Basketball and More by Nate Cantrell

March 16, 2022: Our morning started with the normal routine: temperature check and breakfast. After a full breakfast of authentic Greek yogurt, bacon, ham, and fresh fruit, we headed into the city to explore the upbringing of the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

First, we played basketball on a court in Giannis’ neighborhood. The 20 boys who wanted to play split off into four teams of five and competed in a “winner-stays-on” style of games. In total, the four teams played about 15 games as the dream team of Kayman, Connor, Owen, Hayden, and Nate won about 9 total games with their highest streak standing at 6 consecutive games won. The group decided on Andrew Smith and Josh Roberts as co-MVPs, Global Brigades Team Leader Mike as the 6th Man of the Day, and Fletcher Robinson as Defensive MVP. Overall, everyone had a great day playing together in the best weather we have had the whole trip. 

After rehydrating and taking a team picture, we walked down to Giannis’ home court, where he played and trained as a kid. The court had a beautiful mural of the hometown hero. Mike and our other leader from Global Brigades, Tasos, told the story of how Giannis would go to that court and put on a show everyday after school. They told the story of how he and his brothers sold CDs just to make a living and how a generous owner of a local mini market would give them free sandwiches every day to support them on their way to the NBA. Mike explained that Giannis came back to that neighborhood and funded reconstruction projects to the surrounding buildings that desperately needed the upgrades. We could hear the pride in Mike’s voice as he recounted the tale of a local Greek who worked to become successful, fulfilled his dreams across the Atlantic, but never forgot where he came from and who helped him get to where he is now. If there was a team member who didn’t like Giannis before this trip, they do now because he is not only a tremendous basketball player but also a humble and thoughtful human being as well. 

Following the compelling experience at the court, it was finally lunch time. The group walked through the streets of Athens until we reached the restaurant. The meal started off with a mixed salad of lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, and pomegranate seeds. Next, the bread was brought out and served with a side of authentic tzatziki sauce. Later, the chefs brought out a series of entrees including pork skewers, chicken skewers, and Turkish kabobs. The hungry boys devoured everything that was brought out. If you go to @mbaserviceclub on Instagram, you can see how much the boys truly liked the Greek cuisine. 

After lunch, we divided into our two groups and went to the service homes for our final day of work with the refugees. We also split the gifts that we brought into two and bestowed them to the homes before our departure. I am in the B group at the house in Sepolia. There, we finished painting some rooms, varnished a bench and table we had built in the previous days, and built a multipurpose shelf from IKEA with great help from many of the refugee boys. 

To sum up the week in the service homes, many of us highlight the word “circumstance” as the word of the week. These refugees have been forced to leave their home country and move to a whole new home without any parental guidance. There is one boy at the Sepolia home that I became fond of on this trip. He is extremely smart and very good with his hands. He could have built the bench and shelves without any of our help. The first time he used a drill gun, he was already better than most of the MBA boys on the trip. It makes us think how lucky we are to be at a place like MBA, in a city like Nashville, and in a country like the USA. We left for the final time and we truly hope and pray that those boys are able to get on their feet in their new lives in Greece and can start to make a future for themselves and the generations to come. 

Beauty in the Darkness by Joseph Hastings

March 15, 2022: Even in the darkest of places, we can see life growing. Between towering edifices of gray and beige, half of our group set to planting a garden of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. The garden was placed in a corner of a property where refugees were staying. The other half of our group continued painting the interior. Seeing the beautiful flowers grow in that gray environment reminded me so much of the refugees we came here to help: beautiful flowers in a dark setting. But even in that there is something organic. Instead of the mass farms of industrial production using poisonous pesticides and gmo’s as  in America, we used our hands and cooperation. 

We were all together today, unlike yesterday when we went to two different locations, because one of refugees from the other location had a psychiatric episode. These children have been through a terrible series of events, but nothing made me realize that more. One of my friends spoke with a refugee who had walked by foot from Afghanistan to Greece, which, as he said, is why he knew he could make it to America. Nonetheless, I feel more awe towards these refugees than pity, as they’ve already come so far and done so much.

This work is not superfluous. Learning to paint is a useful if not essential skill, but helping them garden is invaluable. The shelter is surrounded by rows of lower income, colorless apartments, so bringing in the bright red flowers or the green cabbages creates a shimmering sense of life. Moreover, simply giving these kids a change of pace or someone to talk is a gift after such an intense situation.

