Phones in the Library

I've started spending time in the library during my lunch hour to do some reading and work on some personal research.  A few minutes ago I was disrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing at top volume.  I heard the owner shuffling around to get to the phone.  I understand that sometimes people forget to silence their phones in the library so I figured that's what would happen next.  Instead, I heard a loud clear "hello?"  The owner of the phone proceeded to hold a conversation that I could not escape hearing anywhere on the third floor.  I ended up moving to the opposite side of the library near the ongoing construction project.  The hammering is actually less disruptive than the phone conversation that shouldn't be happening.  It always amazes me that people literate enough to use a library at a graduate school can't read the "NO CELL PHONES" sign at the entrance to every floor.

No Place Like Home

I'm finally home and getting over the extremely long trip. We began our journey around 6AM on Monday morning (10PM Sunday night at home). Our flight left Athens at 10:30 and 10 hours later we landed in New York for a 5 hour layover before our 7:30PM flight home. As it turned out, our flight got delayed. In fact, it got delayed many times before we actually got to go home. After 5 hours of layover and another 5 hours of flight delay, we finally took off at 12:45AM Tuesday morning (11:45 at home). Our plane landed at DFW around 3AM Tuesday morning and we arrived at the house a little after 4AM Tuesday. I had been traveling and basically awake (I can't sleep on a plane over 10-15 minutes at a time) for about 30 hours straight. After going to bed, I sprung awake at 5:30AM (I was still used to being 8 hours ahead). I went ahead and got up and eventually went to work around 7 where I stayed for a few hours to catch up on emails. Through the afternoon and into the evening I fought off the urge to sleep so that I could get back on schedule. At 9PM I finally crashed and slept solidly for about 10 hours. I'm finally starting to get back to normal with my rest and hope that over the the weekend I will get on a regular schedule. While I really enjoy traveling and seeing the great sights I am lucky enough to get to see, Dorothy was right; there's no place like home.

Oh Yeah... I just realized that my Blogger account still thinks I'm in Greece. I guess I should fix that.

A Few Things About Greece

We leave Greece day after tomorrow. Even though I'm more than ready to go home, there are some things that I will miss about being here.

The lifestyle of a small island...

Patmos is one of the most unique places I have ever been. Besides the mountainous landscape there is the way of life there. In one word, it's laid-back (OK maybe 2 words). There are periods of time when cruise ships come in and the port turns into a tourist destination for a few hours. But the ships leave with their visitors and the island turns into a peaceful community of locals and a few longer term vacationers (mainly from Europe). After 3 years, this has become one of my favorite places. I now know people there who I can visit nearly any time. I have now visited one of the smallest islands as well as one of the largest islands in the Aegean Sea. In this case, bigger ain't necessarily better.

Double Status ice cream bars...

These things are awesome! They are vanilla ice cream covered in a thick layer of chocolate, covered in a layer of caramel, followed by another thick layer of chocolate. Sound good?

Real feta cheese...

Yes, more food. I can get feta back home but its just not the same. It's great with olives and cucumbers or baked with layers of dough into a pie. Here is it made of goat's or sheep's milk, so the taste is different from cow's milk cheese that I can get back home. Besides, at home it is more of a luxury, here it is a staple.

Seeing historical sites...

Whether the sites are historical (like the Acropolis) or traditional (like the Cave of the Apocalypse), they all have their own special significance. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to see places like ancient Corinth, the Acropolis in Athens, the cliff monasteries of Meteora, and Samos (home to Pythagoras of the Pythagorean theorem and Epicurius).

Examining manuscripts...

This is why I go for weeks on end. There is something special about looking through a copy of the Scriptures that was penned over a thousand years ago that is hard to describe. There is a sense of being privileged to do so, a sense of adventure in seeing the different styles of Greek writing and determining what is written, and a personal connection with history by holding it in my hands.