Did you hear me squeal?

Yes, I am a girl and I do occasionally squeal.

Not often.

There are two things that tend to make me squeal.  One has to do with cockroaches.  But that is not what this blog is about.  Thankfully.  The other is a more delightful sort of squeal – usually related to getting to spend time with family or people who seem like family.  I lovingly refer to some of those people as my….

…”soul sisters.”

And that “soul sister” time happened about a month ago.  A dream so big that we had never thought to dream it!  Spending almost 2 weeks together in Greece!  Me and one of my best friends from college. (insert squeal)

A couple of years ago, we had hoped to spend 2 days together in Tennessee and that plan changed thanks to South African Home Affairs, and we never even got to see each other.

This year we both were privileged to able to attend a medical continuing education conference in Greece!  So we had about 10 days of learning, laughing, exploring, taking selfies, eating, laughing some more, telling stories…  catching up.  It had been 22 years since she and I had been able to spend quality time together.  I believe in those 22 years, we had seen each other at our weddings and one other quick afternoon visit.  So to have sooooo much time together was truly a gift from heaven!

Can I introduce you to Ruth?

She is amazing.

An encourager.  An optimist.  A lifelong learner – always looking for opportunities to grow and stretch.  A Jesus follower.  A devoted mother and wife.  A wonderful, true friend.

Ruth is the reason I became the school nurse at my university alma mater.

Ruth is the reason I became interested in working in international missions.

Ruth is the reason I met my husband! 🙂

In fact, my husband started writing letters to Ruth before he started writing to me.  He figured if he won my friend over, then that would help him win me. 🙂

So we had 1 1/2 weeks in Greece together – with no husbands, no children, no cooking, no cleaning …

We had classes every day with lots of chats in between learning – while eating amazing Greek food at each meal and then each evening we got to reconnect and reminisce. What a gift!

On the weekend, we took part in two tours – one to Athens and another that took us on a cruise to 3 Greeks isles.  Pictures do not do these places justice, but I will share a few anyway.

I think I might be overwhelming this post with pictures, but it is incredibly hard to choose when I took so many! 🙂  The second day of touring was to Athens.  I never appreciated history or geography in school, but now that I have traveled quite a bit, I LOVE history!  And being in Athens brought history alive once more.

One of the complicating things about this trip was that I was just 8 weeks post-op from my foot surgery.  Hence traveling was a bit harder than normal.  And my foot liked to swell up to the size of a small balloon…  So any chance I got, I had to elevate my foot.  This was a VERY normal sight throughout the week – whether at meals, or in classes or out and about in Athens!  (see below)

Another interesting phenomena about Greece was the artistry!  Otherwise known as graffiti…  I have never seen so much graffiti in all my life – but most of it was very beautifully done.  I would love to know the history as to why Greece has so much graffiti.

I could keep going on and on!  We packed a lot into those 10 days together!  And just to prove that we were also learning (as I don’t have any classroom photos.)

Greece is well worth a visit should you ever be able.  The Greek economy is in need of a boost from tourism.  One of the sobering things that struck us from the moment we stepped out of the airport was the number of businesses that were closed. Every third business was empty.  Signs of a struggling economy.

But despite their struggles, Greece is still a wonder to behold!  What a wonderfully beautiful country!  Should the opportunity ever arise, I would most definitely return!

And as just an added post script – Ruth had 80% decided not to go when I told her I was going to attend the conference.  So I started praying.  Praying that God would make a way for her to go!  And she came!  One of my most favourite answers to prayer yet!  Thank you God!  And thank you Ruth!  For everything!