, but the whole purpose of life, what it means to be human, the practical realities of living on earth, as well as more mundane (but fun) topics like the upcoming election, how we choose what to do with our lives, etc.

Anyway, 3 hours later and after a cup of Frappe (they love this stuff here) he asked if I would be interested in joining his group as a guest on a special tour they were doing the next day. I was leery, but since I had nothing better to do but kill 10 hours before my train (and Thessaloniki didn't have much left to show me - plus my hotel room was a doom-pit), I figured I push some boundaries and go for.

It was amazing. Not only did I get to meet 7 fascinating smart young people, I had a wealth of great conversations, some real commaraderie (all too rare on the lamb), and I got to visit a very special site and get access to the kind of areas that most non-believers (and even most practicing greeks) don't. Only downside - no photos allowed.

It was a long day of respectful observation of a culture, religion, and artforms of which I know practically nothing. Talk about an education.

I'm still processing most of it, and in fact what I learned today directly contradicts a post I was planning to write about the question of religion in our modern age, so I'm not sure where that would put me. My mother would say I've seen my share of angels today; I don't know if I'll go that far, but the kind of opportunities and happy coincidences I've experienced today have left me flabbergasted and mentally exhausted.

Then someone stole my wallet.

So a couple ups, a couple downs. Some real hard questions presented without the pretense of a pre-formed answer, and some reaffirmations as well.

I'll think about it more, and hopefully post some of what I come up with.

My apologies for the lack of photos. The church at Armelia is just stunning, and I so wish I could share it with you. Every inch is covered in icons and... well, I can't explain it. I did throw up a Google Map so you could zoom in and see what the compound looks like, but that hardly does it justice. I will say this - Greece is a sparsely populated country. 5 million in Athens, 1.5 million in Thessaloniki, and the remaining 6 million people scattered throughout Attica, Ionia, Macedonia, Thrace and the islands. The peninsula we were on (one of three in greece) doesn't even have roads on Google Map yet. The third peninsula (which is huge) is the home of Mount Atmos, and incredibly sacred place in Greek Orthodoxy. How sacred? Well, the ENTIRE PENINSULA is considered holy ground, there are 25 monesteries there, women aren't allowed anywhere on the peninsula, and they closed off the roads to keep out all unwanted secular influences. Even Greeks need a permit to set foot on the peninsula, and must get there by boat (to control incoming people). Crazy.

These Greeks are very casual, fun-loving people, but they don't joke around about religion. It's part of their every-day life and they approach even the pre-meal prayer with a deliberate focus I am not accustomed to.

Anyway, gotta catch a train.

Things are always moving "On the Lamb"

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