Four Countries, 5 Cities, and a whole lotta meetings!

As my trip is coming to an end, I am remembering all of the experiences I had and the people I met.  From meeting the President of Greece to visiting with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome.  To update you since my last post..they found the suitcase and we have experienced no lightening bolts or traumatic experiences since then!  The AHEPA delegation has attended over 30 meetings throughout the excursion.  These meetings were designed to allow the AHEPA delegation to learn about issues in Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Constantinople.  During the last part of the Athens trip, we met with the President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias.  Only six people got to attend the meeting and I was one of the six!!!

The next day, we were able to take a day excursion trip to Thessaloniki.  We toured the AHEPA Hospital, built in the 70s by the local AHEPA chapter.  It was extremely moving to see the impact AHEPA made on Thessaloniki.  It reminded me of the importance of the AHEPA Family and the impact we can make on society.  You can see the importance of this hospital through the innovative things they do and the enthusiasm of the doctors.  We were able to meet the first patient to receive an artificial heart at the AHEPA Hospital.  

Makedonitissa Tomb 

Imprisoned Graves 

We spent 5 days in Athens, and after this leg of the journey we traveled to Cyprus.  It was so warm compared to Greece.  During our visit to Cyprus we learned about all of the political turmoil that divides the country into the occupied and non-occupied sides.  This subject is such a big part of our culture.  While in Cyprus we were able to meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Erato Kozakou Markoulli and the President of Cyprus Dimitris Christofias.  Not only did the delegation meet with such high officials, but we also got to tour Cyprus.  We visited the Central Jail of Nicosia, home of the imprisoned graves,  and the Makedonitissa Tomb.

After leaving Cyprus, we traveled to Jerusalem for one day.  We met with his Holiness Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.  He is the head bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine Patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church.  After our meeting, we took a tour of the Holy City.  Since our tour guide pulled a few strings, we got to bypass all of the lines to the most important areas of the city including the Jail Cell where Jesus was held and also the Tomb of Jesus.  It was so moving to see these sites in person, especially during Holy Week.  I have read about them in books, but actually coming to see the sites was a very extraordinary experience for me.

From Jerusalem we traveled to Turkey.  We are celebrating Easter with his All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome.  Since we arrived on Wednesday we were able to attend church service on Thursday morning.  Fortunately 2012 marked the year of the Holy Myrrh blessing.  This service is done approximately every 10 years when the reserve of Holy Myrrh nears depletion.  The Holy Myrrh is used during the Sacrament of Confirmation (Baptism).  Metropolitans of the Ecumenical Throne gathered for this service on Thursday morning to help with the Holy Myrrh Blessing. (Article about the Holy Myrrh Blessing).  

Monday we leave for the USA!  The time has flown by so quickly.  Keep a look out for my final blog regarding my trip when I return to the states!

One Bus Ride, Two Plane Rides, Two lightening bolts and a missing suitcase: GREECE 2012

For the next two weeks, I will be writing to you from Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey.   My trip started with a bang.  I took a bus (yes a bus!) to New York City where Elena Saviolakis, the Daughters of Penelope Executive Director, and I met the rest of the AHEPA family travelers.  After a three-hour delay we were off to Athens.  Our flight had smooth sailing until we reached a torrential downpour of rain.  Our plane was struck by lightening not once, but TWICE!  Luckily we landed with only a few scratches on the plane and a few scared passengers.  Once we arrived in the Athens airport and made our way through security, it was time to pick up our baggage.  I saw one bag come through- but not the other.  As the baggage line came to an end, I realized that the airline had lost one of my bags!  After this crazy, but exciting day, we finally made it to the hotel.  I went straight to sleep…jet lag is not something you want to mess with when you are in Athens and have meetings with so many important people.  

American Ambassador 

I started my day overlooking the Acropolis (yes the Acropolis!) while eating Greek Yogurt and honey for breakfast.  I had to get my strength up to power through our busy day in Athens!  Our first meeting of the day was the American Ambassador to Greece.  We discussed issues between Greece and the US and the AHEPA discussed possibilities on facilitating efforts to help Greece.  

After an informative meeting, we were graciously invited to have lunch with one of the local AHEPA chapters.  They chose an excellent location for our lunch.  It was the Yacht Club of Greece.  The view was beautiful and the company was great…who knew that AHEPA Supreme Secretary Phillip Frangos has a sense of humor!  After lunch, we were invited to meet with the Canadian Ambassador to Greece.  After meeting the Ambassador and his wife, I discovered that she was actually a Maid of Athena when she lived in Ottawa, Canada.  She spoke highly of the organization and talked about her experience as a Maid.   After another informative meeting we headed back to the hotel and you guessed it…another meeting!  Grand President of the Daughters of Penelope Nicky Stamoulis, Grand Secretary Anna-Helene Panagakos and Executive Director Elena Saviolakis met with the founders of W.I.N Hellas (www.winhellas.gr).  This is a domestic violence awareness organization in Athens.  There main concern is prevention and there method for prevention is education.  As you know, my president’s project is Domestic Violence/ Penelope House.  This organization intrigued me because they are combating domestic violence in a country where it is prominent (1 in 3 women are subjected to violence) and also not recognized. 

Coming up….a meeting with the President of Greece! Look out for all of my blogs from the OLD COUNTRY.  I look forward to taking you all with me on my trip!