My other suitemate Cristina from Malta arrived perhaps around 2:30 in the morning, so I'm sure she's exhausted. But now everyone is here, and I'm so incredibly excited to be spending a month together with everyone. Even though I know that I've said that before. Her Maltese accent is so beautiful too. I'm honestly very tempted to try and speak English with a slight accent because of all the different accents that are present in the program--they're all so interesting!
Today, because Sunday is often a day of worship for many religions, the BFTF crew sent us out to many different places of worship, including a mosque, a synagogue, a Protestant church, a Catholic mass, and a Greek Orthodox church. I attended the Greek Orthodox church called the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. (http://www.wsgoc.org/)
It's interesting how different branches of the same religion can be. For one, obviously, the language of the message and service. Because many of the members of the congregation were newly immigrated from areas of Greece, the deacon explained to us that the church often used a form of Byzantine Greek during its Scripture readings and hymns. Because I come from a Baptist background, I'm also used to a more lengthy message and soulful praise music. However, the message was quite short and sweet and to the point--conflict can be solved by loving your neighbors. The music was also quite not what I was used to--there was a Greek choir of a few men who sang what seemed to be traditional melodies.
The architecture of the building was not a traditional Orthodox building, but the deacon also pointed out several factors that indicated its Orthodoxy status. For instance, on the panel of the wall that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the congregation, the church's name was recognized as the Annunciation on the panel on the left of the Virgin Mary. The deacon also gave all of us a book on Orthodoxy, which I thought was a nice gesture. For me, I had never given much thought to Orthodoxy nor knew what it really was, so I'm looking forward to learning more about it.
But speaking of conflict, I thought the message was an amazing coincidence. During my breakfast, I sat with a few European fellows and we discussed European history. Andreas, the fellow from Cyprus, discussed how Cyprus was divided amongst the Turks and the Greeks, and how that often led to violence. Hana, the fellow from Bosnia and Herzegovina, talked about the discord between the Serbs, Bosniaks, and the Croats led to violence. One particular image that stuck out in my mind was when she described the "roses". She talked about how her father had actually passed away 30 minutes before she was born due to ethnic violence, and how areas in her neighborhood had been attacked with grenades and other explosives. The "roses" were areas in the sidewalks and concretes in which the grenades had exploded and left a hole. The townspeople, she said, would fill those craters with red paint--a solemn reminder of the violence that had occurred against civilians--and especially children.
We also had the traditional scavenger hunt for the fellow today. My team was called the "Funny Fellows" (puns and alliteration!), and we came in third place after only not getting one image! It was nice getting to know people in smaller groups, and everyone here seems equally excited to spend time together. I was the photographer, so, unfortunately, while I'm not in any of these photos, I think some of them came out quite well! My roommate Martina from Slovakia was also on my team, as well as Chanine from the Netherlands, Alvaro (Alvy!) from Spain, and Cedric from France.
Oh, yeah, and in conclusion: today, we also attended the Orientation and Welcome Ceremony to officially welcome us to the Institute. Dr. Petrou and the other mentors kept on reiterating how this month would be the "month of our lives", and honestly, after these first two days, I'm beginning to not doubt it.
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