January 27, 2004

Much of my time during the week will be taken up with preparing for the five classes I teach. I am simply not accustomed to teaching subjects in four hour blocks.

Not having my library with me, not having a broadband Internet connection with unlimited time, and not having my Bible scholars at the other end of a phone line are all handicaps. Yea, I know, living in Athens is like being in the lap of luxury compared to other mission locations, but, hey, we have to claim our crosses where ever we can find them.

The weather was good enough to allow for a trip down the hill to the grocery store. Some of my friends consider me a pretty good cook, and I enjoy cooking, but, just in case, I found the makings for hotdogs. Survival is assured.

January 28, 2004

Jim picked me up today and we went down into Glyfada to stock up on some office supplies. (These people never heard of 8 1/2 X 11 inch paper. What is it with all this centimeter stuff anyway.)

While there I tried out an ATM machine and was able to draw out Euro's from my American account. This saves the conversion fee banks charge but doesn't help the terrible rate of exchange between the Dollar and the Euro right now.

January 29, 2004

Plans were for Jim and his wife, Nell, to come by and we would go to the big outdoor marketplace today. The day broke with high winds and heavy clouds. By the time we had planned to leave, it was raining. I guess God know I needed to spend the time in lesson preparation. Anyway, the market will be open another day.

January 31, 2004

It was good to see the students again. After being away for 4 days everyone is excited to be back together.

I mentioned earlier some of the countries that are represented in the school. I have been cataloging the different languages that are spoken by the students. I am sure I don't have all of them yet, but the ones I have identified include:

• English
• Greek
• Igbo (Nigeria)
• Edo (Nigeria)
• Yoruba (Nigeria)
• Hausa (Nigeria)
• Russian
• Ukrainian
• Italian
• German
• Dutch
• French (Cameroon)
• Awondo (Cameroon)
• Boulou (Cameroon)

Did I say something about his being and international school?

February 1, 2004

For the first time since I have been here, I awoke to a cloudless sky. The apartment is on the West side of the mountain so the sun reaches my kitchen window quite awhile after daylight. This morning it came streaming in unfiltered radiance and it was welcome. They tell me that in the summer you pray for clouds. I'll let the summer worry about that.

February 2, 2004

You may be wondering why we have to cram 20 hours of teaching into Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The reason is that most of our students do not receive any funding to be here and attend the school. They pay no tuition to us but they have to try to make enough money during the work-week to keep them going. It is hard to imagine the sacrifices some of these people are making to be able to study the Bible. Some of them will walk two miles to the building because they want to save, or they don't have the 45 Euro cents it costs to ride the bus or trolley.

Some of the students are here on student visas. In order for them to attend the Athens Bible Institute, they have to enroll in a State recognized secular school and take at least one course there. This costs them an extra $200 Euros per month and requires them to do the study and prep for that class in addition to the heavy load they have with our school. Unfortunately, our school does not meet the State requirements to allow them to get student visas through us. Jim Stamatis has hired lawyers to check for any way we could get accredited by the State, but so far it simply cannot be done. This is another reason the school leaves the week days open.