Greece Day 4 (March 16): Service & Art

 Shelter work: 

Today Thursday, March 16 we woke up at 8 AM for breakfast and headed to the refugee shelter to continue our project we had been working on throughout the week. This time the group swapped with the people who had previously done gardening. The other group continued painting the artworks on one of the floors in the shelters and talked with refugees from Somalia and Pakistan. For the Gardening group we were assigned to construct an irrigation system for the plants. 

We placed long tubes through the garden and punched holes to create an area for water to spray on all the plants. Some also added stakes into the ground to increase stability and support. After we finished, the best part was playing sports like basketball, soccer, and volleyball with the refugees. This allowed us to interact with different boys in the shelter, and have some fun competitive spirit. Most importantly, when we finished the day we reflected on the trip thus far and a common comment was said in how humbling this experience has been and that these boys are just like us, having similar interests. It was an impactful day for us in the shelter and we left with new perspectives and purpose.

• Alexander Reddy

Pottery workshop:

      The Pottery workshop was a culturally enriching experience. When we entered the pottery shop in the city, we were greeted by a couple of Greek potters who asked us what we wanted them to make. Our group requested the potter to make a vase, a wine flask, and a mug. He made the pottery look easy and created beautiful objects. Then several members of the group volunteered to make some objects out of the pottery as well. After the pottery with the whole group, everyone painted boats on clay plates. Finally this workshop was a really nice experience because most of us have never been exposed to Greek painting and pottery.

• Gavin Pease

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Greece, Day 3 (March 15): Island Hopping

Hydra: We arrived to the island of Hydra after a long and cold journey. We had arrived to the boat at around 7:12am and the boat did not leave till around 8:13. While traveling, we experienced the cold winds of the Mediterranean Sea. The journey was a long one lasting about 2 hours; however, it was soon revealed to be well worth the travel. As we floated into the port, we were all dumbstruck by the astounding beauty of the island with the white houses that overlooked the sea and had the mountains in the background. Unfortunately, we were upset because we were only able to stay 45 minutes even though we all would have gladly stayed the whole day exploring and talking to the friendly locals of Hydra. We then loaded the boat and headed off to Poros.

Poros: After leaving Hydra, we traversed the high seas on our way to the second island of the day, Poros. Before docking, we were all amazed by a magnificent view of the hills and green land of the island, as well as the town. For around half an hour we explored the shops near the dock of Poros and took pictures of passing ships. Everyone, including Dr. Marro, enjoyed themselves despite the small amount of time dedicated to exploring Poros and all it had to offer. Once our time was up, we again rode the cruise ship to our next stop, Aegina.

Aegina:

Finally we finished our tour at the Greek island of Aegina. As we arrived we were stunned once again by the crystal clear blue water set off by the backdrop of hills painted in different shades of green. We stepped off the boat and we’re immediately met by plenty of shops and vendors who sold an array of fruits, jewelry, and souvenirs. We had two hours to tour the island so all of us went our separate ways walking on the beach, buying clothes, and playing some football. We hopped on the boat exhausted after a huge day of island hopping, ready to head home.

 

Greece day 2 - bike tour

 Today we toured Athens on bikes. We were able to see the acropolis in the distance as we visited the Olympic stadium, presidential palace, and a cathedral. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the area, and we even got to ride in the National garden. The National garden was beautiful and looked like a tropical paradise.

We ate a traditional Greek lunch at Sin Athina. We started with a traditional Greek salad, while the main courses included kebabs, burgers, pasta, and more. The view of the Acropolis from the restaurant was outstanding which made a great end to the bike tour. 

After lunch, we went back to the Red Cross Shelter for Unaccompanied Refugee Boys, and we continued to work in our groups either gardening or painting. The painting group continued their work from yesterday, but in the garden, we worked to plant different fruits and vegetables such as strawberries and lettuce in the soil that we had prepared the day before. After finishing our work, we once again ended our day with some friendly games of basketball with the kids living there, wrapping up another excellent day.

Work, Play and an Overall Great Day, by John Howard (‘25)

Reflection on Monday, March 13

Today was our second day working on building the school. In the morning we all had an excellent breakfast of scrambled eggs.  Then we went over to the school, and we helped to create cement, build wall supports from rebar, and sift sand.  We also played some duck duck goose with the kids at the school, or as they called it “bato bato gastó.”  

Afterwards, we had a little downtime, and most people went to go swim in the pool.  Then we went and did some mola painting, which is from an indigenous Panamanian people.  We also learned about their culture and different traditions they have.  We painted various different pictures of nature, and some were a lot more abstract than others.

After the painting, we went and played soccer with some local children.  They destroyed us, and they didn’t even have substitutions!  We switched to MBA v. MBA for the final round, and the locals were probably disappointed in our soccer skills.  However, we would still be able to beat them in American Football.  

We had a good dinner of chicken wings and then finished up the night with some games of BINGO and swimming.