After a short bus ride back, we enjoyed hanging around with friends and eating some delectable food, including Greek yogurt which remains far better with honey mixed in. Besides a few mishaps, as my roommate locked himself inside the room despite all impossibility, the Hotel London is a kind place to cool off after work. Though, I continue to think how the refugees do not have such a grand privilege.

DR Day 1: Work, Fun, and Reflect by DR Bloggers

 The day began with an early morning knock on the door and smiling faces from our chaperones! Tired and anxious we had no knowledge of what awaited us. Though, whatever lay ahead, we knew it would be great. We started the day with a vast breakfast buffet that included eggs, bacon, toast, omelets, and a variety of other items. After fueling ourselves, we boarded the bus for the town of Cielo. When we arrived at the Mission Emanuel site we were greeted by Alexander and Jim who guided us through the campus and town. The facility included different places like a school, a hospital, and a water plant. We met fun and animated kids on the playground and in the classrooms while walking through the school, we learned that the hospital aids people in the community at a reduced price, and we learned that the water plant provides the surrounding community with clean and affordable water. Inspired by the tour, we were excited to get to work. We divided into three groups in which we were assigned to lay bricks for housing foundations and interact with the community. It brought joy to many of us to see the smiling faces of those residents whom we helped. From this experience, we gained a new perspective of life. After all of the hard work, wanting to know more about the culture, we went to a fun restaurant called El Conuco. We ate some great food and danced with the locals and our friends. Everyone was happy, and the air was full of fun and a congo line. Even Coach Sawyer blew us all away with his dance moves! It was a night to remember. LECHE!!!!! (Inside joke between us and the really cool waiter)! Stay posted for more to come tomorrow!

A Day of Fun, Work and Reflection by Kayman Cooke

March 14, 2022: The group was given a bit of relief from the previous early morning with a 9 AM breakfast. After breakfast, the group departed and began to make its way toward the city of Athens. The refreshed group was given a driving tour of some historic Athenian landmarks, such as: the Temple of Zeus, the University Library, and the Greek Parliament. 

Following the short bus tour, the boys were able to meet a variety of small store owners, who have a connection to Global Brigades. These stores ranged from local convenience stores to unique handmade clothing to African cuisine. The group traveled to lunch following a small bit of free time; along with the exquisite Congolese meal provided, the group experienced a great sense of community, along with the entertainment of a back-and-forth conversation in French between a student and the restaurant’s head chef, Kaleng, about the exquisite dishes prepared for our team. 

After lunch, the group split into two and headed to two different shelters for refugee boys ages 12-18, where the MBA students and teachers began working alongside the refugees. With great productivity and enthusiasm, the group painted, gardened, and created benches for the refugees. Despite language barriers, the boys worked well together with the refugees and communicated through effort and often times laughter at the novice level skills displayed by our group.

The experience served as a great teaching point, which showed just how lucky we all are to have the privileges provided to us at home in Nashville. The day taught the group that the refugees are just like us but were born into more difficult circumstances. The first day at the shelter would definitely be considered a success and the group eagerly looks forward to returning to work tomorrow.

DR Travel Day!

 After what felt like seventeen hours of travel, MBA has arrived in the DR! We attacked the day with a 3:30 am arrival time at the airport hoping to evade the crowds of spring breakers. While the crowd grew larger, American Airlines lethargically dealt with all our baggage causing somewhat of a delay. Surviving the first checkpoint and a drawn-out security experience, we had no time to spare and we quickly made our way through the Nashville airport. While running to the terminal several students made a detour to acquire various energy drinks (a later regret for the chaperones as the boys were abnormally full of energy). Barely making it to the gate, we hurried onto the Miami-bound flight with excitement and anticipation for what was to come. While on the flight, we were faced with the moral dilemma: What should we watch to occupy our time? The Princess and the Frog or Anchorman 2: The Legend Returns. It was a unanimous decision to watch whatever! We arrived in Miami and the Redbulls had finally worn off. Tired and hungry we explored the airport looking for a bite to eat. With less intensity, we returned to the gate and took off for the DR. When we arrived in the DR, the temperature was noticeably hotter. But, everyone was thrilled, so it did not matter. We effortlessly walked through immigration, got on to the shuttle (which was fun because of the hijacking of the Bluetooth and the driver turning on a disco ball), and began our journey to the hotel. The view of the city was fascinating and nothing like we’d ever seen before. The people walking around carelessly, the mini cart shops, and the waves from the ocean were admirable. The sites became even better once we got to the hotel with the beautiful palm trees, pool, and views from the hotel room balconies. After taking it all in, we were allotted free time. Some people went out to ball out on the basketball court, and others just stayed in their room to relax. Later, we had dinner (pizza and salad) and watched several students dominate a game of Uno. Overall, the long travel day was a success and we look forward to tomorrow’s adventure. 

- DR Bloggers

Everything Sea Turtles by Josh Roberts

The entire Spring Break 2022 Greece team began on the agenda of events for the trip. After a delicious Greek breakfast, we all met for about an hour to discuss and learn about refugees and how they are affected in the present day. After our meeting, the group had a couple of minutes to unpack their luggage and change to prepare for the main event of the first full day in Greece, visiting sea turtles! 

We walked from the hotel through the neighborhood of Glyfada, getting glimpses of the beautiful Saronic Gulf shoreline. After about 10 minutes of walking and picture taking we finally reached the Archelon- “The sea turtle prevention society of Greece”. A nice set up oriented on some old train cars turned into shops, information areas, and most importantly, the entryway to learning about sea turtles. We first came across the size of different turtles and how big they can actually be. The leather back turtle can even grow up to three meters head to tail!  

We continued down the walkway as our guide explained to us how Injuries that plague sea turtles are often caused by humans, accidental or for sport. Sea turtles often sustain injuries to their shell, head/beak area, and their flippers. Mickey, named after the mouse, is a turtle that lives in the shelter who unfortunately had lost both of his front flippers. Although as we would see, that did not stop him from being one of the most active of all the turtles we saw. At the sea turtle rescue center we were greeted with volunteers in action, filling tubs, feeding turtles, trying to give them the best chance at rehabilitation and survival. Each turtle was swimming happily in the small tubs. Especially Mickey, who seemed to ooze life out of him onto all others who saw him. 

We learned about how temperature is a very important factor in sea turtles’ well being. We learned how the warmer the temperature the eggs where the eggs are laid, the more likely they are to be female, as well as how sea turtles can survive anything warmer than 10 degrees Celsius, anything else being a danger to their well being. After saying our goodbyes to the turtles we continued on the walkway. Stoping for what was probably the most heart breaking part of the trip. We learned that only 0.1 percent of sea turtle eggs hatched reach the sea and are able to survive. It was crazy to put into perspective that animals that are born the size of one of our ears can grow to be an entire meter taller than the biggest of humans. 

The tour wrapped up by going into the information/gift shop area learning about how turtles who swallow hooks and plastic can have stunted growth of their lungs, which can prevent them from being healthy and thriving. We got to see a mode of what sea turtle eggs really look like. And we were presented the opportunity to donate through purchases of sea turtle merchandise. 

After an educational and intriguing tour of Greece’s only turtle protection society, we walked through the more metropolitan area of Glyfada, seeing huge stores and markets, as well as the largest McDonald’s any of us had ever seen. We got to see most of the nooks and crannies of Glyfada, as well as see trains and bikes of the sort driving through town. We finally headed back to the Hotel London, making it back to enjoy a great lunch and another informational and interesting meeting. 

The crew went to get some rest before a night of competition, to see who had the greatest grasp of all Greek culture. The “Monkey Whales” came out on top, and we ended up getting a lesson in the Greek alphabet, dialogue, and putting phrases together. We all were pretty worn out so we all called it a night to prepare for day number two….a cruise around many Greek islands!!!!

We and Our Luggage Made It … Finally

After a long but good trip from Nashville to New York to Paris and finally (and barely due to LONG lines in immigration) to Athens, we got settled at the London Hotel, met our hosts and got some sleep.  Unfortunately, the trip for our luggage didn’t go as smoothly.  Out of the 20 bags we checked, 19 were left in France.  Never fear!  Air France provided everyone with toothbrushes, a t-shirt and razors, which of course went unused, and they delivered our luggage before noon today.

Today brought cold but sunny weather and a nice walk around our neighborhood.  Glyfada was once the home of a U.S. military base and now is a lovely area near the sea.  Shops, coffee shops, hotels, and beautiful homes make the area a great place to stay. For those feline lovers among us there are cats roaming everywhere!